Kolkata Knight Riders' only reliable scorer stood tall in their batting woes in IPL 2025: Ajinkya Rahane. The home side crumbled at Eden Gardens in another chase of a steep target of 199. Rahane was strong on the testing surface, making the effort worthwhile with his third half-century of the season on Monday. He walked in after Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell in the very first over. Taking charge, he tried to bring some order into the innings, hitting boundaries off Prasidh Krishna on a couple of occasions. He remained calm through the quiet periods, then exploded in aggression against the out of sorts Washington Sundar. How to outfox a batter 101, ft. Washington Sundar 🕸👌Jos Buttler with some impressive glovework 🧤#KKR 114/4 after 15 overs.Updates â–¶ https://t.co/TwaiwD5D6n#TATAIPL | #KKRvGT | @gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/AGCZWl51kb — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 21, 2025 Rahane executed a stylish extra cover drive and immediately gave way to a power-packed slog sweep for six. His fifty came up in 35 balls, 5 fours, and a six. While the rest of the KKR line-up staggered somewhat, he really drove KKR in despair with his fighting knock. Just when he seemed set for a really big score, disaster struck as Rahane had other ideas! Sundar let slip a good ball pitching it wide outside off, but in, with Rahane charging at him. Jos Buttler did the rest behind the stumps to effect the dismissal. Read also: 'Nothing like that,' Shubman Gill doges off Danny Morrison's awkward wedding question Despite reaching the fifty mark, Rahane failed to have a strike rate above 150, which isn't really a good condition while chasing 199. The tricky pitch didn't help, yet his plan to take the game deep didn't exactly play out well for him. He finished with a strike rate of 138.89, whereas Gujarat's Gill and Sudharsan, scoring fifties, struck at 163.64 and 144.44 respectively. With numbers against spin, Rahane's very clear weakness is in front of spin. He even finished taking on Sundar but fell prey to him for the fifth time this season. His strike-rate against spinners stands at a meager 123.45 with his deliveries being dot balls, which acts on 30% of his deliveries.