Krunal Pandya picked up three wickets while playing his first match for RCB. Hazlewood also took a couple of wickets. Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma and Rasikh Dar Salam took one wicket each
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the first match of the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, 22 March 2025. (Highlights | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)
It was a comprehensive win for RCB as the newly appointed captain Rajat Patidar started his journey as an IPL captain with a big win. He ticked all the boxes as a new skipper.
Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch which looked easy to bat in the second innings. There was some rain in the morning and the outfield was a little slippery in the first innings.
Kohli also became only the third Indian after Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik to appear in 400 T20 matches.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt(w), Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Sub: Devdutt Padikkal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Sub: Vaibhav Arora
Josh Hazlewood dismissed the destructive opener batter Quinton de Kock in the first over but KKR's captain Ajinkya Rahane stitched a 103-run partnership for the second wicket with Sunil Narine to put his team back on top.
Narine lost his wicket in the 10th over and he also followed him in the next over. Angkrish Raghuvanshi added crucial 30 runs off just 22 balls which helped KKR set a respectable total. No other batter looked in touch.
Krunal Pandya picked up three wickets while playing his first match for RCB. Hazlewood also took a couple of wickets. Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma and Rasikh Dar Salam took one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 175 runs, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli went berserk from the word go and added 95 runs for the first wicket. Salt hit nine fours and two sixes in his 56-run knock in just 31 balls.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 59 off just 36 balls and hit four fours and three sixes. Captain Rajat Patidar also played a quick knock of 34 runs off just 16 balls.
Liam Livingstone took no time to finish the match with his 15 runs off just five deliveries. RCB won the match with seven wickets and 22 balls to spare which will help them to maintain a batter net run rate. Krunal Pandya was named Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 4-0-29-3.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Quinton de Kock c Jitesh b Hazlewood 4
Sunil Narine c Jitesh b Salam 44
Ajinkya Rahane c Salam b Pandya 56
Venkatesh Iyer b Pandya 6
Angkrish Raghuvanshi c Jitesh b Dayal 30
Rinku Singh b Pandya 12
Andre Russell b Suyash 4
Ramandeep Singh (not out) 6
Harshit Rana c Jitesh b Hazlewood 5
Spencer Johnson (not out) 1
Extras (LB-2, W-4) 6
Total (for 8 wickets, 20 overs) 174
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-107, 3-109, 4-125, 5-145, 6-150, 7-168, 8-173.
Bowling: Josh Hazlewood 4-0-22-2, Yash Dayal 3-0-25-1, Rasikh Salam 3-0-35-1, Krunal Pandya 4-0-29-3, Suyash Sharma 4-0-47-1, Liam Livingstone 2-0-14-0.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Phil Salt c Johnson b Chakravarthy 56
Virat Kohli (not out) 59
Devdutt Padikkal c Ramandeep b Narine 10
Rajat Patidar c Singh b Arora 34
Liam Livingstone (not out) 15
Extras (LB-2, W-1) 3
Total (3 wickets, 16.2 overs) 177
Fall of wickets: 1-95, 2-118, 3-162.
Bowling: Vaibhav Arora 3-0-42-1, Spencer Johnson 2.2-0-31-0, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-43-1, Harshit Rana 3-0-32-0, Sunil Narine 4-0-27-1.
RCB will move to Chennai for their next match against Chennai Super Kings on Friday. KKR will face Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati's Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday.