- India,
- 22-Mar-2025 10:53 PM IST
KKR vs RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) made a great start by winning the first match of IPL-18. The team broke the chain of its last four defeats by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 wickets. RCB achieved the target of 175 runs in 16.2 overs thanks to the brilliant innings of Virat Kohli (59 *) and Phil Salt (56).Strong batting by Kohli and SaltIn this match played at Eden Gardens, KKR batted first and scored 174 runs. In response, RCB had a great start. Phil Salt scored 56 runs in an aggressive manner, while captain Rajat Patidar (34) made an important contribution. In the end, Liam Livingstone hit a four to give the team victory.KKR innings: Rahane-Narine partnership uselessAfter losing the toss and batting first, Kolkata got off to a shaky start, but Ajinkya Rahane (56) and Sunil Narine (44) put the team in a strong position with a 103-run partnership. However, later RCB bowlers made a comeback and restricted KKR to 174 runs for 8 wickets.RCB bowlers showed strengthKrunal Pandya bowled lethally and took 3 wickets, while Josh Hazlewood took 2 wickets. Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam and Suyash Sharma also took 1-1 wickets.With this win, RCB started their campaign brilliantly and won against KKR after three years.