Parag's six sixes in a row, Pant flops in IPL

Holders Kolkata Knight Riders survived a batting blitz including six straight sixes from Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag to win a high-scoring IPL thriller by one run on Sunday.

In the day's second match, Rishabh Pant again struggled to a low score as his Lucknow Super Giants team slumped to a fourth defeat in five IPL games, losing by 37 runs to the Punjab Kings.

Parag went on the attack as Rajasthan, chasing 207 for victory, slipped to 71-5. He struck 95 off 45 balls and hit six sixes in six successive legal balls -- a first in IPL -- across two overs.

The 23-year-old's blitz, which included a wide in between the fourth and fifth six, began with him smacking England spinner Moeen Ali for five sixes in an over. Then, after his partner Shimron Hetmyer took a single, he hit one over the fence off Varun Chakravarthy.

Parag joined an elite list of batters to have hit five sixes in an over in the IPL after Chris Gayle (2012), Rahul Tewatia (2020), Ravindra Jadeja (2021) and Rinku Singh (2023).

Parag, who is leading the team in the absence of regular skipper Sanju Samson, added 92 with Hetmyer, but after their departures Rajasthan finished on 205-8 after a tense last over.

Needing 22 to win in the final over, impact substitute Shubham Dubey, a left-hand batter, hit two sixes and a four off Vaibhav Arora who defended three on the final ball with a run out of Jofra Archer as KKR celebrated.

"I was just too sad about myself getting out," said Parag. "Probably a miscalculation from my side. I should have finished it."

Kolkata remain in the hunt for the play-offs with their fifth victory in 11 matches. Rajasthan are already out of the final-four race. The top four teams from the league phase will move into the play-offs. Andre Russell set up victory for three-time champions Kolkata as he struck form with his unbeaten 57 off 25 balls to steer Kolkata to 206-4