Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off a close one-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants in match 53 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, 4 May 2025. (Highlights | Full Coverage | Schedule | Points Table)
RR are already out of the tournament, but after this win, KKR have 11 points in 11 matches and are currently standing in sixth place in the points table
Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off a close one-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants in match 53 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, 4 May 2025. (Highlights | Full Coverage | Schedule | Points Table)
The Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR won the toss and opted to bat first. They added Moeen Ali to the playing XI and the Royals added Kunal Singh Rathore and Yudhvir Singh Charak in their playing XI.
Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Riyan Parag(c), Kunal Singh Rathore, Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Akash Madhwal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
KKR lost their opener batter Sunil Narine early at the score of 13 runs. Ajinkya Rahane (30 off 24 balls) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz added 56 runs for the second wicket.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi also played a crucial knock of 44 runs. Andre Russell scored the first half-century of the season and made 57 not out off 25 balls. Rinku Singh also made an unbeaten 19 runs, which helped KKR put up 206 runs on the board.
Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Riyan Parag and Yudhvir Singh Charak took one wicket each.
While chasing the target, RR lost their first wicket in the first over when Vaibhav Suryavanshi was caught by Ajinkya Rahane in Vaibhav Arora's over. Kunal Singh Rathore also failed to score and went for a five-ball duck.
Yashasvi Jaiswal kept the scorecard moving but lost his wicket in the seventh over and made 34 runs. Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhruv Jurel in the same over to make RR 71/5.
Then Shimron Hetmyer joined Parag, and the duo added 92 runs for the sixth wicket. Parag made 95 runs off 45 balls, including six fours and eight sixes.
Harshit Rana got rid of Parag in the 18th over as the Royals captain missed a well-deserved ton by five runs. Then Shubham Dubey came to bat as an impact player.
With 22 needed in the last over to win, Dubey was waiting for the strike. Jofra Archer gave him the strike on the second delivery. Now, 19 runs were needed in four balls. He hit a six, then a four and then again a six to make the equation - three runs needed on the last ball.
Vaibhav Arora bowled a yorker, and the duo could only manage a single, hence, KKR won the match by one run. The whole team celebrated after that. Andre Russell was named Player of the Match.
RR are already out of the tournament, but after this win, KKR have 11 points in 11 matches and are currently standing in sixth place in the points table.
KR will host Chennai Super Kings next at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, whereas RR will also take on CSK in Chennai on Monday, 12 May.