The 18th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) got a dynamic start with the first match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The newly appointed RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss first and opted to bowl first following which KKR had set the target of 174/8. But RCB came as a storm and left KKR in ruins on their home ground at Eden Gardens.
KKR Captain, Ajinkya Rahane On Loss Against RCB
“We went well till the 13th over, 2-3 wickets changed momentum. We have to learn from our mistakes,. We thought 210-220 was par when Venky and I were batting but we lost wickets. There was dew but they had a very good powerplay. We couldn’t get early wickets. We don’t want to think too much about this game, just want to improve as a unit.” Rahane said post-match.
RCB Dominates KKR On Home Ground
KKR batters were off to a great start but only Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine managed to score runs, apart from them the batting order completely collapsed. It was Krunal Pandya’s exceptional bowling that did not let the KKR batters settle. In the second innings, RCB took on KKR bowlers aggressively, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt’s opening partnership put the bowlers under pressure following which the winning momentum carried and RCB registered its first dominating win in IPL 2025.
