A composed knock from Quinton de Kock (61-balls 97*), backed by a disciplined bowling performance, guided Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a commanding eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday (March 26).
After losing to KKR, Rajasthan Royals have now suffered consecutive defeats in their first two matches of IPL 2025, dropping to the 10th spot at the bottom of the points table.
Chasing a target of 152, Kolkata Knight Riders lost their first wicket at 41 runs as Moeen Ali was run out for 5 off 12 balls. Wanindu Hasaranga then dismissed skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who managed 18 off 15. However, Quinton de Kock and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (17-balls 22) guided KKR to a 8-wicket victory.
Rajasthan Royals falter, set modest target for KKR
Rajasthan Royals struggled to set a challenging target for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). After winning the toss, KKR opted to bowl first and restricted Rajasthan to 151/9 in 20 overs.
Dhruv Jurel was the top scorer for RR with 33 runs, while KKR’s bowlers dominated, with Vaibhav Arora, Moeen Ali, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy each taking two wickets. Spencer Johnson also contributed with one wicket.
Rajasthan’s batting lineup failed to deliver a substantial innings. They lost their first wicket at 33 when Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson for 13 off 11 balls.
Soon after, Varun Chakravarthy removed captain Riyan Parag for 25 off 15 balls, followed by Moeen Ali dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29 off 24 balls. Wanindu Hasaranga managed only 4 runs before falling to Chakravarthy.
In the 19th over, Harshit Rana struck twice, sending Dhruv Jurel (32 off 26 balls) and Shimron Hetmyer (7 off 8 balls) back to the pavilion. Despite their struggles, Rajasthan managed to reach 151 runs, leaving Kolkata Knight Riders with a manageable chase.
Playing XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma.
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