Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Saturday, March 22, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) registered a decent seven-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, to start their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign on a high. At the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Philip Salt scored a fantastic 56 off 31 deliveries but Virat Kohli’s unbeaten knock of 59 runs off 36 deliveries helped them chase down the 175-run target comfortably.
After winning the toss, the RCB captain, Rajat Patidar, decided to field first, wanting the defending champions to take the strike early on their home ground. Quinton de Kock kickstarted the proceedings, hitting the maiden boundary of IPL 2024, he departed after scoring 4 off 5 deliveries.
Phil Salt and Virat Kohli's 50-plus scores help RCB win their maiden match of IPL 2025
Sunil Narine (44 off 26) kept the innings together for KKR, but their skipper Ajinkya Rahane starred as he played a 31-ball 56 to help the hosts put a competitive total. Later on, Angkrish Raghuvanshi also played a quick cameo, 22-ball 30 to help KKR post 174 runs on the board.
In the run chase for RCB, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli struck a few fierce boundaries in the early stages of the powerplay, but the side eventually lost Salt, who scored a 31-ball 56. Virat Kohli then went onto guide his side over the line with his unbeaten 59 off 36 deliveries, with his inning being laced with four boundaries and three maximums.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar, who walked out after Devdutt Padikkal’s dismissal, also played a quick cameo, adding 34 runs, Kohli was joined by Liam Livingstone as the duo guided the side to comfortable seven-wicket win. For the hosts, their bowlers failed to get much assistance as they struggled to get wickets. Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine got a wicket each.
