Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won the opening match of IPL-18. The team defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 wickets. After losing the toss, KKR batted first and lost 174 for 8. The RCB lost the target by losing 5 wickets in 5.2 overs.
Karnal Pandya, a left -handed spinner from Bangalore, took 3 wickets and fast bowler Josh Hazelwood took 2 wickets. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt scored half a century in the bat. Captain Rajat Patidar scored 3 runs off 16 balls. Captain Ajinkya Rahane from Kolkata scored 56 and Sunil Narayan scored 44.
RCB beat KKR in IPL after 3 years. The team last beat Kolkata on the Mumbai ground in 2022. Meanwhile, Kolkata beat Bengaluru in 4 consecutive matches. KKR's next match will be against Rajasthan in Guwahati on March 26. The RCB will now clash against CSK in Chennai on March 28.
Match analysis in 5 points …
1. The Match of Player
Left -handed spinner Karnal Pandya returns to the RCB with his bowling. KKR, who scored 107 runs in 10 overs, lost 3 wickets in the next 5 overs. All three wickets took Krunal. He caught Captain Ajinkya Rahane. While Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh were bowled. He only run at an economy rate of 7.20.
2. The hero of the win
Josh Hazelwood: After winning the toss and choosing the first bowling, Hazelwood gave the RCB a strong start. He sent Quinton de Kock a pavilion in the first over. He gave up only 22 runs in 4 overs and took 2 wickets.
Phil Salt: Chasing a 175 -run target, Salt gave the RCB a quick start. Together with Kohli, he scored 80 runs in the power play. Salt played 56 off 31 balls.
Virat KohliTogether with Salt, Kohli made an opening partnership of 95. He survived to the end and led the team to victory by scoring 59 runs.
Silver: Captain Patidar came to bat in the 12th over and scored quickly. He scored 34 off just 16 balls and in the 16th over, the team was delivered to victory.
3. Fighter of the Match
Kolkata, who batted first after losing the toss, lost the wicket of opener Quinton de Cock in the first over. Coming on No. 3, Captain Ajinkya Rahane again stabilized the innings and batted fast. He scored 3 off 5 balls and shared a century for the third wicket with Sunil Narayan. After Rahane's wicket, the team could not be healthy and missed 200 runs.
4. The Turning Point
RCB bowlers bowled brilliantly in the death overs and did not let KKR for 200 runs. Kolkata scored 145 runs in 15 overs. The team could only score 29 runs in the last 5 overs and lost 4 wickets. The target of 175 runs for the RCB proved to be small, the team started fast and won the match in the 17th over.
5. Match report
KKR couldn't make a big score
After losing the toss, KKR batted first and scored 60 runs in the power play. Naren and Rahane participated in the century and kept the team's run rate above 10. By the 8th over, the two were dismissed, the team collapsed from here. In the last 10 overs, the team lost 67 runs and lost 6 wickets. Kolkata lost 174 for 8 in 20 overs.
RCB won 22 balls before
Chasing a 175 -run target, Salt and Kohli batted aggressively. The two shared fifty runs in the fourth over and the team scored 80 runs in the first 6 overs. Both batsmen scored half a century. Finally, Captain Patidar and Liam Livingstone won the team in 16.2 overs. Sunil Narayan, Varun Chakraborty and Vaibhav Arora took 1-1 wickets from Kolkata. Read Match Updates … Read Match Updates …
Image Credit: Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).