New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) produced a dominant all-round performance to thrash Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 wickets in the opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Saturday, March 22. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt starred for RCB as the duo slammed half-centuries apiece to make light work of the 175-run chase at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
IPL 2025 got off to a fantastic start with a glittery opening ceremony at the Eden Gardens where the likes of singer Shreya Ghoshal, actress Disha Patani and singer Karan Aujla entertained the fans with their performances before Kohli himself shook a leg with Shah Rukh Khan on the stage. The focus then shifted to the cricketing action as the two teams locked horns in a blockbuster clash.
The much-awaited clash managed to live up to the hype as played from both sides produced some exceptional performances. However, the duo of Kohli and Salt stole the show during RCB’s run-chase with a brilliant opening partnership of 95 runs to take the game away from KKR. Kohli slammed an unbeaten 59 off 36 balls while Salt hammered 56 off just 31 balls to propel RCB to a big win.
The Salt-Kohli show at the Eden Gardens
Talking about RCB’s chase, it was a Salt-Kohli show at the Eden Gardens. In pursuit of a challenging target of 175 runs, the duo got RCB off to a perfect start and dominated the proceedings in the Powerplay. Salt was the aggressor in the partnership as he took the KKR bowlers to the cleaners. Salt hammered 21 runs off a single over from Varun Chakaravarthy and raced to his fifty off just 25 balls on his debut for RCB.
Though Chakaravarthy managed to get his revenge by dismissing Salt on 56, the RCB opener had done the damage by then. Kohli continued his fine form from the other end as he combined with RCB skipper Rajat Patidar to share a 44-run stand for the 3rd wicket after Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed cheaply on 10 off 10 balls.
Patidar played a brilliant cameo of 16-ball 34 to end KKR’s hopes of making a comeback in the game while Kohli remained unbeaten on 59 off 36 balls to get RCB over the line in the 175-run chase with 22 balls to spare. Salt’s 56 was laced with 9 fours and 2 sixes while Kohli slammed 3 sixes and 4 fours during his unbeaten 59.
Krunal Pandya stars with the ball for RCB
On a day when KKR spin duo of Sunil Narine and Chakaravarthy were smashed around the park by RCB openers, Krunal Pandya starred with the ball for RCB. The left-arm spinner picked up a three-wicket haul to help RCB pull off a brilliant comeback after KKR’s strong start and was awarded the Player of the Match for his bowling heroics.
KKR were in a strong position at 107/2 when they lost opener Sunil Narine on 44 off 26 balls in the 10th over. With the likes of Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh to come, 200 looked inevitable. However, RCB bowlers staged a fabulous comeback led by Krunal. The spinner dismissed KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane on 56 before taking the important wickets of Rinku Singh and Angkrish Raguvanshi to put the brakes on KKR’s innings and finish with excellent figures of 3/29 off his 4 overs.
Josh Hazlewood was the most economical and impactful bowler for RCB as he finished with figures of 2/22 off his four overs. Hazlewood drew the first blood for RCB in the Powerplay by removing Quinton de Kock cheaply on 4 before bagging the wicket of Harshit Rana in the death overs. Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam Dar and Suyash Sharma bagged a wicket each for RCB.
RCB beat KKR for the first time since 2022
In what was a repeat of the opening game of the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, RCB earned their first win against KKR since 2022 at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. RCB last beat KKR in IPL 2022 and were on a four-match losing streak against the defending champions. However, they managed to snap their losing streak with a brilliant all-round display in the IPL 2025 opener.
Virat Kohli and Phil Salt starred with the bat as RCB thrashed KKR by seven wickets in the IPL 2025 opener at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. IPL Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
