Rinku Singh comes to the rescue as Kolkata beats Rajasthan by 4 wickets for its first IPL win

India IPL Cricket

Kolkata Knight Riders' Rinku Singh, center, reacts after Kolkata Knight Riders won the Indian Premier League cricket match against Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata, India, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

India IPL Cricket

Kolkata Knight Riders' Anukul Roy plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata, India, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) KOLKATA, India (AP) — Kolkata Knight Riders won for the first time this season in the Indian Premier League as Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy led their team to a four-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Singh scored 53 not out off 34 balls and Roy hit an undefeated 29 off 16 deliveries. They came together with Kolkata in deep trouble at 85-6 in 13.3 overs and put on 76 runs in 37 balls. The pair hit four sixes between them as Kolkata finished with 161-6 in 19.4 overs, its first win after five defeats and a no-result. Earlier, Rajasthan chose to bat first at Eden Gardens and had overcome its own batting challenges to post 155-9 in 20 overs, buoyed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 28-ball 46. Varun Chakravarthy took 3-14 in four overs, while pacer Kartik Tyagi claimed 3-22. Kolkata is ninth in the 10-team league with three points. Rajasthan is third with eight points from six games. In Sunday’s evening game, IPL leader Punjab Kings hosted Lucknow Super Giants in New Chandigarh.

Sooryavanshi impresses again

Rajasthan openers Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 81 off 52 balls. The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi once again took center stage, hitting six fours and two sixes, while Jaiswal struck two sixes and four fours in his 39 off 29 balls. Kolkata’s spinners struck back as Chakravarthy had Sooryavanshi caught at deep midwicket, while Sunil Narine (2-26) dismissed Jaiswal at the other end, the duo falling within three overs. Chakravarthy then had Dhruv Jurel stumped for five and bowled skipper Riyan Parag for 12. Narine dismissed Donovan Ferreira (7), with Rajasthan down to 124-5 in 16 overs. Tyagi struck three times in the penultimate over, removing Ravindra Jadeja (9), Shimron Hetmyer (15) and Ravi Bishnoi in the space of five balls.

Two ducks

Kolkata started very badly. Jofra Archer bowled Tim Seifert for a golden duck, while Nandre Burger dismissed skipper Ajinkya Rahane, whose two-ball duck left his team at 5-2. Bishnoi had in-form Cameron Green stumped for 27, and Ravindra Jadeja made it 52-4 in seven overs when impact player Angkrish Raghuvanshi was out lbw for 10. Rovman Powell scored 23 and Ramandeep Singh got 10 with Kolkata struggling until Singh and Roy came together. Their aim initially appeared to be avoiding an embarrassing score but Rajasthan relaxed and Kolkata took its chance. Singh and Roy added 50 off 27 balls, with 21 runs needed off the last two overs. That became nine runs required in the last over and Singh smacked consecutive fours off the first two balls and then finished off with a six on the penultimate ball. \\\_ AP cricket: