Captain Riyan Parag blamed himself for Rajasthan Royals' (RR) eight-wicket defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash in Guwahati on March 26.
A masterful unbeaten 97-run knock against Quinton de Kock, crafted over 61 balls, coupled with a cohesive and disciplined bowling effort, propelled defending champions to a dominant win over at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
With this RR suffered their consecutive losses in their initial two matches of IPL 2025 which has pushed them down to the bottom of the points table.
While chasing a 152-run target, KKR encountered their first setback with the score at 41, as Moeen Ali was run out for a cautious 5 off 12 deliveries. Shortly thereafter, Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed skipper Ajinkya Rahane (18), who contributed 18 runs from 15 balls. However, the steady partnership between Quinton de Kock and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who scored a brisk 22 off 17 balls, effectively steered KKR to a comfortable win.
Riyan Parag blames himself for RR's 8-wicket loss against KKR
Meanwhile, RR captain Riyan Parag rued team's back-to-back loss in IPL 2025 and said he need to be a bit profession about his batting. In the end he said RR will take the learnings and try not to repeat and come out against CSK with a fresher mindset.
"I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs. The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn't so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs. Last year the team wanted me to bat at No. 4 and I did that, and this time it's No. 3, so I need to be professional about it and I'm ok with it. We take the learnings and try not to repeat and come out against CSK with a fresher mindset," Parag said in the post-match presentation.
Talking about RR's batting, they struggled to build momentum and were ultimately restricted to a total of 151/9 in their stipulated 20 overs. With the bat for Rajasthan, Dhruv Jurel top-scored with a knock of 33 runs, while Yashasvi Jaiswal contributed 29, and Riyan Parag added 25 to the total. However, their efforts were not enough to set a challenging target for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
KKR' bowler Varun Chakravarthy delivered an economical spell, conceding just 14 runs while picking up two crucial wickets in his four overs. Moeen Ali, stepping in for Sunil Narine, also chipped in with key contribution, dismissing two Rajasthan batsmen while giving away 23 runs in his four-over spell. The two KKR pace bowlers, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, each claimed two wickets, further stifling the Royals' batting efforts.
Parag, who scored just RR will now face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 30 in their next IPL 2025 clash.