Picture : IPL / X
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders came out with perfect all- round game to beat the Rajasthan Royals convincingly by 8 wickets in a Tata IPL 2025 encounter in Guwahati. It was KKR’s first win. While Rajasthan will have lot of thinking to do . It was their second loss.
Earlier Kolkata Knight Riders Skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and had no hesitation whatsoever to opt to bowl first . And much to his delight his spinners after his seam bowlers kept the free flowing RR batsmen in check . Gave not room whatsoever and added the pressure. The result was RR lost wicket regular intervals . Sanju Samson ( 13) , Yashasvi Jaiswal ( 29) , Skipper Riyan Parag at home in Guwahati could score only 25 . Nitsh Rana ( 4 ), Wanindu Hasaranga ( 4) . The big innings that RR were searching for never came .
Dhruv Jurel tried hard but could score ( 33) , Shubham Dubey ( 9) , Shimron Hetmyer ( 7), Jofra Archer hit some lusty blows as RR struggled to reach 151/ 9 in their 20 overs.
KKR bowlers particularly the spin duo Moeen Ali ( in place Of Sunil Narine ) was brilliant 2/ 23 ( 4 overs), Varun Chakaravarthy 2/ 17 ( 4 overs) , Harshit Rana 2/ 36 ( 4 overs) , Vaibhav Arora 2/ 33 ( 4 overs) , Spencer Johnson 1/ 41 ( 4 overs)
In reply KKR, lost Moeen Ali run-out for 5 . Skipper Ajinkya Rahane was out for 18.
But seasoned opener Quinton de Kock was rock- solid on the other and anchored the KKR innings superbly with a brilliant innings an unbeaten 97 ( 63 balls , 8 fours , 6 sixes) . Giving him support on the other end was Angkrish Raghuvanshi who was not out with 22 ( 17 balls , 2 fours) . KKR reaching 153/ 2 in 17. 3 overs and winning by 8 wickets .
RR bowling fell apart . Jofra Archer 0/ 33 ( 2. 3 overs) , Maheesh Theekshana 0/ 32 ( 4 overs) , Wanindu Hasaranga 1/ 34 ( 3 overs). The Sri Lankan spin duo unlike the KKR spin duo failed to deliver. Nitish Rana 0/ 9 ( 1 over) , Sandeep Sharma 0/ 11 ( 2 overs) ,Tushar Deshpande 0/ 7 ( 1 over) .
RR have their task cut-out. Sanju Samson a, Rahul Dravid, Head coach will have to re-look their strategies quickly . With two losses . It is worrying time going ahead.
Match: IPL 2025, 6th Match
Venue: Guwahati | Date: March 26, 2025
