Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Overview
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 15th match of the Indian Premier League 2025 on Thursday, April 3, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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Toss & Team Lineups
Toss Result: Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bowl.
Playing XIs: Here’s the playing 11 of both teams from this game:
Kolkata Knight Riders
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Simarjeet Singh, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari
First Innings: KKR recovered really well after losing the first two wickets in the power play
KKR had a tough start once again this season and lost the wickets of both openers in the power play. The team posted a total of 53 runs in the first six overs. The next set of batters had some serious plans and SRH’s bowlers couldn’t control them. Firstly, Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi added 81 runs for the third wicket.
Rahane was dismissed in the 11th over after scoring 38 runs off 27 deliveries, while Raghuvanshi scored his second IPL half-century and was for 50 runs off 32 deliveries. KKR’s story didn’t end with the dismissals of the two set batters, instead, it started after their dismissal.
Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh were in the middle and played some ridiculous shots. Rinku remained unbeaten on 32 runs off 17 deliveries (4 fours and 1 six). Iyer was dismissed for 60 runs off just 29 deliveries (7 fours and 3 sixes). KKR posted a total of 200 runs for the loss of six wickets on the board.
Second Innings: Vaibhav Arora silenced SRH’s batters before Varun Chakaravarthy put a full stop to their innings
Vaibhav Arora came as an impact player and stayed true to that. He dismissed Travis Head in the very first over and dismissed Ishan Kishan on the first delivery of the third over. Harshit Rana dismissed Abhishek Sharma in his first over and SRH lost first wickets for just nine runs.
The next set of batters tried to do some damage control but it was in vain. Arora took the pricey wicket of Heinrich Klaasen. Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins, and Simarjeet Singh to close the game for KKR. Both Chakaravarthy and Arora took three wickets each for KKR. SRH were bundled out for 120 runs in 16.4 overs and KKR won the match by 80 runs.
Key Moments & Turning Points
SRH dismissed KKR’s openers very cheaply and they had a chance to remain in the game from that point. However, a brilliant partnership first between Rahane and Raghuvanshi and then between Iyer and Rinku ensured the game didn’t slip away from KKR’s grip.
The opening spell of Arora and Rana changed the course of the match. Arora bowled a maiden over in the power play as well. SRH couldn’t recover from the early setbacks.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Top Performers of the Match
Venkatesh Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)
- Iyer was the highest scorer in the match and made his 12th half-century for KKR.
- He scored 60 runs off 29 deliveries.
Vaibhav Arora (Kolkata Knight Riders)
- Arora took a three-wicket haul for the second time in the IPL and bowled his second-best figures.
- He took three wickets for 29 runs in four overs.
Varun Chakaravarthy (Kolkata Knight Riders)
- Varun bowled returned with his third-best bowling figures at the Eden Gardens.
- He took three wickets for 22 runs in four overs. He conceded just two boundaries in the match.
Player of the Match
Vaibhav Arora (Kolkata Knight Riders)
- In the last six matches in IPL, the bowlers have won the Player of the Match awards on four occasions.
- He won his first Player of the Match award in IPL.
Match Statistics & Records
- SRH lost the match by 80 runs, their biggest defeat margin in IPL.
- KKR has won the last five matches against SRH.
- KKR defeated SRH for the 20th times in the IPL.
Final Thoughts & Takeaways
KKR registered their second win of the season in a grand fashion after having a terrible outing against Mumbai Indians in the previous match. The defending champions would look to continue with this same momentum. SRH have not been able to make their plans work. They need to go back to the drawing board and chalk out some different strategies for the remainder of the season.
What’s Next?
KKR will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their next game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, April 8. SRH will face Gujarat Titans in their next match on Sunday, April 6, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
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