Iyer blitz powers Kolkata to big IPL win over Hyderabad

Legspinner Varun Chakravarthy (3-22) and seamer Vaibhav Arora (3-29) claimed three wickets apiece to propel the Kolkata Knight Riders to an overwhelming 80-run victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

The Knight Riders posted an intimidating 200-6 before dismantling the Sunrisers for a feeble 120 all out in just 16.4 overs to win with 20 balls to spare.

After impressing with the bat and in the field, #KKR 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙯𝙚𝙙 their way to a handsome 80-run victory at home 😌💜

Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/jahSPzdeys#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/Ne4LJhXNP4

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 3, 2025

KKR plundered no less than 78 runs from the final 34 balls of their innings after being asked to bat first with Venkatesh Iyer driving and pulling seven fours and three sixes from just 29 balls in his 60 while Rinku Singh almost matched his strike rate with an unbeaten 32 from only 17 balls with four fours and a six.

We'll let you do the math 😉

Venkatesh Iyer produced a 'blink and you miss' kind of finish en route to 6⃣0⃣ (29) 🫡

Updates ▶ https://t.co/jahSPzdeys#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/P7YLOIr8ss

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 3, 2025

It was quite the recovery from 16-2 with openers Quinton de Kock (1) and Sunil Narine (7) dismissed in the first three overs, the former hooking Pat Cummins to deep midwicket and the latter edging a Mohammad Shami yorker to ‘keeper Heinrich Klaasen.

Home skipper Ajinkya Rahane played his favourite ‘pick-up flick’ to great effect for four sixes in his 38 from 27 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi provided the perfect blend of control and aggression in his 50 from 32 balls (5x4, 2x6).

But a total of 200 looked well beyond KKR’s reach when IPL debutant, Sri Lankan spinner Kamindu Mendis had Raghuvanshi caught in the deep with the total on 106-4.

Venkatesh and Rinku, however, were reading a different script.

Sunrisers were reduced to 9-3 in the first 13 balls of the run-chase and there was never a hope of recovery.

Mendis struck a couple of sixes in his 27 from 20 balls and Klaasen briefly flared with a pair of sixes and fours in his top-score of 33 from 21 balls but it was a one-sided contest for most of the match.

Making a statement 💪

For his fiery spell of fast bowling that stunned #SRH, Vaibhav Arora is the Player of the Match 👌💜#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/stHOdj8vJ5

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 3, 2025

Both teams had a win and two losses from their three games before this match but KKR leapt from bottom of the log to fifth on net run-rate while the Sunrisers plunged from seventh to bottom placed 10th.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins (capt), Simarjeet Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari