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IPL 2025: KKR's bowlers put pressure on the Royals, and then Quinton de Kock finished the job
KKR's bowlers put pressure on the Royals, and then Quinton de Kock finished the job
Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 97 and a class spin-bowling from Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali helped Kolkata Knight Riders win over Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets.
Without Sunil Narine, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed just fine. Moeen Ali, the team’s new player stepping in for the unwell Narine, worked brilliantly alongside Varun Chakravarthy on a slow Guwahati pitch. Together, the two spinners kept Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 151 for 9 with excellent bowling figures of 8 overs, 40 runs, and 4 wickets. Their performance was so strong that KKR didn’t even need Andre Russell to bowl.
Later, another fresh addition, Quinton de Kock, shone as a batter. His unbeaten 97 runs off 61 balls led KKR to their first win of the season, giving RR their second straight loss. KKR didn’t need Russell with the bat either.
Sanju Samson scored 13 off 11 balls before losing his wicket to Vaibhav Arora as he misjudged his timing. However, the crowd got excited when Guwahati's own Riyan Parag, leading RR, smashed Harshit Rana for a one-handed six on the third ball he faced. Later, he hit another brilliant six off Arora in the last over of the powerplay and even punished Varun Chakravarthy with a six over midwicket when the spinner bowled too short. But Varun bounced back two balls later, forcing Parag to mistime a shot and get caught by Quinton de Kock behind the stumps.
Parag contributed with the ball as well, recording figures of 4 overs for 25 runs and running Moeen Ali out. However, his home game didn’t end happily.
Moeen Ali, who replaced Sunil Narine in KKR's lineup, made an impact right away, earning his maiden cap from Dwayne Bravo. Moeen dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal in his second over, with Jaiswal scoring 29 off 24 balls. The dismissal marked a rare moment—Jaiswal's second spin-related wicket since 2023 after facing 197 balls and scoring 289 runs against spinners.
RR tried experimenting with Wanindu Hasaranga by promoting him to No. 5 as either a defensive anchor or aggressive hitter, similar to how they used R Ashwin before. However, the plan fell flat. Hasaranga faced only one ball from Moeen and ended up miscuing Varun Chakravarthy, getting out for 4 runs off 4 balls.
The spinners turned the tide for KKR, taking RR from a strong 67 for 1 to a shaky 82 for 5. This collapse forced RR to bring Shubham Dubey, who wasn’t originally in their playing XI, into bat at No. 7. This move left them without the option of adding another frontline bowler like Kumar Kartikeya or Akash Madhwal during the second innings.
Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali were incredibly economical, giving away just one six and a four between them. In comparison, RR's spinners, including part-timers like Riyan Parag and Nitish Rana, conceded 11 boundaries altogether. Dhruv Jurel's late surge of 33 off 28 balls and some support from Jofra Archer helped RR reach 150.
In KKR's chase, Moeen struggled against Archer's sharp bowling and could only score 5 off 12 balls before being run out due to a mix-up with Quinton de Kock. While this might have been a costly innings on another day, Moeen’s earlier performance with the ball and de Kock’s explosive batting nullified it. Dew also worked in KKR's favor, making their chase smoother.
Quinton de Kock was brilliant at the top, hammering the new ball. He scored 34 of KKR's 40 powerplay runs, dominating the bowlers with boundaries off Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, and Parag to set the tone for their victory.
When Wanindu Hasaranga, brought in to replace Fazalhaq Farooqi, dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for 18 off 15 balls, Rajasthan Royals (RR) might have sensed a chance to turn the game around. However, Quinton de Kock and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi shut down their hopes with an unbeaten 83-run stand off just 44 balls.
De Kock hit a memorable fifty in style, smashing Hasaranga for a six over wide long-on. He followed it up with another powerful six off Riyan Parag in the next over. Though he looked set for a century, the modest target of 151 meant he didn’t get the opportunity to go all the way.
RR's total of 151 for 9, the lowest in this IPL season so far, seemed underwhelming compared to the big scores seen from other teams.
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