KKR vs RCB rivalry: Exciting, intense and dramatic encounters over the years

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) met in the first ever IPL match. Seventeen years later, they meet in the season opener for the first time since. Here is a look at some of the iconic matches between these two much-loved teams.

The IPL couldn't have asked for a better launchpad. On the tournament's opening night, Brendon McCullum lit up the league with an electrifying 158 not out. His onslaught powered KKR to a towering 222 for 3, leaving RCB shell-shocked. The chase never took off, as RCB crumbled for 82, handing KKR a resounding 140-run victory.

Now leading KKR, McCullum delivered another statement at the top, anchoring the innings with an unbeaten 84 to set RCB a target of 174. The chase looked wobbly at 74 for 3 in 11 overs, but Ross Taylor had other ideas. Capitalising on some erratic death bowling, he tore into the KKR seamers, smashing an unbeaten 81 off just 33 balls to power RCB home with four deliveries to spare.

The contest itself was a no contest, as Chris Gayle steamrolled his way to an unbeaten 85 in a chase of 155. But what made headlines was the fiery exchange between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir . After Kohli sliced a catch to deep point, Gambhir did not hold back with his celebrations. Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the two had a go at each other before their former Delhi team-mate Rajat Bhatia stepped in to defuse the tension.

KKR had RCB on a leash for 17 overs, only for a late flourish to push the home side to 185. In response, KKR struggled to keep pace, slipping to a position where they needed 93 off the last seven overs. Enter Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan . The duo turned the game on its head, with Pathan taking apart Shane Watson in the 17th over, plundering 24 runs to shift the momentum. His unbeaten 60 off 29 balls sealed a dramatic win for KKR, capping off a stunning comeback.

At the halfway mark, KKR were at least 50 runs short. Sunil Narine 's blistering 17-ball 34 had given them a quick start at 65 for 1 in the powerplay, but they still stumbled to 131 all out. What followed, however, was historic. The most star-studded batting line-up in T20 cricket crumbled in a heap - RCB skittled for a mere 49, still the lowest total in IPL history . Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes, and Colin de Grandhomme shared three wickets apiece as not a single RCB batter reached double digits.

In the return fixture, KKR turned the tables with the bat. RCB's superstar trio of Gayle, Kohli, and AB de Villiers managed just 15 runs between them, but Mandeep Singh 's 52 and Travis Head 's unbeaten 75 lifted them to a modest 158. That total looked woefully inadequate once Narine and Chris Lynn unleashed mayhem. The duo blasted 105 runs in the powerplay, with Narine smashing the fastest IPL fifty at the time - off just 15 balls. KKR barely broke a sweat in a commanding victory.

Desperate to snap a four-match losing streak, RCB seemed on course for a much-needed win, having set KKR a daunting 206 and leaving them needing 66 off the last four overs. Kohli and de Villiers had struck fluent half-centuries, and it was now up to the bowlers to keep Russell quiet. But Dre Russ had other plans. In yet another display of brute force, he hammered an unbeaten 48 off just 13 balls, making a mockery of the chase as KKR stormed home with five deliveries to spare.

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