IPL 2023: Kohli, du Plessis slam twin fifties to power RCB to 8-wicket win

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis dished out a chasing masterclass with a 148run opening partnership as Royal Challengers Bangalore made a sensational start to their IPL campaign with a comprehensive eightwicket demolition of Mumbai Indians here on SundaySent into bat Tilak Varma smashed a scintillating 84 off 46 balls to singlehandedly power MI to 171 for seven but Kohli and du Plessis made mockery of the total slamming twin fifties as RCB romped home with as many as 22 balls to spareChasing 172 Kohli 82 not out and Du Plessis 73 produced an exhibition of sublime strokemaking plundering 10 boundaries and as many maximums during their near flawless 89ball standAfter du Plessis perished in the 15th over Kohli completed the job hitting a four and six off Arshad Khan to knock off the winning runs to hand MI their 11th consecutive defeat inn their first match of the seasonAlso ReadRCB vs MI highlights Kohli Du Plessis unleash carnage as RCB make winning start to IPL 2023MI brought in Jason Behrendorff in place of Suryakumar Yadav as their impact player but it didnt work as he and his newball partner Arshad was taken to the cleaners by Kohli and du Plessis racking up 30 in three oversIf Behrendorff was smacked for successive sixes by du Plessis Kohli blasted a four and six off Jofra Archer after being dropped by the bowler in the first ballVeteran spinner Piyush Chawla was then introduced but du Plessis sent him across the extra cover while Kohli pulled one across the midwicket off Archer as RCB scored 53 in six oversCameron Green was then taken apart with du Plessis hitting two fours and a maximum The skipper repeated the treatment to Hrithik Shokeen with two maximums to reach his fiftyKohli then whacked Chawla over longon to bring up the team hundred before reaching his individual fifty in the 12th overJason Behrendorff bled 16 runs in the next with du Plessis cracking a six and a four Kohli then pulled Archer over deep square leg as runs kept coming thick and fastMI picked up du Plessis and Dinesh Kartik 0 in the fag end but it was too late as Glenn Maxwell 12 not out off 3 balls and Kohli finished off things in styleEarlier MI had a poor start but Varma coming off a successful last season held the innings together with a sensational knockRCB bowlers had reduced MI to 20 for three in 52 overs but Varma added 50 and 48 with Nehal Wadhera 21 and Arshad Khan 15 not out for the fifth and eighth wickets respectivelyThe 20yearold decorated his knock with nine boundaries and four sixesIshan Kishan smashed two fours before being removed by Mohammed Siraj with an outswinger while Cameron Green was dismissed by Recce Topley who took his first IPL wicketRohit got a life when Siraj and Dinesh Kartik collided while going for the catch in the fifth over However the India skipper couldnt capitalise as Akash Deep induced an edge to reduce MI to 20 for 3 in 52 oversVarma then came to bat and slammed a big hit over longon to take MI to 29 for three in the powerplayIn the eighth over Topley left the field after suffering a shoulder injury while diving to stop a boundary off Varmas batSuryakumar Yadav who has been in poor form too perished after a start hitting straight to Shahbaz AhmedHowever Varma continued to bat with confidence reversesweeping Michael Bracewell for a four before hitting a six and four off Maxwell as 16 runs came off the 12th overWadhera produced backtoback maximums off Karn Sharma but the bowler had him caught by Kohli as MI slumped to 99 for fiveThere was lot of expectations from Tim David but Karn Sharma cleaned him up when he tried to go for a big hitDu Plessis then produced a superb catch to get rid off Hrithik Shokeen as Harshal Patel got his first wicket of the season leaving MI at 123 for 7 in 171 oversVarma however showed his temperament as he slammed Akash Deep over deep square leg for another maximum to reach his half centurySiraj who had figures of 3051 after three overs bowled the 19th over but he sent down five wides to stop Varma who blasted two fours as MI reached 149 for seven following the 16run overVarma then clobbered Harshal for two sixes and a four in the last over as 48 runs came in last 17 ballsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever