Guwahati, March 26 Quinton de Kock was at his attacking best to hit an unbeaten 97 off 61 balls as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders sealed their first win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
After Moeen Ali and Varun Chakaravarthy combined to pick four wickets each in restricting RR to 151/9, de Kock got going from the word go and stayed till the end while hitting eight fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 159.02 to ace a comfortable chase for KKR with 15 balls remaining. With KKR getting off the mark on the points table, it also meant that RR are still winless in the ten-team competition.
Chasing 152, de Kock was quick off the blocks – pulling Maheesh Theekshana for four and six, before cutting and hoicking Jofra Archer for the same result. He then comfortably lofted Riyan Parag for four, before glancing Sandeep Sharma stylishly for a boundary as KKR ended the power-play at 40/0.
But shortly after that, Moeen Ali was run out for five. De Kock and Rahane kept the scoring rate steady by hitting Wanindu Hasaranga for a four each. But Hasaranga fought back when Rahane swept his googly to square leg and sent the KKR skipper back for 18. De Kock, though, brought up his fifty in 36 balls by slamming Hasaranga over mid-wicket for six.
De Kock’s brilliance continued as he pulled Riyan for six, even as Angkrish Raghuvanshi began by smashing Hasaranga for four. Despite the situation becoming nervy, de Kock and Raghuvanshi judiciously dealt in boundaries to take KKR closer to winning. De Kock then pulled Archer for four and six respectively, before dispatching him over long-on to finish off the chase in style.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 151/9 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jurel 33, Yashasvi Jaiswal 29; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-17, Moeen Ali 2-23) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 153/2 in 17.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 97 not out, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 22 not out; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-34) by eight wickets
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