Kohli, du Plessis lift RCB to statement victory over MI

RCB enjoyed a perfect homecoming at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday night as they delivered a statement performance to beat the Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in Bangalore. Glorious half-centuries from RCB openers Virat Kohli (82* off 49) and Faf du Plessis (73 off 43) cancelled out Tilak Varma’s sublime unbeaten 84 to help the hosts chase down 172 in 16.2 overs and kick off their IPL 2023 campaign with a crushing victory over the five-time champions.

Returning to their home ground for the first time since 2019, RCB got off to a flying start with the bat after Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to field. The Royal Challengers pacers ripped into the star-studded Mumbai batting line-up in the powerplay as Ishan Kishan was caught on the third man boundary in the deep before Australian all-rounder Cameron Green was cleaned up by a Reece Topley yorker on his IPL debut. Rohit Sharma was handed a life when Mohammed Siraj collided with Dinesh Karthik while attempting to take his catch, but the opener couldn’t capitalise on that good fortune, edging behind off Akash Deep in the next over for one.

Mumbai’s troubles compounded when Suryakumar Yadav fell cheaply to Michael Bracewell in the ninth over, leaving the visitors in a perilous position at 55 for four at the halfway mark. However, Tilak Varma led MI’s fightback in the second half of the innings, with the youngster taking charge to lead the visitors to a respectable total. Tilak and Nehal Wadhera took 16 runs from Glenn Maxwell’s over to add some much-needed momentum to the MI innings, and the left-handed debutant also struck two consecutive sixes off Karn Sharma in an entertaining cameo.

Karn Sharma also dismissed Tim David, but Tilak Varma kept MI alive with some delightful shot-making at the death. The IPL sophomore got to his 50 in 32 deliveries and added 34 runs off his final 14 balls to take Mumbai to 171 in 20 overs.

However, with the dew settling in at the Chinnaswamy, Bangalore were never troubled in the chase as Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis shared a mammoth 148-run stand. The pair went after Jason Behrendorff and Jofra Archer in the powerplay, scoring 53 runs in the first six, and kept the foot on the gas through the middle.

Du Plessis creamed Cameron Green for three boundaries in an over and launched consecutive sixes off Hrithik Shokeen, while Kohli brought up the century stand by clearing Piyush Chawla over the ropes in the tenth over. There was no respite for the MI bowlers as both RCB openers brought up their half-centuries and motored along in front of their home fans. Du Plessis eventually perished for 73 to end the partnership, but Kohli stayed till the end and finished the game in style with a six, taking RCB to victory with nearly four overs to spare.