IPL 2026: A revival of form and fortune for Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh and KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders ended their winless streak by defeating Rajasthan Royals by four wickets. A strong bowling performance, led by Varun Chakravarthy, restricted Royals to 155. Despite batting jitters, Rinku Singh's unbeaten 53 and Anukul Roy's quickfire 29 secured a crucial victory.
KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders finally snapped their winless run in the ongoing IPL, edging past Rajasthan Royals by four wickets in a tense contest at Eden Gardens on Sunday. A sharp bowling effort, led by Varun Chakravarthy’s excellent 3 for 14, and well supported by Kartik Tyagi (3 for 22) and Sunil Narine (2 for 26), laid the platform for KKR to chase down Royals’ modest 155, though not without late nerves. KKR’s batting once again flirted with collapse.
Openers Tim Seifert and Ajinkya Rahane fell for ducks — Rahane’s second in as many matches — while the middle-order continued to stutter. Cameron Green briefly threatened to steady the innings before his charge was halted by a sharp stumping, leaving the hosts playing catch-up yet again. At 70 for five, and staring at another disappointment, KKR found rescue from an unlikely alliance.
Rinku Singh, who survived a simple early reprieve on eight, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 53, while Anukul Roy provided the late acceleration with a gutsy 29 not out. Their unbroken 76-run stand off 37 balls turned the match on its head when KKR were clearly staring down the barrel. Earlier, on a surface offering just enough assistance, KKR would have been satisfied after restricting Royals to a below-par total.
Though the visitors negotiated the Powerplay without loss, their 62 for no wicket was modest by their own lofty standards. Much of that was down to Narine’s early intervention. Introduced inside the first six overs as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal looked to break free, the Trinidadian not only checked the scoring rate but forced caution into an otherwise aggressive opening pair.