Riyan Parag fulfills promise he made 2 years ago, smashes 5 sixes in an over off Moeen Ali but says he ‘miscalculated’

Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Riyan Parag brought his best in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens as he smashed 95 runs off 45 balls with the help of 6 fours and 8 sixes. The biggest highlight of his knock was five sixes in a row off the bowling of Moeen Ali in the 13th over. However, this effort did not prove enough as Rajasthan Royals once again lost a close encounter.

Rajasthan Royals were reeling at 71/5 at one stage but Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer got together at the crease to put on 92 runs for the sixth wicket. Riyan Parag smashed 6 sixes in a row – five off Moeen Ali's bowling and one off Varun Chakaravarthy's bowling.

Moeen Ali had no answers to Riyan Parag's onslaught as the latter made full merry of the long-hop bowling. The right-hander went straight down the ground and legside to take down the former England spinner. This carnage at the Eden Gardens left Ajinkya Rahane and co in shock.

For the uninitiated, Riyan Parag had made a post on X (formerly Twitter) in 2023, in which he had said, “My inner conscience says I'm hitting 4 sixes in an over at some point this IPL.” Two years later, he finally fulfilled his promise by hitting five maximums in an over.

This brute hitting brought Rajasthan Royals back into the contest, and it seemed like Rajasthan would run away with the game. However, Harshit Rana changed the complexion of the game as he dismissed both the set batters Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag.

Riyan Parag lost his wicket in the 18th over of the innings as he looked to go down the ground. He was dismissed by Harshit Rana for 85 and this brought KKR firmly back in the contest.

In the final over, Rajasthan Royals needed 22 runs for a win. Shubham Dubey smashed 6, 4 and a 6 to bring the equation down to 3 runs off the final ball. On the final over, Rajasthan managed just one run as Rinku Singh and Vaibhav Arora collaborated for a run-out. In the end, KKR won the contest by one run, keeping their playoffs alive.

After the match, Riyan Parag made a candid admission, saying he should have stayed till the end to finish off the game. Speaking to the host broadcaster, Parag said, “Probably a miscalculation from my side, I should have finished it. I think we could have found better options in the last six overs."

KKR post 206/4 in 20 overs

Earlier, KKR posted 206/4 in the allotted twenty overs, owing to a 25-ball 57-run knock by Andre Russell. The West Indies all-rounder was slow off the blocks, but he took down Akash Madhwal and Jofra Archer, and in the end, KKR went past the 200-run mark.

For KKR, Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 44, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ajinkya Rahane chipped in with knocks of 35 and 30, respectively.

For Rajasthan Royals, Jofra Archer, Parag, Maheesh Theekshana and Yudhir Singh Charak took one wicket each.

Earlier, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane had won the toss and opted to bat first at the Eden Gardens.

With this win, KKR jumped to the sixth spot in the points table with 11 points from 11 matches.