KKR vs RR, IPL 2026: Rinku-Anukul win thriller for Kolkata

Finally a win for KKR here. And the only credit goes to Anukul and Rinku Singh, who went on to add over 70 runs together. No one would have thought that they could have won it from there. 50 fo Rinku in 34 deliveries. Take a bow.

What an over this has been from Brijesh Sharma. Two balls on leg stump, but very close to the batter. And Rinku edges one, which would have been a clear wide. So nine runs needed from last over.

Last two overs have changed the complexion of the match. Rinku and Anukul have added a few boundaries already. 31 runs have come in last two overs.

KKR is on the verge of losing another one, and that would mean, they are on the verge of getting knocked out. Another over done, this time by Riyan Parag.

Punja has his maiden wicket for RR here. The ball is outside off, but takes a thick edge from Ramandeep and crashes into the stumps.

Target is siipping away from KKR for sure. Two new men are on the crease. Rinku is out of form, while the team can't depend much on Ramandeep.

Jadeja has his second here as he gets rid of Powell for 23 from 20. Things getting worse for them. Dropped, oh no. Burger has dropped a simple catch of Rinku. Jaddu must be disappointed.

KKR batters are getting in shell. Rinku or Powell need to start going for big shots. Tough road ahead for Kolkata from here in the last 60 deliveries.

Run rate is now starting to creep up. KKR need 93 in 11 overs and this is not the best scenario for them with four wickets gone. Someone needs to do the heavylifting.

You can't take Jadeja lightly here. The ball keeps straight after pitching, Raghuvanshi tries to reverse sweep and completely misses the line of the ball. Out LBW for 10 from 19.

Rajasthan have subbed Sooryavanshi and they have gotten Yash Raj Poonja here. Powell has come out in some mood. Whatever the situation be, he has decided to just tee off. 50 comes up for the team.

Bishnoi comes on for an over and induces an edge from Green, he gets a four. And a wicket. Excellent work by Jurel to stump out Green. It was way outside leg, Jurel gathers it quickly and throws it on to the stumps.

The run rate is just over 6 for KKR, but that hardly matters in this chase. Right now, the only concern for them is wickets. They need to preserve that only.

One thing is clear; RR need to keep picking up wickets, the moment the intensity drops, the total is so small, that it will be achieved easily. Take your time KKR.

Skipper Rahane gone. Nandre Burger has a wicket. Bowled wide, and Rahane chases it for a slash. Edges and caught behind by the keeper. This is not looking good for them.

Jofra Archer starts against Tim Seifert, and clean bowled. The batter tries to drive and loses his stumps. KKR had one easy chas to make, but looks like they will bottle it up.

A run-out off the last delivery means Rajasthan Royals finish at 155/9 at the end of 20 overs. It was excellent bowling in the death overs from the KKR bowlers as RR lost wickets in a heap. Rahane and co. will be chasing their first win of the tournament.

Kartik Tyagi strikes thrice in an over as he first gets rid of Ravindra Jadeja, then Shimron Hetmyer for 15 off 18 balls followed by Ravi Bishnoi for a golden duck. RR are losing wickets in quick succession and are now struggling to reach a formidable total. Tyagi's victims include Jadeja, Hetmyer and Ravi Bishnoi

Cameron Green takes a good catch as Ravindra Jadeja gets caught out, courtesy of Kartik Tyagi. RR have lost their 6th wicket

Sunil Narine gets his second wicket to close out his spell with figures of 2/26 as Donovan Ferreira is the latest batter to depart. RR have lost half their side npw and are clearly struggling as they are unable to get out of a collapse

Varun Chakravarthy is truly back to form as he bags his third wicket in the game against RR. He cleans up Riyan Parag with a beautiful delivery and he is ecstatic. One of the rare moments when fans get to witness any emotion from VC on taking a wicket! RR are 4 down now. He finishes with outstanding figures of 3/14 from his 4 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy becomes the joint-fastest Indian bowler to reach 200 T20 wickets, equalling the record of Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav. Take a look at the special moment below

Big wicket & a special one for @chakaravarthy29! 💜

200th T20 wicket! He becomes the joint-fastest Indian bowler to reach the milestone, alongside Arshdeep and Kuldeep 👏#TATAIPL 2026 ➡️ #KKRvRR | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/WYRBfg1pqf pic.twitter.com/xx7SnWOEqu

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 19, 2026

Despite a strong start in the powerplay, RR have managed to go past the 100-run mark only in the 13th over. Varun Chakravarthy finally opened his accout in IPL 2026 while Sunil Narine has picked his 4th wicket. All eyes will be on Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer.

RR have brought KKR's momentum to a halt as a third wicket falls. Yashasvi Jaiswal sends a delivery straight down Ajinkya Rahane's throat as Sunil Narine opens his account. RR are three wickets down now.

Dhruv Jurel is stumped out by Tim Seifert as he gets stumped out for just 5 runs as KKR lose their 2nd wicket. Once again, it is Varun Chakravarthy who strikes. Big blow for RR!

Varun Chakravarthy strikes as Ramandeep Singh takes a fine catch to get rid of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for 46 runs. Finally, KKR get the much-needed breakthrough. The RR opener attempts a slog sweep but gets caught out at deep midwicket. This marks Varun's 200th T20 wicket

8 overs are done and KKR are yet to find a breakthrough. Five bowlers have been used so far but no one has managed to take a wicket. Sooryavanshi is 4 runs away from yet another half-century

Cameron Green concedes 22 runs off his second over as Rajasthan Royals go past the 50-run mark with ease in the powerplay. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (38 off 21) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (21 off 15) have dominated KKR in the first six overs despite being slow. RR have reached 63/0 at the end of the powerplay.

You just can't keep Vaibhav Sooryavanshi calm for a long time! The 15-year-old gets going with three boundaries off Vaibhav Arora in his 2nd over. RR are going at a run-rate of 8.75 so far

Vaibhav Arora concedes just 6 runs from his first over to give a tidy start for RR. Karthik Tyagi is bowling the second over and has conceded a couple of boundaries within the first four balls.

Australian legend Allan Border rings the bell at the iconic Eden Gardens to mark the start of KKR vs RR. The explosive pair of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal are out in the middle to commence the proceedings for the Rajasthan Royals. Vaibhav Arora will start with the new ball for KKR. Action begins

When KKR and RR locked horns the last time in the IPL, Ajinkya Rahane and co. clinched a nail-biting 1-run win as Royals failed to chase down the 207-run target set by the opposition. Andre Russell was named the Player of the Match. 

From appearing for bowling trials at the nets before making his IPL debut to making his way to the India cricket team, Ravi Bishnoi talks about his journey. Take a look below👇

"Tu aage khelne ki taiyaari kar!" #RaviBishnoi shares his story of net bowling trials to the #TATAIPL & the Indian Cricket Team. #TATAIPL 2026 👉 #KKRvRR | SUN, 19th APR, 2:30 PM pic.twitter.com/7DvhcgYZUn

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 19, 2026

"We wanted to bat first. In this situation, we want our batters to be free from any pressure. The bowlers have started to perform well, and I'm happy to lose the toss. We live in the past, we can't say about the future, just focus on the controllables. The preparation has been fantastic and the preparations have been good. Just go out there and do well," the KKR captain said after the toss.

Ajinkya Rahane(c), Tim Seifert(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact options: Manish Pandey, Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Tejasvi Singh, Navdeep Saini

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, 1Nandre Burger, Brijesh Shar

Impact options: Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Yash Punja

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag wins the toss and opts to bat first in the contest against KKR at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. RR have made three changes to their line-up, with Hetmyer coming back in while Tushar Deshpande has been rested. KKR are going with the same playing XI.

The toss for the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals is just minutes away! The venue has assisted spinners so far in an afternoon game, and it remains to be seen what decision the team winning the toss will take. 

KKR shelled out a whopping Rs 25.20 crore for Cameron Green in the mini-auction. However, in 6 matches so far in IPL 2026, he has only managed to score 135 runs, at a strike rate of 143.61. His highest score came against GT where he managed to score 79 runs. With the ball, he has managed to take just one wicket. Can he do any better on Sunday? 

GET! SET! GO GREEN! 🟢💥 pic.twitter.com/G9gq2sJKmp

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 19, 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders have been winless so far in IPL 2026, while Rajasthan Royals have lost only one match so far. KKR have an upper hand in terms of the head-to-head record against RR. But the form of the three-time champions casts aspersions on their ability to hand the latter an upset. Who will win today's match? Check out the match prediction here. 

With 200 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 263.15, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has not only smashed runs at will, but he has also dominated the powerplay. Be it Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Jasprit Bumrah, the 15-year-old has not shown mercy to anyone, even if it's a big name. Sooryavanshi will be a threat to KKR's fragile bowling. If he is not stopped, KKR may end up losing the match in the powerplay. He will be even more hungry after getting a duck in the last game. 

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals have heavily relied on their openers, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. After that, Dhruv Jurel has been amongst the runs. However, RR have also been top-heavy with runs drying up from No. 4 position. In case of a top-order failure, RR could be in real trouble.

As for their bowling, it is in good stead. Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger are in form, and even though Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Desphande went for aplenty against SRH, they have done well so far. Ravi Bishnoi has hit his top gear and has troubled batters with his googlies. Against a fragile KKR side, RR's bowling will have enough ammunition.

With just 1 point from 6 matches, Ajinkya Rahane & Co are at the bottom of the IPL 2026 Points Table. Their batting hasn't clicked, nor has their bowling. However, KKR will be happy that their multi-million dollar bet, Cameron Green, is back among runs as he smashed 55-ball 79. But one might question his strike rate. As for other batters, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and captain Ajinkya Rahane are the only ones to score in triple-digits. Rinku Singh is out of form and that has created more problems for them.

What is concerning is their bowling. Apart from Sunil Narine, no one has been convincing. Varun Chakaravarthy has struggled with form, while their entire pace attack is inexperienced and has lacked spark without Akash Deep and Harshit Rana, who are out of the season with injuries. Matheesha Pathirana won't be available for the KKR vs RR match. Hence, others will need to buckle up to withstand Jai-Soorya storm.

Rajasthan Royals have a chance to go top with a win as they sit 3rd on the IPL 2026 Points Table with 8 points from 5 matches. KKR are at the bottom with just 1 point. 

Kolkata and Rajasthan have faced off 31 times in IPL since 2008. KKR have won 16, while RR have managed to win 14 of them, including two wins in super overs. At Eden Gardens, KKR have always had an edge, winning 7 out of 11 matches.

Tim Seifert(w), Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Sarthak Ranjan, Rachin Ravindra, Prashant Solanki, Blessing Muzarabani, Saurabh Dubey, Matheesha Pathirana, Umran Malik, Daksh Kamra