Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders: IPL H2H
By CricketTaken EditorialPublished Cricket in the Indian Premier League10 min read
The IPL began with this fixture. On 18 April 2008 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Brendon McCullum made 158 not out from 73 balls, Kolkata Knight Riders posted 222 for 3, Royal Challengers Bangalore were bowled out for 82 and lost by 140 runs. Nothing in the competition's first innings has been surpassed as a start.
Nine years later the same pairing produced the other end of the scale. At Eden Gardens on 23 April 2017 Royal Challengers were bowled out for 49 in 9.4 overs chasing 132, with no batter reaching double figures. It remains the lowest total in IPL history and the only innings in the competition to finish under fifty.
Between those two matches and beyond them, Kolkata have won 20 of the 37 meetings and Bengaluru 16, with the second leg of 2025 at Chinnaswamy abandoned. Bengaluru have won the two most recent results.
Chasing is how Bengaluru win
| Side | Wins | Won defending | Won chasing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 20 | 10 | 10 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 16 | 3 | 13 |
Thirteen of Bengaluru's sixteen wins came batting second. They have defended a total successfully three times in 36 completed matches: at Eden Gardens in April 2019, at Sharjah in October 2020 and at Chepauk in April 2021. Kolkata's own record splits exactly evenly.
That is not a scoring artefact either, because the fixture's first-innings average has hovered between 154 and 172 across all three of its phases. Bengaluru have simply not defended in this fixture, and the 140-run and 82-run defeats that frame the page are both cases of them failing to chase.
Ledger and grounds
| Where | Matches | RCB won | KKR won | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 13 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| Neutral and relocated | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| All matches | 37 | 16 | 20 | 1 |
Kolkata have won eight at each home ground, which is the striking symmetry here — they are as good at Chinnaswamy as at Eden Gardens, four wins ahead in Bengaluru and three ahead in Kolkata. Bengaluru's compensation is the neutral column, where they lead 7-4 across matches in South Africa, the UAE, Ranchi, Chennai, Navi Mumbai and Raipur.
| Ground | Matches | RCB won | KKR won |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | 13 | 4 | 8 |
| Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Sharjah Cricket Stadium | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Kingsmead, Durban | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| SuperSport Park, Centurion | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, Raipur | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Every meeting, 2008 to 2026
| # | Season | Date | Stage | Ground | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | 18 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 140 runs |
| 2 | 2008 | 8 May | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 5 runs |
| 3 | 2009 | 29 April | League | Kingsmead, Durban | RCB won by 5 wickets |
| 4 | 2009 | 12 May | League | SuperSport Park, Centurion | RCB won by 6 wickets |
| 5 | 2010 | 14 March | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 7 wickets |
| 6 | 2010 | 10 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB won by 7 wickets |
| 7 | 2011 | 22 April | League | Eden Gardens | RCB won by 9 wickets |
| 8 | 2011 | 14 May | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB won by 4 wickets |
| 9 | 2012 | 10 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 42 runs |
| 10 | 2012 | 28 April | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 47 runs |
| 11 | 2013 | 11 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB won by 8 wickets |
| 12 | 2013 | 12 May | League | JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi | KKR won by 5 wickets |
| 13 | 2014 | 24 April | League | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | KKR won by 2 runs |
| 14 | 2014 | 22 May | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 30 runs |
| 15 | 2015 | 11 April | League | Eden Gardens | RCB won by 3 wickets |
| 16 | 2015 | 2 May | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB won by 7 wickets |
| 17 | 2016 | 2 May | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 5 wickets |
| 18 | 2016 | 16 May | League | Eden Gardens | RCB won by 9 wickets |
| 19 | 2017 | 23 April | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 82 runs |
| 20 | 2017 | 7 May | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 6 wickets |
| 21 | 2018 | 8 April | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 4 wickets |
| 22 | 2018 | 29 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 6 wickets |
| 23 | 2019 | 5 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 5 wickets |
| 24 | 2019 | 19 April | League | Eden Gardens | RCB won by 10 runs |
| 25 | 2020 | 12 October | League | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | RCB won by 82 runs |
| 26 | 2020 | 21 October | League | Sheikh Zayed Stadium | RCB won by 8 wickets |
| 27 | 2021 | 18 April | League | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium | RCB won by 38 runs |
| 28 | 2021 | 20 September | League | Sheikh Zayed Stadium | KKR won by 9 wickets |
| 29 | 2021 | 11 October | Eliminator | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | KKR won by 4 wickets |
| 30 | 2022 | 30 March | League | DY Patil Stadium | RCB won by 3 wickets |
| 31 | 2023 | 6 April | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 81 runs |
| 32 | 2023 | 26 April | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 21 runs |
| 33 | 2024 | 29 March | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | KKR won by 7 wickets |
| 34 | 2024 | 21 April | League | Eden Gardens | KKR won by 1 run |
| 35 | 2025 | 22 March | League | Eden Gardens | RCB won by 7 wickets |
| 36 | 2025 | 17 May | League | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | No result |
| 37 | 2026 | 13 May | League | Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, Raipur | RCB won by 6 wickets |
Kolkata's longest run in the fixture is five, from April 2017 to April 2019, and it includes the 49 all out. Bengaluru's best is four, from October 2020 to March 2022.
The one knockout
| Season | Stage | Ground | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Eliminator | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | KKR 139/6 (19.4) beat RCB 138/7 by 4 wickets |
Bengaluru had beaten Kolkata by 38 runs at Chepauk earlier in the season and lost the return by nine wickets, then met them again in the Eliminator and lost with two balls left. The 2021 season page covers the split India-UAE campaign and Kolkata's run from there to the final.
Totals, from 49 to 222
| Total | Team | Season | Ground |
|---|---|---|---|
| 222/3 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2008 | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium |
| 222/6 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2024 | Eden Gardens |
| 221 all out | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2024 | Eden Gardens |
| 213/4 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2019 | Eden Gardens |
| 206/5 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2019 | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium |
| 205/3 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2019 | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium |
| 204/4 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2021 | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium |
| 204/7 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2023 | Eden Gardens |
Rows two and three come from the same match — Eden Gardens, 21 April 2024, Kolkata 222 for 6 and Bengaluru 221 all out, decided by one run with Bengaluru losing their last wicket in the final over. At 443 runs it is the highest-scoring meeting the two have had, and the narrowest result in the fixture.
The IPL's lowest team totals page carries the 49, and it is not Bengaluru's only collapse here: they also made 82 in the opening match of 2008, 92 all out at Abu Dhabi in September 2021 and 123 all out at Eden Gardens in April 2023. Four of the fixture's five lowest completed innings are theirs. Kolkata's lowest is 84 for 8 at Abu Dhabi in October 2020.
Margins
Kolkata hold the largest win in the fixture, the 140 in the opening match, and share the second: their 82-run win at Eden Gardens in 2017 matches Bengaluru's 82-run win at Sharjah in October 2020. Kolkata's 81-run win at Eden Gardens in 2023 is fourth.
At the tight end, the fixture has produced a one-run result, a two-run result at Sharjah in 2014, a five-run result in the second match ever played between them, and a ten-run result at Eden Gardens in 2019. Kolkata won three of those four.
Four observations the tables leave out:
- Bengaluru have won four of thirteen at their own ground and five of thirteen at Kolkata's. It is the only long-running fixture in which a side has a better record away than at home.
- The fixture has produced no tie and no Super Over in 37 matches, which is unusual for a pairing this old.
- Kolkata have taken both legs of a season seven times: in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024. Bengaluru have done it four times, in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2020.
- Every Bengaluru win since 2022 has been a chase, and all three came at a different ground: Navi Mumbai, Eden Gardens and Raipur.
Franchise context
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru hub and the Kolkata Knight Riders hub carry squad, season and honours detail, and the IPL index lists every campaign from the 2008 opener. Virat Kohli's RCB career began in the first of these 37 matches. Kolkata's most lopsided long fixture, against Mumbai Indians, makes an instructive comparison. The Eden Gardens records page covers the ground of both the 49 and the one-run game, the M. Chinnaswamy records page the other main venue, the 2024 season page Kolkata's third title, and the cricket in India hub places the league in the domestic game.
Sources and method
Every entry in the tables above — date, ground, innings score, margin — comes from this site's IPL season match lists for 2008 to 2026, confirmed match by match against ESPNcricinfo. Two matches were verified in detail because the page turns on them: the competition's opening fixture of 18 April 2008, with McCullum's 158 not out from 73 balls and Bengaluru's 82 all out in 15.1 overs, and the Eden Gardens match of 23 April 2017, in which Bengaluru were dismissed for 49 in 9.4 overs with no batter reaching double figures.
Conventions. The 37 total includes the abandoned Chinnaswamy fixture of 17 May 2025, shown as a no result and excluded from the win columns and from all averages. Franchise names follow the season, so Royal Challengers Bangalore up to 2023 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru from 2024. Home allocation follows the designated host, which places the South African fixtures of 2009, the UAE matches of the 2014, 2020 and 2021 seasons, Ranchi, Chepauk, Navi Mumbai and Raipur in the neutral row. The Chinnaswamy Stadium appears under both city spellings in the source records and is consolidated to thirteen matches.
Fixture-only individual aggregates are not published here. The dataset behind these tables records match results rather than ball-by-ball detail, so a leading run scorer or wicket taker across these 37 matches specifically cannot be computed from it and has been omitted rather than estimated. Figures current as of 27 August 2026.