Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) battled it out towards SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Thursday, April 3, in match 15 of the continuing IPL 2025. Defending champions KKR clinched a medical 80-run victory over SRH in a repeat of final season’s remaining.
Hyderabad received the toss and selected to area first. Kolkata misplaced their openers Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine early. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane teamed up with teenager Angkrish Raghuvanshi to regular the ship for his facet.
The 2 stitched collectively an important 81-run partnership for the third wicket. Raghuvanshi notched up his second IPL half-century, scoring 50 runs off 32 balls, whereas Rahane contributed 38 runs in 27 deliveries.
Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh upped the ante for KKR in the direction of the again finish. Iyer was the highest scorer for the house facet, amassing 60 runs in simply 29 balls. Rinku additionally chipped in with a quick-fire cameo, remaining unbeaten on 32 runs off 17 deliveries.
The 2 left-handed batters added 91 runs in 41 balls for the fifth wicket, serving to KKR register 200/6 in 20 overs. Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins, Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, and Kamindu Mendis picked up one wicket every.
The SRH batters went down with out a combat within the run chase. They misplaced wickets at common intervals and Heinrich Klaasen was the one batter to cross the 30-run mark. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 33 runs in 21 balls.
For KKR, Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakaravarthy claimed three wickets apiece, and Andre Russell bagged two scalps. SRH had been bundled out for simply 120 and suffered their largest defeat within the league’s historical past. Arora was adjudged the Participant of the Match for his gorgeous bowling exploits.
With two wins from 4 outings, Kolkata are at present positioned fifth within the IPL 2025 factors desk. Hyderabad, then again, are languishing on the backside spot with only one victory from 4 matches.
On that notice, let’s check out three moments from the match that generated buzz amongst followers.
#1 Ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis bowls with completely different fingers in similar over
Sri Lankan all-rounder Kamindu Mendis confused the KKR batters along with his ambidextrous bowling within the encounter. He was launched into the assault within the thirteenth over of the KKR innings.
Mendis bowled left-arm finger spin towards right-handed batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi, whereas he switched to right-arm off-spin when left-handed batter Venkatesh Iyer got here on strike.
The 26-year-old bowling with two fingers in the identical over was a giant speaking level of the match. Within the over, he additionally succeeded in taking the wicket of the well-set Raghuvanshi.
#2 Venkatesh Iyer takes Pat Cummins to the cleaners
Venkatesh Iyer regarded in nice contact with the bat and did not spare SRH captain Pat Cummins. The Australian quick bowler got here to bowl the essential nineteenth over.
Iyer dominated the proceedings along with his attacking intent. The southpaw kicked off the over by sending the primary ball for a 4 over the wicketkeeper’s head. Cummins adopted it up with a slower supply. The batter picked the change of tempo and dispatched the ball for a six with a pull shot.
Cummins bowled back-to-back yorkers, however there was no respite from Iyer’s finish as he hit two extra fours. The SRH skipper ended up conceding 21 runs from the over.
#3 KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane takes a pointy catch to dismiss Ishan Kishan
KKR had been off to a incredible begin with the ball, with SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma again within the pavilion after the primary two overs. Vaibhav Arora offered his workforce with one other essential breakthrough, sending again Ishan Kishan within the third over.
It was a full-length supply and Kishan went for the duvet drive. Whereas he appeared to have a superb connection, Ajinkya Rahane plucked out a surprising catch to finish his knock.
