On Sunday, April 2, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI), five-time champions, by eight wickets, to kick off their IPL 2023 campaign on a high note. In 8.5 overs, RCB reduced MI to 48/4 after winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. Until youngster Tilak Varma scored a fine half-century to help MI post a competitive total of 171/7, all seemed lost for the visitors.
In answer, RCB laid out their order from the word go as veteran openers Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli made happy as they played with the MI bowling assault. RCB was on the verge of a 10-wicket victory when Du Plessis holed to long-on with the score at 148 and Dinesh Karthik fell for a surprise duck.
However, by that time, the target had become merely a formality as Glenn Maxwell and Kohli combined to conclude the game in just 16.2 overs. In light of this, let’s talk about five takeaways from RCB’s impressive performance against MI.
#1 Virat Kohli conveys his worldwide structure into the IPL
Virat Kohli is back to his best since the Asia Cup of last year, when he went through one of his worst slumps of his career.
With an unbeaten half-century (82* off 49 balls) against MI, Kohli erased the horrors of the previous Indian Premier League, in which he scored only two half-centuries and recorded three golden ducks.
He started slowly at first, a classic “King Kohli” knock, before wreaking havoc on the helpless MI attack. With a massive six to seal the deal, the Indian maestro hit six boundaries and five maximums for his team.
The tremendous form of Kohli bodes well for RCB’s success this season.
2 The award for Player of the Match goes to Faf du Plessis.
The RCB captain also had a great game as he and Virat Kohli put together a 148-run opening stand.
Faf du Plessis attacked the opposition from the start, aiming for a respectable total of 172, allowing Kohli time to settle into his innings.
Du Plessis decimated the toothless MI bowling line-up by scoring 73 runs in 43 balls, hitting five fours and six sixes.
Additionally, he made a stunning catch to eliminate Hrithik Shokeen. The RCB captain was named Player of the Match for his outstanding performance on the field and bat.
3 MI is saved by Tilak Varma.
Tilak Varma put on another impressive performance against RCB on Sunday, building on his impressive debut for MI last year.
The left-given player hit an incredible counter-going after 50 years (84* off 46 balls) after MI lost their celebrated top four of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav inside 50 runs.
MI was left with a total from which they could have won the game thanks to Tilak’s single hand. He was MI’s sole bright spot in a miserable performance.