IPL 2025 RCB vs KKR: In the thriller opener match of Indian Premiere League 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders managed to put a total of 174 runs at the Eden Gardens with the help of skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s half-century knock of 56 runs and Sunil Narine’s furious 44 runs.
Unfortunately, the title winners lost the opening match due to explosive knocks by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The opening pair Phil Salt and Virat Kohli capitalized on the powerplay in their favor by putting 80 runs on the board. Krunal Pandya was awarded Player of the Match for his match-winning wicket-taking overs taking 3 crucial wickets.
KKR’s fiery start
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The opening pair Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine came to bat and in the 1st over itself, KKR lost their left-handed batter de Kock. Later Rahane and Narine made a 100-run partnership for the 2nd wicket.
Krunal Pandya took the crucial wicket of the skipper and Narine got dismissed after 10 overs where the middle order and tail-enders faulted on their part. With 100 runs in the first 10 overs, KKR managed to score just 74 runs in the other 10 overs at a loss of 5 wickets.
RCB’s bold chase
The blockbuster pair Phil Salt and Virat Kohli came to bat on the pitch and smashed 80 runs within the powerplay at no loss of wickets. KKR tried Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Spencer Johnson, and Varun Chakravarthy but none of them worked to stop the runs or take the wicket. The spin wizard Varun got hit 21 runs in his first over.
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Continuing this strong foundation set in the initial overs, Salt played a half-century knock against his previous year’s team, Padikkal fell short but the skipper was totally in the rush to gain an attractive net run rate in their 1st match.
Patidar scored 36 runs off 16 balls whereas Liam Livingstone maintained the fireworks of boundaries with his short cameo of 15 runs in 5 balls and Kohli remained not out with his 59-run knock of 36 balls in his 400th T20 match.
RCB’s bowling brilliance
Royal Challengers Bangalore recovered strongly, led by Krunal Pandya. He picked up the important wickets of Rahane, Rinku Singh, and Venkatesh Iyer, returning 4-0-29-3. Suyash Sharma, the previous bowler of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), started poorly but had a crucial impact in his last over when he got Andre Russell out of a googly.
The game saw a gradual start, evocative of the initial pressure of Josh Hazlewood on the batting of KKR. A mere nine runs were managed off the initial three overs, with Hazlewood’s potential to get the seamers doing work on the track resulting in Quinton de Kock’s departure. The new ball displayed a patchy bounce, making the batsmen struggle.
Ajinkya Rahane, though, made the most of a gift off the leg side and continued to play a brutal knock. With him at the crease, KKR picked up speed, scoring 98 runs in the following seven overs.
Rahane was especially aggressive, playing with fearlessness and taking risks. Sunil Narine, who had struggled early on, burst in the middle overs, from 1 off 8 balls to 43 off the subsequent 18. His attack involved taking on his old teammate, Suyash, employing his off-spin method to good effect.
Krunal Pandya restored control for RCB, despite the efforts of Rahane and Narine. After Narine was out, caught by Rasikh Salam, Krunal continued to mix up his speeds, even testing the bouncer here and there, as he displayed a brilliant performance overall. Two of his three wickets came bowled, demonstrating his accuracy and precision.
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