Guwahati, March 26 – Quinton de Kock delivered a masterclass in power-hitting, scoring an unbeaten 97 off 61 balls to guide Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their first win of the IPL 2025 season with a commanding eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
After Moeen Ali and Varun Chakaravarthy dismantled the RR batting lineup with four wickets each, restricting them to 151/9, de Kock led KKR’s chase in style. Smashing eight fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 159.02, he anchored the innings and sealed the win with 15 balls to spare. The victory placed KKR on the points table while RR remained winless in the ten-team competition.
Chasing 152, de Kock started aggressively, punishing Maheesh Theekshana and Jofra Archer with boundaries. KKR ended the powerplay at 40/0, but Moeen Ali’s run-out for five briefly slowed their momentum. Ajinkya Rahane contributed 18 before falling to Wanindu Hasaranga.
De Kock, however, remained unstoppable, reaching his fifty in 36 balls and accelerating further. Supported by Angkrish Raghuvanshi (22*), he took KKR to the brink before hammering Archer over long-on to seal the chase in style.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 151/9 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jurel 33, Yashasvi Jaiswal 29; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-17, Moeen Ali 2-23)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 153/2 in 17.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 97*, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 22*; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-34)
KKR won by 8 wickets.