NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders edged out Rajasthan Royals by a solitary run in a thrilling Indian Premier League 2025 encounter on Sunday, keeping their play-off hopes alive. Chasing a stiff target of 207, Rajasthan Royals fell just short, finishing on 205 for 8 in their 20 overs.
RR skipper Riyan Parag led from the front with a scintillating 45-ball 95, while Yashasvi Jaiswal chipped in with 34 and Shimron Hetmyer added 29. Despite the valiant effort, the Royals couldn’t cross the line.
KKR’s bowling unit delivered under pressure, with Varun Chakravarthy returning figures of 2 for 32, Moeen Ali taking 2 for 43, Harshit Rana grabbing 2 for 41, and Vaibhav Arora picking up 1 for 50.
Earlier, a blistering 25-ball 57 not out from Andre Russell powered KKR to a formidable 206 for 4. Contributions from Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35), and captain Ajinkya Rahane (30) helped build the foundation.
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For Rajasthan, Jofra Archer (1/30), Yudhvir Singh Charak (1/26), Maheesh Theekshana (1/41), and Riyan Parag (1/21) picked up a wicket each.
Andre Russell was named Player of the Match for his explosive finishing act.
“We all know the importance of this game, we had four games to go and it was like four finals, happy with our performance and the win. I had time to go, so I was not worried about the dot balls that I faced,” Russell said after the match.
“It was a difficult wicket to go out and start hitting, happy that I was hit boundaries at the end and Rinku also got a few away at the end. The scoreboard is the best indication, you have to evaluate the situations, which bowlers you can see off, which bowlers you can target,” he added.
While the win breathes life into KKR’s play-off chase, RR are already out of contention.
