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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won the IPL-18 opening match. The team defeated defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 wickets. After losing the toss, KKR scored 174 runs losing 8 wickets. RCB achieved target at the loss of 3 wickets in 16.2 overs.
Left arm spinner Krunal Pandya from Bangalore took 3 and Paer Josh Hazlewood took 2 wickets. Virat Kohli and Phil Soult put fifty in the batting. Captain Rajat Patidar scored 34 runs off 16 balls. Captain Ajinkya Rahane from Kolkata scored 56 and Sunil Narine scored 44 runs.
RCB defeated KKR in IPL after 3 years. The team last defeated Kolkata in 2022 on the Mumbai ground. Meanwhile, Kolkata defeated Bengaluru in 4 consecutive matches. The next match of KKR will be from Rajasthan in Guwahati on 26 March. At the same time, RCB will now face CSK in Chennai on 28 March.
Match analysis in 5 points …
1. Player of the Match
Left arm spinner Krunal Pandya made RCB return with bowling. KKR, who scored 107 runs in 10 overs, lost 3 wickets in the next 5 overs. All three wickets were taken by Krunal. He caught captain Ajinkya Rahane. At the same time, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh bowled. He spent runs from just 7.20 economy.
2. Hero of victory
- Josh Hazlewood: After winning the toss, Hazlewood gave RCB a strong start to bowling first. He sent Quinton de Kock to the pavilion in the first over. Giving just 22 runs in 4 overs and 2 wickets.
- Phil Salt: RCB got a fast start to the RCB to chase the target of 175 runs. He scored 80 runs in Powerplay along with Kohli. Salt scored 56 runs off 31 balls.
- Virat Kohli: Kohli, along with Salt, made a 95 -run opening partnership. They stayed till the end and won the team by scoring 59 runs.
- Silver Patidar: Captain Patidar, who came out to bat in the 12th over, scored fast. He scored 34 runs off 16 balls and brought the team to the threshold of victory in the 16th over itself.
3. Fighter of the Match
After losing the toss, Kolkata lost the wicket of opener Quinton de Kock in the first over. Captain Ajinkya Rahane, who landed on number-3, then handled the team and batting fast. He scored 56 runs off 31 balls and also did a century partnership for the third wicket with Sunil Naren. After Rahane’s wicket, the team could not manage and missed out on scoring 200 runs.
4. Turning point
RCB bowlers bowled well in the death overs and did not allow KKR to score 200 runs. Kolkata scored 145 runs in 15 overs. The team could only manage 29 runs in the last 5 overs and lost 4 wickets. The target of 175 runs proved to be small for RCB, the team won the match in the 17th over with the help of a fast start.
5. Match report
Kkr could not make a big score After losing the toss, KKR scored 60 runs in Powerplay to bat first. Naren and Rahane kept the team’s run rate above 10 by century partnerships. Both were dismissed by the 11th over, the team shattered from here. In the last 10 overs, the team lost 6 wickets to score 67 runs. In 20 overs, Kolkata scored 174 runs losing 8 wickets.
RCB has already won 22 balls Salt and Kohli batting fast in front of the target of 175 runs. Both of them made a fifty partnership in the fourth over and the team scored 80 runs in the first 6 overs. Both batters put fifty. Finally, captain Patidar and Liam Livingston won the team in 16.2 overs. Sunil Naren, Varun Chakraborty and Vaibhav Arora from Kolkata took 1-1 wickets. Read match updates …
