On Saturday, March 22, at the Eden Gardens, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru played their first match of the 2025 IPL when a pitch invasion stopped play.
Virat Kohli achieved his half-century in the 13th over of the RCB’s run-chase, which is when the event happened.
When Kohli concluded his celebration, the spectator went onto the pitch and collapsed to the feet of the star batsman, utterly amazed by the cricket legend. For a few minutes, the game had to be stopped. Later, the passionate fan was removed from the pitch by the ground’s security personnel.
It’s interesting to note that this was not the first time that Kohli had to endure this while batting. An Australian player wearing a white T-shirt and red shorts broke through security during the 2023 Cricket World Cup final and ran to embrace Kohli. The intruder was quickly captured by the Narendra Modi Stadium authorities.
View the video below:
#KKRvsRCB #IPL2025
A fan breached the field and touched Virat Kohli’s feetpic.twitter.com/Ck70YHyas8— BOBjr (@superking1816) March 22, 2025
With 22 deliveries remaining, RCB easily won by seven wickets thanks to Kohli’s 56th half-century. At the beginning of the innings, Phil Salt delivered a blazing knock that brilliantly backed him. Kohli and Rajat Patidar, the captain at the time, crushed the unfortunate hosts’ bowling order thanks to the fast-paced 95-run partnership. The only player who was able to represent economic figures was Sunil Narine, who had previously made an impression with a scorching 44.
In the first innings, the bowlers for the RCB had a mixed performance. At the midway point of their innings, KKR was 107/2. But in the second part of KKR’s innings, the Patidar-led team became the dominant force. After giving up 15 runs in his opening over, Krunal Pandya managed to secure a three-wicket haul while giving up just 29 runs in his four overs. Josh Hazlewood also impressed me much. After four overs, the Australian pacer’s statistics were 2/22.
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