De Kock leads defending champions KKR to first IPL victory

After restricting their opponents to 151-9, De Kock led the charge with the bat, sealing an impressive triumph with a huge six from Jofra Archer's delivery.

Chasing 152, De Kock batted throughout, timing the ball well on a slow pitch to hit eight fours and six sixes in his 61 balls, helping the reigning champions respond to their seven-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers.

Kolkata started strongly as Sanju Samson (13) fell in the third over to Vaibhav Arora (2-33), but Riyan Parag's 25 steadied the ship.

However, when Parag was dismissed soon after, the wickets began to tumble as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (29), Wanindu Hasaranga (four) and Nitish Rana (eight) were bowled out in three consecutive overs to put Kolkata in control.

Dhruv Jurel (33) halted the collapse somewhat before falling to Harshit Rana (2-36), with the Royals unable to add significant runs to their total as they aimed to do the damage with the ball in hand.

Moeen Ali, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arora and Rana all took two wickets each for Kolkata, showcasing their class without last year's MVP, Sunil Narine, who was unwell.

And De Kock showed he meant business after crashing a boundary in the second over before easing his way through the gears to attack the Rajasthan bowlers.

The Royals got their breakthrough in the sixth over when Ali (five) was run out by Maheesh Theekshana, but with De Kock at the crease, the victory never looked in doubt.

Ajinkya Rahane's 18 helped Kolkata edge closer to victory, but it was De Kock who stole the show, batting his team to victory, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi chipping in with 22 runs.

𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 QDKQuinton de Kock bags the 'Player of the Match' award for his rock solid innings of 97*(61)Scorecard https://t.co/lGpYvw87IR#TATAIPL | #RRvKKR | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/88CK9DRitu

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Kolkata were dealt a blow ahead of the match with Narine missing through illness. He was three wickets away from surpassing Dwayne Bravo (183) to become the third-leading wicket-taker in the IPL, but KKR's spinners showcased their class in his absence.

But their triumph was led by De Kock, whose unbeaten 97 was his 26th score of 50 runs or more and his third-highest individual score in the IPL.