IPL: Knights fans live in hope as Rinku finds mojo back as a finisher

Two giant tifos at the Eden Gardens, of the kind most commonly seen at football games, showed how desperately Kolkata Knight Riders fans wanted their team to prevail in the must-win match against Rajasthan Royals. 'Through every storm, we are together', read one in the Sourav Ganguly Stand while another read 'One purple heart beats strong'.

It may not have been an impressive performance by any stretch of the imagination, but vice-captain Rinku Singh and young Anukul Roy pulled KKR back from the brink to seal a thrilling four-wicket win and live for another day this season. The first full points of IPL 2026 still leave the Knights struggling on three points from seven games, but has them hanging in with a mathematical possibility of them still making it to the last four.

Apart from helping their loyal band of supporters breathe a sigh of relief that the winless run has finally ended, there were a number of positives from an absorbing battle that Ajinkya Rahane’s army would like to build on if they want to keep the campaign alive. Rinku, named deputy of the franchise with much fanfare but failing to do justice to his reputation as a finisher, kept his calm with his first fifty of the season and found an able ally in unheralded young allrounder Jharkhand boy Anukul.

A 76-run partnership off 37 balls between the two for the seventh wicket turned the tide for the hosts after they had slumped to 85 for six in the 14th over. Spin twins Sunil Narine (2/26) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/14) found their rhythm on a wicket where stroke-making was not exactly easy, while the inexperienced pace attack was disciplined enough to restrict the highflying Royals to 155 after they chose to bat.

''Yes, this win after six games had been hugely significant for the team. I could see many tears in the dressing room - something which was not there even during our triumph,'' Player of the Match Chakravarthy said later. Asked whether the three-wicket haul puts him in a better frame of mind, Varun said the efficiency of a spinner is also determined by whether the wicket has anything on offer.

A target of 156 was certainly 15-20 runs below par on this wicket and against an attack which offered a variety of quality spin options, led by veteran Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi. The Purple Army, however, got off to yet another messy start — losing Tim Seifert, Rahane and Cameron Green to be pushed to the backfoot inside the powerplay itself.

A 51,000-strong crowd braved oppressive heat to turn up for the season's only afternoon game at the venue. The KKR pace attack of Vaibhav Arora and Karthik kept the power duo of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal on a leash somewhat as they reached 63 without loss after powerplay.

The curiosity level around 15-year-old Vaibhav, who has grown tremendously in stature in his second IPL season, was understandable. As one headed to the venue this afternoon, vendors were selling Royals shirts on roadside with ‘Suryavanshi’ at the back, a testimony to the impact that the teen prodigy has already created. His 46 off 28 balls may have looked sombre by his standards, but showed he was also ready to play the waiting game if required.

Asked about his approach, Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara had said on Saturday: ‘’He (Vaibhav) reads the game really well, anticipates situations and plans for bowlers quite well.’’ That it was not just a manner of speaking was evident as Vaibhav picked the balls to hit judiciously this afternoon — though the straight six over Green’s head as well as one off Narine signalled his intent.