Kolkata Knight Riders’ batting has been far from convincing this season. Heading into the game against Delhi Capitals, their opening partnership tally was the least among all teams, and the middle order fared no better, with the average of their Nos.4-8 being the lowest. However, they did step up against DC at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday (April 29), putting on a collective batting display to finish with 204. Even so, skipper Ajinkya Rahane felt they were 15 runs short. But their batting issues aside, KKR have remained afloat in the competition thanks to their bowling, especially their spin department. At the end of Match 48 of IPL 2025, KKR’s spinners have the highest wickets’ tally (27), best average (23.33), best economy (7.24), best dot ball percentage (36.2) and the least boundary percentage (12.83) among all teams. Among their spinners, Varun Chakaravarthy has been the standout performer since joining the KKR setup, while Sunil Narine – a consistent presence since 2012 – has taken on more of a holding role while the Indian spinner has dismantled the opposition batting line-ups in recent years. Varun CV and Sunil Narine in the previous IPL cycle Player (Year) Matches Wickets Ave Econ SR Best Varun (2024) 15 21 19.14 8.04 14.20 3/16 Narine (2024) 15 17 21.64 6.69 19.40 2/22 Varun (2023) 14 20 21.45 8.14 15.80 4/15 Narine (2023) 14 11 34.81 7.97 26.10 3/33 Varun (2022) 11 6 55.33 8.51 39.00 1/22 Narine (2022) 14 9 34.66 5.57 37.30 2/21 Varun is also the leading wicket-taker so far in the current season for KKR, with Narine sitting fourth on the list. Since 2020, Varun has bagged three or more wickets in an innings nine times in the IPL, while Narine has achieved that five times in the same period. Yet, every now and then, the roles reverse – with the West Indian stepping up as the standout performer. It happened earlier in the season in the match against Chennai Super Kings. Moeen Ali delivered an early wicket and ended up with frugal figures of 1-20 before Narine stepped in and derailed CSK completely with his three-for, accounting for Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni. Varun also bagged a couple of wickets in that game. A similar script unfolded against DC. Anukul Roy provided the early breakthrough before Narine took over in a multifaceted role – making an impact with the ball, in the field, and as stand-in captain, to wrest control of the game from the home side. Varun, meanwhile, chipped in with two wickets in this game too. Despite losing a couple of wickets in the powerplay, DC picked up pace, with KL Rahul striking a four off Varun to help his side to 58/2 after six overs. Narine’s first impact on the field followed next. After Faf du Plessis played a flick to short fine, Rahul took off for a single but Narine was quick to the ball, quick to release it, and accurately too to effect an important run-out. But DC recovered from that blow quickly, with Axar Patel and Du Plesiss putting on a brisk 76-run partnership. Although the match-up was favourable for the bowler, Axar took on Narine to loft him for a six over long-on. In the following over, Du Plessis punished Varun, who went for 16 in the ninth over, as the South African struck two fours and a six. Axar then hit his second six off Narine, carrying DC to 97/3 at the halfway mark. Boundaries continued in the next three overs, with DC getting into a strong position even as Rahane exited the field with a finger injury. With the regular captain out injured and vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer subbed out after the first innings, the onfield decision-making responsibilities fell to Narine. At that time, Varun had gone for 31 runs off three overs while Narine, with 0-19 in two overs, brought himself back into the attack and was struck for another six by Axar, leaving DC needing 69 off 41. He quickly decided to change the angle and caused the downfall of the DC captain on 43 to bag a crucial wicket. In the same over, he got the better of the dangerous Tristan Stubbs to reduce DC to 138/5. It soon became 146/6 as the half-centurion Du Plessis became Narine’s third scalp looking to go over the top. Was it a wise move, though, on the part of the DC batters to continue going after the KKR spinner at that stage? Vipraj Nigam shed light on the rationale behind DC’s aggressive intent. “Our plan from the beginning was to target their main two spinners. And we had also targeted them in the starting two overs (and it worked). The idea was that if we target two good bowlers, then we will get more overs (from other bowlers) or an extra bowler will come in. “It was the same, but moments like these happen, where shot selection (goes wrong) or something like that. And then it happened that our set players got out. It was such a wicket, against such a bowling line-up, it is very difficult (for a new batter) to come out and play shots immediately. So if the set players kept playing, we would have easily won the match,” explained Nigam.

It’s nothing special – he’s bowling, I’m batting. It’s just another bowler for me to face. I wouldn’t say I’ve done any special preparation against him. Yes, I’ve watched his videos to understand what he bowls and what shots I can play, but I would say he’s just another bowler.” Mumbai Indians’ Naman Dhir was rather nonchalant about Mayank Yadav, once hailed as the next big star in Indian cricket. Naman faced four deliveries and managed just two runs. Weighing that factor in, whether Naman’s dismissive indifference towards Mayank’s bowling was justified is open to debate. But the much-anticipated comeback for the fast bowler turned out to be rather uneventful. Figures of 2 for 40 in a high-scoring game are, for sure, respectable, but his bowling lacked the spark, pace, whip, zip, nip, fire and intensity that one would have expected of him. In short, there were no thunderbolts – he did not look dangerous. Credit to him that he got rid of two key MI batters – Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya – but those scalps were more with deception rather than intimidation. Both came off slower ones – Rohit guiding a 120 kmph delivery to short third man and the ball that got Hardik bowled (through the gate) was delivered 134.2 kmph speed. When Mayank opened the attack for LSG, all eyes were on the speed gun. The fastest he clocked was around 142 kmph. It was different when he arrived on the horizon last season. Consistently clocking over 150 on the speed gun – with his quickest delivery ever being 156.7 kmph (against RCB), the second-fastest by an Indian after Umran Malik (157 kmph) – Mayank featured in four games last season before a back injury rendered him hors de combat. Remarkably, LSG won all four of those matches. He was the player of the match in two of those games. There was no midas touch this time around, however – LSG lost by 54 runs, to hand MI their first win over the SuperGiants in seven meetings in the league stage. Mayank’s numbers for the last season were stellar: seven wickets in 12.1 overs, at an average of 12.14 and an economy rate of 6.98 – the third-best economy rate among bowlers who had bowled more than 10 overs. All the hype around him appeared justified and soon he earned the India cap and a special fast bowler’s contract from the BCCI. He featured in the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh before being consigned to the BCCI centre of excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for back injury. His last game before Sunday’s contest was more than six months ago, on October 12, 2024, and LSG are consciously going slow on him. The SuperGiants, though, are gung-ho about Mayank’s comeback. “He got through the game, stayed on the field for 20 overs and bowled four overs. The execution is going to get better, the speeds are going to get better as he plays more. I’m happy that he’s gotten through the game. That is what my instinct tells me.” Zaheer Khan, the LSG mentor, is totally pleased. “The wait was long and for anyone who is playing after so many months to get back into the game is always that one hurdle which needs to be crossed. So that’s how I’m looking at it. I know that fast bowling is never easy, especially in this format when the batters are coming so hard at you. So that was the thought process.” It’s evident that the franchise is treating the 22-year-old pacer with extreme caution, wrapping his fragile frame in cotton wool. Although he was available a couple of weeks ago, they carefully monitored his workload. They have been in constant touch with the Sports Science wing at the Centre of Excellence. There were even plans to use him as an Impact Player in a couple of games before this. But finally, they unleashed him on Sunday. “We were taking our time just to create that comfort around him. There is a plan in place about how he should be approaching, what kind of programmes he should be following. We are just creating that environment for him to just flourish. You’ve seen him in the last one and a half years, when he had been coming in, bowling and then having these kinds of setbacks. It can play on one’s mind. So you’ve got to comfort that side of things as well. And with Mayank, we’ve taken that kind of approach,” Zaheer explained. As they say, there’s a world of difference between bowling in a match situation and in the nets. The lack of game-time was evident, with his bowling lacking in rhythm. He appeared more innocuous than pernicious, unable to hit the deck the way he once did. Given his history of injuries, it could also be a case of a psychological block holding him back from going full throttle. That said, the positive takeaway from his return is that he can only improve from here – and that can be counted as a positive development for LSG as well as India.

“We’ll feel right at home,” RCB’s spin bowling coach Malolan Rangarajan said, when asked about the dimensions of the Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of the DC vs RCB clash. With its short boundaries, it was little surprise that the Kotla recorded the highest average first-innings total (235) among all venues last season, while RCB’s home ground, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, ranked fourth with an average of 197 among venues that hosted at least five matches. This season, though, batting hasn’t been just about all-out aggression, and the return fixtures between DC and RCB are a testament to that. The DC-RCB clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was effectively a role reversal of what had transpired in Bengaluru earlier this month. Back then, it wasn’t an easy wicket, with Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam combining to restrict RCB to 163. DC stumbled to 30/3 in the chase, but a composed 93* off 53 balls from KL Rahul, along with his 111-run partnership with Tristan Stubbs (38* off 23), steered them home comfortably. On Sunday (April 27), it was RCB’s turn to return the favour, holding DC to 162 courtesy of frugal spells from Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, while the pacers chipped away regularly. RCB also slipped to 26/3 in their chase, but Pandya, playing a role similar to Rahul’s earlier, crafted a superb 73 off 47 balls. His 119-run stand with Virat Kohli (51 off 47) sealed an eight-wicket win in 18.3 overs, extending RCB’s flawless away record in 2025. Batting against spin proved especially difficult on a dry wicket, with batters from both sides having to show application, pace their innings and pick the bowlers to target. Looking at the combined numbers of both teams against spin in this game, only 107 runs were scored off the 103 deliveries bowled by the slow bowlers. There were only five fours and two sixes scored off the spinners, but the effective take-down of pace is where RCB excelled while the majority of the DC batters failed to do so. Both teams posted similar numbers against spin – RCB scored 57 off 55 balls at a strike rate of 103.64, while DC managed 50 off 48 at 104.16. The difference, however, came against pace. DC collected 108 runs off 73 balls at a strike rate of 147.94, but RCB were far more dominant, hammering 104 runs off just 58 balls at an impressive strike rate of 179.31. And it was Pandya’s batting – both against pace and spin – that made life easier for RCB despite their early struggles. The left-hander got as many as 44 runs off 24 balls against the quick bowlers, striking at 183.33. But he was also busy against the spinners, scoring 29 off 23 at 126.08, even hitting two fours and a six off them.

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru fielders scattered into separate huddles during the strategic time-out, a visual metaphor for how the first eight overs had unraveled. Rajasthan Royals had blazed their way to 99 for 2 in a chase of 205, reducing the required rate to a manageable 8.33. The biggest cluster featured the brains trust: Andy Flower, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, and Jitesh Sharma. Bowling coach Omkar Salvi stood a little further away with Yash Dayal and Romario Shepherd, hashing out ideas. And then, on the edge of these two meetings, stood Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. Just the two of them, in quiet conference. Being an IPL spinner at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has never been a promising career path. It takes a certain defiance to persist here: Yuzvendra Chahal, the league’s most prolific wicket-taker, being a rare and celebrated exception. Now, under lights and mounting pressure of a home record that threatened to upend what’s been a promising IPL 2025 campaign so far, Krunal and Suyash were entrusted with wresting some semblance of control with a dewy ball at a venue that seldom spares their kind. RCB’s 11-run win will rightly be remembered for Josh Hazlewood’s four-wicket haul, delivered with cold, calculated precision. But the soul of the victory also lay in the quiet strangulation applied by their two spinners, the kind of bowlers you don’t expect to thrive on this trampoline of a surface. Especially not this season where good-length deliveries from high release points have reared up with tennis-ball spite, and where spinners have often seemed ornamental, a fact underscored by the visitors’ decision to drop Maheesh Theekshana for an extra seamer in Fazalhaq Farooqi. RCB were under siege and needed a break when Krunal was handed the ball for the 10th over. There was some hold and turn for the spinner, but even so the three post-PowerPlay overs had gone for 38. The break, when it arrived, came courtesy an unlikely source, the other spinner Suyash. Just as Krunal readied himself at the top of his mark, the umpires intervened, asking him to wait. They wanted to revisit a seemingly innocuous incident from the final delivery of the previous over, when Suyash appeared to have used his cap to field, a technical breach that might have cost RCB five penalty runs. The umpires ultimately deemed that ‘over’ had been called during the said transgression and allowed play to resume. Only this time, RR’s momentum had inadvertently been robbed. On the very first ball post this delay, skipper Riyan Parag attempted an ambitious slog. It produced only a swirling top-edge and was safely pouched. It was the kind of dismissal that won’t show up in countdown loops at the end of the week, but flips the atmosphere inside a stadium. Krunal’s breakthrough, his first wicket in 37 balls in Bengaluru this season, was the first big crack in Rajasthan’s chase that quickly unraveled like a poorly-folded origami. For the next seven overs, Patidar had Krunal and Suyash operating in tandem and the pair obliged by conceding just 50 runs and four boundaries between overs 10 and 16. Fittingly, they both finished by giving away an identical 31 runs from their four overs although Krunal also had two wickets to show for his efforts on the night. There were no magic balls in Kurnal’s spell, just subtle pace variations and a veteran’s instinct for angles. Suyash, operating with a sweeper and two men in the ring for the cut , also bowled to his field, even if did drop the occasional delivery short. Crucially, though he didn’t let the pressure slip. But the Royals did. Their middle-order, so often hesitant once the PowerPlay fades, slipped into a familiar pattern of passivity. Jurel, mindful of recent last-over heartbreaks, tried to bat deep and ended up consuming dot balls. Rana, meanwhile, was boxed in by matchups that he has, counter-intuitively, under-performed against: left-arm orthodox spin and legspin. Nitish Rana vs spin types Bowling Type Average Strike-Rate Left-arm Orthodox + Leg spin 25.6 130 Left-arm wristspin + Off spin 37.38 161 It wasn’t dominance, but a denial of space. No release shots, no easy twos. The innings, so electric early on, began to stall. And with every dot, every scuffed single, the required rate crept up, from under nine to over twelve by the time the pair were done. And through it all, something else began to shift. The Chinnaswamy crowd, subdued and wary after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s early blitz, found its voice again. What began as a cautious murmur rose, slowly, steadily, into a familiar, ferocious wall of sound. It wasn’t just a noise; it was belief returning. And yet, even after the squeeze, the game still seemed to be slipping away. Jurel, playing the long game, brought it down to 18 off 12. But Hazlewood returned and bowled as if the pressure didn’t exist. A nerveless penultimate over gave away just one run and brought two wickets, including that of Jurel, sealing a win that seemed unlikely at many points of the defence. It’s been that kind of a season for RCB. They’ve won five on the bounce away from home, including at Chepauk and Wankhede. They lost the first three at home without the Chinnaswamy Stadium seeing a score of 200 until this fourth game. But maybe that’s the point. In a season that has defied convention, RCB are learning to win in unfamiliar ways. To defend a target at this ground, on a night when 99 came in the first eight overs, through a spin choke and a fast bowler’s cold-blooded finish? That’s not just a result. That’s an injection of belief. And in doing so, RCB may have stumbled upon something more valuable than just two points, a method unbound by conditions or convention. If the road to the playoffs is paved with moments that shift belief, then this night, under Bengaluru’s bright lights and loud sounds, might just be the turn where their push…

Table-toppers Gujarat Titans underscored why they have been the dominant force of the IPL 2025 season so far with an all-round show that trumped Kolkata Knight Riders by 39 runs on their own turf. Gujarat’s firing top-order got into the act once again with Shubman Gill top-scoring with 90 while his opening partner Sai Sudharsan got to another fifty. Adding a layer of cream was Jos Buttler’s cameo that powered them to a total of 198. In the defense, Gujarat’s spin-attack strangled KKR’s middle-order with the pacers also providing timely strikes offering no respite. Their dominant performance gave them their sixth win in eight games in IPL 2025. What was the difference? Soon after the powerplay and until the 15th over, Gujarat scored at over 10 an over while KKR could muster only a run-rate of 7.6. Gill and Sudharsan provided the perfect acceleration for Gujarat after identical scores in the powerplay, albeit with KKR losing two more wickets in comparison. While Gill brought out the slog-sweeps to counter KKR’s strong spin-attack, the home team was left searching for answers against Gujarat’s equally skilful spin attack. Having dug themselves into a hole, it proved too deep for them to sping back up from. Gujarat’s well-executed plans doubly ensured that they stayed grounded. GUJARAT TITANS PowerPlay – Gujarat make a cautious start Phase Score – 45/0 (RR: 7.5 ; 4s/6s: 6/0) Both Gill and Sudharsan were largely untroubled but they remained watchful despite Gujarat not losing any wickets. They registered Gujarat’s second-lowest Powerplay score of the season, getting only 45. A slightly slow surface meant that KKR used three overs of spin – two from Moeen Ali and one from Varun Chakravarthy. Only two boundaries were possible in these three overs with the pacers copping more of the punishment. Harshit Rana was sliced and cut for back-to-back boundaries as Gill caught up with Sudharsan, who had been the early mover in the period. However, it didn’t take Gill long to get ahead. Middle overs – Gill, Sudharsan take control Phase Score – 94/1 (RR: 10.4 ; 4s/6s: 12 /1) Gill raced to a 34-ball fifty, ploughing boundaries against the spinners. It started off with a sequence of 6,4, 4 against Moeen Ali with delectable sweeps sandwiching a late cut. Sudharsan too picked the right balls to go after, getting to his fifty in just 33 balls – his eighth in the last 12 innings in the IPL. Their 114-run opening stand was a study in old-school thoughts of assessing before exploding. It provided the Titans with a great foundation after being put in to bat, and underlined their strength of having a fully firing top-order. In 26 innings together, the duo had now put on 50-plus stands half the number of times. That rosy period for Gujarat Titans came to an end in the 13th over when Andre Russell got some extra bounce that produced an edge with Sudharsan attempting to cut. The other member of the Titans’ in-form top-order, Jos Buttler wasted no time in reversing the pressure. He struck three boundaries off Russell in the same over to race away to a quick start. Continuing in the same tempo, Buttler offered a chance which was spilled by Vaibhav Arora, but the Englishman nevertheless ensured that Gujarat’s momentum did not dip. Death overs – Gujarat finish with 198 despite a stutter Phase Score – 47/2 (RR: 9.4 ; 4s/6s: 4/4) Gill provided the initial momentum scoring his last 29 runs in just 12 balls. Touching 90, he finally fell to a full toss in the same over after carting Vaibhav Arora for a four and a six. Rahul Tewatia too was done in by a slower one from Rana soon after. This threatened to give KKR a sniff back in the game in the end overs but they tripped up in the final over. Arora missed his yorkers and was hit for two fours and a six in an 18-run final over that pushed Gujarat close to 200 with Buttler unbeaten on 41. KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS PowerPlay – KKR kept on a leash Phase Score – 45/2 (RR: 7.5; 4s/6s: 6/1) Rahmanullah Gurbaz, replacing Quinton de Kock, failed to offset KKR’s opening woes this season as he was trapped LBW by an incoming delivery from Mohammed Siraj in the very first over of the chase. Ajinkya Rahane tried to offset that with some neat boundaries clearing the infield in the PowerPlay while Sunil Narine’s three boundaries were more sporadic. The latter, however, was done in with the first over of spin bowled by Rashid Khan. He pulled a delivery that skidded on straight into the hands of backward square leg giving Gujarat the bragging rights inside the PowerPlay. Middle overs – Gujarat’s spinners get a chokehold Phase Score – 69/2 (RR: 7.66 ; 4s/6s: 3/2) Unlike Gujarat, who managed to accelerate at this stage, both Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer were tied up with both Prasidh Krishna and Rashid being on the money. Iyer also survived an LBW on review against the Afghan spinner as no boundaries came for 34 balls on the trot. Rahane finally broke that streak with a loft over cover off Washington Sundar and then slog-swept him for a six in the same over. His partner, Iyer, had a torrid time creeping to 14 off 18 before sweeping Sai Kishore to deep midwicket. The partnership that lasted 36 balls yielded only 41 runs and left KKR with a steep uphill task of needing 13.5 an over for the rest of the innings. Rahane got to a 36-ball fifty soon after but was dismissed when Sundar threw one wide seeing him step down to have him stumped. Rinku Singh and Andre Russell were entrusted with the task of dragging KKR up. While the latter was able to muscle a six and a four early, they too found the going tough against some accurate bowling according to well-set fields. Death overs – Chained KKR fail to break free Phase Score…