📅 Date: 22/3/2025
📍 Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
The Indian Premier League IPL 20-25 has started in style with RCB vs KKR, as a thrilling match.
Fans got to enjoy a thrilling match. This IPL opener was a very thrilling match which gave a lot of excitement to the fans.
Royal Challengers Bangalore has won the first match of the IPL 18 season. RCB’s team defeated the defending champions KKR by 7 wickets in the opening match.
You will be surprised to know that RCB defeated KKR in the IPL after 3 years. In 2022, the team defeated Kolkata for the last time in Wankhede.
Playing 11
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
here is the playing 11 of RCB for the first match.
- Virat Kohli
- Phil salt
- Rajat Patidar(c)
- Liam Livingston
- Jitesh Sharma(wk)
- Tim David
- Krunal Pandya
- Rasikh Salam
- Suyash Sharma
- Josh Hazlewood
- Yash Dayal
- Devdutt Padikal (impact player)
Kolkata Knight Riders:
here is the playing 11 of KKR for the first match.
- Sunil Narine
- Quinton De Kock
- Ajinkya Rahane
- Venkatesh Iyer
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
- Rinku Singh
- Andre Russell
- Ramandeep Singh
- Harshit Rana
- Spencer Johnson
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Vaibhav Arora (impact player)
Match Summary: RCB vs KKR
🏏 Toss:
RCB won the toss and chose to bat first.
This time two new captains came for the toss, namely Ajinkya Rahane and Rajat Patidar. Both are leading their franchises for the first time.
Match Highlights: RCB vs KKR
First Innings: KKR Batting
Top run scorer:
Ajinkya Rahane: 56 runs, 31 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes.
Sunil Narine: 44 runs, 26 balls, 5 fours, 3 sixes.
Best Bowling:
Krunal Pandya: 4 overs 0 maiden 29 runs 3 wickets
Total runs: KKR 174-8 [20 overs]
Second Innings: RCB Batting
Top run scorer:
Virat Kohli’s 59 runs, 36 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes.
Phill Salt: 56 runs, 31 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes.
Best Bowling:
Sunil Narine: 4 overs 0 maiden, 27 runs, 1 wicket.
Total runs RCB: 177-3 [16.2 overs]
Player of the match:
Krunal Pandya becomes the player of the match for his brilliant bowling performance, 4-0-29-3
Winner 🏆 :
RCB won the match against the defending Champions KKR by 7 wickets in the opening match of IPL season 18.
Key Highlights:
- Krunal Pandya takes 3 wickets and keeps the KKR’s batting line-up remain silent.
- Phill Salt and Virat Kohli make a great opening partnership. Virat Kohli continues his legacy with another opener.
- Rajat Patidar played a great innings, Rajat played 16 balls on which he scored 34 runs with the help of 5 fours and 1 six.
Turning point
Kolkata Knight Riders were playing really beautifully, after 15 overs Kolkata were at 145 runs and aiming to chase 200+ on the board which will be a good score for RCB.
After RCB came strongly in the death overs as they conceded only 29 runs in the last 5 overs. So here is the turning point where KKR stayed away.
What’s Next?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has won their first match and they wanted to continue the streak in the next game.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s next match is against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on the 28th of March.
Kolkata Knight Riders have lost their first match and they wanted to come back strongly for their next game.
Kolkata’s next match is against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on the 26th of March.
Click here for the complete squad of Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders squad.
Stay tuned for more IPL 2025 updates!
