Kolkata, 22 March: Phil Salt’s explosive knock and Virat Kohli’s class powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a seven-wicket victory over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2025 opener at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Chasing 175, RCB openers, Kohli and Salt, made a blistering start, smashing 80 runs in the Powerplay. Salt (56 off 31) punished his former team’s bowlers with powerful drives and delicate cuts, reaching his fifty in 25 balls. Kohli (59* off 36) entertained the crowd with two straight sixes off Spencer Johnson and key boundaries off Vaibhav Arora. Despite losing Salt and Devdutt Padikkal, Kohli anchored the chase for a comfortable win under new skipper Rajat Patidar.
Earlier, KKR’s Ajinkya Rahane (56 off 31) and Sunil Narine (44 off 26) built a 103-run stand. However, RCB’s disciplined bowling attack, led by Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Dar, halted KKR’s momentum. Tight middle-over spells ensured RCB started their campaign with a statement win.
IPL 2025: Format, teams, and playoff race explained
The IPL 2025 is currently underway with 10 teams scheduled to play 74 matches to decide the latest champions of the world’s most lucrative franchise-based T20 league.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are the defending champions going into the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League, having beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final last year.
The upcoming season promises to be new and exciting with all 10 squads having undergone a major churn following the tri-yearly mega auction held in December 2024.
The IPL 2025 season sticks to its familiar format with the tournament kicking off with the 10 teams split into two groups for the league stage.
IPL 2025 groups and teams
Group A
· Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
· Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
· Rajasthan Royals (RR)
· Punjab Kings (PBKS)
· Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Group B
· Mumbai Indians (MI)
· Gujarat Titans (GT)
· Delhi Capitals (DC)
· Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
· Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Each team plays 14 league matches, facing four teams in its group and one from the opposite group twice, while playing the remaining four teams once. Matches abandoned without a result earn one point, while wins earn two. Tied matches are decided by a Super Over.
The league stage ends on May 18, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. If teams are tied on points, net run rate (NRR) is the tiebreaker. The top two teams meet in Qualifier 1, with the winner advancing to the final. The third and fourth teams play the Eliminator, and its winner faces the loser of Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2 for the second final spot.
The IPL 2025 final takes place in Kolkata on May 25. MI and CSK lead with five titles each. (Source: Olympics.com)