IPL 2025: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt beat KKR in style, defeat RCB in style
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets in the first game of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) to start the season on a high note. Krunal Pandya (3/29), Virat Kohli (59* off 36), and Philip Salt (56 off 31) were RCB's best players.
Ankush Pandey
Highlights
- The Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and scored 174/8.
- Bengaluru's Royal Challengers pulled down 175 in 16.2 overs.
- Virat Kohli and Philip Salt each scored half-centuries for the RCB.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 wickets on Saturday, March 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to start their Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) campaign on a high note. KKR scored 174/7 in their allocated 20 overs after being put in to bat first, led by captain Ajinkya Rahane, who scored an incredible half-century (56 off 31).
Virat Kohli (59* off 36) and Philip Salt (56 off 31) spearheaded the RCB's batting attack as they chased down the target in 16.2 overs. They were able to break their four-game losing streak against KKR as a result. When Philip Salt drove Vaibhav Arora for a boundary through the covers, the RCB chase got off to a great start. As the pair scored 12 runs in the first over, Kohli also found his rhythm by hitting a boundary off the mark with his signature flick shot.
Salt accelerated even more, hitting Arora for two fours and a six in his second over. As the match became unmanageable, captain Rahane introduced Varun Chakravarthy, his primary strike bowler. Salt, on the other hand, was not in the mood to stop and clobbered KKR's mystery spinner for four straight boundaries, including a sixer, with complete contempt.
IPL 2025 KKR vs RCB Updates
Thanks to his chaos, RCB scored their second-highest powerplay total ever, reaching the 50-run milestone in just 22 balls and finishing at 80/0 in six overs. Salt achieved the necessary run rate under seven and reached his half-century off 25 balls. When Spencer Johnson caught a leading edge from Salt's bat with Varun Chakrvarthy's golden arm at short third man, KKR finally made their first breakthrough.
As he reached his half-century off 30 balls after being dismissed, Kohli ensured that the KKR bowlers were not relieved of their burden. Rajat Patidar (34 off 16) provided him with strong support, and the two led RCB to victory with a rapid 44-run partnership off 23 balls. At the end of the game, Liam Livingstone (15* off 5) helped RCB secure two vital points at the beginning of the season.
Josh Hazlewood had earlier in the day dismissed Quinton de Kock in the first over, thereby validating RCB captain Rajat Patidar's choice to bowl first. When Suyash Sharma dropped the KKR opener on the third ball, he was unable to capitalize on the reprieve. Following Sunil Narine's early dismissal, captain Ajinkya Rahane joined him at the crease to bat.
Krunal Pandya derails KKR's innings
Rahane chose to take on Rasikh Salam Dar, hitting him for a boundary and two consecutive sixes after the two batted cautiously for a few overs. On the other end, Narine opened his innings with a maximum against Krunal Pandya over long-on after scoring just five runs off his first eleven balls.
As Rahane and Narine combined for 103 runs off 55 balls to depress the RCB camp, it was all bloodshed at the Eden Gardens from that point on. With a half-century off just 25 deliveries, Rahane dominated his KKR captaincy debut, slogging Suyash Sharma for a maximum over deep mid-wicket.
KKR was aiming for a massive score of more than 200 with Rahane and Narine (44 off 26) in the middle, but they lost the latter due to the current pace of play and were on 107/2 in ten overs. For the fourth time in his IPL career, captain Rahane was defeated by Krunal Pandya (3/29) and surrendered to a deep square leg.
After 15 overs, Kolkata was at 145/5 after the left-arm spinner destroyed Venkatesh Iyer's (6 off 7) stumps in the 13th over and took the crucial wicket of Rinku Singh (12 off 10) in his final over, further outscoring the KKR hitters.
Suyash Sharma, who was hit for 41 runs in 3 overs, also made amends at the other end, sending Andre Russell (4 off 3) back into the pavilion as Kolkata's stumps kept falling. They had to settle for a below-average score of 174/8 in their 20 overs after the spin twins, Pandya and Suyash, totally destroyed KKR's innings with their four wickets.
