KKR vs RCB Match 1 Results

5:52 PM IST The evening dew became a bowler's worst nightmare as the match progressed, with Salt cruising to a destructive 25-ball fifty. KKR watched helplessly as their opponents navigated the first ten overs with minimal damage, mixing boundary hitting with smart rotation. When Varun Chakaravarthy finally broke through, the damage was done as Salt and Kohli had already feasted on half the target before the former departed.

5:51 PM IST RCB capitalized perfectly on their bowling momentum, launching a blistering response in the chase. Phil Salt, donning the RCB colors for the first ever time, announced himself in style. He went bang bang from ball one, with Virat Kohli ruthlessly punishing anything loose. Their explosive partnership propelled RCB to a dominant 80/0 in the Powerplay, leaving KKR's 60/1 which was not pedestrian by any means.

5:49 PM IST The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have taken an early leap winning this season opener, putting on a commanding performance, first with the ball, and then with the bat. Still early days for KKR to come back strongly, but they would want their middle order batters to show up more responsibly in the coming games, while also improving their bowling inside the Powerplay. Well then, this brings us to a close of this curtain raiser. The IPL season 18 has just kicked off, folks, and we have an exciting double header coming up to wrap up the weekend. First, the Sunrisers Hyderabad will host the Rajasthan Royals in a day game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium of Hyderabad, on March 23rd, Sunday, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT). And after that, the clash of the biggest rivals awaits at the MA Chidambaram Stadium of Chennai as the Chennai Super Kings host the Mumbai Indians with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), on the same day. Do make sure that you join our pre-match analysis and all the interesting build up an hour earlier. Till then, cheers, and take care!

5:47 PM IST Krunal Pandya of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru is adjudged the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his exceptional bowling figures of 4-0-29-3. He receives the trophy from one of the dignitaries and is up for a quick chat. Begins by saying, that playing in front of such a big crowd, you need to narrow down your focus. Says nowadays, you see batters with a variety of shots and stresses that you as a bowler, need to evolve with the game. On that bouncer that he bowled in the game, he says that Jitesh Sharma knows that he has that quicker one and a yorker and he was ready for it. Says when you have such variations in the armoury, it is better to use them. Adds that once he got into the team, he knew about the madness. Further mentions that even while playing domestic cricket in Bengaluru, there were RCB chants echoing around the park. Concludes by saying that he feels great to be a part of RCB.

5:42 PM IST The skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajat Patidar says that there was some pressure, but overall, it was a good first day for him as captain. Mentions that he was pretty clear about the plan to get the wicket of Russell and didn’t mind Suyash Sharma going for runs because they needed that breakthrough. Credits both Krunal and Suyash for pulling things back. Tells that it feels great to have a player like Virat Kohli in the side who supports him a lot. Says that they have a nice group of leaders, and it is a great opportunity for him to learn from them