RCB vs KKR highlights, IPL 2024: Venkatesh Iyer’s 50, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt’s fiery start help Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 7 wickets

It's a nice milestone (500 T20s). Hopefully 500 more to come. It's just the self belief and the support staff giving the encouragement. Also the hard work. Powerplay over is the hardest over - just have to let that go and keep it tight. Helps when you win. Players have full freedom to do what they want to do.

Coming here, getting those two sessions of practice, we were in a good shape from the previous game. Coming and hitting few balls, it felt comfortable from within. The way Russell came in and realised the wicket wasn't giving much from bowlers, and went to slower ones, analysing the conditions on the spot was pleasing to the eye. The communication was brilliant. See when Narine comes in to open, he knows he has one job which is to clear the infield. Today we were contemplating whether to start with him or not but he did a brilliant job. From one end, it was good to bat on. From the other end it was two paced. That was the communication we had in the middle and we passed it onto others. Would be spending a day tomorrow in Bangalore, and then go to Vizag. I'm not expecting much at this point of time - it's just the start of the tournament. Want to enjoy each other's success - that's the plan for now.

[on his back] It's just a little jacked up, have to go and have a scan. To be honest, it got better as the game went on, one end in particular, the Pavilion end and credit to Narine, the pressure was off and we had to go and finish the formalities. It was very important to capitalise on the platform laid, the left-arm spinner was bowling and it was my duty to go after the bowling. Also my fiancee is here and I would like to credit her. Vyshak bowled really well, used the change-ups nicely. To face him was a little tough, pace off on that pitch in totality was tough. even when we bowled quick deliveries, it was tough.

Strange one, first innings we thought that the wicket was two-paced, you could see that when the guys bowled the cutters, the guys really struggled. We thought it was a decent score knowing that it gets a little easier in the evening, there was a little bit of dew coming in. Looking at the way we batted in the first innings, even Virat was struggling to hit the ball due to the lack of pace. You can always say after the game, try one or two things but the way two of them (Narine and Slat) batted, they put pressure on our bowlers. They hit strong cricket shots and pretty much took the game away. With Narine there, you can't go to spin, you want to use pace upfront. That's also a really good match-up for Salt and the way he plays. They were excellent, really broke the game in the first six overs. Spinning options with Maxi and finger-spinning can be effective here, but at night there wasn't too much spin, With left-hand, right-hand combination, it's one of those things, you can bowl a spinner, we saw when Venky was playing, it felt like an easy hit against left-arm spin. Ideally you want someone who can spin the ball both ways but with the set-up of our team tonight, we didn't have that option. (On Vyshak) Very good, he hasn't had opportunities. We had a look in the first innings and thought about bringing in Karn Sharma. But we felt someone who could bowl really good slower balls is probably the most difficult bowler to face on this pitch. Dre Russ bowled 80% of his balls cutters. We took some learnings from that and he was the best bowler of the evening.

That's that folks KKR beat RCB yet again at home. At no point in the defence did RCB look like they were going to take this game at least close and that is what eventually manifested. For all the narrative of Kohli and Gambhir and plenty of chatter between the rivalry ahead of the anticipated game the performance from RCB just did not live up to the expectation. KKR has now started with two wins in a row and RCB has lost two and won one. 

We are almost there folks it has been a walk in the park for KKR. It was a poor batting effort from RCB and an even worse effort from the bowlers. A lot of work needs to be done both in the way they want to structure the innings and how Faf wants to use his seamers going forward in the tournament. 

Venkatesh Iyer has reached his 50. It has been a brilliant inning from the left-hander coming on the back of a blistering start from Narine and Salt. A couple of wickets fell and felt like RCB were making a comeback in the game but he played a fabulous inning. As we update Dayal picks Venkatesh Iyer. 

An excellent spell from Vyshak comes to an end. He bowls four overs one for 22 despite the ball flying all over the ground he is the one bowler who finds the right length for this surface and mixed up with knuckle balls and slower ones nicely. 

Shreyas Iyer kicked the turf in angst. He had just miscued a pull shot to Yash Dayal. Then he turned to his left, and to his delight, saw the left-arm seamer shelling the catch, letting the ball slip through his palms. Iyer smiled a sheepish smile. RCB men were gutted. Vijaykumar Vyshak, the hapless, cursed his wretched luck. Virat Kohli stared despondently into the skies. The spilled catch was not an aberration, KKR had dropped three, which is around the average catches dropped a game this IPL. Glenn Maxwell was offered two lives in 19 balls, though it did not turn too costly. The count, after 10 games, stands at 28, that is nearly three dropped catches a game.

Mandeep Singh, Rahmaullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Narayan Jagadeeshan, Jason Roy... just the names of some of the openers for KKR last year. But this year, they have gone back to Sunil Narine as opener after pushing him down the order. Narine has been an X-factor for KKR at the top of the order earlier and after a round of musical chairs, the team seems to have embraced the idea of the high-risk and high reward Trinidadian again. He was run out in the first game against SRH so the potential fireworks had to wait. Narain often tries to free his arms by moving away from the line of the ball. If he connects it stays hit most times. Mishits are part of his game but so are clean hits. With an explosive 47 off 22 with five sixes and two fours Narine did what Narine does. KKR raced away to 85 for no loss in the Powerplay with Narine scoring nearly 50 of those runs. The Naraine gamble at the top is one worth taking for KKR.

Joseph has been brought into the attack to use short ball tactic against Iyer however, it backfired as Venkatesh Iyer took the bulk of the strike and smacked Joseph for 20 runs in that over. This is the third poor outing in a row now for Joseph.

Yash Dayal dropped Shreyas Iyer in the previous over. It was a short ball that did not rise much and Iyer timed it too well to the fine-leg fielder who dropped the chance. It has been one of those days where the catches have been kept going down through the evening. 

Another good over from Dagar. Things have been going at a sedate pace since the Powerplay this is good from RCB. Also a smart substitute from them by bringing in Vyshak whose main strength is to bowl slower ones and dig them into the surface. 

Vyshak does the trick for RCB. He picks up Salt. The batter tried to pull the ball on the leg-side and got holed out at square leg. Those two wickets have brought RCB slightly into the game. Shreyas Iyer has walked into the middle it going to be a big innings for him.

That's the first wicket. It is Dagar who gets the breakthrough and picks up Narine who was batting well. It was a yorker-length delivery which the batter yorked himself and got out. RCB needs to build on the pressure that Daggar has created now. Vijaykumar is the impact player for RCB.

That is brutal hitting from KKR.  Narine has smashed Dayal all over the park. KKR has scored 85 runs and this is the worst possible start RCB would have wanted. The pressure is now on their spinners to pick a few quick wickets and pull them back into this game. 

Philip Salt has an unusual late cut. Usually batsmen shift their weight to the back-foot and sway the body a bit to manufacture space for the delicate shot. But Salt remained static, let the ball come into him and then chopped rather than cut the ball. In his hands, even the most dexterous of strokes, assumed a shade of violence. KKR wouldn’t have minded as he propelled them to a pacy start in the company of Sunil Narine, freewheeling as usual.

Four overs into the innings KKR has gone past 50. This partnership thus far would have reminded RCB fans of that day when Chris Lynn and Narine pummeled the bowling attack. It will be interesting to see if Faf would bring in a spinner in the Powerplay which he has been reluctant to do through the tournament this year. 

Sunil Narine goes after his West Indian teammate Joseph. The faster they are coming the faster they are travelling into the stands at this point. This is smart from KKR they did realise once the wicket slows down it is difficult to score hence they are making full use of this Powerplay. 

Another expensive over from RCB this time it is Dayal who has bowled will with the new ball so far in the tournament. As we update Alzari Jospeh has been brought into the attack early in the piece from Faf. Interesting move from Du Plessis who tends to wait a few overs before making the changes. 

Siraj gave 18 runs in the first over. This is the last thing RCB wanted early in the chase an expensive over. Phil Salt climbed onto the bowler as he tried to bowl back of the length and hit the pitch hard without even looking to pitch it up and swing it. 

Pretty happy with it (total), we saw how the pitch was playing, the off-cutters obviously working, hopefully it stays the same in the second innings. We have to wait and see. (Batting at three) I love playing there. You've got a bit more freedom in the last couple of overs in the powerplay. It's always nice to bat with Virat, he looked beautiful again today. There's certain bowlers in their team that I have never faced before. Obviously he has faced some 10 or 20 times, the experience is always amazing. They had a pretty good blueprint, cutters into the wicket - holding and not bouncing even, we have to wait and see if the dew comes in.

The boundaries were aplenty to admire in Virat Kohli's 83* against KKR. The wristwork in flicks, the timing on the sweeps, the ability to pick gaps on the offside. But two moments stood out apart from all those too, summing up Kohli the white-ball cricketer. There have been fewer better runners between the wickets than him. He ran a total of eight twos for himself in the match and for those two of those, he had to judge them in perfection. First, in the 15th over, a shot to the deep point found Rinku Singh. The throw was terrific  from the KKR man, but Kohli – who rarely has to dive to complete his runs – quickly realised he was going to be a bit short. He flung himself forward full length and saved his wicket by the smallest of margins. Then, in the 20th over, he pushed the ball to the deep midwicket and was always determined to come back for the second. This time around, it was a direct hit but Kohli's sprint got him over the line once again by a matter of millimeters, but no dive needed, just all the energy he had in the world at the end of a long innings.

That's it. The innings which promised a lot fizzled out as the game went on with RCB putting on 182/6 while the wicket is slow it is still not a par total. Andre Russell has been top-notch for KKR and RCB does need one of their bowlers to have a similar outing if they need to have a chance in this game. Also, it will be interesting to see the substitute they will be using now here. A mention on Kohli who played an outstanding innings but as the innings went on he struggled to keep up with the pace as KKR bowlers were using slower ones nevertheless a top class innings. 

If not for a six of the final ball it would have been another excellent over for KKR. Yes, the pitch is on a bit of a slower side but RCB needs to bowl well because of the power the KKR line up possesses. This is a sub par total by a long way from RCB credit must be given the way Russell has bowled here today. Kohli two has gone off the boil past his fifty and this is the kind of innings he would have not liked to have on his name because of the progression of it. 

Excellent final over from Rana not only did he pick up the wicket of Rawat who has been in good touch in recent times but also kept Kohli quiet for the rest of the over. This has been excellent bowling from KKR in the last few overs. They have found the right length on the surface and varied their pace nicely. RCB bowlers watching this would be hoping to do the same when their turn comes. It has been a typical wicket here in Bengaluru this year unlike the previous IPLS

Russell has been brought back into the attack and he picked Patidar who tried to hit the ball on the leg-side and got caught at cow corner. Rawat walked into and tried to guide the ball towards the third man which looped in the air and Chakravarthy dropped it. Third mid-field by KKR today evening and Gambhir would not be happy about it Raghuvanshi who is a debutant has been subbed for Varun Chakravarthy who injured his finger while trying to take the catch. 

Starc has been brought into the attack and he bowled a decent over until the final over when Kohli smacked him over the covers for a boundary. This has been another expensive spell for Starc following up the opening game. For all the hitting RCB has done it doesn't seem like they are going to get a total which will give nightmares to KKR. They need to bowl out of their skins to restrict this powerful batting line-up and have to keep picking wickets through the 20 overs. 

RCB need to look to get around that 200-run mark. While Patidhar is a free stroking player himself did RCB miss a trick by not promoting Dinesh Karthik only time will tell. Meanwhile, Kohli is doing Kohli things here. He is holding the innings together the running between the wickets has been top notch if he stays till the 20th over the score can be anything for RCB. Meanwhile as we update KKR has turned to Mitchell Starc now and he needs to deliver a good one here. 

Harshit Rana creates another opportunity for Maxwell and it is dropped again by Narine this time. Maxwell plays an ugly swipe on the leg side and gets the edge to the fine-leg fielder who never looked like taking the catch. As we update Maxwell departs. He tries to take on Narine once again without timing it and gets caught by the deep point fielder. A sight of relief for KKR after getting dropped twice Maxwell could not make the most of the chances. Patidar has walked into the middle now another right-hander. 

Big over for RCB against Chakravarthy 17 runs came off it and Virat Kohli scored his second fifty of the tournament as well in the process. Once again it has been an effortless innings. He did not break a sweat to get to the landmark and played unorthodox cricket shots. Glenn Maxwell started to take on the bowling a bit more in the previous overs. As we update Narine creates an opportunity and the fielder near the boundary drops. How costly will that be only time will tell.

That has been brilliant over from Russell. He delivered a superb over changing the pace up and hitting the ball into the surface which Maxwell struggled to pick. It seems like he has found a method to operate on this surface. Two back-to-back good overs from KKR and RCB need an over with a few boundaries and the run rate has gone down a clip. Excellent this from KKR this is what they did against SRH which is to choke in the middle overs and they are doing the same again today. 

Varun Chakravarthy has been brought into the attack and delivers an excellent over first up. He bowled quicker through the air and onto the pads of the batters. He took a pasting in the game against SRH he must come up with a good spell today. Also with Narine going for runs so far we might see him not complete his quota and Chakrvarthy needs too take that extra responsibility to pick wickets. Meanwhile, Russell is operating from the other end. 

Russell picks Green. The initial ball was a full toss on the leg stump which Green picked on the leg side for a six however, the bowler followed up with a slower one which hit the pads and stumps. Much needed breakthrough for KKR as the duo was looking ominous and it seemed like they were changing the gears there. Meanwhile,, Kohli has breezed into the 40's and looks solid for another big score here. Glenn Maxwell has walked into the middle and he needs a score as well after a couple of poor outings. 

This was a stroke of improvisation that would have made Faf Du Plessis’s close chum AB de Villiers proud. Du Plessis shifted across, spread his upper body and shaped to scoop the ball over fine-leg. But Harshit Rana had spotted the movements, and he altered the length and accordingly. The ball was shorter and outside the off-stump. But the RCB skipper kept his wits and just dinked the ball over the wicket-keeper, adjusting to the length by merely arching his body a bit to get optimum control and contact. He would perish next ball, attempting another scoop, this time Rana deceiving him change of pace, but after playing the best shot in the powerplay.

Virat Kohli was waiting. He knew Mitchell Starc would seam one back into his pads. Many a left-arm seamer has found success against Kohli this way. But if Kohli is seeing the ball as well as he wants to, it becomes easy fodder for him. He would whip it with those heinous wrists. The sequence played into the predictable pattern. Starc seamed the ball in, only that the ball strayed on the leg-side, a ball most would have glided past fine-leg. Kohli had shuffled across for the flick, but the line was not quite flick-able.   But Kohli stood where he was, showing two stumps, and at the last minute, he gave his wrists a ferocious whip and the ball soared over midwicket.

It is a tidy over from the left-arm spinner first up. Handy cricketer Anukul Roy is he fields well and can hit a few hefty blows coming down the order. The KKR management would have noticed how Brar had bowled in the previous game and the number of right-handers RCB had in their top order and made a tactical decision. Meanwhile, Sunil Narine has been brought into the attack from the other end. This is where RCB needs to be careful and be wary of not getting sucked into the spin trap. 

Another expensive over from KKR. It was Rana this time. This might be a high-scoring thriller folks. Yes, RCB has started well but this wicket looks like batting paradise, and no matter how much they get they need to bowl well because of the powerful batting lineup RCB possesses. Anukul Roy has been brought into the attack against two right-handers. It will be interesting to see if there is any turn-on offer on this surface. 

Expensive over from Starc. Despite the lack of swing the tall left-armer continued to pitch the ball and paid the price for it. Once again after a poor start against SRH in KKR's opening game, it seems like the same narrative is getting repeated itself. We might see spin being introduced from Starc's end meanwhile Rana keeps operating from the other end. Meanwhile, Kohli is looking today again coming on the back of a sublime knock against the Punjab Kings in the previous game. 

Faf du Plessis scopped Harshit for a six and the batter tried the same again the following ball only to get caught at fine-leg fielder. The massive wicket that for KKR as the wicket seems to be pretty flat and both these openers if get stuck in KKR would have looked to chase a massive total. Nonetheless the wicket falls Rana continues to get crucial breakthroughs. Cameron Green has walked into the middle and he would love batting on this strip with ball coming in straight lines. 

Mitchell Starc pitched the ball up looking for a swing however, there was nothing. The ball went in straight lines and Virat Kohli off the first ball got an outside edge for a boundary. Harshit Rana will take the new ball from the other end and it will be interesting to see how much swing he might extract from this surface. KKR also has the option of Anukul Roy who is a left-arm spinner and with two right-handers in the middle, it might be the right match-up to use from Iyer early in the piece. 

We have a cracking contest on our hands folks. The crowd is buzzing the center pitch has been picked. Expect a lot of runs today being scored. It will be Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis who will start the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and they will face the likes of Mitchell Starc and Harshith Rana from Kolkata Knight Riders which is a battle for the ages.

"At the moment I have four packs [abs] so working on the next two. Definitely being leaner and lighter, I just think it's working for my body and shows in my performance as well. I set myself a goal because I like to watch the UFC fighters. To see those guys looking strong and lean is a motivation for me as well. I know it's gonna help in my cricket... bowling, fielding and also in my batting. I use it as a platform to say that I want to look like that. If I don't, it's still fine. I'll be getting stronger and I'll be making sure that I'm on the cricket field as long as possible and keep doing all these amazing things that I've been doing." 

"It looks a glorious evening. The square is a little bit used, but the outfield looks superb. Dimensions of the ground aren't huge. We are the centre of the square - 61 metres (square) either side and 75 metres down the ground. A high six-hitting ground. The first game played here, we saw a number of seam bowlers taking pace off the ball. Maybe that's something faster bowlers may go to today. It looks interesting. It's still a good pitch, it's hard but there are areas over here - when you look at the good length spots, some of these cracks over here, when you touch, they are a little bit loose. If the spinners keep landing the ball over here, it's going to come apart a little bit and get you a little more turn. We hope there'll be no dew interrupting."

Kolkata Knight Riders Subs: Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Subs: Mahipal Lomror, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Swapnil Singh

Philip Salt(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Anuj Rawat(w), Dinesh Karthik, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal

The same (would have bowled first). It's a fresh wicket, looks a good wicket, you have to see how it plays in the first innings. It's important to close games early in the season. All the great crickets adapt, it's important to assess the conditions. We love the support and atmosphere. Same team.

We are going to bowl first. HAd a brief chat with the curator, she was like the ball will spin as well. (Morale) It is fantastic, everyone is in high spirits. We have to carry forward the same momentum. It is important to be in the present. My role is to play an anchor role. It's always good to have a lethal bowling line-up. It is important to stay in the present. We have to see to it that we capitalize on the start. The bowling - Anukul comes in. I am seriously confused. There are two teams given to me.

It's a pretty good wicket. Always good to get off the mark. Important to stay consistent. (Have to) keep using that hard length with the new ball. I've been enjoying the pre-season games. Was something in it the first game. Hopefully the same today. We know what we have to do (against Rinku and Dre Russ).

Last season in the IPL, in a nailbiting finish in Bengaluru, Lucknow Super Giants pipped RCB by one wicket. Gambhir was there in the LSG dugout this team as the team mentor and the former India batter provoked the home crowd with a ‘finger on his lips’ response at them.

In the reverse fixture in Lucknow, Kohli returned the gesture to the Lucknow crowd after an 18-run win. An on-field tussle with LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq then carried on after the game. Kohli was then approached by LSG’s Kyle Mayers for a chat, when Gambhir intervened and pulled his player away from the RCB batter. Soon, the cameras caught Kohli and Gambhir in a heated exchange, prompting a host of players from both teams to hop in and control the situation.

In a video released by Star Sports ahead of the blockbuster RCB vs KKR clash on Friday, however, Gambhir’s comments indicated that there was no love lost between himself and the RCB franchise as well.

“One team which I wanted to beat every time and probably in my dreams was RCB,” Gambhir said.

When prodded by the anchor to divulge the reason, the 2-time IPL winning captain said, “Wanted to. Probably the second-most high-profile team and flamboyant team. The owner and the squad with Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Not won anything, still thought they won everything. Can’t take that kind of an attitude.”

On that day Dayal might have prayed for the ground beneath him to crack and devour him. He kept over-compensating and was Rinku kept on bludgeoning him all over the park.

As soon as Yash’s final ball was walloped for a six to trigger celebrations in Rinku Singh’s household in Aligarh, Yash’s father Chandarpal had switched off the television in Allahabad.

Soon, however, he learned from his close ones that Dayal was seen in tears on television. Chandarpal Dayal, his father decided to step in to help out his vulnerable son “who doesn’t talk or show emotions much”.

“Ghabraana nahi (Don’t get scared),” he told Yash. “I then said: “This is not some new thing in cricket. Bowlers getting hit. It has happened to big bowlers. Just do hard work, see where you made mistakes, but remember this is not the first time it has happened in cricket. Big players like Malinga, Stuart Broad have gone through the situation.”

Dayal, who was part of the Gujarat Titans for the last two seasons was hit for five sixes by Kolkata Knight Riders Rinku Singh.

With 29 to defend in the last over, Dayal was buoyant and cheerful. Only once has a team scored more than these many runs to win a game in the IPL — that game of Rahul Tewatia fame. Such finishes, though, are rare and freakish.

But Rinku had something else in his mind as he hit his fellow Uttar Pradesh teammate for five sixes to seal the victory for KKR from the jaw of defeat.

“Match ke baad mai jab gaya waapis toh mujhe kaafi problem hui, mereko mana kiya gaya tha ki social media mar dekhna. But maine dekh liya (Yash Dayal said “After GT v KKR game, I was asked not to see the social media but I still went on),” Dayal told Mohammed Siraj after the match.

The power-packed batting lineup of KKR has troubled RCB many times in the past and this time it will be no different either. Andre Russell played a blistering inning against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Kolkata’s first game at the Eden Gardens and looks in good touch. With the small dimensions and batting-friendly pitch at the Chinnaswamy Russell would be licking his lips to put on another brutal hitting display against what seems to be relatively weaker bowling attacks in the tournament.

KKR XI: Shreyas Iyer, Philip Salt, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Player: Suyash Sharma

RCB XI: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Mayank Dagar, Yash Dayal

Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror