New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 8 wickets at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday to bag their first win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. KKR rode on a fabulous knock of unbeaten 97 runs to chase down the target of 152 runs with 15 balls to spare and register a thumping victory.
While De Kock starred with the willow, KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Moeen Ali spun a web around the Rajasthan Royals’ batters with the ball. Moeen stepped up in the absence of Sunil Narine, who missed the game due to not being well. The English all-rounder combined with Chakaravarthy to run through RR’s batting line-up after KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and invited them to bat first.
RR openers Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal got their team off to a flying start, trying to capitalise in the Powerplay. However, Samon was cleaned up cheaply on 13 off 11 balls by Vaibhav Arora, who drew the first blood for KKR. Chakravarthy and Moeen then struck in successive overs to dismiss Riyan Parag (25) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (29) in quick succession to leave RR reeling at 69/3.
Chakaravarthy then got rid of Wanindu Hasaranga cheaply on 4 in his next over before Moeen rattled Nitish Rana’s stumps to send him packing on 8. The duo picked up two wickets each after the Powerplay to turn the momentum in KKR’s favour. While Chakaravarthy finished with excellent figures of 2/17 off his 4 overs, Moeen recorded figures of 2/23 off his four overs.
Pacers Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana were on the costlier side, conceding 33 and 36 runs, respectively off their spells but managed to take two wickets each to help KKR restrict RR to a moderate total of 151 runs in their second home ground in Guwahati.
Quinton de Kock smashed an unbeaten 97 off just 61 balls to help Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets in the IPL 2025 on Wednesday. IPL Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
