Rinku Singh was handed a lifeline out of nowhere in the 156-run chase against the Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, as he led Kolkata Knight Riders to their first win of the Indian Premier League 2026 on Sunday, April 19. Rinku was on eight, and KKR were reeling at 73/5 in the 11th over when Nandre Burger dropped a proper sitter to hand the KKR finisher a lifeline, which proved way too costly for them.
RR haven't dropped many catches this season. Burger's drop was only their third of the season, which is the lowest among all 10 teams. But with both the batters new at the crease and not much batting to come, the drop cost RR dearly.
Rinku remained unbeaten on 53 from 34 balls to power his team home in the final over by hitting two fours and a six as his team hunted down 156 with four wickets in hand and two balls to spare. He was brilliantly supported by Anukul Roy, who made an unscathed 29 from 16 deliveres. Nothing to take away from Rinku and Anukul, who laid a brilliant fightback after their team were reeling.
Rinku, Anukul guide KKR home
KKR were 85/6 after 13.3 overs when these two joined hands as the Knight Riders needed another 71 from 39 balls with four wickets in hand. The two did not big down and took a measured approach, punishing the bad balls and not taking risks on the good ones.
They took 10 runs from the 15th over of Riyan Parag before hitting 19 from the 16th of Ravi Bishnoi and then 12 off Jofra Archer in the 17th. Brijesh Sharma bowled a brilliant 18th over for seven runs to keep the pressure on.
However, a decisive six on the third ball of the 19th over of Archer helped KKR take the equation down to nine needed off the final over. Brijesh chanced his arm but missed his lengths as Rinku pounced to hit two fours and a six to take the team home and cost RR dearly.
KKR's first win of the season
This was KKR's first win of the IPL 2026 season. They remained winless in their first six matches, losing five and sharing a point through a wash-out in the other one. This was KKR's worst start of the season and they were among the handful of teams to have remained winless in the first six matches at the start of an IPL season.
