The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team destroyed the Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets on Sunday in Bengaluru to get the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 started to a dominant start. The two senior RCB players, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, took matters into their own hands and wrecked havoc on the Mumbai assault, which was unable to establish even a single lead till the 15th over.
Players from RCB rejoice after beating Mumbai Indians (screengrab)
In the following over, RCB lost another wicket, but it didn’t matter because Kohli and Du Plessis had already brought the team close to a convincing win. With 3.4 overs remaining, RCB successfully chased down 172, and the celebration following the game was obvious.
Du Plessis is seen leading the celebrations in the locker room and introducing the new team hymn to the crowd in a video posted by RCB.
The team was welcomed with a joyful mood when the IPL returned to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the home of RCB, for the first time since the 2019 edition. Using the chance, Kohli and du Plessis played outstanding innings.
In his comeback, Kohli was unbeaten at 82 off 49 balls and ended the game with a spectacular six over the long-on boundary. Six fours and five sixes were part of his inning.
Du Plessis, on the other side, tried a similar shot and was stopped by Tim David in the same spot for 73(49). Together, they scored 148 runs in 14.5 overs.
The pair added 53 runs in the powerplay overs to push the total above 100 in just 11 overs, ensuring they were not falling behind in the chase.
Tilak Verma, a rising star for the Mumbai Indians, also gave an outstanding effort as he fought valiantly to save his team. Verma helped them rebound from 48/4 in 8.5 overs and lead them to 171/7 in 20 overs with an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls.