In their opening match of IPL 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Bengaluru on Sunday, thanks to the magnificent batting performance of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. Chasing a target of 172 runs, Kohli and Du Plessis started brilliantly and put on a 148-run partnership in just 14.5 overs. Du Plessis departed after scoring 73 off 43 balls, but Cameron Green removed Dinesh Karthik for a duck and then Glenn Maxwell scored a quickfire 12* off 3 balls to secure the win for RCB.
Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls, smashing six 4s and five 6s. Earlier, Mumbai struggled to build partnerships, but Tilak Verma’s unbeaten 84 off 46 balls helped them reach a respectable total of 171/7, with crucial contributions from Nehal Wadhela (21 off 13) and Arshad Khan (15* off 9). Verma put on a 50-run partnership with Wadhela before adding a quickfire 48 runs with Arshad to steer Mumbai out of trouble after they were reduced to 48/4 in 8.5 overs.
