KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS Vs SUNRISERS HYDERABAD , 15th IPL Match 2025, Eden Gardens, Kolkata : Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakaravarthy’s Spectacular Performance Outplayed SRH At Home .
The V3 (Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakaravarthy) of Kolkata Knight Riders put up an incredible show as the defending champions Thursday crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 80 runs in the IPL 2025 clash. Venkatesh Iyer (60 off 29) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32) did most of the scoring after being sent in, while Ajinkya Rahane (38) and Rinku Singh (32) also added useful runs as KKR scored 200 for six. In response, SRH was skittled out for a mere 120 in 16.4 overs with Heinrich Klaasen being the highest run-scorer with a 21-ball 33. Vaibhav Arora (3/29) blew away the top-order, and Varun Chakaravarthy (3/22) cleaned the tail. Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakaravarthy’s Spectacular Performance Outplayed SRH At Home .
TOSS-
Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and choose to bowl .
TEAMS LINE UP-
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad:
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
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad:
Abhishek Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen, Kamindu Mendis, Simarjeet Singh, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS-
Sunil Narine greeted Pat Cummins with a six over the long on but the SRH captain dismissed Quinton de Kock with a strategy – bowled short asking the left-hander to pull him with Zeeshan Ansari waiting at deep square leg for a catch. Mohammed Shami then got Narine out with an outside-off full ball that he nicked behind to Heinrich Klaasen. Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi then rescued what was left of the PowerPlay with well-timed shots over the square leg and fine leg fence.
Zeeshan Ansari bowled two tight overs before Raghuvanshi targeted him in his third, though the leg spinner did finish that over out by having Rahane caught. Raghuvanshi was almost dismissed soon after, only for Nitish Reddy to spill a catch at deep square leg off Simarjeet in the 12th over. Raghuvanshi raised his half-century but the floater did not hurt SRH too much as Harshal compensated with a stunning catch, sprinting in from deep backward point. It also brought Kamindu Mendis, SRH’s ambidextrous spinner, his first IPL wicket. Venkatesh Iyer enjoyed his first six of the season as the death overs approached.
After getting 12 off Shami, Venkatesh got into Harshal in the 17th over, thumping him for three on the trot. Next up, they belted Simarjeet for 17. Venkatesh then went a step further with the carnage against Cummins getting his second consecutive half-century ( off 25 balls) in the last two seasons against the SRH — the previous one being in the final of 2024. He began the 20th over with 6, 4 but fell off its third — a sharp catch on the long-on fence, right at the ropes, by Aniket Verma. KKR ended on 200 even, as Andre Russell skied a short ball off the last ball, only to be run out by Klaasen.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD-
Travis Head was perplexed by the two-paced ness of the surface and miscued a big hit that Harshit Rana took to dismiss him on the second ball of the chase. In only the second over, Harshit had Abhishek Sharma pouched at slip off a slower one. Vaibhav Arora soon got rid of Ishan too, leaving SRH struggling at 9/3. The wickets column should’ve ticked along to four and awarded Arora a double-wicket maiden but Andre Russell put down a catch at mid-on which reprieved Mendis. Arora was reveling in his moment, with Nitish Reddy trying to pick up the pieces and push back a little, taking 15 off Arora in the fifth over. On the other hand, Varun CV ended an extraordinary Power Play for KKR giving away only four runs.
SRH’s downward spiral continued. The seventh over saw Nitish fall to Russell, finding the mid-on fielder with an attempted hit. After 9 overs came a timeout, and on the other side of it, Kamindu hit one straight to the midwicket fielder to fall to Narine for a 20-ball 27. Varun CV was similarly difficult to dismiss, as Aniket Verma discovered, dying to a bouncer. Rahane bowled five consecutive overs of spin from the moment in the 12th with SRH only reaching the score of 33 for the loss of two of its wickets. Back in the 14th, Klaasen broke the rut against Narine, hitting him for two mammoth sixes, and got a life as a slight under edge didn’t get detected by the umpire and Rahane didn’t choose to review. Arora was back with the ball to make sure that wasn’t a big slip for KKR with Rohit going back for 34, leaving SRH struggling at 112/7.
Varun CV snared Cummins and Simarjeet Singh in successive deliveries, and ended his brilliant spell with 3-22. The biggest win came in the 17th over when Russell sent Harshal to the dressing room.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 200/6 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 60, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 50, Ajinkya Rahane 38; Mohammed Shami 1-29) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 120 in 16.4 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 33; Varun Chakaravarthy 3-22, Vaibhav Arora 3-29) by 80 runs .