Guwahati, March 26 (IANS) Moeen Ali, coming in place of an unwell Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy combined to pick four wickets each while Quinton de Kock was at his attacking best to hit an unbeaten 97 off 61 balls as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders sealed their first win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Ali picked 2-23, while Chakravarthy bounced back to take 2-17 as KKR restricted Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 151/9. Such was the brilliance of Moeen and Chakaravarthy that KKR didn't even need Andre Russell’s services with the ball, as RR went from 67/1 to 82/5.

It didn’t help RR that their top order fell to rash shot selection. It took Dhruv Jurel’s 33 off 28 balls and Jofra Archer’s cameo of 16 to take RR past 150. In the chase, de Kock got going from the word go and stayed till the end while hitting eight fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 159.02 to ace a comfortable chase for KKR with 15 balls remaining.

With KKR getting off the mark on the points table, it also meant that RR are still winless in the ten-team competition. Chasing 152, de Kock was quick off the blocks – pulling Maheesh Theekshana for four and six, before cutting and hoicking Jofra Archer for the same result. He then comfortably lofted Riyan Parag for four, before glancing Sandeep Sharma stylishly for a boundary as KKR ended the power-play at 40/0.

But shortly after that, Moeen Ali was run out for five. De Kock and Rahane kept the scoring rate steady by hitting Wanindu Hasaranga for a four each. But Hasaranga fought back when Rahane swept his googly to square leg and sent the KKR skipper back for 18. De Kock, though, brought up his fifty in 36 balls by slamming Hasaranga over mid-wicket for six.

De Kock’s brilliance continued as he pulled Riyan for six, even as Angkrish Raghuvanshi began by smashing Hasaranga for four. Despite the situation becoming nervy, de Kock and Raghuvanshi judiciously dealt with boundaries to take KKR closer to winning. De Kock then pulled Archer for four and six respectively, before dispatching him over long-on to finish off the chase in style.

Previously, pushed into batting first, Jaiswal and Sanju Samson got off the mark with a boundary each in the opening over. With Spencer Johnson and Vaibhav Arora finding some swing, Samson struggled, while Jaiswal unveiled a straight drive and hoick off the former to pick a four and a six respectively.

In a bid to loft Arora through the off-side, Samson stepped down the pitch but was left to see the yorker uprooting his leg stump, as he fell for 13. RR continued to play attacking cricket as local lad Riyan Parag wowed everyone with his heave and straight loft shots, fetching him two sixes, while Jaiswal lofted Arora over long-off for a maximum, as RR ended the power-play at 54/1.

After Parag smashed Chakaravarthy for a six over mid-wicket, the spinner had the last laugh as a ball later, he got the RR skipper to miscue a loft and was caught by Quinton de Kock for 25. From there, RR’s slide began - Jaiswal holed out to long-on against Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, promoted to number five, spooned one to mid-off against Chakaravarthy, and Nitish Rana was bamboozled by turn and grip, as Moeen hit the top of his middle stump.

Jurel began resurrecting RR’s innings by pulling Moeen for four, before steering and edging off Harshit Rana twice for fours, despite losing impact player Shubham Dubey to Arora. Jurel’s fightback continued as he scooped and sweetly drove Rana for a brace of fours, before inside-edging onto his stumps off the pacer and walking back for 33.

With Shimron Hetmyer holing out to long-on off Rana, the twin blows in the 19th over deprived RR of the finishing flourish they were desperately seeking. It took twin sixes from Archer’s bat while making a seven-ball 16 to help RR cross the 150-mark, which wasn’t sufficient to avoid their first defeat at home in IPL 2025.

Brief scores:

Rajasthan Royals 151/9 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jurel 33, Yashasvi Jaiswal 29; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-17, Moeen Ali 2-23) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 153/2 in 17.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 97 not out, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 22 not out; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-34) by eight wickets