IPL 2025: 3 heroes and 3 zeroes of RR vs KKR match

Normal service resumed for Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knights beat Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati by 8 wickets in match 6 of the IPL 2025 season. After losing the IPL 2025 opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, this was a solid win for the Knights, who chased RR’s score of 151/9 with ease (153/2). Meanwhile, RR suffered their 2nd defeat in succession. They had previously gone down to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening contest.

On a two-paced surface, it was a comfortable chase for KKR, who started cautiously in the powerplay. Quinton de Kock and Moeen Ali saw out the power play before a struggling Moeen was run out. Rajasthan managed to slow things down with their spinners, but things became too predictable. Wanindu Hasaranga wasn’t very consistent but dismissed Ajinkya Rahane (28) to reduce KKR to 70/2 in the 11th over. It was de Kock who managed to stay till the end with a knock of substance. KKR’s Impact Substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi, too, played a solid hand from the other end with an unbeaten 22.

For RR, their spinners bowled 12 overs of spin and conceded 100 runs for just one wicket, which, in contrast to KKR, was poor. 

Earlier, KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali bowled 8 overs between them. They picked 4 wickets and gave away only 40 runs at 5 runs an over. Moeen came in for Sunil Narine, who wasn’t well. 

As far as RR’s batting was concerned, the side was off to a decent start before Sanju Samson departed for 13. The key moment came when RR lost Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal in quick succession to be reduced to 69/3. RR’s half the side departed for 82, and they were 110/6. Dhruv Jurel’s 28-ball 33 and Jofra Archer’s 16 helped RR get to 151. 

Here are heroes and zeroes from the RR vs KKR contest.

Heroes

Quinton de Kock: This wasn’t a flashy inning from de Kock, who, rather than trying to be over-aggressive, played a smart brand of cricket. He played as per the situation and relied on loose balls to get the important boundaries. He got to his fifty from 36 balls before helping KKR surpass 100 in the 13th over. KKR brought the run rate down, and then de Kock’s brilliance sealed the deal. The former Proteas star hit a four and two sixes off Archer in the 18th over. QDK slammed his 24th IPL fifty (100s: 2). He now owns 3258 runs at 31.94. His knock vs RR had 6 sixes and 8 fours (SR: 159.2). Notably, he shared an unbeaten 83-run stand with Angriksh Raghuvanshi.

Varun Chakravarthy: After being walloped for runs in the opener against RCB, ace spinner Varun showed his mettle with a prolific display versus RR. He bowled 4 overs and conceded a paltry 17 runs in addition to taking two wickets. It was Varun, who broke a 36-run stand to dismiss Riyan Parag, who had earlier hit him for a six in the same over. Varun wasn’t done there. He dismissed Wanindu Hasaranga next. His first three overs went for 15 runs before he came back and ended his spell by conceding just two runs off the 4th over. Varun has now raced to 86 wickets in IPL.

Angriksh Raghuvanshi: The Impact Sub of KKR came in at number 4 when his side had just seen skipper Rahane depart for 18. KKR were 70/2 at that stage and needed another 82 runs off 59 balls. Raghuvanshi, who was re-signed by KKR in the mega auction, justified the faith. He didn’t look eager and unfazed but rather played as per what the situation demanded. With de Kock going well at the other end, all he needed to do was play a supporting role and he did that with finesse. He managed 22* off 17 balls and rotated the strike well. Earlier, vs RCB, he was amongst the runs as well.

Zeroes

Riyan Parag: The RR stand-in skipper threw it away after getting a neat start. He had already hit a six each off Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora before also powering Varun in the 3rd ball of the spinner’s first over. However, Parag got greedy and wanted more, hence, ending up paying the price. Parag threw his wicket away. A length delivery outside off, Parag got forward to loft and it hit the right off the toe-end of the bat, going straight up and de Kock completed the catch. His dismissal saw RR get reduced to 67/2 after 7.5 overs. Parag ended up scoring 25 runs from 15 balls.

Nitish Rana: The former KKR player was unhappy after not being gone after by the champions in the mega auction. And this was a big chance for him to showcase what KKR missed after being a part of the side for a long time. But Rana struggled. He was out for a paltry score of 8 from 9 balls. Moeen dismissed him in the 11th over as RR were reduced to 82/5. A superb delivery and Moeen hit the top of Rana’s middle-stump. Rana made room as the ball spun away from a good length on middle, and he paid the price after trying to tap the ball away on the off-side. This was a 2nd successive failure for Rana, who managed 11 runs versus SRH earlier.

Shubham Dubey: RR’s Impact Sub Shubham Dubey failed to come good. He was sent in by RR as they wanted an extra batter after losing 5 wickets. But Dubey hung in initially and stitched a 28-run stand with Jurel. However, he failed to dispatch a poor delivery from Vaibhav and ended up getting caught at deep backward point. A short ball outside off was there for the taking, and Dubey picked the fielder instead. He perished for 9 runs from 12 balls, a knock that lacked direction.

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