Kolkata: Andre Russell’s quickfire half-century coupled with Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 31-ball 44 powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 206/4 in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 clash at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
In the last five overs, KKR accumulated 85 runs on the back of superb hitting by Russell and Raghuvanshi. The former remained unbeaten for 57 off 25 balls studded with six sixes and four boundaries.
Opting to bat first, KKR’s opening woes continued as Yudhvir Singh struck in his first over and cleaned up Sunil Narine for 11. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane joined Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the middle to build momentum in the powerplay.
Gurbaz struck back-to-back fours against Yudhvir Singh before Rahane hammered a six over mid-wicket to finish the over with 15 runs. The Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter again lodged the ball to the maximum against Maheesh Theekshana to accumulate 11 runs from the penultimate over of the powerplay.
Rahane made the most of the sixth over as he sent Akash Madhwal for a six and four on successive balls to gather 13 from it to finish the powerplay for 56/1.
The duo’s 56-run stand for the second wicket was ended by Theekshana in the eighth over. Gurbaz departed after scoring 25-ball 35 including four fours and a six.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi came in to bat at no. 4 and quickly flexed his arms against Wanindu Hasaranga when he smashed him for a four on a sweep towards deep square leg. He carried the same approach against Riyan Parag and scored a boundary in the next over to keep the run rate going.
In the 13th over, Parag got the better of Rahane and sent him back to the pavilion for 30 as KKR were 111/3.
Andre Russell joined Raghuvanshi in the middle and the duo boosted the scoring rate with their attacking play.
Russell switched gears in Madhwal’s 16th over when he smashed four, six and four on consecutive balls to amass 15 runs. He continued his lethal hitting in the next over against Jofra Archer and hammered him for a six and four to make it another big over for KKR.
Russell unleashed his big muscles with three consecutive sixes off Theekshana in the 18th over to take the side to over 150-run mark. The West Indies power-hitter also became the third KKR batter after Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa to complete 1000 IPL runs at Eden Gardens.
With just six short of his half-century, Raghuvanshi was caught at deep backward square leg off Archer on the first ball of the penultimate over.
Russell continued his onslaught in the over with a six and a four to complete his first half-century of the season in 22 balls.
In the last over, Rinku took charge on his hands and smacked a four and two sixes on successive balls to accumulate 22 runs from nine-ball over consisting of three wides by Madhwal.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 206/4 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44, Andre Russell 57 not out; Jofra Archer 1-30, Maheesh Theekshana 1-41) against Rajasthan Royals.
(IANS)
