Royal Challengers Bengaluru, replying to Kolkata Knight Riders 174 for 8, were 75 without loss after five overs as IPL-18 opened at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Phil Salt, who played a stellar role in KKR’s title-triumph last season, joined Virat Kohli and the two were already demonstrating how dangerous they can be this year as an opening combo. Kohli is batting on a 9-ball 25 with two boundaries and two sixes while Salt, who has hogged the strike, is rubbing it in. He is unbeaten on 48 off 21 with eight boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Earlier, put into bat, skipper Ajinkya Rahane came in to turbo-charge KKR with a flurry of boundaries after the early loss of Quinton de Kock and a misfiring Sunil Narine threatened to take the innings into a slump. The 36-year-old Rahane began with a couple of sixes and a four in the fourth over, bowled by the hapless Yash Dayal, and there was no relenting in the murderous mood as Dayal, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar and Suyash Sharma felt the heat. The blistering attack allowed Narine to settle into his usual role as the Powerplay produced 60 runs with Rahane scoring at an incredible strike-rate of close to 244. Narine’s rate of 113.3 paled in comparison.