Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finished their innings at 200/6 in the 15th match of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens.
SRH opted to bowl first. Their pacers responded well, pushing KKR on the backfoot with two early wickets. While SRH skipper Pat Cummins sent Quinton de Kock (1 run off 6 balls) back to the dressing room in the second over, Mohammad Shami got rid of Sunil Narine (7 runs off 7 balls) soon after.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane (38 runs off 27 balls) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 runs off 32 balls), led a resurrection act as Kolkata pressed the recovery button. The duo took their risks and helped KKR motor along at a decent run-rate.
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With the introduction of leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari after the powerplay, SRH tightened the screws. Ansari gave away only 12 runs in his first two overs.
Cummins returned in the 10th over as SRH searched for a breakthrough. But Rahane made his intentions clear, dispatching a short ball for a towering six. KKR stood at 84/2 at 10 overs.
Raghuvanshi cut loose and took on Ansari in the 11th over. He smashed the leggie for a six and a four. Rahane tried to put more pressure on Ansari but the youngster did not bog down from the challenge. He dismissed Rahane as the latter played a reverse-sweep but ended up giving a catch to the wicket-keeper, Heinrich Klaasen.
Simarjeet Singh could have given SRH another wicket on the very next ball. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy dropped a straightforward catch as Raghuvanshi heaved a sigh of relief.
Raghuvanshi brought up his fifty in 30 balls in the 12th over bowled by debutant Kamindu Mendis. In the same over, Mendis took his maiden IPL wicket in the form of a set-batter, Raghuvanshi.
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Venkatesh Iyer (60 runs off 29 balls) and Rinku Singh (32* runs off 17 balls) had to start from square one. They were fresh at the crease. They took their time but the moment they found their rhythm, runs started to flow.
Iyer hammered Simarjeet for a six in the 15th over. Rinku complemented his partner and hit three back-to-back fours off Harshal Patel’s bowling in the 17th over. This was just the start of the onslaught. Iyer and Rinku gathered 17 runs off the 18th over bowled by Simarjeet.
Iyer did not spare even Cummins. He tonked four consecutive boundaries off the Aussie in the 19th over, including three fours and a biggie. The southpaw completed his fifty in the process.
Harshal began the final over of the innings with a six and four, coming from Iyer's blade. The medium-pacer finally got his man on the third ball of the over as Iyer perished after scoring a 29-ball 60.
78 runs came off the last five overs. KKR eventually ended their innings at 200/6.
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