Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis led the way with the bat for Royal Challengers Bangalore in their eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Sunday in Bengaluru during the Indian Premier League 2023, and the internet went wild.
On Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated the five-time defending champion Mumbai Indians (MI) by an eight-wicket margin. RCB cruised to victory behind brilliant batting performances from Virat Kohli (80*) and Faf du Plessis (73), which had the internet cheering.
MI got off to a shaky start, losing three wickets for 20 runs in the PowerPlay’s first six overs after RCB won the toss and elected to bowl (PP). Even though they were 48/4 in the ninth over, Tilak Varma (84*) and Nehal Wadhera (21) put up 50 runs for the fifth wicket before Wadhera fell victim to leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 14th.
After that, MI lost more wickets quickly and were reduced to 123/7 by the end of the 18th. Nevertheless, Varma smashed some great strokes in the last parts of the innings as he brought up his third IPL half-century, and he and Arshad Khan (15*) put together a 48-run stand to help the team to a respectable 171/7.
Karn took two wickets as part of a strong bowling performance for RCB, while pacer Mohammed Siraj was efficient. During the pursuit, MI switched out its Impact Player Yadav for a man named Jason Behrendorff (IP). RCB’s opening pair of Kohli and du Plessis were confident from the outset of their chase, using the PP to their advantage and maintaining their momentum till the 15th over to keep the required rate low.
Kohli and du Plessis put up a tremendous opening partnership of 148 runs, with each player scoring their 45th and 26th IPL 50s, respectively. While a dropped catch helped Kohli, it was in the 15th over that medium-pacer Arshad Khan dismissed him to put a slight dent in RCB’s momentum. The next over, Dinesh Karthik (0) went to medium-pacer Cameron Green for one.
But by the 17th over, Kohli and Glenn Maxwell (12*) had completed the job, giving RCB an easy eight-wicket victory. Veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was quite economical for MI, as both Arshad and Green took a wicket for the team. With this win, RCB has moved up to third place in the standings, while the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have taken over first place from the defending champions.