Powered by a superb opening partnership between Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in their opening match of the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, on Sunday evening.
Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 (49 balls, 6x4s, 5x6s) and Du Plessis hit 73 off 43 balls (5x4s, 6x6s) to make light work of a target of 172 runs and help RCB open their account in the 16th edition of the T20 league. The two shared a partnership of 148 in 14.5 overs. When Du Plessis got out, RCB needed just 24 off 30 balls. Kohli lent the finishing touches with a four and a six off the first two balls of the 17th over bowled by MI debutant Arshad Khan.
Earlier, in the first half of the game, Hyderabad boys, Mohammed Siraj and Tilak Varma, hogged the limelight. After RCB’s Siraj set the tone of the game with a superb opening spell in the Powerplay, conceding just five runs in three overs, MI’s Tilak launched a stunning counter-attack to help Mumbai Indians recover from 29/3 after six overs to post a total of 171. However, Tilak’s scintillating unbeaten 84 off 46 balls (9x4s, 4x6s) was the lone bright spot for the visitors.
RCB openers showed how good the pitch was for batting and exposed MI’s top-order. Their batting stars, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, fell cheaply and their big-name signings, Jofra Archer and Cameron Green, too had disappointing debuts. Archer went wicketless and Green failed to fire with the bat or ball.
RCB chase
In their chase, RCB raced to 53/0 in six overs with Kohli on 23 (17 balls) and Du Plessis 26 (19 balls). Captain Du Plessis stepped up in the third over when he took on Jason Beherendorff, who came in as an Impact Player in place of Suryakumar, with one four and two sixes. From the other end, Kohli went after Acher in his first over in MI colours hitting him for a four and six. When Rohit introduced Green in the eighth over, Du Plessis hit him for two fours and a six in a 17-run over. RCB were 75/0 after eight overs. After 10 overs, RCB’s total was 97/0. With 75 needed in 60 balls, RCB had the game in their pocket.
Siraj vs Tilak
After RCB elected to bowl, Siraj settled into a fine rhythm to push the visitors immediately on to the backfoot. Siraj was backed brilliantly by leg-spinner Karn Sharma. The veteran bowled with a lot of guile in the middle overs to strike two vital blows (Tim David and Nehal Wadhera) when MI were trying to up the ante. He bowled his four overs for 32 to leave MI at 116/6 after 16 overs at the end of his fourth over.
Tilak, however, continued to fight a lone battle. He was unfazed by the fall of wickets at the other end. Even Siraj was put under pressure by Tilak when he came to bowl his final over at the death. A fumbling Siraj bowled five wide balls in the 19th over, four in-a-row, against the southpaw. It was the first-ever 11-ball over in IPL and went for 16 runs. Finishing the innings in style, Tilak helped MI get 22 runs from the last over. The six of the innings came off the last ball with a helicopter shot.