IPL 2025: KKR vs RCB, Match 1: Stats Review of player records and achieved milestones

IPL 2025 opened as expected with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) getting an emphatic win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match No. 1. 

After a glittering opening ceremony that featured vocals from the famed Shreya Ghoshal and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan shaking a leg with both Rinku Singh and Virat Kohli, RCB won the toss and put the hosts in. After a slow start, skipper Ajinkya Rahane (56 off 31) stepped the foot on the gas taking the initiative upon himself to put KKR on the path to recovery. Sunil Narine (44 off 26), who had struggled early on, eventually found his groove as the two took the game away from RCB.

Rahane's dismissal eventually put the brakes on KKR as Krunal Pandya (3 for 29) dismantled the middle order after being hit for 15 runs in his first over. The Pandya-led bowling comeback also featured Josh Hazlewood (2 for 22) as RCB gave away only 67 runs in the last ten overs, and just 29 in the last five to restrict KKR to what looked like a below par 174. 

RCB set out on a mission to chase the total down as soon as they could. Former KKR player Phil Salt (56 off 31) struck a four off the first ball he faced in Red and Gold, and that was the cue RCB needed. With strong support from the ever-dependable Virat Kohli (59* off 36), Salt plundered the bowlers as RCB put up a daunting 80 in the powerplay and the game was beyond done at that point.

After Salt and Devdutt Padikkal departed in quick succession, RCB's new skipper Rajat Patidar (34 off 16) put in the finishing touches alongside Liam Livingstone to finish the chase off with 22 balls remaining. 

Also Read: Video of the Day - Virat Kohli crunches Spencer Johnson for consecutive sixes

Here are the most important numbers from the game

3 - Virat Kohli became the third Indian player to play 400 T20s. Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik are the other two. 

3 - Krunal Pandya's bowling figures are the third best by a spinner while playing his first IPL game for RCB. Samuel Badree took 4/9 and Muttiah Muralitharan 3/25 in their respective first matches for the franchise. 

58.33/166.13 - Ajinkya Rahane's respective average and strike rate in his last nine T20 innings. These innings include a run as the highest run-getter in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2024 where he was a revelation at the top of the order and instrumental in delivering Mumbai the title and walked away with the Player of the Tournament Award. Rahane has managed 525 runs in these nine innings. 

3 - Sunil Narine became the third player to hit 100 sixes for KKR in the IPL. Andre Russell leads the chart with a scarcely believable 206 sixes while Nitish Rana, who isn't a part of KKR anymore, follows with 107. 

2 - RCB's powerplay total of 80/0 in this game is their second highest powerplay total ever in the IPL behind the 92/1 they made against Gujarat Titans last year. 

3 - Phil Salt's 56 is the joint third-highest score by any player in their first IPL match for RCB. Chris Gayle made an unbeaten 102 on RCB debut - incidentally against KKR in 2011, Faf du Plessis made 88 against PBKS in 2022 while Devdutt Padikkal also made 56 against SRH in 2020. 

3 - Virat Kohli became the third player to score 1,000 IPL runs against KKR after David Warner and Rohit Sharma. No other franchise has had three players score as many runs against them in the IPL, but CSK (Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli), DC (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) and PBKS (David Warner and Virat Kohli) have all had two such players each. 

4 - KKR are the fourth IPL franchise, after against whom Virat Kohli has made 1,000 runs in the IPL. No other batter has made 1,000 or more IPL runs against even three different franchises. David Warner has crossed four digits against KKR and PBKS, while Rohit Sharma has gotten there against KKR and DC. Shikhar Dhawan with 1,057 runs against CSK rounds off the list of all players with a thousand or more runs against a single team in the IPL. 

1 - Virat Kohli now has the joint-most fifty-plus scores against KKR in IPL with 8. David Warner and Suresh Raina also have as many while Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma aren't far behind with 7 each.