Riyan Parag hits six sixes in a row but Rajasthan Royals still lose IPL 2025 thriller by one run

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag created history on Sunday by becoming the first player in IPL history to hit six sixes off consecutive legal deliveries. However, his extraordinary effort went in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders eked out a one-run win at the Eden Gardens.

Chasing 207 for victory, Rajasthan had slipped to 71-5 in the eighth over. Captain Parag then waged a lone battle, smashing 95 off 45 balls which included six consecutive across two overs in Kolkata.

The 23-year-old's blitz, which included a wide in between the fourth and fifth six, began with him smashing 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 in the next over.

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 final over.

Needing 22 to win from six balls, left-hand batter and impact substitute Shubham Dubey hit two sixes and a four off Vaibhav Arora. The seamer, however, defended three on the final ball with a run out of Jofra Archer to hand Kolkata victory.

Kolkata remain in the hunt for the play-offs with their fifth victory in 11 matches while Rajasthan are already out of the qualification race.

All-rounder Andre Russell had set up victory for three-time champions Kolkata as he struck form with an unbeaten 57 off 25 balls that took Kolkata to 206-4.

In reply, Moeen and fellow spinner Chakravarthy took two wickets each to dent the Royals.

Fourteen-year-old IPL sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the first to go on four for his second successive flop after he became an overnight sensation with his 35-ball ton earlier this week.

Moeen struck on his fifth ball in the second over of the chase and soon got the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Chakravarthy then snared two wickets in three balls including wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga, both out for a duck.

Parag and Hetmyer, who hit 29, then brought Rajasthan back into the contest, but fast bowler Harshit Rana removed both players in two overs.

Earlier, Kolkata's Afghanistan opener Rahmanaullah Gurbaz and captain Ajinkya Rahane set the pace in their second-wicket partnership of 56 after Sunil Narine's early departure.

Gurbaz made 35 and Rahane hit 30 before Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who hit 44, and Russell upped the scoring.

After the match, Rajasthan captain Parag said the record did not mean much to him as his team lost.

“I was just too sad about myself getting out. Probably a miscalculation from my side, I should have finished it. I think we could have found better options in the last six overs,” Parag said.

“I think they were 120 or 130 and our spinners did really well. Maybe we could have cut down their runs, but the game was in our hands. We should have finished this.”

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Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

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Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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