Virat Kohli (59 not out) and Phil Salt (56) each smashed fifties during a powerful power-play, laying a solid foundation for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to successfully chase down 175 and defeat the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), by seven wickets in the opening match of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Thanks to Krunal Pandya’s impressive bowling performance (3 for 29) and Josh Hazlewood’s economical spell (2 for 22), RCB made a remarkable comeback to limit KKR to 174/8. Salt and Kohli established a formidable 95-run opening partnership, and while Salt was dismissed just before the midpoint of the innings, Kohli remained not out on 59 off 36 balls, leading RCB to victory with 22 balls to spare.

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The innings started with Salt executing a stunning cover drive off Vaibhav Arora, followed by Kohli elegantly flicking the ball through mid-wicket in the very first over. Salt quickly followed up with a precision cover drive off Spencer Johnson and then lofted Arora for a four and a six on consecutive deliveries.

Kohli then swatted a delivery from Arora for four, closing the third over with Salt upper-cutting the same bowler for a six. Salt’s aggressive approach didn’t stop there; he effortlessly hit Varun Chakaravarthy for two fours and a six down the ground. He rounded off a spectacular fourth over with a pull shot over the deep square-leg fence for four more runs, racking up 21 runs from that over.

Kohli brought a moment of excitement to the innings by lofting Johnson for consecutive sixes straight down the ground, followed by Salt guiding him for a stylish four through backward point. When Kohli’s catch was dropped by deep cover off Harshit Rana, he capitalized by slog-sweeping Chakaravarthy for six, while Salt notched his fifty off just 25 balls.

Chakaravarthy eventually claimed Salt’s wicket as the batter reached for a leg-break, resulting in an outside edge caught by short third man. Soon after, Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed by a catch at deep mid-wicket off Narine. However, Kohli marched on, securing his 56th IPL half-century in just 30 balls with a lovely drive off Harshit Rana in the 13th over.

Captain Rajat Patidar displayed his skills by hitting Narine for six, and then showcased versatility with four boundaries from Harshit—a lofted shot, flick, square drive, and a late cut. Patidar’s innings ended when he holed out to deep mid-wicket off Arora, but Liam Livingstone stepped up with two boundaries, pulling for four and six, and smashed a shot past mid-on to bring RCB home in style.

Earlier, KKR’s captain Ajinkya Rahane gave them a strong start, playing a rapid innings of 56 runs off 31 balls and sharing a 103-run partnership for the second wicket with Sunil Narine, who contributed 44 runs off 26 balls. However, RCB’s bowlers made a brilliant comeback as Krunal and Suyash Sharma dismantled KKR’s renowned middle-order while Hazlewood finished with impressive figures of 2 for 22.

Initially asked to bat first, Quinton de Kock struck a boundary off Hazlewood’s second delivery. After a let-off due to a dropped catch by Suyash, Hazlewood eventually got his wicket by having de Kock caught behind for a mere four runs.

Having scored just nine runs in the first three overs, Rahane ignited KKR’s innings with a flurry of boundaries against Rasikh Salam, hitting two sixes and a four in the fourth over. Narine also made an impact, hitting a six over long-on off Pandya, followed by Rahane’s two fours in a 15-run over.

Rahane then unleashed a barrage of shots, hitting Yash Dayal for two fours and a six as KKR finished the power-play with a score of 60/1. Rahane reached fifty in just 25 balls after slog-sweeping Suyash for a six, while Narine lofted and drilled two boundaries off the same bowler.

RCB managed a commendable recovery as Rasikh dismissed Narine for 44. Rahane was next to go, falling for 56 after pulling a delivery to deep backward square leg off Krunal. The left-arm spinner struck again, cleaning up Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh for six and twelve runs, while Suyash knocked over Russell’s stumps with a googly, reducing him to just four runs.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi attempted to finish strong with a quick 30 runs off 22 balls but edged behind off Dayal. Hazlewood got in on the action, having Rana caught by keeper Jitesh Sharma, completing a fantastic comeback for RCB with the ball as they only allowed 29 runs in the final five overs.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 174/8 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 56, Sunil Narine 44; Krunal Pandya 3-29, Josh Hazlewood 2-22) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 177/3 in 16.2 overs (Virat Kohli 59 not out, Phil Salt 56; Sunil Narine 1-27, Vaibhav Arora 1-42) by seven wickets