Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by eight wickets in match 6 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Assam on Wednesday, 26 March 2025. (Match Blog | Schedule | Teams | Points Table)
Having lost to RCB in the tournament opener, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane read the track perfectly and his bowlers led by spin twins Varun Chakravarthy (2/17 in 4 overs) and Moeen Ali (2/23 in 4 overs) made full use of conditions to restrict Royals to 151 for 9.
Only Shimron Hetmyer crossed 30-run mark, scoring 33 off 28 balls.
The chase could have been a tricky one but de Kock's 61-ball knock made it a cakewalk as target of 152 was completed in 17.3 overs. He added 83 runs for the third wicket stand with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (22 not out off 17 balls). De Kock's innings had eight fours and six sixes.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders had won the toss and opted to field first.
Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma
Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka.
(With PTI inputs)
What Captains Said After Toss
Ajinkya Rahane (KKR Captain): We'll look to bowl first. The wicket looks good. Dew factor is huge here. It's about staying positive and playing fearlessly. We learnt a lot from the previous game. Sunil Narine misses out, he's not well. Moeen Ali comes in.
Riyan Parag (RR Captain): Very proud, very humbled (to be leading RR). The middle-order really stepped up. A lot of positives with the ball as well. One change. Hasaranga comes in, Farooqi steps out.
Sunil Narine is unwell and KKR are going with Moeen Ali in his absence. Narine scored a century against RR last season.
The square boundaries are equidistant at 64 metres whereas the straight boundary is at 76 metres. Spin will play a big role in today's match. The surface is a little dry and there is no grass cover on it. Dew will play a big factor in the second inning but the wicket is expected to dry up and slow up a little bit.
