- विज्ञापन -
Kolkata: Royal Challengers Bengaluru has kicked off the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with a stunning victory at Kolkata by defeating defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday at the Eden Gardens with seven wickets.
Rajat Patidar began his RCB captaincy reign with the sweet taste of victory, while Ajinkya Rahane had to settle for defeat in his first game as KKR skipper.
In pursuit of 175, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli (59*) provided a swashbuckling start to Bengaluru. The Englishman played the role of aggressor, while Kohli was belligerent with the limited set of deliveries that came his way in the powerplay.
With Salt’s ruthless strokeplay, RCB raced to 80 at the end of the powerplay without losing a wicket, their second-highest total in the cash-rich league’s history.
Throughout the first six overs, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane threw everything up his sleeve at the destructive duo, including mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Salt singlehandedly ripped Chakravarthy apart in the fourth over and hammered 21 runs from his over.
The effortless strokes, which perfectly blended with their approach, ensured RCB remained unscathed in the first six overs.
KKR found the breakthrough, but it was too late to salvage a win. Moments after Salt completed his fifty, he skewed his shot to Spencer Johnson, handing Chakaravarthy his first wicket of the match.
Devdutt Padikkal tried to take on Sunil Narine by ambling down the crease but sent it straight to Ramandeep Singh’s hands.
The Chase Master was at work and continued his rich vein of form and brought up his fifty by lofting the ball over cover to find the boundary rope. His name echoed in the Eden Gardens as RCB took a massive step closer towards victory.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar came in, spread his carnage with a rollicking display and raced to a swift 34 before losing his wicket to Vaibhav Arora.
Liam Livingstone (15*) came in to wrap up the things for RCB. He got off the mark with a four, smoked the ball into the stands on the first ball of the next over, and finished things in style with a boundary to seal a seven-wicket win for the visitors.
Earlier in the match, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first. Openers Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine came out to bat for the Knight Riders.
The hosts didn’t have a good start to the 18th edition, as they lost De Kock in the first over itself after scoring just four runs. Right-arm seamer Josh Hazelwood claimed the wicket.
Brief Score: Kolkata Knight Riders 174/8 (Ajinkya Rahane 56, Sunil Narine 44; Krunal Pandya 3-29) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru 177/3 (Virat Kohli 59*, Phil Salt 56; Sunil Narine 1-27).
