The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket tournament, is off to a riveting start as 10 Indian cricket teams consisting of the best players compete against each other for the IPL champion title.
With no set stadium, matches are played across various venues throughout India. Defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders are aiming for a fourth title, but the Mumbai Indians or the Sunrisers Hyderabad are also predicted to win, as they are frequently mentioned as the top contenders.
March 22 – Game One: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
In the first inning, Royal Challengers Bangalore won the coin toss and chose to bowl, making Kolkata Knight Riders bat first. KKR hit a total of 174 runs off of eight wickets. RCB turned the game around in the second inning, winning the first match of the season by seven wickets and 22 balls to spare.
March 23 – Game Two: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Vs. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Rajasthan Royals opted to bowl first after winning the toss, hoping to have a strong start. Sunrisers Hyderabad put on a show for the viewers, hitting a valiant knock of 286 runs for six wickets, nearly breaking their own record of the highest score in IPL history [in April 2024 – 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru].
Ishan Kishan, entering his first season in orange (SRH colors), hit a stellar century, 106 runs, off of just 47 balls and remained not out. In the second inning, RR was not able to surpass the run target, which resulted in SRH winning the match by 44 runs.
This thriller of a second match was just a preview of what the rest of the IPL tournament would be like.
March 23 – Game Three: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Vs. Mumbai Indians (MI)
In the second match of the day, Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl first. Mumbai Indians put up a modest fight in the first inning with 155 total runs. The run chase for CSK may have seemed to be on the lower side, but MI’s bowling unit was putting up a large fight, keeping each over as tight as they could.
As tension started to rise for CSK towards the end of the match, the fan favorite M.S. Dhoni came out to bat and led the team to victory by four wickets and five balls remaining.
March 24 – Game Four: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Vs. Delhi Capitals (DC)
Lucknow Super Giants put up an impressive run score of 209 on the scoreboard in the first inning, but Delhi Capitals also put up a hard fight as they took eight wickets.
In the second inning, the tensions rose as DC fought to surpass 209 scores, and won the match by one wicket and three balls left in a near-final over thriller.
March 25 – Game Five: Punjab Kings (PBKS) Vs. Gujarat Titans (GT)
Gujarat Titans decided to bowl after winning the coin toss, and Punjab Kings hit a total of 243 runs in the first inning. Despite a solid start for GT, PBKS turned the tables in the second inning with their bowling, winning by 11 runs.
These first few matches of the season had fans on the edge of their seats. The Torch is excited to see what the outcome of the tournament will be, and who’s going to clench the 2025 Indian Premier League Champion title.
