BCCI photo.
Kolkata: The stand-in skipper for Rajasthan Royals, Riyan Parag, became a whirlwind against Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers, particularly the veteran South African spinner Moeen Ali on Sunday at Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, match 53. Parag smoked Ali with consecutive sixes in the 13th over.
Parag attained a dominating record, hitting six sixes off six consecutive legal balls delivered by Moeen Ali and then Varun Chakravarthy. After Ali was destroyed by Parag, Chakravarthy took the 14th over. Parag’s co-striker handed over strike to him in the first ball of the over itself, and Parag hit ball 14.2 over the fences to register the record.
There are batters who hit five sixes in an over. Chris Gayle (2012), Rahul Tewatia (2020), Ravindra Jadeja (2021) and Rinku Singh (2023).
However, Parag, who scored 95 off 45, messed up his chances to take Rajasthan Royals to victory when Kolkata Knight Riders’ pacers were praying for not getting hit at Eden Gardens on Sunday; the hosts made a one-run victory.
Chasing 207, Rajasthan endured a sloppy start with Vaibhav Suryavanshi (4) and debutant Kunal Singh Rathore (0) losing their wickets cheaply in the powerplay.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Captain Parag stitched together a crucial partnership to provide some stability to the chase. The duo powered Rajasthan to 59/2 at the end of the powerplay. Moeen Ali broke the 62-run partnership in the seventh over to put the pressure back on Rajasthan.
Varun Chakaravarthy exploited Rajasthan's situation and dismissed Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga on ducks in the same over to reduce them to 71/5 in 7.5 overs.
Andre Russell's quickfire half-century, coupled with Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 31-ball 44, powered KKR to 206/4.
In the last five overs, KKR accumulated 85 runs at the back of superb hitting by Russell and Raghuvanshi. Russell remained unbeaten for 57 off 25 balls, studded with six sixes and four fours.