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In the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) emerged victorious by four wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
After securing the first victory in the ongoing edition, KKR`s skipper Ajinkya Rahane expressed happiness.
“Really happy to be here. Feels really good. There were a lot of emotions during the game. I`m really happy for Rinku, Anukul (Roy) and Varun (Chakravarthy). The way Varun bowled… Anukul had a fantastic domestic competition,” he said.
“It`s about reading the situation well. Cricket is a simple game. This victory will give us confidence. The bowlers are coming nicely together. Batting wise, we can still improve. We`ve had a bad powerplay for the last three games. Sometimes I feel strike rate is overrated, this was a great escape for us. As a batting unit, we need to learn very quickly,” added Rahane.
On the other hand, RR`s captain Riyan Parag said that his team fell short of 10 runs.
“I thought it was a 170-run wicket, we fell 10 runs short. Errors from our side. We can`t be dropping catches, that cost us the game. There was a lot of spin on the wicket. I thought spin was the way to go. The platform was set, but the execution went wrong. We wanted to go hard in the last five overs, but that didn`t happen,” he said.
IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders` innings` summary
With an aim of chasing the target of 156 runs, the Knight Riders scored 161 runs for the loss of six wickets in 19.4 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert and skipper Ajinkya Rahane registered one-ball and two-ball ducks, respectively. Impact Player Angkrish Raghuvanshi managed to score 10 runs in 19 balls, including a boundary. Cameron Green registered 27 runs in 13 balls, with the help of four boundaries and a maximum.
Rovman Powell was dismissed for 23 runs in 20 balls, which also included two boundaries and a maximum. Ramandeep Singh also departed on 10 runs in 13 balls, and also smashed a boundary.
Rinku Singh delivered a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 53 runs off 34 deliveries. His knock was laced with five boundaries and two maximums. Shouldering him was Anukul Roy, who scored an unbeaten 29 runs in 16 balls, with the help of a boundary and two maximums.
RR`s Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets by conceding just eight runs in three overs. Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, and Impact Player Yash Punja bagged one wicket each. Captain Riyan Parag and Brijesh Sharma went wicketless in the IPL 2026 match against KKR.
(With PTI Inputs)
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