Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opened their IPL 2023 campaign with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday (April 2).
Chasing 172 to win, RCB openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis made a mockery of MI’s bowling attack, adding 148 runs for the first to put the hosts on the brink of victory.
While the RCB captain was dismissed for 74 off 43 balls in the 15th over, Virat held the one end firmly and stayed unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls to take his team over the finishing line with 22 balls to spare.
After the game, Kohli reflected on the win and said: “I thought it was a phenomenal win, a homecoming after 4 years. Couldn’t have asked for a better game. We bowled well for the first 17 overs but then credit to their batters especially Tilak who batted really well. It was a very comprehensive win and we wanted to win with balls to spare as it will benefit the NRR.”
“The new ball was tricky, that’s where we shifted the momentum, they can ride on that momentum from the last two overs of their batting but the way we started nullified all that momentum. We kept the pressure on the bowlers,” he added when asked about his and Faf’s match-winning stand.
The former RCB skipper also heaped praise on Karn Sharma, who returned with the figures of 2 for 32 in his four overs. Tim David and Nehal Wadhera were his victims.
“I think he was phenomenal, phenomenal spell from him, that’s brave bowling after getting the left-hander out [on Karn Sharma]. He was bowling so well for us last year but he couldn’t play. Even in the nets he was not getting hit for sixes, hats off to him for coming and playing after so long, to perform against such a strong MI side at the Chinnaswamy is great for him,” he said.
Kohli also talked about his side’s chances of winning the IPL this year, saying they are going to take one game at a time.
“I wanted to mention this for a while – after MI who have 5 titles and CSK who have 4, if I’m not wrong, we are the third team to have qualified the most times to the playoffs – 8 times. Take one game at a time and try to be a balanced side which we are and we would look to execute our plans as we did tonight.”
In the end, he thanked the capacity crowd at the Chinnaswamy stadium for their constant support.
“Phenomenal, it was a packed crowd, every seat was full when we walked in here. Very important we started off well, their support propelled us and that makes a massive difference,” Kohli said.
