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The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have taken an early leap winning this season opener, putting on a commanding performance, first with the ball, and then with the bat. Still early days for KKR to come back strongly, but they would want their middle order batters to show up more responsibly in the coming games, while also improving their bowling inside the Powerplay. Well then, this brings us to a close of this curtain raiser. The IPL season 18 has just kicked off, folks, and we have an exciting double header coming up to wrap up the weekend. First, the Sunrisers Hyderabad will host the Rajasthan Royals in a day game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium of Hyderabad, on March 23rd, Sunday, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT). And after that, the clash of the biggest rivals awaits at the MA Chidambaram Stadium of Chennai as the Chennai Super Kings host the Mumbai Indians with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), on the same day. Do make sure that you join our pre-match analysis and all the interesting build up an hour earlier. Till then, cheers, and take care!

Krunal Pandya of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru is adjudged the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his exceptional bowling figures of 4-0-29-3. He receives the trophy from one of the dignitaries and is up for a quick chat. Begins by saying, that playing in front of such a big crowd, you need to narrow down your focus. Says nowadays, you see batters with a variety of shots and stresses that you as a bowler, need to evolve with the game. On that bouncer that he bowled in the game, he says that Jitesh Sharma knows that he has that quicker one and a yorker and he was ready for it. Says when you have such variations in the armoury, it is better to use them. Adds that once he got into the team, he knew about the madness. Further mentions that even while playing domestic cricket in Bengaluru, there were RCB chants echoing around the park. Concludes by saying that he feels great to be a part of RCB.

The skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajat Patidar says that there was some pressure, but overall, it was a good first day for him as captain. Mentions that he was pretty clear about the plan to get the wicket of Russell and didn’t mind Suyash Sharma going for runs because they needed that breakthrough. Credits both Krunal and Suyash for pulling things back. Tells that it feels great to have a player like Virat Kohli in the side who supports him a lot. Says that they have a nice group of leaders, and it is a great opportunity for him to learn from them

The Presentation ceremony...

Phil Salt of RCB is up for a chat now. Says he never batted with Virat Kohli and feels pleased to have put on a crucial opening stand with him. Says it’s a ground that he knows well and had a simple game plan in his mind, coming into bat. Says he wanted to bat longer but that was not to be. Mentions that batting second at Eden Gardens makes a bit of difference as you have to hit your shots through the line.

The captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, Ajinkya Rahane says that they were going really well till the 13th over, but losing 2-3 quick wickets shifted the momentum. Mentions that it is still early days in the tournament, and they need to learn from this. Tells that they have the batting power to express themselves but must assess conditions quickly and get on with the game. Shares that when he and Narine were batting, 210-220 felt achievable, but those quick wickets changed things. States that there was a little bit of dew, and RCB had a strong Powerplay. Adds that early wickets in the Powerplay always help, but it didn’t materialize for them.

Earlier in the game, the first innings was a tale of two halves as the first ten overs were bossed magnificently by KKR, as they blazed off to 107/2 on the back of skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine’s swashbuckling batting, with the former smashing a quickfire half century. After that, the script flipped completely as KKR lost one too many wickets, with their prime hitters not being able to make any sort of an impact. Angkrish Raghuvanshi played a crucial hand of 30, but overall, on a belter of a batting surface, KKR could only muster up 67 runs in the next ten overs. For RCB, Krunal Pandya brought in those crucial breakthroughs, while Josh Hazlewood was brilliant, while opening the attack, and while bowling a 5-run final over and finishing up with two wickets of his own, reducing KKR to 174/8, way below the way they started off.

Though RCB's scoring rate dipped for a few overs around the halfway stage, unlike KKR who accelerated in this phase, it hardly mattered as Salt's Powerplay blitz had bought them that valuable breathing room, allowing a more calculated approach. Rajat Patidar's quick-fire 34 off 16 following Padikkal's exit effectively shut the door on any comeback hopes. With less than a run a ball needed, Kohli, playing in his 400th T20 game, remained unbeaten with Liam Livingstone arriving with those finishing fireworks.

The evening dew became a bowler's worst nightmare as the match progressed, with Salt cruising to a destructive 25-ball fifty. KKR watched helplessly as their opponents navigated the first ten overs with minimal damage, mixing boundary hitting with smart rotation. When Varun Chakaravarthy finally broke through, the damage was done as Salt and Kohli had already feasted on half the target before the former departed.

RCB capitalized perfectly on their bowling momentum, launching a blistering response in the chase. Phil Salt, donning the RCB colors for the first ever time, announced himself in style. He went bang bang from ball one, with Virat Kohli ruthlessly punishing anything loose. Their explosive partnership propelled RCB to a dominant 80/0 in the Powerplay, leaving KKR's 60/1 which was not pedestrian by any means.

A comprehensive win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru to kick off their campaign in style! Beating the defending champions in their own backyard will do wonders for their confidence early in the tournament. KKR might be feeling that they fell 20-25 runs short, given the way they blazed off in the first half with the bat.

FOUR! And that's that! Royal Challengers Bengaluru are up and running in the 2025 IPL! Angling across the right-hander, on the fuller side, Liam Livingstone stays deep in the crease and swats it to the right of mid on for a boundary to seal the deal.

SIX! All the way! Spencer Johnson begins from over the wicket and bowls a bumper, around off, Liam Livingstone walks across his stumps and swings for the pull. Gets more of a top edge as the ball gets big on him. It sails well over deep fine leg for a six.

On a back of a length, on off, Liam stays on the back foot and cuts it to deep point for a single. 8 more needed for RCB.

Off-pace delivery and this stays a bit low, on the fuller side, Liam Livingstone has a heave across the line. Gets an under edge that dribbles behind to the keeper.

FOUR! Cracked away! Arora bangs it into the deck, over middle, Liam Livingstone swivels and hammers the pull to the right of deep square leg for a one-bounce boundary.

STRATEGIC BREAK! Royal Challengers Bengaluru are motoring along in this chase. With seven wickets in hand, they are well on course to boost their net run rate early in the tournament. Not much has gone KKR's way since the latter half of their batting effort, and they now find themselves staring at an opening-night defeat. At this stage, it’s more about limiting the damage to their net run rate than anything else. Liam Livingstone is the new batter in for RCB, with them needing just 13 runs off 27 balls remaining.