Follow UsRiyan Parag smashed 95 off 45 deliveries - his highest T20 score - in Match 53 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but couldn’t prevent Rajasthan Royals (RR) from suffering their ninth defeat of the season.
The RR captain hammered six fours and eight maximums and single-handedly kept RR alive in the 207-run chase at Eden Gardens on May 4 (Sunday). And, six of those sixes came off consecutive deliveries (five off Moeen Ali and one off Varun Chakaravarthy).
RR were 72 for 5 at the end of eight overs, and it looked like the match was done and dusted, but that’s when Parag went berserk and put the pressure back on KKR.
Parag played Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine with caution in the next couple of overs, and the equation came down to 104 off 48 deliveries.
Moeen Ali had figures of 2/11 in two overs when he came to bowl the 13th over, and Parag whacked him for five consecutive sixes after Shimron Hetmyer took a single off the first delivery. He then reverse-swept Chakaravarthy for another six off the next delivery he faced.
𝙍𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙍𝙞𝙮𝙖𝙣 🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2025
The #RR captain is in the mood tonight 😎
He keeps @rajasthanroyals in the game 🩷
Updates ▶ https://t.co/wg00ni9CQE#TATAIPL | #KKRvRR | @rajasthanroyals | @ParagRiyan pic.twitter.com/zwGdrP3yMB
Parag managed to bring the equation down to 52 off 30 deliveries, and it looked like RR could actually win this game. However, that’s when Harshit Rana dismissed Hetmyer (29 off 23) in the 16th over, and then returned for his final over to get Parag caught at long-on.
Shubham Dubey was the only frontline batter left, and RR needed 22 from the final over, which got to 19 off four deliveries. Dubey then sent the next three deliveries for 6,4, and 6, leaving three to get from the final ball of the match.
Vaibhav Arora, however, got his length very full, and Dubey failed to get under it. The ball went to Rinku Singh at long-off, who sent in a fiery throw to the non-striker’s end, and Arora removed the bails to help KKR complete a stunning one-wicket victory.
Thanks to this win, KKR are still alive in the IPL 2025.