KOLKATA, India (AP) — The Kolkata Knight Riders secured their first victory of the IPL season against the Rajasthan Royals. Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy played crucial roles with their batting, leading Kolkata to a four-wicket win. Starting at 85-6, they recovered by scoring 76 runs quickly in 37 balls. Singh scored 53 not out, while Roy hit an undefeated 29.
Earlier, Rajasthan chose to bat first and managed to score 155-9 with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hitting a quick 46 off 28 balls. Kolkata’s spinners, including Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, took key wickets to limit Rajasthan’s total.
Kolkata is now ninth in the league with three points, while Rajasthan remains third with eight points from six games.
In another match, IPL leader Punjab Kings continued its strong form by scoring 254-7 against Lucknow Super Giants. Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly were the main scorers, hitting near-centuries and putting on 182 runs in 80 balls. Their partnership was the third highest for any wicket in IPL history.
Lucknow struggled to chase, finishing at 200-5 despite contributions from Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant. Punjab’s spinners, including Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh, took crucial wickets to defend their total. This was Lucknow’s fourth loss in six matches, dropping them to eighth place.
Punjab remains at the top of the league with 10 points from five games.