QUINTON de Kock's unbeaten 97 led Kolkata Knight Riders to their first victory of the IPL season, as they defeated Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets on Wednesday.
After electing to field in Guwahati, Kolkata’s spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy restricted Rajasthan to 151-9.
De Kock then guided the chase with a 61-ball innings that included eight fours and six sixes, ensuring Kolkata reached the target with 15 balls remaining.
De Kock, who has retired from Test and ODI cricket for South Africa, played his first game of the season and showed no signs of struggle.
"To be fair, haven't felt any challenges yet," De Kock said. "Have had three months off which felt nice. Had about a 10-day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it."
Signed by Kolkata in November after being released by Lucknow Super Giants, De Kock gave his team a quick start with two early boundaries but lost opening partner Moeen Ali, who was run out for five.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane fell for 18, but De Kock held firm, building an unbeaten 83-run stand with impact substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi (22) to take Kolkata home.
He sealed the win with a six off Jofra Archer, as Kolkata bounced back from their opening defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Rajasthan suffered their second consecutive loss.
Earlier, Kolkata's fast bowler Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson for 13, before Chakravarthy and Moeen took two wickets each. Samson, Rajasthan’s regular captain, has played only as a batter in the first three matches due to an injury.
Chakravarthy, part of India’s recent Champions Trophy-winning squad, dismissed stand-in skipper Riyan Parag for 25. Moeen, replacing Sunil Narine who was unwell, removed Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29 as Rajasthan slipped to 82-5 in 11 overs.
Despite Dhruv Jurel’s 33 and Archer’s 16, Rajasthan finished below par.
"I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs," Parag said. "The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn't, so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs."
Arora and Harshit Rana also took two wickets each.
Kolkata, who won their third IPL title last year under Shreyas Iyer, are now looking to build momentum in the season.
(With inputs from AFP)
England's Jamie Overton celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies' Gudakesh Motie. Reuters/Andrew Boyers