Reigning Indian Premier League (IPL) champions are alive. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) remain in the playoffs contention after beating the Delhi Capitals (DC) away from home. We are about 3 weeks away from the IPL 2025 group stage matches ending, and all teams remain in contention to qualify for the playoffs.
KKR’s 14-run victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi hasn’t just kept them in the playoffs race but also made it interesting for other teams as well. It seems like DC would stroll into the final four, but for the first time they have lost two consecutive matches in the IPL 2025 season.
Here is the updated IPL 2025 Points Table after Kolkata Knight Riders victory over Delhi Capitals
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Sunil Narine stars with bat, ball and in the field
To claim their 4th win of the season, KKR had to once again fall upon Sunil Narine. The mystery spinner, who became an all-rounder in the last couple of years for the franchise, gave them a rollicking start along. With Rahmatullah Gurbaz, he stitched a 48-run stand in 3 overs.
This strong base helped KKR set up 204 on the board. The batting hadn’t been firing, but against DC, each batter chipped in. No one scored a fifty, but five batters crossed the 20-run mark, and for once, Andre Russell smashed a couple of boundaries as well.
Narine had done his job as an opener. But KKR needed him with the ball. But he did his job, even before bowling his first ball. He ran KL Rahul out in the 7th over. The wicketkeeper batter had been averaging 90 in chases in IPL 2025, and his wicket was essential for KKR to win.
The mystery spinner didn’t take a wicket in his first two overs. But in the 14th over, Narine sent well-set Axar Patel back to the hut. That turned out to be the turning point. Because in the same over, he also claimed Tristan Stubbs’ wicket. Then, in the 16th and his final over, Narine got DC’s best batter’s wicket as Faf du Plessis was caught.
Sunil Narine wins the player of the match award for his brilliant all-round performance against Delhi Capitals
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Spinner’s delight
To put the cherry on the top, Narine also grabbed Ashutosh Sharma’s catch and put the final nail in the coffin. In what was the spinner’s wicket. KKR’s three turners got 6 wickets between them. Varun Chakaravarthy got Ashutosh Sharma and Mitchell Starc, while Anukul Roy, who was playing his first match of the IPL 2025 season, got in-form Abhishek Porel.
Vipraj Nigam was the standout performer for DC. The leg spinner got 2 wickets in his 4 overs and then scored 38 (19) and gave the home team a ray of hope.
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