Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) dished out a clinical performance to defeat SunRisers Hyderabad by 80 runs in match 15 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Thursday, April 3 at the Eden Gardens. (Match Blog | Points Table | Full Coverage)
Riding on half-centuries of Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Venkatesh Iyer, KKR had given SRH a target of 201 but the SunRisers were bowled out for 120 with Vaibhav Arora accounting for three crucial wickets.
Earlier, SRH skipper Pat Cummins had won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Playing XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ramandeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Kamindu Mendis, Simarjeet Singh, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari.
Asked to bat first, KKR lost their openers, Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock, within first 15 balls of the game. Captain Ajinkya Rahane then combined with youngster Raghuvanshi to stitch a crucial partnership. Rahane departed in the 11th over before completing his half-century while Raghuvanshi was dismissed two overs later after crossing fifty.
Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh then joined forces to put up a 91-run stand where the duo teed off in the death overs. Iyer departed for a brilliant 29-ball 60 in the last over while Rinku stayed unbeaten at 32 off 17 balls.
KKR plundered 66 runs off the last four overs and reached 200/7 in 20 overs.
Vaibhav Arora was brought in as the Impact substitution by KKR and given the new ball. Arora was hit for a four on the first ball by SRH Impact substitution, Travis Head, but on the very next delivery, the pacer had the dangerous Australian caught. In the next over, Harshit Rana foxed Abhishek Sharma with a slower ball. Arora returned in the third over to dismiss Ishan Kishan and within first 13 balls of the chase, SRH had lost their top three.
After that, KKR bowlers just kept tightening the screws and apart from Henrich Klaasen (33) and debutant Kamindu Mendis (27), SRH batters just could not score. The famed SunRisers batting line-up was bowled out for 120 in just 16.4 overs.
Arora and Varun Chakravarthy picked up three wickets apiece and the pacer was adjudged the Player of the Match.
Three back-to-back losses after a campaign opening victory put SRH on the bottom of the table while KKR rise up to the fifth spot with a couple of wins and losses.
