“The pull shot he played off Jofra Archer was a thing of beauty”: Shane Watson applauds Quinton de Kock’s knock vs Rajasthan Royals
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson was thoroughly impressed by Quinton de Kock’s performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 6 of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025). De Kock played an outstanding knock of 97* from 61 balls, hitting eight fours and six sixes to steer Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their first win of the season.
Thanks to his brilliant innings, KKR comfortably chased down the target of 152 in just 17.3 overs, winning by eight wickets. Following the victory, Watson was full of praise for De Kock, describing him as being at his vintage best. The former all-rounder highlighted the pull shot against Jofra Archer and stated that De Kock’s batting would provide Kolkata with significant confidence moving forward.
“It was a thoroughly controlled chase, and Quinton de Kock was absolutely brilliant. That was classic Quinton de Kock, the kind of remarkable display we’ve seen over the past 10 to 15 years, both in the IPL and on the international stage. His shot execution was flawless. The pull shot he played off Jofra Archer, over mid-wicket, was a thing of beauty, a clear indication of the exceptional form he’s in. This performance will certainly give KKR a massive boost of confidence, knowing they have such explosive power in their middle order. It’s a significant confidence-boosting victory for KKR,” said Watson on JioHotstar.
De Kock was rightly named Player of the Match for his match-winning performance. Earlier, KKR had to make a change, with Moeen Ali replacing their star all-rounder Sunil Narine, who was ruled out due to injury. Ali made an impact by extracting good turn from the surface in Guwahati. He took two wickets and conceded just 23 runs in his four overs.
Varun Chakravarthy provided solid support, also claiming 2/17 in his four overs, helping to restrict Rajasthan to 151/9 in their allotted 20 overs. The only resistance from RR came from Dhruv Jurel, who scored 33 off 28 balls. Kolkata’s next match will be against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday, March 31, at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
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