KKR 177-6 (18.5 ovs) vs RCB 176-7 | Scorecard

Sunil Narine hammered a quickfire half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in Kolkata.

Promoted to open the innings, Narine smashed five sixes and four boundaries in his 19-ball knock of 50.

Nitish Rana, who did the star turn with the ball with wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers off successive deliveries, played a handy innings of 34.

Captain Dinesh Karthik guided KKR home with a steady knock of 35 as KKR began their campaign in IPL-11 with a win.

Earlier, part-time spinner Nitish Rana struck twice in a sensational one-over spell before Mandeep Singh smashed a whirlwind 18-ball 37 to take Royal Challengers Bangalore to a challenging 176 for seven.

Opener Brendon McCullum set it up for RCB with a sensational 27-ball 43 while AB de Villiers made the Eden Gardens crowd cheer for the visitors with his scintillating 23-ball 44, which was studded with five mouth-watering sixes and one boundary.

Indian captain Virat Kohli (31 off 33) played the second fiddle and after RCB's star were dismissed in quick succession, it was a blazing cameo by Mandeep which enabled RCB post a challenging total.