Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 6th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

That's all for today. We'll be back tomorrow for SRH vs LSG!! See you then, bye for now.

You only know you love them when you let them go… Rajasthan controlled the middle phase of games last year thanks to their experienced spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Yuzi Chahal. They let them go ahead of the mega auction, and early signs suggest it could cause quite some heartache for the Royals this season. They’ve replaced the Indian spinners with the Sri Lankan duo, but Theekshana lacks the control of Ashwin, and Hasaranga the wicket-taking prowess of Chahal. Not to forget the new ball exploits of Trent Boult, who seems to have no ready replacement in this new squad. A tough start to life for Riyan Parag as captain, but the good news is he has to do it hopefully only once more this season.

Stats by Roshan Gede

de Kock's 97* is also the second highest score vs Rajasthan Royals in run-chases behind Devdutt Padikkal's 101* for RCB at Wankhede in 2021.

Quinton de Kock vs Jofra Archer in T20s
Runs: 128
Balls: 60
Dismissals: 3
Avg: 42.66
SR: 213.33
4s/6s: 11/10
Today: 28 off 8, two fours, three sixes

Highest individual scores for KKR in run-chases
97* - Quinton de Kock vs RR, Guwahati, 2025
94 - Manish Pandey vs PBKS, Bengaluru, 2014 Final
93* - Chris Lynn vs GL, Rajkot, 2017
92 - Manvinder Bisla vs CSK, Chennai, 2013
90* - Gautam Gambhir vs SRH, Hyderabad, 2016

KKR have won each of the six completed matches while chasing since IPL 2024 - all with 7 or more wickets and 15 or more balls remaining.

Quinton de Kock | Player of the Match: Nice to get my opportunity, wanted to make it count. (On post International retirement challenges) To be fair, haven't felt any challenges yet. Have had 3 months off which felt nice. Had about a 10 day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it. Luckily, we batted second so I could watch the wicket, see how the ball was behaving. Just played the situation of the game. The IPL is known for big sixes and big scores, but that wasn't the moment for me. It was just about winning it the way I know it. (On new franchise) I love meeting new people, being in new environments. It is about finding your feet within the team. Sometimes the team accepts you later, but here with KKR they have accepted me already with open arms, so it feels good. (On whether NRR was a conversation) Not the type of wicket for that kind of game, the ball was turning and stopping. It was a working man's wicket, if we get an opportunity at a better wicket then surely that will be a chat, but today it was all about getting down and winning it.

Ajinkya Rahane: Firstly, we bowled really well in the first six overs. The middle overs were crucial too - the way the spinners controlled things. Moeen got his opportunity and he bowled really well. This is a format where we want players to play fearlessly, we want to give them freedom. Credit goes to our bowling unit too who were always looking to pick wickets, especially Moeen. Not much, complete freedom from our side. Moeen is a quality player who has opened in the past. He couldn't get going with the bat, but very happy with what he did with the ball. The challenge is to stay in the moment, and every game is an opportunity to learn.

Moeen Ali: It was nice. I have been practising well. I was told this morning Sunil was not well. It was hard to replace Sunil but I did a fair job. Those are the wickets you enjoy the most, try and open the batters up, spin the ball as much as you can. Really good, really good bunch of guys, it's been amazing so far. Trying to get better at 37-years-old. It's a very very balanced side, all these players are amazing, Narine, Russell and Quinny always guaranteed to play so it's tough to get in. Take your chance when it comes and make the most of it. (on Archer) I have not faced that sort of fast bowling probably since the Ashes. I was the unlucky one facing him, he was too quick for me. Just to stay on top of your game and still try to improve and develop. Use my experience and keep the stumps in play and to the left-handers in particular bowl it tight.

Riyan Parag: 170 was going to be a really good score, that's what we were aiming for. I personally rushed a little bit knowing the wicket here. Fell short by 20 runs. That was the plan, to get Quinny out early, but that didn't happen. So, we shifted to containing in the middle overs. He played really well, so kudos to him. (Happy to bat at No. 3?) Last year, the team wanted me to bat No. 4, I was happy to do that. This year, they want me to bat No. 3, so I need to be professional to bat wherever the team wants me to, so I am okay with that. We have a younger team this year compared to the one last year. It's just about coming together for a whole match. We are doing very good in small phases. It's time that we put together a good match and then the results are going to be in our favour. We take the learnings, we take our mistakes, we make sure we don't repeat them again and come back for Chennai with a fresher mindset.

22:58 Local Time, 17:28 GMT, 22:58 IST: Normal service resumed. For the champions KKR, and for the format of T20 as well. There still is a place for 150-160 kind of games where the bowlers have a fair say as well. It was a comfortable chase though today for KKR, who started cautiously in the powerplay. de Kock and Moeen Ali played out the pacers and then the South African attacked against Theekshana. Moeen Ali was a bit casual as he ran himself out post the powerplay. Rajasthan slowed things down with their spinners, but overplayed their spin card as they made things too predictable. Hasaranga wasn't very consistent with his lengths either, giving the batters the easy release shot. Despite losing two wickets around him, Quinton de Kock stayed till the end as he made a good start to life for the new franchise. He took down the spinners when needed, and then finished things off against Jofra Archer. Angkrish Raghuvanshi too played a solid hand from the other end with an unbeaten 22. Stick around for the presentations.

Jofra Archer to de Kock, SIX, game, set, match! A pitched up delivery at the stumps, de Kock gets under it, clears his front leg and slams it over long-on for a maximum. He stays not out at 97, KKR win by 8 wickets

Jofra Archer to de Kock, wide, full, quick and angles down the leg side. Neat take by Jurel

Jofra Archer to de Kock, wide, wayward, a full toss wide outside off

Jofra Archer to de Kock, SIX, short and angling onto the body, de Kock steadies for a big pull shot and slams it behind square into the stands. Into single digits now...

Jofra Archer to de Kock, FOUR, short of length onto off stump, de Kock with a very well controlled pull between mid-wicket and mid-on. Runs away for four

Jofra Archer [2.0-0-15-0] is back into the attack

Jofra back into the attack. This would be a great time for the Englishman to redeem himself after last game's mauling

Theekshana to de Kock, 1 run, fuller and slides onto the pads, clipped to short fine for a single

Theekshana to de Kock, 5 wides, oopsie... slides down the leg side and past the reach of Dhruv Jurel. Runs away for five wides. Theekshana shaking his head there