Scores in brief: Kolkata Knight Riders (161/6 in 19.4 overs) beat Rajasthan Royals (155/9) by 4 wickets at Eden Gardens. KKR vs RR: Highlights | Scorecard
It took over three weeks, a five-match slump and a fortune, but Kolkata Knight Riders finally have their first win of IPL 2026 and they have Rinku Singh to thank for it.
On a surface that never allowed free scoring at Eden Gardens, Rinku played the situation, not the opportunity. With the top order soon crumbling in a modest chase of 156, he resisted the temptation to force the pace, instead stringing together an innings built on clarity, patience and timely aggression. It wasn’t flawless; he was dropped for 8, but that might have been the moment that tipped the game.
KKR won’t call it clinical, but they won’t care either. For a side desperate to get off the mark, it was about finding a way, not perfection. Rinku ensured that he sealed the chase with a six that also brought up his first fifty of the season, resulting in a release.
As wickets fell around him and the rate rose, Rinku remained patient, picking his moments and keeping the chase within reach. It was an innings built on awareness as much as execution, and in a match that never quite let up, his calm presence proved decisive.
There are days when the chase never quite gets going, when every little obstacle seems to carry a little more weight than usual. Kolkata Knight Riders found themselves in this kind of game where 156 was never out of reach on paper but they slowly started to feel far away once the ball started talking.
Jofra Archer made sure of that right away. His very first delivery went late to Tim Seifert and then straightened just enough to sneak through. It wasn’t a dramatic ball but he did enough and it was always a theme on this surface. Archer’s opening carried a hint of uneasiness. Even as he strayed wide and conceded a boundary, he still felt that nothing was going to come easily.
Nandre Burger kept the feeling going from the other end. Ajinkya Rahane tried to cut a ball that rose a bit more than he expected and the edge came through. Two wickets down, no runs from any of the openers and KKR had to rethink their approach rather than settling into it.
Cameron Green tried to change that mood. He understood that the power play could be the only phase to get into the game and played accordingly. There was intent in his hitting, clean ground strokes, a willingness to go at pitchers without overdoing it. For a few tries, it looked like KKR might yet settle down and restore some balance in the chase.
Then came the moment that changed the evening. Ravi Bishnoi drifted one hole down the leg side, the kind of ball that usually allows the batsman to strike. Dhruv Jurel made it something completely different. He dived, almost lost his balance, picked up the ball and in the same motion threw it back onto the stumps without even looking. The green was short. It was instinct, smarts and execution all at once, and it immediately shifted the energy of the game. From 37 for 4, KKR were suddenly looking at a chase that required much more than composure.
Ravindra Jadeja was followed by a tightening of the screws. He wasn’t looking for anything special, just kept hitting the hard length and forcing the batsmen to take risks. Angkrish Raghuvanshi tried to break this check with a reverse move but missed and Rajasthan settled further into the match. There was a calmness to the way they operated, a sense that they trusted both the pitch and their plans.
The middle overs were devoid of momentum for KKR and that was where the chase fizzled out. Boundaries were hard to come by, singles did little to relieve the pressure and every silence added to the asking price. Rovman Powell tried to take a long-on boundary but couldn’t get enough of the shot and was caught in the deep. At 70 for 5, the game moved beyond a straight chase into something that required a change of pace.
Rajasthan then found another breakthrough through Yash Raj Punja, who settled after a testing start in the powerplay. Tossed one outside off and pulled Ramandeep Singh into an attempted push which resulted in an inside edge onto the stumps. It was a simple dismissal, but it summed up the innings. Nothing came clean for KKR. At 85 for 6 with 71 needed off 39, the equation was still manageable on paper, but the way the game unfolded told a different story.
Earlier in the evening, the pattern was very different, with Rajasthan Royals in complete control during the power play. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi batted freely, finding gaps with ease and putting pressure on the KKR attack, which struggled to respond. The scoring rate stayed comfortably above ten and over and at 63 for no loss, Rajasthan looked set for a much bigger total. KKR’s delay in introducing spin allowed both batters to settle and for a while the surface looked much more forgiving than it later turned out to be.
The innings started as soon as Sunil Narine was brought on. He didn’t look for goals right away, instead focusing on control and denying easy scoring opportunities. Varun Chakravarthy followed and his impact was immediate. Sooryavanshi, who had looked confident till then, went for a sweep that didn’t quite work out and found deep mid-wicket where Ramandeep Singh judged it well. It was Chakravarthy’s 200th wicket in T20 cricket, and while the dismissal itself was not spectacular, it marked the point where Rajasthan’s innings began to drift.
From there, the shift lost direction without a dramatic collapse. Jaiswal, who anchored the opening, fell trying to maintain the pace. Dhruv Jurel failed to convert his start and Riyan Parag again failed to contribute much. The scoring rate kept dropping as KKR’s spinners worked in tandem and created pressure with accuracy. Introduced in the ninth over, Chakravarthy settled quickly and completed his spell in one over, returning figures of 3 for 14. Narine complemented him with two wickets, including Donovan Ferreira, ensuring there was no late surge.
Kartik Tyagi then added the finishing touches to the death. Given his longer run this season, he showed composure in the final overs and picked up three wickets. His knocks in the penultimate game, the removal of Ravindra Jadeja and Shimron Hetmyer, ensured that Rajasthan did not get past the middle total. From 63 for no loss, they slumped to 118 for 4 in 15 overs before ending up at 155 for 9, a score that reflected how effectively KKR pulled things together after a tough start.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
19 Apr 2026 19:27 IST
