Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a spirited comeback in the opening encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. RCBโs bowlers were rotated well by skipper Rajat Patidar against defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday. Spin bowlers in particular played a key role in ensuring KKR batters werenโt let off the leash and scored huge runs on the board.ย
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Leg-spinner Suyash Sharma, who had dropped an easy catch in the first over, had a terrible day with the ball. The young leg spinner, though, made amends with the wicket of Andre Russell in the fourth ball of the 16th over. After being carted for a four, Russell went for a slog sweep and missed the line of the ball.ย
Also read: WATCH: Suyash Sharma drops a sitter; Josh Hazlewood responds with Quinton De Kock's wicket two balls later
The West Indian star could only hear the death rattle as he was out for four runs. At the end of the innings, KKR had scored 174 runs for the loss of eight wickets. At one stage, it looked like the defending champions would be able to cross easily after being put into bat by Rajat Patidar.ย
Krunal Pandyaโs triple strike restricts hosts to score under 200
KKR lost their first wicket in the opening when Quinton De Kock was caught by Jitesh Sharma off Josh Hazlewood for four runs. The second wicket pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine then went on the offensive to add 103 runs for the second wicket. That stand came in 55 balls as both batters sent the RCB bowlers on a leather hunt.ย
Rahane scored the first half-century of the season as he smashed a six to reach the landmark. Sunil Narine scored 44 runs from 26 balls, which was laced with five boundaries and three sixes. Rasikh Salam Dar broke the stand when he had Narine caught behind by Jitesh Sharma.ย
Krunal Pandya, making his debut for RCB, then got the key wicket of Rahane for 56. The knock came off 31 balls with six boundaries and four sixes. Pandya also castled Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh for six and 12 runs, respectively. The left-arm spinner ended with figures of 3/29 from his four overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit 30 off 22 balls to help push KKR to a decent total on the board.ย
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