Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Scorecard · IPL 2026

Varun Chakaravarthy turned the game with 3/14 and Rinku Singh delivered an unbeaten 53 as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets at Eden Gardens, winning off the penultimate ball to snap a five-match losing run.

Rajasthan Royals innings: 155/9 (20 ov)

Rajasthan needed Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal to fire, and early on they did. Suryavanshi raced to 46 off 28 balls, striking six fours and two sixes before Chakaravarthy ended the partnership with his first of three. Yashasvi Jaiswal made 39 off 29, looking dangerous until Sunil Narine had him caught at mid-on in the 11th over.

Once those two were gone, Rajasthan fell apart. Dhruv Jurel stumped for 5, Riyan Parag bowled for 12, and Ravindra Jadeja could only chip 9 off 7 before a catch to mid-off. The middle order mustered just 28 runs between positions 3 and 7. Jofra Archer chanced his arm for 8 off 5 but was run out. 155/9 at the close – competitive, but KKR had their chase in front of a roaring Eden Gardens crowd.

Varun Chakaravarthy was brilliant: 4 overs, 0 maidens, 14 runs, 3 wickets at an economy of 3.50. Kartik Tyagi took 3/22 and Narine added 2/26. The spinners bowled 12 of the 20 overs and conceded just 40 runs between them – that squeeze is what kept RR short of 160.

KKR chase: 161/6 (19.4 ov)

KKR’s reply was messy early. Tim Seifert gone first ball, Ajinkya Rahane out for a duck two overs later – 5/2 inside two overs and Eden Gardens went quiet. Cameron Green lit the fuse briefly, smashing 27 off 13 (207.69 SR) before being stumped off Ravi Bishnoi. Rovman Powell added 23 before holing out to deep midwicket.

At 85/6 in the 14th, the chase was wobbling. Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy were at the crease and needing 76 off 38. What followed was the best partnership of KKR’s season. Rinku hit 53 not out off 34 balls – five fours, two sixes, strike rate 155.88 – while Roy smashed 29 not out off 16 (181.25 SR). They put on 76 in just over 6 overs to seal it with 2 balls left.

Jadeja was RR’s bright spot with 2/8 from 3 overs – miserly stuff in T20. Jofra Archer took 1/35 from four but went at 8.75 economy. Ravi Bishnoi cost 41 from four. KKR’s lower order did what their top order couldn’t.

Statz Ratings

Varun Chakaravarthy tops the Statz Ratings with 90.8/100 – the match’s standout performer by some distance. His three wickets came at crucial moments: Suryavanshi in full flow, Jurel and Parag consolidating. At 3.50 economy in a 155-run chase scenario, the impact rating reflects exactly how decisive that spell was.

Match context

KKR move to W2 L5 and pick up 2 more points – they remain deep in the bottom half at 9th in the IPL 2026 standings and need a significant run of wins to stay in contention. For RR (W4 L3, 8 pts, 3rd), it’s a frustrating loss but they remain well-placed. KKR lead the all-time H2H 12-9 from 23 meetings – this win extends a run of three straight KKR wins in this fixture.

Full scorecard, player ratings and projections at Statz Cricket.