As it happened: De Kock, spinners give KKR their first points in IPL 2025

He launches Archer for a straight six and finishes it off for KKR. He remains unbeaten on 97 off 61 balls. This is KKR's first win this season. RR slump to their second successive loss

De Kock and Raghuvanshi are rushing KKR to the finish. They have taken KKR to 118 for 2 in 15 overs. They just need 34 off 30 balls, with 8 wickets in the shed. RR are sliding towards their second successive defeat in IPL 2025

De Kock launches Hasaranga for six over wide long-on and brings up his fifty of 35 balls. He then celebrates his landmark with another six, this time off Parag. He has settled KKR's chase on a tricky surface.

Theekshana had built up the pressure.

Hasaranga makes the incision. Make that 88 wickets for Hasaranga since 2024

Rahane drops down for a sweep but ends up splicing a wrong'un to square leg for 18 off 15 balls. Impact Player Raghuvanshi is the new batter. KKR are 70 for 2 in the 11th over

The first ball from Theekshana struck Rahane on the pad and was given not out. Theekshana reviewed it only for the projections to show that it would have slid down leg. RR lose a review.

Rahane had a big slog at the second and missed. "Something that I've not seen for a long time," Shane Watson says on TV commentary. Rahane connects with the third, swiping a six over the square-leg boundary.

The last ball of the over pings de Kock on the pad, and the finger goes up. But de Kock reviews successfully, with ball-tracking indicating that it would've missed leg stump. KKR are 70 for 1 in ten overs.

Moeen was going nowhere. He's been run-out for 5 off 12 balls after a mix-up with de Kock. A dive might have saved him at the non-striker's end.

Rahane stays at No.3. This is not the best pitch for him. The ball isn't coming onto the bat and he will be starting against spin. KKR are 44 for 1 in 7 overs.

KKR missed out on Salt during the IPL 2025 auction. Though they got back Gurbaz, they have trusted de Kock to open the batting for them in the new season.

De Kock managed just 4 in the season opener, but he has found his groove in this game. He has progressed to 30 off 20 balls, attacking all of Archer, Theekshana and Parag. At the other end, Moeen has dawdled to 3 off 10 balls.

After having taken a pasting at the hands of SRH on a flat Hyderabad surface, Archer starts better in Guwahati. He pounds the ball into the middle of the pitch against his countryman but ends up bowling two leg-side wides. At the other end, Theekshana finds some quick turn, but RR need wickets to stay in this contest.

In his next over, Archer bangs a head-high lifter and leaves Moeen into a tangle with a 149kph rocket! But the top-edged mis-hit does not carry to any of the infielders. Falls safely between two men. Archer vs Moeen is shaping up to be an intriguing battle.

No Sunil Narine (unwell). No problem so far for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

New KKR recruit Moeen Ali dovetailed beautifully with old face Varun Chakravarthy on a dry, sluggish Guwahati surface to keep 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.

The slide that the spinners started - RR went from 67 for 1 to 82 for 5 - messed with the plans of the hosts. RR had originally not named Shubham Dubey among their Impact subs, but they had to slot him in at No.7, at the expense of a frontline bowler who could have been used during their defence.

Dubey, however, laboured to 9 off 12 balls before Vaibhav Arora had him holing out. Arora had caused damage with the new ball too, knocking Sanju Samson over for 13 off 11 balls after he had stepped out a bit too early. Yashasvi Jasiwal also fell while stepping out, with Moeen having him hole out to long-on for 29 off 24 balls.

Homeboy Riyan Parag got cracking with three sixes, including a one-handed hit, but Varun cut his innings short with a 113kph dart. RR promoted Wanindu Hasaranga up to No.5 to counter Moeen but that experiment didn't come off. He faced just one ball from the offspinner and fell to the mystery spinner for a run-a-ball 4.

Dhruv Jurel top-scored for RR with 33 off 28 balls before Rana got rid of him and Hetmyer in the penultimate over. Jofra Archer's cameo - 16 off seven balls - pushed RR past 150. He will have a big job to do with the ball for RR, especially after having bowled the most expensive IPL spell ever in his last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the weekend.

The slide continues for RR. Dubey has a reputation of being a big hitter at domestic level for Vidarbha. He showed glimpses of his big-hitting on a flat pitch in Hyderabad. But on this sluggish Guwahati surface, he struggles to 9 off 11 balls. Arora bowls short, into the pitch, and hides the 12th ball away from the reach of Dubey. He connects but ends up slicing it straight to Russell at square deep third. RR are 110 for 6 in 15 overs.

RR promoted Hasaranga up to No.5, ahead of Jurel and Hetmyer, to counter Moeen, the offspinner. He ended up facing just one ball from Moeen. He tried to haul Varun, the mystery spinner over the leg side, and ended up holing out for 4 off 4 balls.

76 for 4 soon becomes 82 for 5 as Moeen castles the left-handed Rana. The slide, triggered by Moeen and Varun, messes with RR's plans. Madhwal or Kartikeya might have been their Impact Player but now they need another batter to stem the rot in this innings and then give their attack something to bowl at. So, Dubey in at No.7 as their Impact Player.

When Varun Chakravarthy dragged a hip-high short ball outside off, Parag lined it up and walloped it over midwicket for six

Varun bounces back strongly, as he often does, stunning Guwahati into silence. He cranks it up to 113kph, and gets it to skid into Parag on a back of a length. Wonder if it's the flipper that Varun has been working on, in the lead-up to this season. Parag can only sky it high into the night sky. Qdk keeps his cool, takes his helmet off, and takes this skier. Parag gone for 25 off 15 balls.

Former Knight Rider Rana joins Jaiswal in the middle. Moeen now has two lefties to work with. He has an advancing Jaiswal holing out to long-on. RR are 69 for 3 in the ninth over.

Jaiswal has been responsible for 25 of those runs. He could have been dismissed on 19 had Rana not dropped a return catch in the fifth over. Parag has also run away to a fast start.

Jaiswal and Samson. India's opening pair in T20I cricket come together at the top for RR too in IPL 2025, following Jos Buttler's departure to Gujarat Titans.

Wherever he bats, Samson is using to starting the IPL well. During the weekend, he crashed 66 off 37 balls. On Wednesday, however, he manages only 13 off 11 balls. He manufactures swinging room and steps out probably a bit too early, yorking himself. Arora shatters the leg stump.

RR are 33 for 1 in the fourth over. Homeboy Parag in at No.3. He gets going with a one-handed six off Rana. The mood has changed quickly. Guwahati is loving this.

Spencer Johnson's role is to move the new ball. He slots into his role right away, beating the outside edge of Jaiswal and then hitting his inside edge. He then beats Samson's outside edge with late swing. Pitches on a middle-stump line, squares Samson up, and screams away past his outside edge.

Samson gets off the mark with a square-driven four off the last ball of the over.

Arora follows it up with a tight five-run over. RR are 14 for 0 in two overs.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and asked Rajasthan Royals to bat first on a dry surface in Guwahati. KKR made an enforced change, with Moeen Ali replacing an unwell Sunil Narine. KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo handed Moeen his first KKR cap. Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson kept his place in the XI ahead of Anrich Nortje.

Nortje, though, was part of KKR's Impact subs bench along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi who is likely to slot in as the Impact Player when KKR chase.

As for RR, they handed a franchise debut to Wanindu Hasaranga and listed him at No.7. As the only allrounder in the XII, Hasaranga could lend some balance, which they had missed in their season-opener against SRH.

Hasaranga replaced Afghanistan left-arm swing bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi and reunited with his Sri Lanka team-mate Maheesh Theekshana, the mystery spinner. RR kept faith in Jofra Archer, though he had bowled the most expensive spell in the IPL (4-0-76-0) against SRH on Sunday. Former Mumbai Indians fast bowler Akash Madhwal might come in as RR's Impact Player later tonight.

KKR's bowling first XI 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4, Rinku Singh, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Spencer Johnson, 9 Vaibhav Arora, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Luvith Sisodia

RR's batting first XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Sanju Samson, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Thushar Deshpande, 11 Sandeep Sharma.

Impact Subs: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka

Dwayne Bravo, the KKR mentor and Moeen's former team-mate at CSK, hands Moeen his first KKR cap. Three spinners for KKR on a dry Guwahati surface. This might not be a high-scoring fixture for a change.

Powell is no longer a Royal in the IPL, but he continues to lead Barbados Royals in the CPL. He also has a strong relationship with Kumar Sangakkara, having also worked with him at Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL. Powell will be on the opposite side, with the KKR camp this time.

All of 20 years old, Angkrish Raghuvanshi has already won the IPL with KKR and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with Mumbai. He had announced himself to the IPL last year, with 54 off 27 balls against DC in Vizag. He hit eight boundaries on the day, including an outrageous reverse-swatted six off Rasikh Salam Dar. He has a number of other shots in his locker as well. Abhimanyu Bose caught up with Raghuvanshi and spoke about IPL 2024 and the road ahead for this emerging talent from Mumbai.