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De Kock delighted to 'make it count' for KKR during Royals victory

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Mar 26, 2025Cricket

Quinton de Kock was thrilled to get his opportunity and "make it count", as he inspired Kolkata Knight Riders to victory over the Rajasthan Royals. 

The former South Africa captain played a starring role for the reigning champions, who bounced back from their opening-day defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru with an eight-wicket win.

De Kock scored an unbeaten 97 during the KKR response, hitting eight fours and six sixes along the way from 61 balls.

It was his 26th score of 50 runs or more and his third-highest individual score in the IPL, while taking his run tally against the Royals to 468 - more than any other opponent.

"[It was] nice to get an opportunity and to make it count," De Kock said. "This is only my second game here. Luckily, we batted second, so as a keeper, I got to watch the wicket and I could adjust accordingly while batting.

"It was not the type of wicket for big scores; the ball was turning and stopping. It wasn't a flat wicket, it was a working man's wicket. I know the IPL is known for big scores, but I just tried to win the game for us."

Moeen Ali, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arora and Rana all took two wickets each for Kolkata, who were without 2024 MVP Sunil Narine due to illness. 

Ajinkya Rahane was pleased by the way his team-mates coped in Narine's absence, while he was particularly praising of Moeen's display.

"The first six overs, we bowled really well, and they were one-two wickets down," the Kolkata skipper said. "The middle overs were really crucial, with two spinners and Sunil wasn't well. 

"You want your players to be fearless in this format, we have explosive batsmen. Credit to our bowling unit, they're always looking for wickets.

"Moeen got his opportunity and bowled really well. Our chat with Moeen was to pick wickets, and he did that. We gave Moeen complete freedom [while batting]. Unfortunately, it didn't happen [five runs], but he had a great day with the ball."