Harshit Rana of Knight Riders celebrates the wicket of Riyan Parag of Rajasthan Royals during the IPL 2025 match at the Eden Gardens Stadium, Kolkata. (Sportzpics)Riyan Parag almost pulls off a win from the jaws of defeat but Andre Russell’s first innings heroics help KKR get over the line vs RR.
Riyan Parag and a late cameo by Shubham Dubey almost helped Rajasthan Royals pull off a Jos Buttler-esque heist but fell short by one run as the Kolkata Knight Riders pulled themselves back from the brink of defeat at the Eden Gardens. With the narrow win, KKR kept themselves alive in the race for play-offs while Rajasthan Royals lost another close-run affair.
Before the match, the chatter was around how Rajasthan’s 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi will bounce back from his zero against Mumbai Indians. In the end it was another Vaibhav who came up trumps as KKR’s Vaibhav Arora struck in the first over to send back Suryavanshi for 4. Kunal Singh Rathore was the next man to depart as Moeen Ali struck in the very next over as Rajasthan lost 2 wickets for 8 runs.
Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal took up the rebuilding job, both smashing sixes off the third over by Arora and then followed up with two fours and another maximum off Harshit Rana. KKR’s main weapon Varun Chakravarthy was also not spared as Jaiswal slammed back-to-back fours off him including a delightful reverse hit. The Rajasthan opener refused to put his feet off the gas, smashing a hat-trick off boundaries off Rana with Rajasthan reaching 59/2 after 6 overs.
Another day, another #TATAIPL classic 🤩@KKRiders prevail by 1️⃣ run in a last-ball thriller in Kolkata to boost their playoff hopes 👏💜
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/wg00ni9CQE#KKRvRR pic.twitter.com/mJxuxBSPqw
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2025
With the partnership looking ominous, Moeen provided a much-needed breakthrough, sending back Jaiswal for 34. Soon after, Varun ensured Rajasthan would slide further, as he cleaned up Dhruv Jurel first ball with one that turned sharply as KKR spinners started to weave a web around the visitors. The 33-year-old mystery spinner struck again in the same over, removing Wanindu Hasaranga for nought as Rajasthan went from 66/2 to 71/5. The target of 207 looked distant then.
Parag, meanwhile, tried to swim against the tide and reached his fifty in the 13th over with a 6 off Moeen. He followed that up with four more maximums in the same over with the English spinner leaking a massive 32 runs before hitting one more in the next over to become the first player to hit six consecutive sixes in the IPL.
𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙍𝙞𝙮𝙖𝙣 🔥
The #RR captain is in the mood tonight 😎
He keeps @rajasthanroyals in the game 🩷
Updates ▶ https://t.co/wg00ni9CQE#TATAIPL | #KKRvRR | @rajasthanroyals | @ParagRiyan pic.twitter.com/zwGdrP3yMB
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2025
On the other end, wickets kept tumbling as Rana snapped up Shimron Hetmyer for 29 before picking up the prized scalp of Parag as he missed his century by just 5 runs as the pressure of asking rate began to catch up. With 22 left in the last over, Shubham Dubey hit a couple of sixes and a boundary off Arora to bring the margin down to 3 runs needed off the last ball. With Arora nailing in a yorker and Rinku Singh alert on the field, RR could just manage one run of it.
The Eden Gardens pitch continued to offer up an air of mystery as home captain Ajinkya Rahane went against the grain and opted to bat first because he wasn’t sure if the surface would slow down in the second innings. Typically, the Eden surface has mostly favoured the chasing pack but such has been the nature of the beast this season, even Rajasthan skipper Parag said he was unsure on what he wanted to do if he won the toss.
The Rajasthan bowlers, however, looked to have understood the assignment pretty well as they kept KKR on leash for the initial couple of overs. The Kolkata openers were pegged back by Jofra Archer in the first over and tried to break free in the next one by Yudhvir Singh with Sunil Narine slamming him for a four and a six. But the joy of the KKR fans was short lived as the bowler got the last laugh cleaning up the all-rounder for 11 as Kolkata’s opening stand failed to fire again.
Two vital knocks ✌️
Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s stroke-filled innings and Rinku Singh’s final flourish 🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2025
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahane switched gears in the 4th over with two boundaries and a six before the Afghanistan opener slammed another maximum off the 5th over bowled by Maheesh Theekshana. Akash Madhwal, bowling the 6th, kept Gurbaz quiet but Rahane mined him for a six and four to guide Kolkata to a respectable 56/1 at the end of powerplay.
Gurbaz upped the ante with two sweeps that fetched him boundaries off Hasaranga before falling to Theekshana for 35 in the ensuing over as he perfectly picked off Hetmyer in the deep.
Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi looked to rebuild even as the Rajasthan bowlers tightened the screws, yielding just 19 runs from the 8th-10th over with just a lone boundary in those three overs. Kolkata finally reached 100 in the 12th over but the KKR captain did not last long as he fell for 30.
Russell, promoted up the order, started with caution considering the number of overs left as got off the mark with a single off the 6th delivery he faced. Even though they tried hard, the next three overs saw KKR manage just one boundary by Angkrish Raghuvanshi — the first one in 16 balls even as in the other end, Russell looked flummoxed by the Rajasthan spinners.
𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙨 💪
Display of brute force from #KKR‘s very own Andre Russell 💥
Updates ▶ https://t.co/wg00ni9CQE#TATAIPL | #KKRvRR | @Russell12A pic.twitter.com/YfXiU3dF6h
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2025
The burly batter finally got his first boundary off the 10th delivery as Rajasthan went back to the pace of Madhwal. He followed that up with a smash over deep midwicket for a 6 and then another 4 as he finally looked comfortable in the middle. It got better for KKR in the next over as Russell smashed Archer for a six and a four with 150 coming the 18th over, courtesy a chipped boundary by Raghuvanshi.
Russell, meanwhile, continued the carnage with three back-to-back sixes off Theekshana as he raced to 45 off just 20 deliveries before getting too his 50 in 22 balls with another maximum, this time off Archer in the 19th over. Raghuvanshi fell trying for a big hit, but his 31-ball 44 was a vital contribution for his team as KKR reached 206/4 with Rinku Singh applying the finishing touches with a blistering 19 off six balls.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 206/4 (Russell 57 n.o, Raghuvanshi 44) in 20 overs bt Rajasthan Royals 205/8 (Parag 95, Jaiswal 34, Varun 2/32, Harshit 2/41, Moeen 2/43).
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