IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders opener Quinton de Kock played a fine innings of unbeaten 97 runs to help the defending champions by eight wickets at the Baraspara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The Ajinkya Rahane-led side missed the services of Sunil Narine in the match, who was out with illness but KKR didn’t feel his absence, at least in the first innings as his replacement Moeen Ali had a great outing, picking up two wickets for 23 runs in his four overs.

Varun Chakravarthy was stunning as well, picking up two wickets for only 17 runs in his four overs. The star spinner put the pressure on RR batters, as they struggled to get going in the middle overs. Keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel tried to keep the scoreboard ticking, as he made 33 runs but after his dismissal, things got difficult for the hosts. They managed to score 151 runs on board, which was decent and kept them in the competition for a



while but KKR eventually got the job done.

Moeen, who had a good day with the ball, was asked to open in the second innings but he struggled to get going. The southpaw departed for five runs off just 12 deliveries. Nevertheless, de Kock got going and Ajinkya Rahane supported him for a while before Angkrish Raghuvanshi joined him in the middle and the duo managed to see the game through.

After a defeat at home to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, KKR were eyeing to bounce back and will be happy with the performance they have put in, especially in the absence of Narine. De Kock getting runs is one of the major positives for the team, who will play their next game against Mumbai Indians on March 31. 

Rajasthan, on the other hand, will have to address several areas after back-to-back defeats. They will host Chennai Super Kings next on March 30.