KOLKATA — Riyan
Parag's scintillating 95 went in vain as Rajasthan Royals suffered a one-run
loss against Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling IPL 2025 encounter at Eden
Gardens on Sunday.
Chasing 207, Rajasthan endured a sloppy start with Vaibhav
Suryavanshi (4) and debutant Kunal Singh Rathore (0) losing their wickets
cheaply in the powerplay.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Parag stitched a crucial
partnership to provide some stability to the chase. The duo powered Rajasthan
to 59/2 at the end of the powerplay. Moeen Ali broke the 62-run partnership in
the seventh over to put the pressure back on Rajasthan. Jaiswal scored 34 runs
including five fours and a six.
Varun Chakaravarthy exploited Rajasthan's situation and
dismissed Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga on ducks in the same over to reduce
them to 71/5 in 7.5 overs.
Rajasthan were in dire situation while chasing the daunting
total against defending champions but Parag's sparkling innings kept Rajasthan
alive in the match despite losing half of their side before the halfway mark.
Parag was supported by Shimron Hetmyer to take Rajasthan
close to the target. Parag took a special liking towards Moeen as he hammered
the spinner for five sixes in the 13th over to amass 32 from it.
He scored the sixth consecutive six when he hit
Chakaravarthy for a maximum in the next over. Hetmyer too joined the party with
a six off Sunil Narine in the 15th over to take RR to 155/5 after 15 overs.
With 52 runs needed off 30 balls, the equation was slightly
tilted towards Rajasthan's favour but Hetmyer's wicket turned the tide in
favour of the home team.
In the 18th over, Rajasthan's hope of claiming their fourth
win of the season faded completely as Parag fell for 45-ball 95 studded with
eight sixes and six fours.
In the last over, Rajasthan were required 22 with Jofra
Archer on strike and Shubham Dubey on the other end. Archer took a double on
the first ball of Vaibhav Arora's over before taking a single on the next ball.
Dubey scored six, four and a six on the next three balls to bring the equation
to three off the last ball. Vaibhav bowled the perfect yorker to only concede a
single on the final ball of the innings and clinch a thrilling victory.
Earlier, Andre Russell's quickfire half-century coupled with
Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 31-ball 44 powered KKR to 206/4.
In the last five overs, KKR accumulated 85 runs at the back
of superb hitting by Russell and Raghuvanshi. Russell remained unbeaten for 57
off 25 balls studded with six sixes and four fours.
Opting to bat first, KKR's opening worry continued as
Yudhvir Singh struck in his first over and cleaned up Sunil Narine for 11.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane joined Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the middle to build
momentum in the powerplay.
Gurbaz struck back-to-back fours against Yudhvir Singh
before Rahane hammered a six over mid-wicket to finish the over with 15 runs.
The Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter again lodged the ball to the maximum
against Maheesh Theekshana to accumulate 11 runs from the penultimate over of
the powerplay.
Rahane made the most of the sixth over as he sent Akash
Madhwal for a six and four on successive balls to gather 13 from it to finish
the powerplay for 56/1.
The duo's 56-run stand for the second wicket was ended by
Theekshana in the eighth over. Gurbaz departed after scoring 25-ball 35
including four fours and a six.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi came in to bat at no. 4 and quickly
flexed his arms against Wanindu Hasaranga when he smashed him for a four on a
sweep towards deep square leg. He carried the same approach against Riyan Parag
and scored a boundary in the next over to keep the run rate going.
In the 13th over, Parag got the better of Rahane and sent
him back to the pavilion for 30 as KKR were 111/3.
Russell joined Raghuvanshi in the middle and the duo boosted
the scoring rate with their attacking play.
Russell switched gears in Madhwal's 16th over when he
smashed four, six and four on consecutive balls to amass 15 runs. He continued
his lethal hitting in the next over against Jofra Archer and hammered him for a
six and four to make it another big over for KKR.
Russell unleashed his big muscles with three back-to-back
sixes off Theekshana in the 18th over to take the side to over 150-run mark.
The West Indian also became the third KKR batter after Gautam Gambhir and Robin
Uthappa to complete 1000 IPL runs at Eden Gardens.
With just six short of his half-century, Raghuvanshi was
caught at deep backward square leg off Archer on the first ball of the
penultimate over.
Russell continued his onslaught in the over with a six and a
four to complete his first half-century of the season in 22 balls.
In the last over, Rinku took charge on his hands and smacked
a four and two sixes on successive balls to accumulate 22 runs from the
nine-ball over consisting of three wides by Madhwal.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 206/4 in 20 overs
(Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44, Andre Russell 57 not out; Jofra Archer 1-30, Maheesh
Theekshana 1-41) beat Rajasthan Royals 205/8 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 95,
Yashasvi Jaiswal 34; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-32, Harshit Rana 2-41) by one run.
