KKR survive last-ball thriller to stay alive in top four race

One run was all that separated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a rollercoaster of a game that could have gone either way until the last ball. Riyan Parag hit six sixes in six balls, five of which came in a 32-run over against Moeen Ali, and Shubham Dubey tonked Vaibhav Arora for two fours and a six with 22 needed in the final over.

With three needed off the final ball, Dubey drilled the yorker from Arora to long-off and took off to try and force a Super Over. Jofra Archer, the non-striker at the other end, got a head start but was found well short thanks to a sharp throw from Rinku Singh.

The win keeps KKR's playoffs hope alive in IPL 2025. It was built on Andre Russell's 25-ball 57 that helped them score 85 in their last five overs after a slowdown against spin. Moeen and Varun Chakravarthy had RR on the ropes in the chase but Parag almost turned things around with a takedown of his own.

Disappointment was written all over Parag's face, however, when Varun flattened Wanindu Hasaranga's off stump. RR were nearly out needing 136 off 73 balls at the time and the required rate touched 13 with only three fours coming in the next four overs. But the last two of those helped Parag get into a rhythm.

Then came the 32-run over against Moeen. Four of those sixes came over square leg or midwicket. When Moeen went wide, the ball sailed over long-off. Parag's next ball was from Varun and reverse-swept for six more.

Shimron Hetmyer played within himself and was going at just over a run a ball for the majority of his innings but his presence was reassuring as proved by the two boundary-less overs after his dismissal.

Harshit Rana returned with figures of 0 for 28 off two overs and conceded a boundary off the first ball. He then bowled three full balls and peppered in two short ones to dry up the runs. The second bouncer went off Hetmyer's bat into the hands of the keeper.

KKR brought Narine back with RR 43 needing off 24. He went for just five and nearly had Parag caught at deep midwicket.

Rana built on the pressure despite bowling a no-ball with yorkers and slower ones. Parag was nearly run out on the third legal ball. He holed out to long-on slapping a wide cutter very next ball and RR slipped to 173 for 7.

Russell was introduced in the penultimate over and, like he did in the last game, tried to land six yorkers. He didn't nail all but went for just 11.

Arora's wide-yorker plan started the final over with three runs. Shubham went 6-4-6 when Arora went short and wide before faltering with back-to-back yorkers. Arora, nonetheless, stuck with it last ball and it paid off.

The day started with Sunil Narine and Rahmanullah Gurbaz stepping down the leg side quite often. Narine fell cheaply and Gurbaz mistimed a few but picked up four boundaries and a six, with the majority on the leg side. Yudhvir Singh, who conceded boundaries against all top-order batters, was the costliest bowler in the 56-run powerplay.

Rahane started well, as he drove and flicked Madhwal for four and six. But he slowed down considerably - from 18 off 8 to 30 off 24 - mainly due to RR's spin choke.

Theekshana dismissed Gurbaz slog sweeping but it was Hasaranga who first denied batters pace and forced them to apply power. Parag then brought himself on and bowled three overs straight. He got Rahane with a 76kph side-arm ball.

Meanwhile, Angkrish Raghuvanshi kept KKR going with conventional shots. He slashed, pulled and drove to pick up boundaries. He got a reprieve off Theekshana before Russell took him down, but fell next over to Archer for a 31-ball 44.

KKR had needed a late push in their own innings and got it from Russell, who said he felt like a 27-year-old, and was hitting like one after coming in at 111 for 3 in the 13th over. He started slow - 2 off 9 balls - but blasted off once spin made way for pace. He hit all of his six fours and four sixes in the last five overs, in which KKR scored 70.

Madhwal was the first bowler to be taken down, first on the leg side, with a six and a four and then a slap through cover point in a 15-run over. Archer then missed two yorkers, overpitching and bowling in the slot next, and was hit downtown for a six and a four.

Theekshana's spin was brought back in the 18th. He created a chance that Parag dropped at long-off and then had a mistimed slice land safely at mid-off. The strike then rotated from Raghuvanshi to Russell and it led to a hat-trick of sixes. Theekshana went wide all three balls, short on the first two and full on the third, but was hit in the arc between cow corner and long-off.

Archer created two more chances next over. Raghuvanshi was was caught at deep square leg but Russell got a reprieve from Parag at long-off again. That was just before Russell capitalised on a missed yorker from Archer to bring up a 22-ball fifty and belt a slower bouncer down the ground.

The final over started with three wides and an edge that landed safely at deep extra cover. The wide yorker was then abandoned for bouncers, till Rinku pulled one in front of midwicket. Two missed yorkers then went for sixes, as both the 18th and 20th overs went for 20-plus runs.