Kohli, Faf flatten Mumbai Indians

Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai Indians by a massive eight wickets to start their Indian Premier League 2023 campaign in fine style at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Asked to bat Mumbai posted 171 for seven in their 20 overs and in their response Bangalore finished on 172 for two in 16.2 overs.

Earlier, Mumbai was reduced to 20 for three. Then it required a 50 run fifth wicket stand between Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera to repair the innings. Varma kept holding the innings together. Wickets kept falling around Varma. Towards the end Varma finished unbeaten on 84 off 46 balls with nine boundaries and four sixes. The other Mumbai batters just did not contribute to the total. Mumbai finished on 171 for seven in their 20 overs. For Bangalore the best bowler was Karn Sharma (2-32).

In their response Bangalore began well. Their openers captain Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 148 for the opening wicket. Du Plessis raced to 72 off 43 balls with five boundaries and six sixes. Kohli on the other hand carried his bat through. Kohli finished unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls with six boundaries and five sixes. Bangalore overhauled the target in 16.2 overs to finish on 172 for two. Mumbai made no impact with the ball whatsoever. 

Match Summary
Mumbai Indians: 171-7 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Ishan Kishan-2.3 ov), 2-16 (Cameron Green-3.3 ov), 3-20 (Rohit Sharma-5.2 ov), 4-48 (Suryakumar Yadav-8.5 ov), 5-98 (Nehal Wadhera-13.5 ov), 6-105 (Tim David-15.3 ov), 7-123 (Hrithik Shokeen-17.1 ov)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 172-2 (16.2)
Fall of wickets: 1-148 (Faf du Plessis-14.5 ov), 2-149 (Dinesh Karthik-15.3 ov)

Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Thilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nehal Wadhera, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Piyush Chawla; Subs: Jason Behrendorff, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Sandeep Warrier, Ramandeep Singh

Impact player: Jason Behrendorff for Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians 1st innings, 19.6 ov)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma; Subs: Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Mahipal Lomror, Sonu Yadav, David Willey

Match Details
Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore, elected to field
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Nitin Menon, Tapan Sharma (On-field Umpires); Virender Sharma (TV Umpire); Abhijit Bengeri (Reserve Umpire); Javagal Srinath (Match-referee)