Kolkata, Mar 22: Krunal Pandya picked an incredible 3-29 as a bowlers-led spirited comeback helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) restrict Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 174/8 in 20 overs in the opening match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.

KKR had the upper hand initially as captain Ajinkya Rahane injected momentum with a sweet 31-ball 56 and shared a 103-run stand for the second wicket with Sunil Narine, who hit 44 off 26 balls. But with the old ball gripping, Krunal shone as he and Suyash Sharma ran through KKR’s famed middle-order before Josh Hazlewood bagged 2-22 to make RCB the happier side at the halfway mark of the match.

Pushed into batting first, Quinton de Kock got a boundary off the second ball he faced from Hazlewood. After getting a reprieve as Suyash dropped a skier at mid-wicket, Hazlewood had the last laugh by getting one to nip back in and having de Kock caught behind for just four.

After making only nine runs in the first three overs, Rahane got going for KKR by smashing Rasikh Salam for two sixes and a four in the 16-run fourth over. Narine welcomed Pandya by smacking him over long-on for six before Rahane flicked and swept him for two fours in a 15-run fifth over.

Rahane then whipped, edged and drove Yash Dayal for two fours and a six as KKR got 51 runs in the second phase of power-play and they reached 60/1 at the end of six overs. Former India batter Rahane brought up his fifty in 25 balls by going down on one knee and slog-sweeping Suyash for six before Narine lofted and drilled him down the ground for six and four respectively.

RCB, though, managed to stage a great fightback as Rasikh found Narine’s thick outside edge and removed him for 44, while Rahane pulled to deep backward square-leg off Krunal and fell for 56. Krunal struck again when he castled Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh for six and 12 respectively, while Suyash knocked over Russell’s stumps with a googly and removed him for four.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi tried applying finishing touches with a 22-ball 30, but edged behind off Dayal, while Hazlewood had Harshit Rana skying one to keeper Jitesh Sharma, giving him his fourth catch of the match, as RCB managed to stage a grand comeback with the ball by mixing their pace and lengths well to concede only 29 runs in the last five overs.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 174/8 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 56, Sunil Narine 44; Krunal Pandya 3-29, Josh Hazlewood 2-22) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru

--IANS

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