‘Out of form’ Rinku and Varun help Kolkata Knight Riders taste first success of IPL 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders finally tasted success in their seventh match of IPL 2026. On Sunday evening at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders carved out a four-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals to vacate the bottom spot in the table. Mumbai Indians now have the honour of occupying the 10th spot in the 10-team competition.

Kolkata Knight Riders, whose match against Punjab Kings had washed out, now have three points from seven matches.

Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, suffered their second consecutive loss. Royals, who were thrashed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, didn’t seem to have come out of the shock. Electing to bat first, Royals, who had lost three wickets in their first over against Sunrisers, began soundly with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi taking on the Knight Riders.

The duo, as is their wont, went after the bowlers nonchalantly. The Royals raced away to 81 in the ninth over before leggie Varun Chakravarthy spun his way back into form.

Varun Chakravarthy finished with figures of three for 14 as Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 155 for nine

Varun, who has been struggling since the T20 World Cup, got rid of the dangerous Vaibhav. The Bihar batter made a 28-ball 46 with six fours and two sixes. Varun then packed off Dhruv Jurel (5) to unsettle the Royals.

Sunil Narine then got into the act as he had Jaiswal (39; 29b, 4×4, 2×6) caught by skipper Ajinkya Rahane. From 99 for three, the Royals’ innings went into a tailspin as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Royals were restricted to 155 for nine in their 20 overs. They had got 63 for no loss in the powerplay but were unable to build upon the solid foundation. They added just 61 in the middle overs and lost five wickets as the Knight Riders were on top of them. In the final four overs, Royals managed to get 31 for the loss of four wickets.

https://x.com/IPL/status/2045844872305987630?s=20

“We assessed it was a 170 wicket. So, we were dead under par. It was our game. No excuses there. We can’t be dropping catches. We can’t be bowling lines that favour the batters. There was a lot of spin on the wicket. The way Jaddu, Bishi and Punja bowled, I thought the way forward was spin,” said a disappointed Royals skipper Ryan Parag.

Varun, who was later named the Player of the Match, was the pick of the bowlers, taking three for 14. Kartik Tyagi got three for 22 and Narine bagged two for 26.

“Feels great. Before I talk about myself, I have to give credit to the entire coaching staff. There was too much outside noise. We deserve this win. I still have two fractures in my left hand. It’s a little tough, but I’m still trying to manage. It was a little slow, but perfectly suitable for us. We don’t know where we’ll end up, but we’re making a statement that we’re not pushovers,” said Varun.

Kolkata had a disastrous start

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders had a disastrous start losing openers Tim Seifert (0) and Rahane (0) with just five on the board. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (10) and Cameron Green (27) tried to salvage the situation, but both fell to leave Knight Riders delicately placed at 52 for four.

Rinku Singh struck form as he remained unbeaten on 53 off 34 balls with five fours and two sixes. Pics: BCCI

Rovman Powell (23) and Ramandeep Singh (10) too failed to make it count and the Knight Riders were in quite some trouble at 85 for six.

Rinku Singh, who has had a quiet season thus far, finally made it count. The left-hander struck form when his team needed it the most.  Rinku and Anukul Roy shared an unbeaten 76-run partnership off 37 balls for the seventh wicket to lead Knight Riders home safe.

Rinku made 41 off 21 balls and Roy got 29 off 16 balls in the partnership which was worth its weight in gold.  Rinku remained unbeaten on 53 off 34 balls with five fours and two sixes and Roy scored a four and two sixes in his knock as Knight Riders made 161 for six with two balls to spare.

“When runs don’t come, you start thinking. It was not that I was hesitating in hitting my shots. The mindset was to take it till the end. You play those shots (when he was dropped off a no-look slog) when your mind isn’t working. God helped me. It was a very good innings for my confidence. The win will give us a lot of confidence. We’ll look to carry this momentum forward,” said Rinku.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 155 for nine in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 39, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 46; Varun Chakravarthy 3/14, Kartik Tyagi 3/22, Sunil Narine 2/26) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 161 for six in 19.4 overs (Cameron Green 27, Rovman Powell 23, Rinku Singh 53 not out, Anukul Roy 29 not out; Ravindra Jadeja 2/8).