It took about three weeks and nearly half a season for Kolkata Knight Riders to register their first win in the IPL 2026 season, but it was far from smooth sailing, much like the rest of their campaign so far.
KKR were off to a disastrous start in their chase of 156 at home against the Rajasthan Royals, as both openers fell without scoring in the first two overs. Cameron Green offered some respite with a brisk 27 off 13 balls, helping the hosts reach 51 in the powerplay, but Rajasthan pulled things back in the middle overs with spin.
There could have been a third breakthrough as well, but a “silly” error — one that eventually proved decisive in Rajasthan’s four-wicket defeat at Eden Gardens — left the Royals camp fuming.
It happened on the final ball of the 11th over, when a quicker delivery outside off forced Rinku Singh into an awkward swipe. The ball ballooned off the leading edge towards short third man. Burger settled under the skier and got into a good position, but ended up making a mess of it.
Wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel was the first to react when the ball went up, but pulled out immediately after spotting Burger well-positioned. Whether that caused any distraction remains unclear, but the reaction in the field suggested frustration as the chance went down.
Rinku, batting on 8, survived the scare, and the drop came back to haunt Rajasthan. The KKR deputy went on to produce a composed knock, reviving Kolkata’s innings and guiding them to their first win of the season.
RR captain Riyan Parag did not hold back after the match, pinpointing the drop as the defining moment.
“I think the way we clawed back, the effort the bowlers put in, I’ll say it was our game. No excuses there. We can’t be dropping catches, we can’t be bowling lines that help the batters. So, silly errors from our side. But this was our game,” he said during a chat with the broadcasters.
Rajasthan had the chance to go top of the table with a win against Kolkata, but the loss — only their second of the season — kept them in third place.
