Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) started off with an easy eight-wicket win with 22 balls to spare at their homeground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium over five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI). Virat Kohli and skipper Du Plessis’ 148-run opening partnership made it a one-sided affair and outshone Tilak Verma’s heroics in the first innings.
RCB got off to an ideal start in the run chase of 172. In the third over, Du Plessis took on Jason Behrendorff. He hit the left-arm pacer for a four and two sixes. Jofra Archer missed a golden opportunity to dismiss Kohli off the first ball he bowled for MI. Archer dropped Kohli's catch off his own bowling. Kohli rubbed salts on his wounds with a four followed by a maximum. After powerplay overs, RCB were 53/0. MI's Rs 17.5 crore recruit Cameron Green was expensive in his first IPL over. Du Plessis hit him all around the park as the Australian all-rounder conceded 17 runs. In the 10th over, the RCB skipper got to his half-century from 29 deliveries.
In the 12th over, Kohli got to his half-century from 38 deliveries. The onslaught continued as RCB openers looked to finish the run chase early. In the 15th over, Arshad broke the partnership. Du Plessis mistimed one towards long-on fielder. He scored 73 runs from 43 balls including five fours and six sixes. Designated finisher Dinesh Karthik was promoted up the order. He got out for a three-ball duck to Green. Glenn Maxwell got off the mark in style with two consecutive sixes. In the 17th over, Kohli finished the run chase with a six. He remained unbeaten for 82 off 49 balls. His match-winning knock was laced with six fours and five sixes.
Earlier, Du Plessis won the toss and opted to field first. MI got off to a poor start. Siraj was economical and got the wicket of Kishan in his second over. The wicketkeeper-batter scored just 10 runs from 13 balls. On-debut Reece Topley then got the wicket of Green with a full delivery. In the fifth over, Siraj nearly got the big wicket but a collision between him and Dinesh Karthik led to a drop catch. In the powerplay overs, Siraj was exceptional as he conceded just five runs. But the drop did not turn out to be costly. Akash Deep got the wicket of Rohit as the skipper edged one to Karthik. He scored just one run from 10 deliveries. Tilak came in to bat and got off the mark with a six. After powerplay overs, MI were 29/3.
Suryakumar Yadav's poor run continued. After a scratchy start he lost his wicket to on-debut Michael Bracewell. He scored 15 runs from 16 balls. Tilak did the bulk of scoring for the next few overs. Neahl Wadhera took on Karn Sharma in the 14th over and hit him for two consecutive sixes. Wadhera got a bit greedy and went for another big shot but got caught by Kohli at long-on. He contributed with a 13-ball 21.
Big-hitter Tim David failed to make an impact and got bowled by Karn in an attempt to slog-sweep. In the 17th over, Tilak got to his half-century with a six. He took 32 deliveries to get to the 50-run mark. In the death overs, Harshal Patel dismissed Hrithik Shokeen but Siraj's horrendous penultimate over shifted the momentum in MI's favour. Siraj bowled as many as five wides as he conceded 16 runs. In the final over, Arshad Khan started off with a six. Varma then finished in style to help MI post a respectable total of 171/7. He remained unbeaten for 84 from 46 deliveries including nine fours and four sixes.
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