“To be fair, I haven’t found any challenges yet. I got three weeks off before Christmas. It was good to get ten days in the camp before the tournament. Also, I had a few practice games.” These were the words of Quinton de Kock after being adjudged as the Player of the Match for his outstanding performance against Rajasthan Royals as he handed Kolkata Knight Riders their first win of the season. Quinton De Kock scored 97 runs off 61 balls, which was the highest score by a KKR batter in a run-chase.
When Quinton De Kock was bought for just 3.6 crore rupees, many felt it was a steal for KKR but the job he had in his hands was massive. He had to come into a team that were the defending champions and had a rampaging Phil Salt at the top of the order along with Sunil Narine, who set the tone early. Salt scored 435 runs in 12 matches at a strike-rate of 182.22 and is an active member of the England white-ball setup.
As for Quinton De Kock, who has been a star in the IPL in the past and part of champion teams, he has almost retired from international cricket and it seems South Africa have decided to move past him. His SA20 stats weren’t great as he scored 150 runs in just 10 matches. Things in the IPL weren’t great as well for the 32-year-old, with 250 runs from 11 matches last season for LSG and 143 in 4 in the year before that. So, the pressure was on Quinton De Kock to perform, and he stepped in a big way.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Dimensions – down the ground is 76m, square – it’s equidistant – 64m. Spin will definitely play a bigger part. The surface is a little bit dry, not a lot of grass cover. The wicket will dry up and slow up a little bit. Dew factor might be significant reckons Shane Watson and Darren Ganga in their pitch report.
Toss : Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bowl first with one change in the playing XI as Moeen Ali makes his KKR debut for ill Sunil Narine. Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag who also wanted to bowl first made one change in the playing XI bringing in Wanindu Hasaranga for Fazal Haq Farooqi.
KKR spinners restrict RR to 151 for 9 in 20 overs
The RR openers started with nine off Spencer Johnson in the opening over, including a top-edged pull for a four by Yashasvi Jaiswal and a well-placed boundary behind square on the off side for Sanju Samson. An economical 5-run over from Vaibhav Arora was followed by a 12-run over off Johnson, with Jaiswal striking his first six by going over the leg side.
Samson, who was tied down by Arora in his first over, decided to move around in the crease and struck a boundary but was bowled soon after as he yorked himself coming down the track. Despite Riyan Parag’s six off Harshit Rana, the bowler conceded only 7 runs in the fifth over. A six apiece for Parag and Jaiswal off Arora helped RR cross 50 in the final over of the powerplay.
Despite scoring two sixes and two fours in the powerplay, Jaiswal wasn’t at his fluent best, mistiming and not able to find the gaps. Parag, on the other hand, was scoring a lot quicker and hit his third six when he put away a short ball from Varun. But RR’s stand-in skipper departed in the same over, a lofted attempt going awry as Quinton de Kock held on to a high catch. Moeen was doing a tidy job at the other end and got his reward as Jaiswal handed a catch to long on.
Sanju Samson fell for 13 off 11 balls when he stepped out a bit too early and yorked himself against Vaibhav Arora, but Guwahati’s very own Riyan Parag, who was captaining RR, brought the crowd alive when he crashed the third ball he faced, from Harshit Rana, for a one-handed six. His next six, a lofted checked-drive off Arora over his head in the last over of the powerplay, was even better.
Parag even launched Varun for a six over midwicket when the mystery spinner erred too short. However, Varun remedied his length two balls later, having Parag sky a catch to de Kock, the keeper, with a 113kph dart that veered away from the batter.
Moeen might not even played had Narine been available. After having received his maiden KKR cap from team mentor Dwayne Bravo, Moeen struck in his second over when he had an advancing Yashasvi Jaiswal holing out to long-on for 29 off 24 balls. It was only Jaiswal’s second dismissal against spin in the IPL since 2023 across 197 balls while scoring 289 runs.
RR tried to use Wanindu Hasaranga the way they had R Ashwin in the past. They promoted Hasaranga up to No. 5 as a pinch-blocker or pinch-hitter, but the experiment didn’t work. He faced just one ball from Moeen, the offspinner, and ended up miscuing Varun to mid-off for a run-a-ball 4.
Wanindu Hasaranga, coming in for Fazalhaq Farooqi, was promoted up the order but the move didn’t work as he became Varun’s second scalp. To add to RR’s woes, Nitish Rana tried to make room for himself but was bowled by Moeen, who finished with impressive figures of 2-23. Dhruv Jurel got a couple of lucky boundaries off Harshit as RR got to the 100 mark in the 14th over. Shubham Dubey, the impact sub, fell to Arora after striking a boundary, leaving RR with a lot of work to do at 110/6 after 15 overs.
The slide triggered by the spinners – RR went from 67 for 1 to 82 for 5 – messed with the hosts’ plans. Shubham Dubey, who wasn’t originally in RR’s bat-first XI, had to be brought in at No. 7, which denied them the option of bringing in a frontline bowler in the form of Kumar Kartikeya or Akash Madhwal during the chase.
Varun and Moeen conceded just a six and a four between them. In contrast, RR’s spinners, including part-timers Parag and Nitish Rana, leaked 11 boundaries between them. That RR crossed 150 was down to late blows from Dhruv Jurel, who top-scored for them with 33 off 28 balls, and Jofra Archer.
Varun finished his spell at the start of the death overs, conceding only 2 off his last over to end up with 2 for 17. Jurel struck two fours off Harshit in the 17th, which yielded 11 runs. But only 8 came off the next over, bowled by Johnson. Harshit ended his spell with a fine over, bagging the wickets of Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer, with only 7 coming in the 19th over despite Jofra Archer’s six. Archer also hit a six off Johnson in the final over before getting bowled by the Australian pacer as RR just about managed to cross 150.
Quinton De Kock’s unbeaten 97 runs gives KKR a thumping 8 wicket win over RR
Fresh off bowling the most expensive IPL spell, Archer started with good pace and bounce as he troubled Moeen in the opening over, conceding only 2 runs. Quinton De Kock pulled Maheesh Theekshana for the first four of the innings before taking on Archer, fiercely cutting and pulling the England pacer for a four and a six.
The South African Quinton De Kock then swept Theekshana for a six but only nine came in that over, followed by a six-run over from Parag as RR kept KKR in check by slowing it down. Sandeep Sharma, with his variations, completed the containing job in the powerplay for RR, albeit without any wicket, as he gave away only 5, with KKR becoming the first team with a sub-50 PP total in this IPL.
Moeen’s struggle (5 off 12) eventually came to an end when he was run out attempting a second. Hasaranga then came into the attack and was struck for a four each by de Kock and Ajinkya Rahane as KKR went past 50 in the eighth over, two more than what RR took. On a wicket aiding the slower bowlers, Parag bowled a third and continued to keep it tight. Theekshana and RR then burnt a review going upstairs for an lbw decision, followed by a well-executed pull for a six by Rahane that eased some of the pressure.
Moeen was going nowhere with the bat in the chase. He was on five off 11 balls, having been discomfited by Archer’s high pace and bounce. Then, when he tried to steal a double off Parag, he had a mix-up with Quinton de Kock and was run out for five off 12. This might have been a match-losing innings on another day, but on this one, Moeen’s own effort with the ball and Quinton de Kock’s big hits at the other end meant KKR could offset it. The dew that set in later in the evening made KKR’s job that much easier.
When Hasaranga, who was picked in place of Fazalhaq Farooqi, removed Ajinkya Rahane for 18 off 15 balls, RR might have felt that they had an opening. But Quinton de Kock and 20-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi slammed the doors shut on them with an unbroken 83-run partnership off 44 balls.
In the same over, Quinton de Kock reviewed an leg-before decision and this time too, the eventual decision went against RR. Hasaranga struck in his second over, getting Rahane to top-edge a sweep before Quinton de Kock cleared the deep midwicket fence to bring up a 36-ball fifty.
Quinton De Kock had attacked the hard, new ball, claiming 34 of the 40 runs KKR scored in the powerplay. After bashing Archer for a brace of boundaries in the third over, he went after Maheesh Theekshana and Parag. Quinton De Kock brought up his half-century off 36 balls when he hoicked Hasaranga for six over wide long-on. He then celebrated the landmark with a six of Parag in the following over. Quinton De Kock might have off a century had KKR had more runs to chase.
Quinton de Kock also struck a six off Parag in his final over, while Hasaranga was hit for two fours (one each for de Kock and Raghuvanshi) as KKR crossed 100 in the 13th over, an over quicker than RR. A boundary for Raghuvanshi off Rana brought down the required rate, which was 8.2 at the end of the 10th over, to 6.8 at the end of the 15th.
With 34 needed off 5 overs, it was smooth sailing for KKR. A boundary of Tushar Deshpande, was followed by Theekshana giving away 5 wides, making it easier for KKR. Quinton De Kock finished it off in the 18th over, striking a four and two sixes off Archer to power his team’s convincing victory. RR’s 151 for 9, the lowest total this season, stuck out like a sore thumb amid the big hitting from various other teams in this IPL.
The middle overs. On a wicket assisting the spinners, KKR used spin for seven out of the nine overs in this period, with Moeen Ali, replacing an unwell Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy hampering RR’s progress. Between them, they conceded just a six and a four while picking up four wickets, as RR managed only 56/5 in this phase, with only 22 runs in boundaries.
In contrast, Quinton de Kock paced his innings well, chose his shots wisely and ensured KKR did not fall behind in the middle overs even though spin was used predominantly by RR as well. De Kock got good support from Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi as KKR got 22 more than what RR did in the 7-15 overs phase, with 38 runs coming in boundaries.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Riyan Parag the losing RR skipper said : 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.
Ajinkya Rahane the winning skipper said : Â 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.
Quinton De Kock Player of the Match for his 97 runs said : 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.
No Sunil Narine, no problem for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). KKR’s new recruit Moeen Ali, who took the unwell Narine’s place, dovetailed beautifully with old face Varun Chakravarthy on a dry, sluggish Guwahati surface to limit Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 151 for 9. The two spinners were so good – they claimed combined figures of 8-0-40-4 – that KKR didn’t even need Andre Russell with the ball.
Then another new recruit, Quinton de Kock, came good at the top, and KKR didn’t need Russell with the bat either. Quinton De Kock’s unbeaten 97 off 61 balls got KKR on the points table and handed RR their second successive defeat this season.
After a loss in their opening game, Kolkata Knight Riders hit the straps with a comfortable eight-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. KKR’s spinners, despite the absence of Sunil Narine, did a fine job as they restricted RR to 151/9. Quinton de Kock then powered the reply with an unbeaten 97 off 61, which included 8 fours and six sixes, as KKR cantered to the target in 17.3 overs.
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.
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.
The Royals stay back in Guwahati where they’ll play their next home game against Chennai Super Kings on March 30. The Knight Riders will fly to Mumbai for their next match against Mumbai Indians on March 31.
Also Read:Â RR vs KKR: A String Of Records Broken After Quinton De Kock & Moeen Ali Pummel RR