The first match of IPL 2025 was played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium. This encounter was a repeat of the first-ever IPL match of 2008. There was a lot of extra excitement as defending champions KKR were eager to face RCB. Both teams had fresh squads with new captains and a passionate crowd. The stage became quite a memorable opener. The thrilling season began when RCB’s exceptional performance surpassed KKR’s. In today’s article, we have shared the Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru match scorecard and will also tell you about the highlights. So, let’s start the article.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Match Details
As we told you earlier, this encounter was played at Eden Gardens Stadium, and before this, the grand opening ceremony of IPL 2025 also took place. We have mentioned the basic overview of the entire match through the table below:
| Match Details | Information |
| Venue | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| Toss | Royal Challengers Bengaluru, elected to field first |
| Series | Indian Premier League |
| Season | 2025 |
| Player of the Match | Krunal Pandya |
| Hours of Play (Local Time) | 19.30 start, First Session 19.30–21.00, Interval 21.00–21.20, Second Session 21.20–22.50 |
| Match Day | 22 March 2025 – night (20-over match) |
| RCB Player Replacement | Devdutt Padikkal in, Suyash Sharma out (1st innings, 15.6 ov) |
| KKR Player Replacement | Vaibhav Arora instead of Angkrish Raghuvanshi |
| Umpires | Abhijeet Bengeri, Vinod Seshan |
| TV Umpire | Jayaraman Madanagopal |
| Reserve Umpire | Tanmay Srivastava |
| Match Referee | Prakash Bhatt |
| Points | Royal Challengers Bengaluru 2, Kolkata Knight Riders 0 |
Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad – Playing XI
| S.No | Player Name | Role |
| 1 | Quinton de Kock | Wicketkeeper-Batsman (Opener) |
| 2 | Sunil Narine | All-rounder (Opener) |
| 3 | Venkatesh Iyer | All-rounder |
| 4 | Ajinkya Rahane (C) | Batsman |
| 5 | Rinku Singh | Batsman |
| 6 | Andre Russell | All-rounder |
| 7 | Ramandeep Singh | Batsman |
| 8 | Harshit Rana | Bowler |
| 9 | Anrich Nortje | Bowler |
| 10 | Vaibhav Arora | Bowler |
| 11 | Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s squad- Playing XI
| S.No | Player Name | Role |
| 1 | Phil Salt | Wicketkeeper-Batsman (Opener) |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | Batsman (Opener) |
| 3 | Devdutt Padikkal | Batsman |
| 4 | Rajat Patidar (C) | Batsman |
| 5 | Liam Livingstone | All-rounder |
| 6 | Jitesh Sharma | Wicketkeeper-Batsman |
| 7 | Tim David | Batsman |
| 8 | Krunal Pandya | All-rounder |
| 9 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Bowler |
| 10 | Josh Hazlewood | Bowler |
| 11 | Yash Dayal | Bowler |
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Match Scorecard
KKR vs RCB – Kolkata’s Batting
In this match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss first and decided to bowl, due to which Kolkata addressed the batting. Kolkata Knight Riders gave a very good performance, and we have mentioned the scorecard of all their individual players in a table below:
| S.No | Player Name | Dismissal Method | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| 1 | Quinton de Kock (†) | c J. Sharma b Hazlewood | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80 |
| 2 | Sunil Narine | c J. Sharma b Rasikh Salam | 44 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 169.23 |
| 3 | Ajinkya Rahane (c) | c Rasikh Salam b Pandya | 56 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 180.64 |
| 4 | Venkatesh Iyer | b Pandya | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 85.71 |
| 5 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | c J. Sharma b Yash Dayal | 30 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 136.36 |
| 6 | Rinku Singh | b Pandya | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 120 |
| 7 | Andre Russell | b Suyash Sharma | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 133.33 |
| 8 | Ramandeep Singh | not out | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 9 | Harshit Rana | c J. Sharma b Hazlewood | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| 10 | Spencer Johnson | not out | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
| Extras | (lb 2, w 4) | ||||||
| Total | 20 Ov (RR: 8.70) | 174/8 |
Fall Of Wickets – RCB’s Bowling Performance
We got to see a very good bowling performance from RCB, and how many overs each of their players bowled, how many runs they gave, and how many wickets they took have also been told through a table below the scorecard:
| S.No | Bowler Name | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
| 1 | Josh Hazlewood | 4 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 5.5 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Yash Dayal | 3 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 8.33 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Rasikh Salam | 3 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 11.66 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Krunal Pandya | 4 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 7.25 | $8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Suyash Sharma | 4 | 0 | 47 | 1 | 11.75 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Liam Livingstone | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru – RCB’s Batting
When the RCB team came to bat, they chased this score quite easily. Many of their players gave good performances, and the batting scorecard is also mentioned in the table below:
| S.No | Batter Name | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| 1 | Phil Salt | c Johnson b Varun | 56 | 31 | 9 | 2 | 180.64 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | not out | 59 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 163.88 |
| 3 | Devdutt Padikkal | c Ramandeep Singh b Narine | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 100 |
| 4 | Rajat Patidar (c) | c Singh b Arora | 34 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 213 |
| 5 | Liam Livingstone | not out | 15 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 300 |
| Extras | (lb 2, w 1) | 3 | |||||
| Total | 16.2 Ov (RR: 10.83) | 177/3 |
Fall Of Wickets – KKR’s Bowling Performance
Kolkata Knight Riders tried very hard to stop RCB and make their name in the first match. Their bowlers played a lot in this, but they didn’t take many wickets. The number of wickets taken by each bowler is mentioned in the table below:
| S.No | Bowler Name | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
| 1 | Vaibhav Arora | 3 | 0 | 42 | 1 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Spencer Johnson | 2.2 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 13.28 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.75 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Harshit Rana | 3 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 10.66 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Sunil Narine | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Key Highlights Of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Match
- Initially, when the match started, fans got very excited from the start of KKR’s innings. Captain Ajinkya Rahane played an innings of 56 runs in 31 balls, and Sunil Narine scored 44 runs in 26 balls. Together, they added 103 runs for the second wicket, and the score in 10 overs was 107 for two wickets.
- Krunal Pandya, who is a key player for RCB, gave a very good performance. He took three wickets, giving away 29 runs, and sent the most important players, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh, back to the pavilion by dismissing them.
- Due to this, the middle order of KKR failed, and they scored 174 runs while batting first, in which they lost 8 wickets. Josh Hazlewood’s 2 wickets, along with his 22 runs conceded, was quite good.
- RCB is always known for its chase mastery, and they played a very good innings. Virat Kohli was no exception. He scored an unbeaten 59 runs, and their opening stand was also 95 runs.
- Rajat Patidar’s quick 34-run innings in 16 balls and Liam Livingstone’s last 15-run innings sealed the victory for RCB.
- In this match, a pitch invader briefly disrupted the game, creating a unique moment when RCB was also in focus, and they gave a very strong performance.
Match Result
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won this match by 7 wickets. In this, the bowling of Krunal Pandya and the openers of RCB had a great hand.
Conclusion
Royal Challengers Bengaluru emerged victorious by 7 wickets, chasing the target of 174 runs in only 16.2 overs. The win was fueled by Krunal Pandya’s exceptional bowling and a good show by the RCB openers. With this initial victory, RCB made a big statement that they are here to conquer this season. You can tell us how you liked this match by commenting.
FAQs
Q1) Who is better, RCB or KKR?
In their 34 IPL head-to-head encounters, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have won 20 times, while Royal Challengers Bengalore (RCB) have won 14, giving KKR the edge in their rivalry.
Q2) What is the RCB 49 record?
RCB’s lowest IPL score is 49 all out against KKR in 2017, the shortest IPL innings with no batter scoring double digits.
Q3) Who is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders?
Ajinkya Rahane is the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2025.
Q4) Is CSK better than KKR?
CSK has a stronger historical record, leading KKR 18-10 in 29 IPL matches, but KKR’s recent form makes them competitive.
Q5) Who is better, RCB or RR?
RR has a slight edge with a balanced squad and a title win, while RCB relies heavily on batting firepower but lacks consistency.
