Brilliant De Kock leads KKR to eight-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals

rugby26 March 2025 17:47| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
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Quinton de Kock was in glorious form with an unbeaten 97 from 61 balls to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory in their IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.

KKR spinners Moeen Ali (2-23) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-17) were outstanding in restricting the Royals to a distinctly modest 151 for nine before the former Proteas star made it look even more inadequate with eight fours and half a dozen sixes utilising all of his skills with drives, legside flicks and a particularly savage pull against a 145km/h delivery from Jofra Archer which sailed over the midwicket boundary for six in the third over.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi (22*) was equally clinical as KKR finished on 153 for two to complete the victory with a comfortable 15 balls to spare.

KKR’s decision to bowl first paid rich dividends when the Royals crashed to 82 for five after 11 overs, with Moeen and Chakravarthy sharing four of the five wickets, and seamer Vaibhav Arora bowling Sanju Samson for 13.

Both spinners varied their pace craftily on a pitch offering generous but not outrageous turn, with Moeen picking up the key wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (29), caught at long on, and Nitish Rana (8) with a beauty which zipped past the outside edge to hit the top of middle stump.

Captain Riyan Parag (25) skied a pull shot against a Chakravarthy top-spinner into the gloves of Quinton de Kock and, thereafter, it was a case of damage limitation for the batting side. Dhruv Jurel contributed a patient 33 from 28 balls, and Archer smashed a pair of sixes in his 16 from seven balls to give the Royals some hope – false hope as it transpired.

KKR: Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy.

RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Thushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma.