RCB Demolish Defending Champions KKR In Their Own Den, Kickstart IPL 2025 In Style

Royal Challengers Bengaluru began their IPL 2025 campaign in style, thrashing defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

'Chase master' Virat Kohli once again showcased his class with a sublime unbeaten half-century as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), backed by Krunal Pandya's game-changing triple strike crushed defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the IPL opener on Saturday. Ajinkya Rahane, who has transformed his T20 game, dazzled on his Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy debut with a 25-ball fifty, but it was Krunal's 3/29 that ensured that the defending champions fell well short of the 200-mark, managing a below-par 174/8.

During chase, Phil Salt, rubbing salt into his former franchise's wounds, gave RCB an explosive start with a 31-ball 56 laced with nine fours and two sixes. His whirlwind knock, in a 95-run opening stand with Kohli, set the tone for the chase.

Kohli then raced to a 30-ball fifty, raising his bat to deafening chants of his name in a signature 36-ball knock studded with three sixes and four fours as they sealed the chase in just 16.2 overs.

Moments after he reached fifty, the frenzy peaked when a pitch invader ran onto the field and fell at Kohli's feet, summing up the adulation he commands across all venues.

Earlier Salt came out swinging against India's in-form spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who was fresh from his Champions Trophy heroics.

He smashed him for 4-6-4-4 in succession in a brutal 21-run over—first over mid-off, then a six tonked over the same region, followed by a powerful drive over mid-on, before finishing with a slog-swept boundary to deep square leg.