IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match Preview, IPL 2025

6th T20 • Barsapara Cricket Stadium • Guwahati

Rajasthan Royals

151/9 (20)

Kolkata Knight Riders

153/2 (17.3)

KKR won by 8 wickets

Info

Fantasy

WIN

Play 💰

Live

Scorecard

Stats

Playing XI

Table

Date & Time

26 Mar, 07:30 PM IST

Venue

Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati

TV/Streaming

JioHotstar, Star Sports Network

Match

6th T20,

Indian T20 League 2025

Points Table

Schedule

Stats

Umpires

Akshay Totre (India), Rohan Pandit (India), Adrian Holdstock(South Africa, TV)

Referee

Shakti Singh (India)

Toss

Kolkata Knight Riders elected to bowl

Pitch Report

The magic of IPL spreads to Guwahati tonight. This venue doesn't have a long history in the IPL. Only four matches has been played here so far. The boundary dimensions- 76 metre straight which is relatively long and the square boundary is equidistant which is 64 metre. 76 metres towards cover and 71 metres towards midwicket for a right hander. Only one specialist spinner in the previous game for Rajasthan. I believe that spin will definitely play a role here.

1st Innings

146Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

121.85Avg SR

2nd Innings

130Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

118.83Avg SR

Playing XILineups Out

Points Table

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

5- 5

KKR

Team Form (Recent 5 Matches, Latest First)

Rajasthan Royals

Kolkata Knight Riders

Players to Watch

Top Batters

Dhruv Jurel

RR . WK

70 Runs

1 Match

Sanju Samson

RR . WK

66 Runs

1 Match

Ajinkya Rahane

KKR . BAT

56 Runs

1 Match

Top Bowlers

Tushar Deshpande

RR . BOWL

3 Wkts

1 Match

Maheesh Theekshana

RR . BOWL

2 Wkts

1 Match

Sandeep Sharma

RR . BOWL

1 Wkt

1 Match

Playing XILineups Out

Fantasy Top Picks

Expert Team 1

Y Jaiswal

V Chakravarthy

Expert Team 2

S Samson

A Rahane

Venue Details

Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati

1st Innings

146Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

121.85Avg SR

2nd Innings

130Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

118.83Avg SR

Toss winners opt to

43%Bat First Bowl First57%

Team Batting First

57%Wins Losses43%

Recent Matches on venue

Match 65 • May 15 • Indian Premier League

RR 144/9 (20)

PBKS 145/5 (18.5)

PBKS won by 5 wickets

vs live score

Match 11 • Apr 8 • Indian Premier League

RR 199/4 (20)

DC 142/9 (20)

RR won by 57 runs

vs live score

Match 8 • Apr 5 • Indian Premier League

RR 192/7 (20)

PBKS 197/4 (20)

PBKS won by 5 runs

vs live score

Team Form (Last 5 Matches, Most recent first)

Team Form (Last 5 Matches)

Rajasthan Royals

Kolkata Knight Riders

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

5- 5

KKR

Team Comparison (Last 10 Matches)

Matches Played

Matches Won

184

Average Score

187

242/6

Highest Score

261/6

139/7

Lowest Score

114/2

Player of the Match Quinton De Kock

97(61)

Lucky Winner jargamkhan5413

KKR

Info

Rajasthan Royals

151/9 (20)

Batters

Yashasvi Jaiswal

120.83

c H Rana b M Ali

Sanju Samson

118.18

b V Arora

Riyan Parag

(C)

166.67

c Q Kock b V Chakaravarthy

Nitish Rana

88.89

b M Ali

Wanindu Hasaranga

100.00

c A Rahane b V Chakaravarthy

Dhruv Jurel

117.86

b H Rana

Shubham Dubey

75.00

c A Russell b V Arora

Shimron Hetmyer

87.50

c A Raghuvanshi b H Rana

Jofra Archer

228.57

b SH Johnson

Maheesh Theekshana

100.00

Not out

Tushar Deshpande

200.00

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 0, NB: 0, W: 4)

TOTAL

(20 Ov, RR: 7.55)

151/9

Did not Bat

Sandeep Sharma

Bowlers

EXT

10.50

8.25

9.00

5.75

4.25

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Sanju Samson

b V Arora

1-33

3.5

Riyan Parag

c Q Kock b V Chakaravarthy

2-67

7.5

Yashasvi Jaiswal

c H Rana b M Ali

3-69

8.4

Wanindu Hasaranga

c A Rahane b V Chakaravarthy

4-76

9.5

Nitish Rana

b M Ali

5-82

10.6

Shubham Dubey

c A Russell b V Arora

6-110

14.6

Dhruv Jurel

b H Rana

7-131

18.1

Shimron Hetmyer

c A Raghuvanshi b H Rana

8-138

18.6

Jofra Archer

b SH Johnson

9-149

19.5

Kolkata Knight Riders

153/2 (17.3)

Batters

Moeen Ali

41.67

runout (R Parag / M Theekshana)

Quinton De Kock *

159.02

Not out

Ajinkya Rahane

(C)

120.00

c TU Deshpande b W Hasaranga

Angkrish Raghuvanshi

129.41

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 2, NB: 0, W: 9)

TOTAL

(17.3 Ov, RR: 8.74)

153/2

Did not Bat

Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana

Bowlers

EXT

Jofra Archer

2.3

13.20

8.00

6.25

5.50

11.33

9.00

7.00

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Moeen Ali

runout (R Parag / M Theekshana)

1-41

6.1

Ajinkya Rahane

c TU Deshpande b W Hasaranga

2-70

10.1

Match Info

Date & Time

26 Mar, 07:30 PM IST

Venue

Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati

TV/Streaming

JioHotstar, Star Sports Network

Match

6th T20,

Indian T20 League 2025

Points Table

Schedule

Stats

Umpires

Akshay Totre (India), Rohan Pandit (India), Adrian Holdstock(South Africa, TV)

Referee

Shakti Singh (India)

Toss

Kolkata Knight Riders elected to bowl

1 1 1 1 1 4

Over 15

Runs: 9

4 0 1 0 1 1

Over 16

Runs: 7

1 1 0 1 1 5wd 1

Over 17

Runs: 10

4 6 1wd 1wd 6

Over 18

Runs: 18

All Overs

Player of the Match Quinton De Kock

97(61)

Lucky Winner jargamkhan5413

Commentary

Right - that's all we have for you from the Indian Premier League today. Both teams will have decent turnaround time - the Rajasthan Royals will need to introspect and figure out ways to make the most of these 'home' conditions before their clash against the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. The Kolkata Knight Riders will be high on confidence, and will be looking to ride on it as they travel to the West of the country to play the Mumbai Indians on Monday - always a tough assignment, that, for the team in purple and gold. Join us back here tomorrow evening for our coverage of the IPL again - Sunrisers Hyderabad's juggernaut face the Lucknow Super Giants at Uppal. Till then, this is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty. Good night - keep following Sportskeeda!

Quinton de Kock has been adjudged Player Of The Match! Let's hear from him: Nice to get out here and make the opportunity count, win it for the boys. I haven't felt any challenges yet, I had three months off around Christmas. Coming back into cricket, lucky we had 10 days off camp. Couple of warm-up matches made it pretty easy to get out here and play the game. It's only my second game here. I take it as I see it. Luckily we batted second, as a keeper I got to watch the wicket, see how the ball's behaving and adjust when I walked out to bat. I played the situation, the IPL's known for big scores. Needed to get out there and win the game instead. I love meeting new people, being around different environments. Played with a few of these guys elsewhere. It's about finding your feet with the team, sometimes the team accepts you later but they accepted me right away. That's why I haven't had any challenges. It's actually difficult on this wicket, the ball was turning and stopping. Was a working man's wicket. On a better wicket, there'll be a chat (on a quick finish).

Ajinkya Rahane (Kolkata Knight Riders captain): The first six overs we bowled really well, containing 40-odd runs. The middle overs were really crucial for us - two spinners, Moeen Ali playing his first game. Unfortunately Sunil was not well, Moeen got his opportunity and bowled really well with Varun. This is a format where you want your players to play fearless cricket. The batting unit we have, they are explosive. They've done well in the past. It's about giving them freedom and asking them to back themselves. That's what the plan was. Credit to our bowling unit, they were always looking to take wickets, especially Moeen Ali. Our conversation was we are looking for wickets, and he did that. Just complete freedom from our side, Moeen's a quality player, has opened in the past. Unfortunately it didn't happen for him today, really happy the way he contributed with the ball. Challenge is staying in the moment. Every game is an opportunity to do well, coming back in the next game having learned from each and every time, and taking it forward.

Varun Chakravarthy is being awarded a sapling for the IPL Green Dot Balls.

Quinton de Kock is being awarded the Fantasy King of the Match. He's also been awarded with the Super Sixes trophy... and the On-The-Go 4s award as well.

Right, time for the presentation ceremony. First up, the Super Striker of the match award is up, and Riyan Parag is being handed the award.

Moeen Ali: Yeah it was nice. I have been practicing well enough. I was told Sunil wasn't fit, it's hard to replace him but lucky it came off today. These are the wickets which you enjoy so much as a spinner, trying to beat their bat with drift and spin. It's been amazing so far, good bunch of support staff has helped me a lot. Yeah definitely, it's a very balanced side with Sunil, Russ and Quinney always going to play. You have to take your chance as it comes but it's a lovely franchise to be in. I haven't faced that sort of fast bowling since the Ashes. That opening over was just too quick for me. Jofra had a point to prove. Still trying to improve, in wickets like this I always try to keep it on the stumps and turn it away especially for the left-handers.

Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals captain): Yeah I think 170 was going to be a really good scare which we were aiming for. I rushed a bit in going for it a bit early. The plan was to get Quinney out early but that didn't happen. He played superbly. Last year team wanted me to bat at No 4 and I did that and this time they want me to bat at No 3 and I have to be flexible for the team. We have a younger team compared to the last year. We need to put in some time as a group and results will come. We take our learnings, we take our learnings and come back stronger for the Chennai match.

Moeen Ali is run out for 5 after turning back casually following mix-up with Quinton de Kock in RR vs KKR IPL 2025 match [Watch]

10:58 P.M. IST - Match summary:

Kolkata Knight Riders win by 8 wickets with 15 balls to spare

Quinton de Kock 97*(61) | Varun Chakravarthy Vinod 2/17 (4)
Dhruv Jurel 33 (28) | Wanindu Hasaranga 1/34 (3)

The Rajasthan Royals had to make inroads in the powerplay to gain command over the game, which they didn't. While Jofra Archer steamed in and beat Moeen Ali's bat repeatedly, Quinton de Kock seemed to be in a zone of his own. It seemed like he was watching the ball like a beachball, as he dug into Archer in his second over in a big way.

While Moeen Ali struggled to score in the powerplay, de Kock's brisk start provided the defending champions with a strong platform - de Kock had scored 34 out of the 40 runs in the first six overs. A lax piece of running saw Moeen Ali depart first ball after the powerplay, but it did very little to deter the Knight Riders. Ajinkya Rahane joined de Kock, and the duo went along their merry way.

Riyan Parag relied on his spinners too much, including himself, and it did not pay off. None of the spinners were able to make a big impact by triggering a collapse. Wanindu Hasaranga accounted for Rahane with a top-spinner at the halfway mark of the chase, but that was it. Quinton de Kock cruised through to a half-century of his own, showing great application, milking the singles and punishing the bad balls at will.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi impressed in his stay at the crease as well, playing second fiddle to de Kock throughout his time at the middle. The Kolkata Knight Riders were home and dry with plenty of time to spare, Quinton de Kock playing a statement innings to get them there. He missed out on a hundred by three runs, but that seems hardly relevant - KKR have their first points of IPL 2025. Presentations in a bit...

17.3 Jofra Archer to Quinton De Kock, SIX! QDK finishes it off in style. KKR win by 8 wickets. Pace-on right in the slot around the middle stump channel, QDK holds his shape and swings through the bat, played with a straight bat and sends it well over the long-on boundary. A thoroughly convincing performance by KKR.

17.3 Jofra Archer to Quinton De Kock, again drifting down leg from a good-length down leg, has been called a wide again.

17.3 Jofra Archer to Quinton De Kock, a slower full toss well wide outside off, QDK leaves it alone and it has been called a wide.

Miles back into the stands! De Kock moves to 91... KKR need 7. Two more big hits from here might help him register three figures...

17.2 Jofra Archer to Quinton De Kock, SIX! QDK is doing it at a canter at the moment. Back of a length delivery drifting down leg, gets inside the line of the ball and helps it around the corner by using the pace of the delivery, sends it well over the fine leg boundary.

17.1 Jofra Archer to Quinton de Kock, FOUR! Slapped away infront of square for a boundary. That was actually a well directed short one a tad outside off, QDK stands tall and pulls it away powerfully past the midwicket region and finds the boundary.

Jofra Archer (2-0-15-0) has been brought back

Required rate's under a run-a-ball now. These two might think of finishing things off as quickly as possible, keeping an eye on that Net Run Rate.

overs

135 /2 score

1lb

5wd

runs