Phil Salt’s extraordinary assault and Virat Kohli’s star power helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru outshine defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League-18 season opener at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday, March 22.
After restricting KKR to 174, RCB cruised to victory with plenty to spare.
Donning a different uniform in a familiar setting, Salt (56, 31b, 9×4, 2×6) exhibited his trademark ruthless hammering, comprising some awe-inspiring drives but also some deft cuts, to punish his former team’s bowlers as he raced to his fifty in 25 balls.
Kohli (59 n.o., 36b, 4×4, 3×6) joined the party with two straight-batted sixes off Spencer Johnson and as many fours off Vaibhav Arora.
