Kolkata Knight Riders revived their IPL 2025 playoff chances by narrowly defeating Rajasthan Royals in Match 53 at Eden Gardens. KKR completed a season sweep over RR, scoring 206/4 with Andre Russell’s 57*. Despite RR’s challenging start at 72/5, Riyan Parag’s 94 fueled a thrilling final-ball victory for KKR.
KKR lost Sunil Narine early on at 13/1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ajinkya Rahane then put on 56 runs for the 2nd wicket. Gurbaz exited, and Rahane, along with Angriksh Raghuvashi, added 42. After Rahane departed at 111/3, Russell came in, forming another fifty-plus partnership and accelerating. Finally, Russell and Rinku Singh guided KKR to 206/4.
Jofra Archer took 1/30 in 4 overs for RR, giving away 12 runs in his final over. Yudhvir Singh picked 1/26 in 2 overs. Theekshana went for 1/41 in 4 overs after a good start. Akash Madhwal conceded 50 runs in 3 overs. Wanindu Hasaranga was wicketless with 0/35 in 4 overs. Riyan Parag claimed 1/21 in 3 overs.
Theekshana removed Gurbaz with a well-directed fuller ball outside off, prompting Gurbaz to slog sweep to deep mid-wicket. Despite striking the ball flat and hard, Gurbaz lacked placement. In 9 T20 innings, Gurbaz scored 86 runs off 50 deliveries from Theekshana, who dismissed him 5 times. Gurbaz’s average against Theekshana stands at 17.2.
In a recent match, Gurbaz hit 35 runs from 25 balls, including four fours and a six. He has a total of 352 runs in 18 IPL matches and 5,117 runs in 20-over matches. KKR skipper Rahane added 30 runs off 24 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes, totaling 4,969 IPL runs and 327 runs in 2025.
Raghuvanshi, with 285 runs this season in 10 matches and a total of 448 runs in 20 matches at an average of 32, played a vital anchoring role for KKR by scoring 44 runs from 31 balls, including 5 fours.
Russell surpassed 2,500 IPL runs for KKR (2,555) in the match. He just needed 2 runs to reach the milestone. In the end, he scored an unbeaten 57 off 25 balls, with 4 fours, and 6 sixes, striking at 228. Notably, he is the 2nd player, after Gautam Gambhir (3,035 runs at 31.61), to achieve this feat for KKR.
During his knock at Eden Gardens, Russell reached a milestone by surpassing 1,000 IPL runs, totaling 1,046 runs at this venue. He is now the third batter to achieve 1,000-plus runs there, coming into the contest just 11 runs shy of the landmark with 989 runs.
Russell achieved his 12th fifty in the IPL, accumulating 2,612 runs in 138 matches at an average of 28.39 with a strike rate of 174.24, including 220 sixes and 182 fours. Against RR, he has scored 257 runs at 25.70 and also marked his first fifty against them. This match was his 32nd half-century in T20 cricket.
KKR’s Rinku finished with an unbeaten 19 off 6 balls, including one four and two sixes, striking at 316.67.
Sources News From Various Digital Platforms, Websites, Journalists, And Agencies.
Leave a Reply