The defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders are back to winning ways. With an 8-wicket hammering of Rajasthan Royals, they have finally started to make things right. Quinton de Kock fired an unbeaten 97 as Kolkata chased down 151 in 17.3 overs. However, the Royals need to relook at their strategy, especially after playing in Guwahati for the next season, as it takes away their home advantage. Add two poor performances by Nitish Rana and a misfiring Sanju Samson in the RR vs KKR clash, they need to make a comeback quickly.
With Sanju Samson not on the field as the captain due to a finger injury, Riyan Parag has taken the reins temporarily. However, the youngster hasn’t been an effective captain yet with two losses in as many matches. RR will play another match in Guwahati, against Chennai Super Kings, who play spin extremely well. If RR don’t get things right, they will start with a hat-trick of losses. With that, let’s take a look at the Hits & Misses from the RR vs KKR match.
RR vs KKR: Hits
Quinton de Kock’s match-winning 97
After just 4 runs in the first match, Quinton De Kock returned to form with a well-paced 97-run knock against Rajasthan. On a difficult pitch to bat on, De Kock never looked uncomfortable. His knock that had eight fours and six sixes accounted for 64% of the team’s runs. It was one of the best knocks that the South African played in the IPL. Quinton De Kock’s knock helped KKR chase down 151 in just 17.3 overs.
Q for Quality, Q for Quinton
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 26, 2025
A sensational unbeatenruns to seal the deal
Scorecardhttps://t.co/lGpYvw87IR#TATAIPL | #RRvKKR | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/kbjY1vbjNL
Varun Chakaravarthy
What a year Varun Chakaravarthy had in international cricket. But all of that went up in smoke at the Eden Gardens when he conceded 43 runs in four overs for a solitary wicket against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. However, Chakaravarthy redeemed himself on a pitch that aided spin. With 2/17 in four overs against RR, he crippled their batting.
Moeen Ali
The Englishman came in as a last-minute substitute for Sunil Narine, who was ruled out of the RR vs KKR match due to illness. But he made an instant impact as KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane asked him to bowl the 7th over. He dismissed both left-handers — Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana — returning for 2/23 in his four overs. However, he had a horrid time with the bat, scoring a 12-ball 5.
SUPREME TIMING!
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 26, 2025
Guwahati's very own #RiyanParag stands tall & launches a massive six into the stands!
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Riyan Parag
Captain Riyan Parag might have failed but the all-rounder in him proved why Rajasthan kept trust in him for so long. With the bat, Parag smashed a 15-ball 26 before he threw away his wicket. With the ball, he restricted the run flow of KKR, going for just two boundaries in his four overs.
KKR’s bowling
While Moeen Ali and Varun Chakaravarthy were supremely effective on the pitch at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, credit should also go to KKR’s pace attack. Vaibhav Arora returned with 2/33, including the wickets of Sanju Samson and Shubham Dubey. Harshit Rana struck twice in the 19th over, dismissing Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel. He returned with 2/36 as Rajasthan fell at least 20 runs short.
RR vs KKR: Misses
Sanju Samson
As the finger injury keeps him out of wicketkeeping duties and captaincy, he is playing solely as a batter. However, an Impact Player who only bats and scores 11-ball 13 is nowhere near being impactful. The manner he was dismissed would also open the floodgates again. He tried to come down the track against Vaibhav Arora, only to miss the line and get clean bowled. Although he scored a 37-ball 66 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on a batting heaven, Samson should also take the blame for Rajasthan’s second consecutive loss in IPL 2025.
Nitish Rana fails again
So far, Nitish Rana has scored 11 and 8 and has bowled two overs for 18. A senior pro with so much of capabilities wasted two chances at No 4. After the two poor shows, it raises the question: should RR keep him in the Playing XI or give a chance to someone else?
Wanindu Hasaranga at No 5
Rajasthan Royals flirted with the idea of having Ravichandran Ashwin play at No 3 and No 5. It worked sometimes. But with Wanindu Hasaranga, who had never batted at No 5 or above in his entire career, RR’s experimentation fell flat. Hasaranga was brought on to tackle spin, but he fell for 4-ball 4.
Jofra Archer
The English fast bowler has conceded more runs than any Rajasthan Royals batter has scored so far. Dhruv Jurel is their highest scorer with 103 runs in two matches. Archer has conceded 109 runs alone. After the most expensive spell of IPL history against SRH (0/76), he ended up with 0/33 in 2.3 overs. Although he bowled a good first over, he could only bowl to Quinton de Kock. And the Protean bossed him over, scoring 33 runs in 15 legal deliveries.
Security breach again
Another IPL match and another security breach. Those who say that it is about getting closer to their hero should understand that it is a massive security breach. In 1993, tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed by a Steffi Graf fan during a match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg.
No there was no stabbing or any untoward incident of such magnitude in Indian cricket. But it takes only one incident. There was a breach in Kolkata when a fan jumped the security perimeter to meet Virat Kohli. Now, it has happened in Guwahati as a fan tried to touch Riyan Parag’s feet. That’s two incidents in six matches.
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