KKR vs RR Highlights, IPL 2025: Riyan Parag's 95 in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals to keep playoff hopes alive

Harshit Rana to Riyan Parag, FOUR! A brave effort from Rinku, but all in vain! Good length, around off, Riyan Parag stands tall and slaps it through covers. Rinku Singh comes charging across to his right and slides in to stop the ball. He almost manages to intercept, but the ball gets parried into the ropes in the end.

STRATEGIC BREAK. Cricket is not for the faint-hearted, they say. Well and truly said. At the end of the 12th over, it looked like KKR would walk away with the game as half of the Royals' side was already into the dugout. But the game flipped 180 degrees as Riyan Parag said, enough and launched a massive counter-offensive. A 32-run over, including 5 towering sixes from him, has completely changed the course of the match. It is anyone's game to lose from here as Rajasthan Royals require 52 off the last 5 overs, which is, in modern-day cricket, quite doable. With Hetmyer and Parag, two power hitters fighting bravely, they will fancy their chances and go for the kill. But, a wicket here will again change the momentum to KKR's favor. An interesting last five overs coming up folks. Will Dre Russ get an over? Not yet. Harshit Rana (2-0-28-0) is into the attack now.

Is there a bat involved? Kolkata Knight Riders have opted for a review for caught behind here as Sunil Narine and Gurbaz look very certain that they have got their man. UltraEdge comes up and shows a flat line as the ball passes the bat. NOT OUT!

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, NOT OUT! Slows it up, full and on off, Shimron Hetmyer goes down for the big slog sweep again but misses it. Rahmanullah Gurbaz behind the stumps, grabs it and appeals, but the finger stays down. Kolkata Knight Riders go for the review, but UltraEdge shows no spike. They lose the review.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Short again and on middle, Riyan Parag works it to deep mid-wicket for one.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Short and around off, Shimron Hetmyer punches it through extra covers for a single.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, SIX! Hettie joins the party now! Flighted, full and around middle. Shimron Hetmyer gets down on one knee and slogs it nicely over the deep square leg fence for a biggie. 150 up for RR now!

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Tossed up, full and on middle, Riyan Parag eases it to long on for a run.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Floated, full and on middle, Riyan Parag clips it away towards deep square leg for a brace.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, Flighted, full and on leg, Shimron Hetmyer flicks it away towards deep mid-wicket and comes back for the second run. 10 runs off the over, 42 in the last 2!

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, Fires one full and on middle, Riyan Parag forces it to long off for one.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, Slows it up, short and on off, Riyan Parag stabs it out on the pitch.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, Flatter, full and on off, Riyan Parag drives it hard but straight to extra covers.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, SIX! Parag is just having fun now! Floated, full and around middle, Riyan Parag goes down and nails the reverse sweep over the deep point fence for a biggie. KKR under pressure now!

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, Flighted, full and outside off, Shimron Hetmyer drills it to long off for a single.

These lusty blows from Parag have significantly brought the asking rate down.

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, SIX! Fives sixes in the over! 32 runs off it! Quicker, full and outside off, Riyan Parag extends his arms to reach out and tonks it over the long off fence for a six. This could prove to be the game-changing over!

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, Darts one full but well outside off, Riyan Parag lets it go. Wided.

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, SIX! FOUR IN A ROW NOW! Loopy delivery, full and on middle, Riyan Parag clears his front leg away and dispatches it high and handsomely over the long on fence for a biggie. This is exactly the over RR wanted!

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, SIX! Make that three in a row! Moeen Ali goes around the wicket and fires this full and on leg. Easy picking for Parag as he swipes it over the deep square leg fence again for half a dozen more.

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, SIX MORE! Parag is changing gears now! Flighted, full and on off, Riyan Parag reaches out for it a bit and launches it down the ground over long on for another biggie.

Moeen Ali to Riyan Parag, SIX! FIFTY FOR PARAG! His first of the season and he is keeping RR in this game! Flatter, full and on the pads. Riyan Parag picks it up and whips it over the deep square leg fence for a flat six. Doesn't show any emotions and just calmly raises his bat in the air as he knows that the job is far from being done. Nevertheless, a sensational fifty from the RR skipper.

Moeen Ali to Shimron Hetmyer, Tossed up, full and on middle, Shimron Hetmyer clips it through mid-wicket for a single.

Moeen Ali (2-0-11-2) is back on. He replaces Sunil Narine.

Vaibhav Arora to Shimron Hetmyer, A low full toss, outside off, Shimron Hetmyer drills it towards point where Harshit Rana lets it through for one.

Vaibhav Arora to Shimron Hetmyer, Slower one, short of a length and on off, Shimron Hetmyer swats it towards deep square leg for a brace. 100 up for Rajasthan Royals!

Vaibhav Arora to Riyan Parag, Right in the blockhole, on middle and leg, Riyan Parag jams it out towards mid-wicket for a single.

Vaibhav Arora to Riyan Parag, FOUR! Two in two! Vaibhav Arora bowls a juicy full toss, on middle, Riyan Parag is not going to miss out on that, and smacks it over the bowler's head for another boundary.

Vaibhav Arora to Riyan Parag, FOUR! Nice shot! Hard length and just around off, Riyan Parag stays back and thumps it wide of long off for a boundary.

Vaibhav Arora to Riyan Parag, A low full toss around off, Riyan Parag drives it to extra covers where Moeen Ali makes a good diving stop to his right.

Pace back on as Vaibhav Arora returns for another spell. He is 2-0-18-1 so far, and replaces Varun Chakaravarthy.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Quicker, full and on leg, Shimron Hetmyer misses his flick and gets hit on the pads.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Flighted, full and on middle, Riyan Parag clips it through mid-wicket for one.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Floated, full and on middle and leg, Shimron Hetmyer lofts it on the bounce wide of long on for another run.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Short again, on middle, keeps a bit low, Riyan Parag adjusts well and nudges it through mid-wicket for a run.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Short and around off, Shimron Hetmyer punches it through covers for a single.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, FOUR! Powered away! Tossed up, full and ono ff, Shimron Hetmyer drills it hard and aerially wide of the bowler. Sunil Narine gets his hands out of the way as the ball races to the long off fence for a boundary.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, A flatter leg break from Varun, outside off, on a length, Riyan Parag goes into the crease for a late cut, but is beaten. Halfway through into the chase, Rajasthan Royals are moving at a snail's pace - 82/5, needing another 125 runs off last 10 overs.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Riyan Parag, Into the blockhole, on off, Riyan Parag carves it out to the widish long off region. Two taken.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, Lands it fuller, in front of the sticks, Shimron Hetmyer lunges ahead and gently pushes it to the left of long on for a single.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, Length ball, around off, this is punched off the back foot to deep cover for two more.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, Drags the length back, on the middle with some extra bounce. Hetmyer closes the bat face early to work into the on side, and ends up fending it to the off side.

Varun Chakaravarthy to Shimron Hetmyer, A leg break, full and on off, Shimron Hetmyer leans on and pushes it across between long on and deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.

Strategic Break! Since the departure of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kolkata Knight Riders have been on top of this game. The ball is now gripping and turning square, and with the quality of spin bowling that the home team possesses, they will be hopeful of picking up a few more wickets in quick time. However, the captain of Rajasthan Royals is still out there, and a lot will depend on this pair of Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer to get them out of trouble.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, A jaffa! This one lands and skids through the deck, spinning in as well. Parag looks to nudge off the back foot but misses, and gets beaten on the inside edge, as he gets in a bit of an awkward position to negotiate the bounce and the turn.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Full in length, floated on the stumps, Shimron Hetmyer flicks it across to deep mid-wicket for a single.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Pitched around the leg stump, on a length, Shimron Hetmyer misses to pull it away and the ball raps on the front pad.

Sunil Narine to Riyan Parag, Drifts into the batter, full and on off, Riyan Parag leans on and drives along the ground to long off for a single.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Pushes it across off, full in length, cut away to deep point for a single.

Sunil Narine to Shimron Hetmyer, Tossed up, full and on off, Shimron Hetmyer steers it towards backward point.