Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane shed light on one moment in the first innings that completely changed the "momentum" against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match of Indian Premier League 2025.
On their home turf and in front of the Kolkata crowd, the defending champions fell short and succumbed to a seven-wicket defeat at the iconic Eden Gardens.
After being put to bat and struggling against the early blitz of Josh Hazlewood, Rahane and Sunil Narine upped the ante by resorting to a fearless approach. They turned the tide by attacking relentlessly and lifted the Knights to 107 for 1 in 9.5 overs.
However, against the run of play, RCB got the breakthrough, Rasikh Salam punching Narine's (44 off 26 balls) return ticket to the dressing room.
The floodgates blew wide open, and Krunal Pandya capitalised on the opportunity. He struck twice in quick succession to leave KKR tottering at 145 for 5.
This was the moment that Rahane felt the turned the momentum away from the defending champions and left them incapable of breaching the 200-run mark.
"I thought we were going well till the 13th over, but 2-3 wickets changed the momentum. Batters that followed tried their best, but it didn't work out.
"When Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) and I were batting, we discussed that 200-210 was achievable, but those wickets changed the momentum," said Rahane.
"A little bit of dew was there, but they had a very good powerplay with the bat. It (total) was under par. We were looking for 200-plus (score). We don't want to think too much about this game, but, at the same time, just try and get better in certain areas," he added.
After KKR limped to 174 for 8, the explosive opening duo of Philip Salt and Virat Kohli set the Eden Gardens ablaze with a searing display with the bat.
The spectators were left mesmerised as RCB chants took over the cricketing hub of Kolkata. They raised a 95-run opening stand to take the game out of KKR's grasp and cruise to a seven-wicket victory.
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