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Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, 5th Match
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) secured a convincing seven-wicket victory over the Mumbai Indians in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. After winning the toss and elected to bowl first, RCB’s bowlers did an excellent job of restricting the Mumbai Indians to a modest total of 171 for 7, despite Tilak Varma’s outstanding knock of 84 not out off 46 balls.
RCB’s opening batsmen, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, then put on a masterclass of batting, adding 148 runs in just 14.5 overs to set up an easy victory. Du Plessis top-scored with 73 off 43 balls, while Kohli remained unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls.
RCB’s bowlers, with the exception of Glenn Maxwell who bowled just one over, all picked up at least one wicket. In particular, Mohammed Siraj was outstanding, conceding just 16 runs and taking two wickets in his four overs.
Mumbai got off to a poor start, losing three wickets in the powerplay and struggling to build any momentum. Cameron Green lasted just four balls before being bowled by a Reece Topley yorker, while Rohit Sharma was caught behind off Akash Deep for just 1 off 10 balls.
Varma played a lone hand, coming in at 19 for 3 and playing some outstanding shots to keep Mumbai in the game. He was well supported by Nehal Wadhera, who hit Karn Sharma for back-to-back sixes before holing out in the same over.
RCB’s chase got off to a shaky start, with Mumbai’s left-arm seamers Jason Behrendorff and Arshad Khan finding some swing with the new ball. However, du Plessis defused the threat by using his feet, going down the track three times in Behrendorff’s second over to hit one four and two successive sixes.
Kohli, despite taking a bit longer to get going, played some eye-catching shots of his own, including a fantastic pull shot for six off Jofra Archer. Du Plessis brought up his fifty off just 29 balls, and Kohli followed suit soon after, taking 38 balls to get there.
In the end, RCB cruised to victory with 22 balls to spare, thanks to some explosive hitting from Maxwell towards the end of the innings. It was a comprehensive performance from RCB, who will take a lot of confidence from this win into their next match.
