Finance
Scintillating half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to an eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2023 match on Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chants of the franchise engulfed the entire arena as RCB took the field in Chinnaswamy Stadium after 1247 days. To their credit, RCB did not disappoint, as bowlers took wickets in the power-play and middle overs to restrict Mumbai to 171/7, despite young Tilak Varma’s outstanding 84 not out off just 46 balls.
In response, du Plessis and Kohli displayed majestic strokeplay and rattled Mumbai’s bowling attack to enthrall home fans. While du Plessis made 73 off 43 balls, including five fours and six sixes, Kohli was in sublime form, scoring 82 not out off 49 balls, laced with six fours and five sixes to help his team win the IPL 2023 opener.
Mumbai brought in Jason Behrendorff as an impact player in place of Suryakumar Yadav to share the new ball with Arshad Khan in their 171-run defense. After a cautious start, du Plessis reduced his swing by dancing down the pitch to hit a four and two sixes on both sides of the wicket off Behrendorff.
Jofra Archer struck Kohli with his first ball of the game. Kohli then followed it up with a four-ball steer between backward point and short third man, and a six over long-off. Kohli and du Plessis each hit a boundary off Piyush Chawla and Archer to bring their opening partnership’s total to fifty.
Du Plessis was unstoppable again, timing his drives through the off-side twice against Cameron Green and finishing the over with a scooped six to take 17 runs off the eighth over. He greeted off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen with a pair of sixes over midwicket and long-on, the first of which took him to fifty in 29 balls.
Kohli then danced down the pitch to whack Chawla over long-on for six, bringing up the opening partnership’s century in the 11th over, before reaching his fifty in 38 balls. He then welcomed Behrendorff with a four-point pull through cow corner, followed by a four-point pull and flick from du Plessis.
Kohli hit sixes off Archer and Arshad through the leg-side to keep Mumbai at bay. They finally broke the 148-run opening partnership when du Plessis holed out to long-on. Glenn Maxwell slapped sixes over extra cover and fine leg after Dinesh Karthik fell for a three-ball duck, and Kohli whipped and lofted for four and six respectively to complete Bangalore’s chase with 22 balls remaining.
Earlier, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, and Karn Sharma helped Mumbai to 123/7 from 48/4 at one point. Varma, on the other hand, stood tall and impressed everyone with his skill and temperament, hitting nine boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of 182.6 as Mumbai scored 69 runs in the final five overs.
Ishan Kishan’s attempt to flick off Siraj was cut short by a fat leading edge. A Topley yorker clean bowled Cameron Green. Siraj could have caught Rohit Sharma with a sharp bouncer, but he collided with Dinesh Karthik, who couldn’t hold on to the catch.
However, Rohit, who had previously survived a direct hit attempt, was unable to capitalize on the two breathers and nicked behind off Akash Deep. Suryakumar Yadav had a start but ended up cutting straight to backward point off Michael Bracewell.
Despite losing wickets, Varma continued to play forward. He started with a six over long-on off Deep, right in the middle of the game. Harshal Patel came on top of the bounce when Harshal Patel pitched down leg to pull past short fine leg.
Varma was outstanding against off-spinners, reverse-sweeping off Bracewell for four runs. He greeted Glenn Maxwell by dancing down the pitch and slamming a six over long-on, then going on the backfoot to pull through mid-wicket for four.
After each ball, Varma talked to and advised T20 debutant Nehal Wadhera. When Wadhera pulled and smacked Karn Sharma for consecutive sixes, including a 101-m hit over long-on, the effect was amplified.
Wadhera holed out to long-on in the 14th over, but Karn had the last laugh. Tim David attempted to hoick off Karn two overs later but lost his middle stump. After Hrithik Shokeen was caught by Faf du Plessis on an athletic catch off Harshal, Varma continued to get runs, pulling off Karn through fine leg for four.
He got to fifty in 32 balls with a spectacular heave over deep square leg for six off Deep. Varma was able to slash through point for four after Harshal gave him some space. In the 19th over, he lofted and pulled Siraj for a pair of boundaries after the fast bowler had given four wides.
Varma drew Harshal through the square leg gap for four in the final over, before ending the innings with a helicopter shot to send a fuller delivery over long-on for six, as 22 runs came off the final over.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 171/7 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 84 not out; Karn Sharma 2/32) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 172/2 in 16.2 overs (Virat Kohli 82 not out, Faf du Plessis 73; Arshad Khan 1/28, Cameron Green 1/30) by eight wickets.
Source:IANS
