Kolkata Knight Riders rode on Venkatesh Iyer's explosive 60 off 29 balls to crush a hapless Sunrisers Hyderabad by 80 runs to register their second win of IPL 2025 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, Aprl 3, 2025.
Put in to bat, KKR were in a spot of bother losing both their openers cheaply. However, Skipper Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 27) and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32) steadied their innings before Iyer took over, putting on an exhibition of power hitting.
Rinku Singh once again showcased his ability to perform under pressure, smashing 32 off 17 to propel KKR to the 200 run mark.
In reply, SRH never looked like chasing it down, and were all out for 120 in 16.4 overs.
A look at the top performers with the bat:
Venkatesh Iyer
After going down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the season opener at their home ground, KKR lost to Mumbai Indians at Wankhede, putting their title defence in grave danger.
Iyer flopped in both matches, scoring 6 off seven balls against RCB and 3 off 9 balls against Mumbai.
The southpaw faced the wrath of fans on social media for his second consecutive failure as at Rs 23.75 crore (Rs 237.5 million), he was one of the top three costliest purchases of IPL 2025, after Lucknow Super Giants' Rishabh Pant (Rs 27 crore/Rs 270 million) and Punjab Kings' Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore/Rs 267.5 million).
The pressure had started mounting on him, as the big price tag had put him under the scanner. Against SRH he silenced his critics with a blistering knock, showcasing his ability to adapt and overcome challenges.
Coming into bat in the 12th over after Rahane's wicket, Iyer started with a cautious and measured approach, scoring just 20 off the first 16 deliveries he faced. He was not really free-flowing during the first few overs.
In the 18th over he launched into Simarjeet Singh, smacking him for a maximum and two fours for a 17 run over.
He started with two boundaries, one through long off and the other through extra cover, followed it up with a six straight down the ground.
In the penultimate over bowled by SRH Skipper Pat Cummins, Iyer was at his belligerent best, plundering 21 runs with the help of one six and three boundaries to bring up his fifty in 26 balls.
In the final over of the innings, he smashed Harshal Patel for a maximum and a boundary before falling to a slower ball.
The damage was already done as Iyer and Rinku hammered 78 runs in the last five overs.
His innings chart make interesting reading -- 11 runs from the first 10 balls faced, 19 from the next 10, before he went ballistic to smash 30 from the last 10.'
He continues his dream run against SRH, registering his third fifty in a row, having made two fifties in the final and the Qualifier 1 match last season.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Young Raghuvanshi came to the crease in the third over when KKR were in a precarious position, losing both openers with just 16 on the board.
He joined Rahane in the middle and the duo built a partnership, hitting odd boundaries and never allowing the run rate to fall below eight. He hit the first boundary in the fifth over bowled by Mohammed Shami by carving a length ball over backward point.
In the next over, he smoked Simarjeet Singh for a maximum, pulling a short ball confidently over long leg. In the eighth over he brought up the 50-run stand with a single.
Raghuvanshi, who was initially signed by KKR for Rs 20 lakh (Rs 20 million) in the 2024 auction, was bought back by the franchise for Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million) at the IPL 2025 auction, and the 20 year old repaid the trust placed in him by KKR with a matured show with the bat.
He continued to smash SRH bowlers all around the park and brought up his second fifty in the IPL. He hit as many as five fours and two sixes in the 32-ball knock.
He got out soon after completing his fifty, trying to loft Kamindu Mendis over extra cover but ended up slicing it off the outside half.
Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh started the new IPL season indifferently, scoring a 14-ball 17 and 10-ball 12 against Mumbai and RCB respectively.
Against SRH on Thursday, Rinku finally came to the party. He marched out to the crease in the 13th over and started off watchfully, scoring just 7 runs off the first nine balls he faced. He hit the first boundary in the 16th over bowled by Shami, smashing a full toss over the covers.
Thereafter, he maintained the pressure with aggressive batting and smart running between the wickets in the company of Venkatesh Iyer, who was going at a brisk pace at the other end.
In the 17th over bowled by Harshal Patel, he cut loose, scoring three back-to-back boundaries.
First one off a slower delivery which he pulled through midwicket. Showcasing the array of shots at his disposal, he smacked the next two deliveries through deep backward point and extra cover to make it three in three.
His 17-ball unbeaten 32, which contained four boundaries and a sixer, ensured that KKR reached the 200 run mark, which proved too huge a total for SRH.
Photographs: BCCI
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