Match Overview

Venue and Date

The stage was set for the epic encounter between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. The RCB vs KKR match occurred on 25th April, 2025 at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. Chinnaswamy stadium was packed to the rafters with the fans of both the franchises

Team News and Pre-Match Insights

With Kohli, Faf, and Glenn Maxwell doing extraordinarily well, RCB did not face issues in selecting their starting 11 and featured a very strong squad. Surely this match was a treat for all as KKR had their own star players in Andre Russell and Shreyas Iyer making the fixture more than competitive.

Toss and Team Composition

Toss Results

RCB won the toss and opted to bat first. This would put their batting skills to the test against a powerful KKR bowling attack.

RCB’s Predicted Team Composition

Faf du Plessis (C)

Virat Kohli

Glenn Maxwell

Devdutt Padikkal

Shivam Dube

Mahipal Lomror

Dinesh Karthik (WK)

Wanindu Hasaranga

Siraj Mohammed

Joshua “Josh” Hazlewood

Harshal Patel

KKR’s Predicted Team Composition

Shreyas Iyer (C)

Venkatesh Iyer

Andre Russell

Nitish Rana

Rinku Singh

Sunil Narine

Shivam Mavi

Puru Kumar (WK)

Lockie Ferguson

Varun Chakravarthy

Umesh Yadav

First Innings RCB Summary

RCB First Batting Innings

In this match, we saw RCB face KKR and in came the RCB opening partnership of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, who had the ideal plan to put on a great total for KKR to chase. They finished with a bang. Kohli really did know how to find the fence as both of them started off with singles and then shifted to twos. He started with singles each leading to Kohli inching towards the boundary, overpowering the ball.

Significant Partnerships

A massive partnership between Kohli and du Plesssis got RCB to an amazing score of 70 in the initial 10 overs without losing a wicket. They were steadying the ship and as always du Plessis was taking the charge as the lower order anchor while along the way enabling Kohli to find his touch.

Wickets Fall

The tide of the match emerged with KKR breaking the partnership after Umesh Yadav successfully dismissed Kohli who was well set on 56 off 42 balls. This wicket brought Glenn Maxwell to the crease, who has been in superb form this season. He made his intentions clear, smashing a few boundaries in no time.

Maxwell’s Explosive Innings

Glenn Maxwell walked away as the star of the RCB innings, reaching his half-century in 30 balls. His mindset also tempered the score past the 150-run mark within 15 overs. Hussaranga along with Dinesh Karthik in the latter order batsmen further made the innings look entirely contdstractable.

RCB’s Total

In the end RCB set a competitive total of 197 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs. Maxwell’s fireworks meant agreat finish for RCB as he scored 84 off 46 balls while Puru Kumar had critical wickets in the mix to control the scoring.

Highlights: Second Innings

KKR’s Chase Starts

KKR were aware right from the start that chasing a score of 198 runs would be quite difficult for them. The duo of Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer opened the innings and faced the new-ball threat with Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood leading the attack. The Australian bowlers were extremely accurate, which only made it harder for KKR to score.

Wickets and Key Partnerships

Venkatesh Iyer gave a good account of himself with some stylish shots while trying to keep Shreyas Iyer anchored after losing Venkatesh to Hazlewood after he scored 24 runs. Another partnership was building between Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell, who came in with intent to change the game completely.

Andre Russell’s Blitz

Russell single-handedly changed the game for KKR as he absolutely smashed the RCB bowlers to all parts of the ground. He went on to hit a few sixes and fours, declaring war on the bowlers single handedly. His incredible innings of 57 runs off only 29 balls helped KKR get back in the match, as they soon passed the 100-run mark.

The Batting Collapse: Key Moments

KKR’s momentum was halted as Siraj came back into the game, claiming vital wickets of Russell and then Rinku Singh which put KKR in a precarious position. Important bowlers such as Harshal Patel were putting pressure on KKR batsmen and were also economical.

KKR’s Downfall

The KKR innings fell to pieces post-Russell’s dismissal. While Shreyas did manage to anchor the innings with a commendable 68 runs, he quickly ran out of support and partners as wickets continued to fall. The lack of meaningful collaborations after Russell’s exit greatly reduced KKR’s potential to chase down the target successfully.

Final Moments and Result

Deliveries That Changed The Game

As KKR drew closer to the climactic portion of the match, they realized they needed 36 runs in 2 overs with 2 wickets left. Siraj was put in to bowl the second last over, which he executed flawlessly, Only conceding 6 runs and taking yet another wicket in the 19th.

RCB Goes All Out In Attack And Emerges Victorious

Last week Thursday, KKR was given a monumental task in the final over, needing 30 runs to take the win home. Harshal Patel, Kidding around over his target, bowled beautifully to conserve runs and finish the match, leaving KKR stranded at 185 runs for 9 wickets. At IPL 2025, RCB claimed a crucial victory by finishing it up with a whopping score of 12 runs.

Player of the Match

Explosive innings has always been a forte of Glenn Maxwell. In his pivotal innings, which came to be the reason why RCB won the game, earned him the Player of the Match award.

Post Match Reactions

Coaches And Player Insights

Recapping the moments prior, Harshal Patel was already strolling towards the winning side. He left his defenders speechless with jaw dropping catches. As for the RCB captain Faf Du Plessies, he’s always been a commending fan of his teammates. Displaying support towards his players, especially towards Maxwell, Iyer spoke of how RCB made a fine decision regarding putting him in the opener position. On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer, their captain pointed out how they repetitively fail on making good starts, started emphasizing turning them into cherished wins during such situations.

Fans Reactions

HBRC fans dashed out of the arena overjoyed while the supports of KKR started to reminisce over what went wrong with their team. The positive note is that both teams for now have plenty of matches to play and lessons from this encounter they can put to use.