Bengaluru: Half-centuries by Virat Kohli and Captain Faf du Plessis, and their stand of 148 runs for the opening wicket helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) thump Mumbai Indians (MI) by 8 wickets in the fifth match of 2023 IPL at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
The unbeaten innings of 82 in 49 balls with six boundaries and five sixes just defined Virat's class. He stayed till the end and got his side home with almost four overs to spare, though he lost his partner Du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik in quick succession.
Du Plessis, on the other hand, brought his South Africa T20 form into the IPL, bringing cheers to the RCB fans. He could not stay till the end, but got RCB in a position from where they could not lose.
It was a superb overall performance by RCB as their bowlers got them wickets in the power play and then spinners blocked runs, and to top it all, theirs was a spotless chase.
Mumbai Indians were dogged with similar problems with their big guns not firing. Archer's return was below par and his co-bowlers lacked the sting. Also Jason Behrendorff, who came in as the Impact player, leaked 37 runs in 3 overs.
Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma had another bad day, Suryakumar Yadav got off to a good start, but could not last long. The only positive outcome for Mumbai Indians was a sphinx-like knock of Tilak Varma which helped the visitors to post a competitive score after the first innings.
Chasing 172 runs target, Virat got going with a boundary and Du Plessis hit Behrendorff for a four and two sixes in the third over. Archer dropped Kohli on 7 off his first ball, and taking advantage of it he struck a boundary and a six off his bowling in the very same over.
RCB finished on a high after the powerplay with the score reading 53/0.
Cameron Green was belted for 17 runs in his first over, but Piyush Chawla sneaked in a few tidy overs. Du Plessis scored fifty and continued to charge, meanwhile Hrithik Shokeen was smashed for 17 runs as well in his first over.
Du Plessis and Kohli took their opening stand past 100 as the Indian star went past fifty. Archer failed to make a mark with the ball, but was very lucky to have been dropped by Shokeen, adding to MI's misery.
Arshad Khan picked up Du Plessis' wicket and Green Dinesh Karthik (0), but it was too late for Mumbai Indians.
Earlier, an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls by Varma helped Mumbai Indians post a competitive 171/7.
It was a splendid knock from Varma as the chips of the visitors were down, wriggling in a deep hole at 20/3, and adding salt to their wounds further when Suryakumar Yadav lost his wicket at 48/4.
Varma walked in and stood tall, and single-handedly steered his side to a pretty good total, showing his temperament and skills to his fans.
Failures of big guns put tremendous pressure on Mumbai Indians, thanks to right-arm leggie Karn Sharma and pacer Michael Bracewell's bowling in the middle.
Despite this, the visitors produced 60 runs in the last four overs and turned the tables in their favour, thanks to handy cameos from Nehal Wadhera and Arshad Khan alongside Varma.
Earlier, Mohammad Siraj started with a two-run over and succeeded in taking Ishan Kishan off the field after two overs.
Reece Topley then knocked over Cameron Green. Mumbai Indians would have been in serious trouble, but Rohit Sharma was dropped on one run after Dinesh Kartikh and Siraj collided.
However, Rohit did not last long. He was caught behind by Karthik off Akash Deep without adding further runs.
Mumbai Indians were tottering at 29/3 in the first powerplay.
Bad news struck RCB after Recee Topley injured his shoulder and went off the field. Luck also betrayed Mumbai Indians as they lost Suryakumar who got off to a good start, but Michael Bracewell got the better of him.
SKY had scored 15 off 16 balls.
RCB spurned a review as Wadhera carried on, and Varma provided some stability to Mumbai Indians.
Wadhera smashed Karn Sharma for two consecutive sixes, but the right-arm leggie took an instant revenge, packing him off to the dugout.
At the end of 15 overs, Mumbai Indians were 111/6. (UNI)
