RR 151/9 in 20 Overs [Dhruv Jurel 33(28), Yashasvi Jaiswal 29(24); Varun Chakaravarthy 2/17 in 4 Overs] lost to KKR 153/2 in 17.3 Overs [Quinton De Kock 97*(61), Angkrish Raghuvanshi 22*(17); Wanindu Hasaranga 1/34 in 3 Overs]

A spirited Kolkata Knight Riders took to the field in their first away game against the Rajasthan Royals at the beautiful Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. With a strong comeback in their sights and an intent to win their first game of the season, KKR were gunning to take the challenge on. Despite being the away team, the Knights received lots of love and support from the Guwahati fans as they were excited to see their favourite knights in action.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bowl first on a hot and humid evening. Powerplay wickets were the key target for KKR and Vaibhav Arora delivered just that as he castled the dangerous Sanju Samson with a beautiful delivery. Despite the early onslaught from the openers, KKR were able to keep the scoring rate in check. Just after the powerplay, the spinners put on an absolute clinic as Moeen Ali who was playing his first game for KKR alongside Varun Chakaravarthy spun a web around the RR batters. The duo gave away just 40 runs of their 8 overs as they strangled the run flow of the opposition. RR were never able to recover from the collapse in the middle overs, and lost further wickets to the ever impressive Harshit Rana. An excellent all round bowling performance helped KKR restrict the Royals to a modest total of 151. The onus was now upon the batters to take on the chase and get their team home.

KKR began their run chase in a steady fashion with Quinton De Kock and Moeen Ali taking the charge and keeping the scoreboard ticking. De Kock, once he got settled, took the bowling apart through his mesmerising strokeplay. While there was help for the spinners, the KKR batters played the percentages exceptionally well, as they picked the right deliveries to score boundaries. De Kock took the chase deep and stayed right till the end while he was well supported by youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi. A smashing six off Jofra Archer sealed the deal for KKR as Quinton fired them into their first win of the season. With all three departments clicking in this game, KKR will be filled with confidence after this game. “It’s all about staying in the moment. Every game it’s an opportunity to learn from every game and move forward.” said the happy skipper Ajinkya Rahane as he described his emotions on the win and the way forward. KKR will move into the next game with a lot of confidence and with an aim to pick up another victory.