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Ajinkya Rahane's Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Riyan Parag-led Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets in match 6 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which was taking place at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, on March 26 (Wednesday). KKR won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision turned out right when they managed to restrict RR on 151/9. The performance was really notable as they were playing without their ace Sunil Narine. Later, the defending champions managed to chase it down with 15 balls and 8 wickets remaining,
KKR restrict RR on 151/9
A disciplined bowling effort held the Rajasthan Royals to a below-par 151/9, thanks to the spin combination of Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Due to Sunil Narine's injury, KKR's new spin combination proved to be their game-changer on a dry and sticky Barsapara field where the ball was not coming onto the bat. Soon after the powerplay, Chakravarthy and Ali took two wickets apiece in consecutive overs, shattering the Royals' middle order and turning the tide in KKR's favour.
Moeen Ali ended with a 2/23 from his four overs, while Chakravarthy bowled out his quota with remarkable figures of 2/17, demonstrating his ability to change his pace. Although costly, seamer Vaibhav Arora (2/33) contributed two vital wickets: he dismissed impact substitute Shubham Dubey (9) cheaply and yorked regular Royals captain Sanju Samson (13 off 11) in the powerplay. In the pivotal penultimate over, Harshit Rana (2/36) was key in ending Dhruv Jurel's promising innings of 33 (28) and dismissing the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer for just 7. Jofra Archer's explosive cameo of 16 off 7 balls made sure they crossed the 150-mark, but he was dismissed by Spencer Johnson in the penultimate ball of their innings.
With a well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal (29 off 24) and local boy Riyan Parag (25 off 15) in the crease, RR had appeared poised for a significant total at 54 for 1. RR concluded the first six overs impressively at 54/1, and they ended the powerplay with a six. But KKR retaliated right away. In the seventh over, their mystery spinner Chakravarthy caused the collapse by dismissing the dangerous-looking Parag with a well-disguised delivery of 113 kph.
In the very next over, Ali made matters worse for RR by removing Jaiswal, who had appeared to be in excellent form with two sixes and as many boundaries. Wanindu Hasaranga (4), who had been moved up to No 5 but was unable to make an impression, was dismissed by the England all-rounder, who proceeded to make an impression by spooning a skiddy delivery straight to mid-off. RR was at least 25 runs short of par-score, and their innings never got the necessary momentum with four wickets falling for just 15 runs.
Knights complete a comfortable chase
The Knights took on a steady approach, which is quite different from what they are usually known for, and focused on not losing early wickets. They did lose Moeen Ali in the form of a run ou,t but the only other hiccup of their innings was the dismissal of Ajinkya Rahane, who lost his wicket to Wanindu Hasaranga. Other than that, KKR cruised their way to the win with the help of Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 97 and a 22-run cameo from young Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
As for RR, their batters did perform well in the game against SRH but were not impressive in this outing against KKR. However, their bowling department is something they will have to worry the most about. As they have been failing to do their job. Some of them have been bowling well, but getting breakthroughs is something they have really struggled with. This is the second consecutive loss for RR.
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