KKR vs RCB Highlights, IPL 2025: Kohli, Salt hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beats Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets

KKR vs RCB Highlights, IPL 2025: Kohli, Salt hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beats Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets

Spencer Johnson to Livingtone, SIX! An attempted bouncer but Livingtone it yet again menacing with his response, hooks it over fine leg. FOUR! Livingtone flicks past mid on and that’s the game.

Vaibhav Arora to bowl his third over. FOUR! Patidar shuffles across to hook the second delivery over short fine leg. OUT! Patidar wants to finish this contest ASAP, looks for another heave through the on side, picks the man at deep mid wicket.

Rajat Patidar c Rinku b Vaibhav 34(16)

Liam Livingstone is welcomed with a bouncer which he smokes through the square leg region for FOUR. He picks a single to deep cover on the final delivery.

Harshit to Kohli, bowls the slower one, Kohli puts too much power into that swipe, ends up mistiming for a single to long on. FOUR! A chip over covers from Patidar. FOUR more! The next is going down leg and Patidar helps it on its way to fine leg. Third FOUR of the over, a square drive which point could have cut but midfields. FOUR to finish. Patidar uses the width to slice the ball over the backward point region.

Narine for his final over. SIX! In the range for Patidar, who clears his leg and heaves this way over long on. Single off each of the five remaining deliveries, making it 11 runs from the over.

Harshit Rana back into the attack. FIFTY for Kohli! He chips this length delivery over covers for FOUR to get to the mark! Eight runs from the over.

Narine to Kohli, drives to deep cover for one. Padikkal clips through mid wicket, one run. Kohli tries to slog sweep, slices it but still gets one run. WICKET! Padikkal picks the man at cow corner while trying to heave over mid wicket.

Devdutt Padikkal c Ramandeep b Narine 10(10)

Varun to Kohli, cuts the first delivery to deep cover for one. Padikkal with a push to long on, one. SIX! Kohli gets one in the slot and he slogs this over long on. Three singles off the last three deliveries in the over.

Narine continues. Pitch tilting to the spinners with each passing over. Devdutt Padikkal is the new batter for RCB. He and Kohli decide to play it safe against Narine. Padikkal gets his first four of the day with an on drive. 

Varun continues to bleed runs. Short from him and slapped away for a four by Salt. 

Varun hangs it wide outside off. Salt slices it for an easy catch at short third. 

Phil Salt c Johnson b Varun 56 (31b 9×4 2×6)

RCB 96/1 in 9 overs

Finally, Sunil Narine gets a crack. Heavy protection on the leg side. Salt and Kohli play it safe against the KKR spinner. Just five runs from the over. 

Varun returns. Kohli welcomes him with a slog sweep which pierces the gap. FOUR!! Salt pushes one to long on to get a single and get to his fifty. 

Harshit Rana introduced. He manages to keep the RCB openers in control. Beats both Salt and Kohli with outswingers. Gets a miscue out of Kohli. But it is just a bit too far away for Ramandeep Singh, who gets himself injured attempting the catch. 

Kohli goes back-to-back! He takes on Spencer Johnson with two straight sixes!! The Kolkata crowd now rooting for Kohli and RCB. Absolute scenes! Salt adds another four with a clever cut shot between third man and point. 

Rahane brings on Varun Chakaravarthy. Salt shows no signs of stopping. Lifts Varun over mid on for a four. He goes one better next ball. SIX!! 50 up for RCB! Fuller ball now. Smoked over mid on for a four. RCB is flying!

Arora misses his length. Too full and Salt crashes it over mid on for a four. Arora pitches it up again. Slogged away for the first six of the innings by Salt. Kohli adds another four. Not the greatest timing. Spliced away to the leg side. 

Short now and Salt upper cuts it over point for another four. 

First over for Spencer Johnson in KKR colours. Swings one past Salt’s outer edge. Fuller now and Salt peppers it through covers for a four. Johnson responds with a yorker. Jammed away by Salt. 

Vaibhav Arora replaces Raghuvanshi and he will deliver the first over. Phil Salt gets going off the first ball. Drives the fuller one through covers for a four. Better length from the KKR pacer. Forces Salt on the defensive. Kohli too gets off the mark with a four – a clip down the leg side. 

RCB 12/0 in 1 over

Such was the onslaught from Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine at one point that KKR was well on course to cross 200 runs. But Krunal Pandya’s four overs which got RCB three wickets and cost just 29 runs turned the tide for the visiting side through in the second half. Angkrish Raghuvanshi reckons his team has enough on the board. We wait to see if that’s true or not.

Hazlewood to bowl the final over. 

Three balls, three bouncers, three pull shots, three swing and misses.

FOUR! Harshit gives the fourth delivery a good old-fashioned whack, gets an edge over the keeper’s head.

OUT! Another one banged into the pitch and this time the edge goes high up in the air. Jitesh gets under it and collects.

Harshit Rana c Jitesh b Hazlewood 5(6)

A single for Spencer Johnson off the final delivery.

Yash Dayal back for the penultimate over. WICKET! Angkrish’s fight ends. He wants to pull this back-of-a-length ball, it’s pace off and the timing is awry, gets a faint edge to the keeper.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi c Jitesh b Dayal 30(22)

Just four runs a wicket in this over.

Hazlewood back in office. Angkrish is beaten on the first delivery, tries to pull but is done by bounce. The second Angkrish attempts a ramp, a miscue gets him only a single. Ramandeep gets a leg bye to third man. SIX! Angkrish reads the slower delivery, pummels this way back into the crowd. Angkrish attempts another pull, gets one only this time. Ramandeep blocks a yorker and runs it down to third man for a single.

Livingstone again. Just four singles in this over. 

Suyash again. FOUR! Width on offer and Andre Russell gets off the mark with a cut past point. Wrong one to get the big fish, Russell is GONE! Russell wants his brutish slog across the line, does not read the delivery and is castled. 

Andre Russell b Suyash 4(3)

Ramandeep Singh ends the over with a single.

Krunal for his final over. An appeal for leg before against Rinku but RCB decides against a review. This one looked like pitching outside the line of leg stump. 

CLEANS HIM UP! Another slider that hurries the batter. Rinku is looking for a pull but the length is not short enough, beats the batter and takes the bails with it.

Rinku Singh b Krunal 12(10)

Lima Livingstone for the first time. He’s bowling leg-spin for the right-handed Angkrish and off-spin for Rinku. FOUR! Slightly short and Rinku’s eyes light up, he’s back in his crease and pulls this through mid wicket. Rinku flicks the next to deep mid wicket for two runs.

Krunal starts the over with a bouncer! It’s been given a wide. BOWLED HIM! Venkatesh departs. This goes straight through and the batter is stuck at the crease; Venkatesh is unable to drive or cut this and sees the stumps rearrange.

Venkatesh Iyer b Krunal 6(7)

Rinku Singh comes in now. 

Seven runs from the over.

Suyash again. FOUR! Suyash goes short and Venkatesh pulls this over short third. FOUR for Angkrish, gets to the pitch of the ball, drives this through the air and gets it wide of mid off. FOUR to end the over, Angkrish cuts the final delivery to beat point.

Krunal Pandya into the attack. Rahane with a single to long on. Venkatesh Iyer plays across the line, gets a single to deep mid wicket. 

OUT! Rahane falls! Krunal pitches this at middle-and-leg, Rahane shuffles across and tries to pull behind square, holes out at deep square.

Ajinkya Rahane c Rasikh b Krunal 56(31)

Angkrish Raghuvanshi off the mark on the first delivery, a quick single through square leg.

Rasikh continues to use his slower balls cleverly. Nearly castles Rahane with one. Rasikh misses his length against Narine. Low full toss. Sliced over cover for a four. 100 up for KKR. Back of a length from Rasikh and Narine bludgeons it over long on for a six. 

But Rasikh has the last laugh. Forces an edge out of Narine with a hard length delivery. Easy catch for Jitesh. 

Sunil Narine c †Sharma b Rasikh Salam 44 (26b 5×4 3×6)

Suyash starts with a leg-side wide. Full next up. Rahane slog sweeps it for a massive six over mid wicket to bring up his fifty. 31st IPL 50 for Rahane. 

Narine too joins in on the fun. Carves Suyash over extra cover for a six. And then smashes him straight back for a four. 

KKR 96/1 in 9 overs

Rasikh back into the attack. A leg bye brings Narine on strike. Rasikh gives away a wide down the off side. Wide line again. Narine gets an edge. Jitesh makes a good diving stop to prevent a four. Rasikh now goes over Narine’s head. Wide again. 

Wide yorker from Rasikh. Guided past point for a four by Narine. 

Suyash Sharma up against his former side. Short from him and Rahane slashes it away for an easy four. Suyash gets the length right thereafter. Three consecutive dots. Single off the last ball. 

Full from Dayal and Narine clicks it away for a four past mid wicket. Rahane too looks to keep the attack going. Attempts a wild slog and gets an edge which flies over third man for a four. 

Full again from Dayal. Picked over square leg fence for a six. Low full toss now. Guided through point for a four. CLASS!!!

Krunal Pandya introduced and he is welcomed by a Sunil Narine slog. SIX!!

Single now to deep mid wicket. Rahane attempts a reverse sweep. Misses. Full and on the pads now. Rahane sweeps it away for a four. Now he goes over mid on. FOUR MORE!!

Rasikh Salam gets his first over as an RCB bowler. On the pads and clipped away for an easy four by Rahane. 

Slightly short now from Rasikh. Rahane picks the length early. Pulled away for a six.

Rahane isn’t done for the over. Walks across the stumps and smashes a length ball over mid wicket for HUUGEE six!

Hazlewood continues. Off-stump line from the Aussie pacer. Three play and misses from Narine. Short from Hazlewood. Top edged by Narine and it flies over the keeper for a four. That is the only scoring shot of the over. 

Yash Dayal from the other end. Narine on strike now. Down the leg. Loud appeal for a caught behind. No reaction from the umpire. No review from RCB too. Dayal keeps the line away from Narine. Gets three dot balls. Just a single from the over. 

Josh Hazlewood with the first over of IPL 2025. Quinton de Kock (QDK) and Sunil Narine opening the batting for KKR. 

Now Hazlewood jags one in. Gets an inside edge and gathered by Jitesh. First strike. 

Quinton de Kock c †Sharma b Hazlewood 4 (5b 1×4 0x6)

Width second ball and QDK slices it for a for a four. QDK goes to go big again. Top edge. Should be an easy catch for Suyash Sharma inside the ring. . But he drops it. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a surprise omission for RCB. Rasikh Salam seems to have taken his spot. 

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt(w), Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal

Royal Challengers Bengaluru wins the toss and opts to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The coin flip was supposed to be at 7:00PM but with the opening ceremony still going on, the toss seems to be delayed.

SRK invites the BCCI officials to the stage. Virat Kohli is handed the IPL 18 memento.

Firstly, good evening to everyone. The bold generation is coming up fast but the old one is here, still ready to play the game and make more memories for the fans.

We have Virat Kohli joining the opening ceremony now. Rinku Singh too walks up to the stage.

Disha Patani has a brief performance which is followed by Karan Aujla taking the centre stage.

The singer is the first artist to peform at the IPL 2025 opening ceremony. 

Her performance entails one song for each of the 10 teams. She starts with KKR and ends with GT.

Shah Rukh Khan starts the opening ceremony for IPL 2025.

WICKETKEEPERS

Quinton de Kock, Phil Salt

BATTERS

Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar (c)

ALL ROUNDERS

Sunil Narine (vc), Andre Russell, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya

BOWLERS

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy

Team Composition: KKR 5-6 RCB | Credits Left: 8.5

Matches played: 12

KKR won: 8

RCB won: 4

Last result: KKR beat RCB by 1 run (April 2024)

Matches played: 34

KKR won: 20

RCB won: 14

Last result: KKR beat RCB by 1 run (April 2024)

These two teams flagged off the Indian Premier League in its first season in 2008. This is the first time since that they will be playing the first match of a season.

Won’t mind a Brendon McCullum-like fireworks show tonight too.

KKR Predicted Playing XI

Batting 1st: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje.

Bowling 1st: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Impact Player options: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia.

RCB Predicted Playing XI

Batting 1st: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.

Bowling 1st: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal., Rasikh Salam.

Impact Player options: Rasikh Salam, Devdutt Padikkal, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Swastik Chhikara.

74 matches and two months of exhilarating cricket action is store as the Indian Premier League kicks off its 18th season. The curtain raiser will be held in Eden Gardens with defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders squaring up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

KKR: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali.

RCB: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.

Which TV channel will broadcast Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2025 match on April 21?

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2025 match will be televised on the Star Sports Network in India. 

How to watch the live streaming of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2025 match?

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2025 match will be streamed live JioHotstar. 

Published on Mar 22, 2025