In Saturday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 opener at Eden Gardens, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) held Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 174/8 in 20 overs thanks to a bowlers-driven, valiant comeback lead by Krunal Pandya, who claimed an amazing 3-29.

Ajinkya Rahane, the captain, gave KKR the lead with a lovely 56 off 31 balls, and he and Sunil Narine enjoyed a 103-run partnership for the second wicket, with Rahane hitting 44 off 26 balls. However, Krunal and Suyash Sharma dominated KKR’s renowned middle order with the old ball grips, while Josh Hazlewood scored 2–22 to make RCB the happier team at the midway point of the game.

Quinton de Kock was forced to bat first and hit a boundary off Hazlewood’s second delivery to him. Suyash’s skier at mid-wicket gave Hazlewood a reprieve, but Hazlewood had the last laugh when he got one to sneak back in and had de Kock caught behind for only four.

Rahane got things moving for KKR after scoring only nine runs in the opening three overs. In the fourth over, which was worth 16 runs, he hammered Rasikh Salam for two sixes and a four. Before Rahane flipped and swept Pandya for two fours in a fifth over of 15 runs, Narine greeted him by hitting him over long-on for six.

Then, when KKR scored 51 runs in the second power-play phase and reached 60/1 at the conclusion of six overs, Rahane whipped, edged, and drove Yash Dayal for two fours and a six. Prior to Narine lofting and hammering him down the ground for six and four runs, respectively, former India batsman Rahane reached his fifty in twenty-five balls by slogging Suyash for six and going down on one knee.

However, RCB was able to mount a strong comeback when Rahane pulled to deep backward square-leg off Krunal and fell for 56, and Rasikh found Narine’s thick outside edge and removed him for 44. While Suyash used a googly to topple Russell’s stumps and remove him for four, Krunal struck once more when he castled Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer for six and twelve, respectively.

RCB staged a spectacular comeback with the ball by skillfully combining pace and lengths to give up just 29 runs in the final five overs. Hazlewood had Harshit Rana sky one to keeper Jitesh Sharma, giving him his fourth catch of the game, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi attempted to add finishing touches with a 22-ball 30 but was edged behind off Dayal.

Short scores:

Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 174/8 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 56, Sunil Narine 44; Krunal Pandya 3-29, Josh Hazlewood 2-22).