The fifth match of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL 2023) took place between Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians. M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru hosted the game where put into bat first, Mumbai Indians had a rather forgettable start. They lost a few quick wickets in between before Tilak Varma smashed 84 off 46 with 9 fours and 4 sixes. They posted 171 runs in 20 overs.
While chasing, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis both got off to a flying start where they both smashed the fifties comfortably and sealed the deal with 16.2 overs as well. They won the game by 8 wickets as well.
Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:
Faf Du Plessis, RCB Captain and Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: “Nice to start the way we did. In the powerplay, Siraj had the tail up and he set the tone. Right through the innings, our bowlers stuck to the plans. Obviously last 2-3 overs something to improve on. If you took pace off the ball, it wasn’t too easy to play and there was something in it for the spinners but as a batter if you got into good positions you could score runs. My first time playing here as a home player and it’s a special player, especially batting with Virat Kohli. Energy bounces off him. You have to stay with the youngsters, I still work hard to be able to move around like I could in the young days. The confidence this gives, all of us are confidence players. This start will be huge for us as a team.”
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Virat Kohli said as quoted by Cricbuzz: “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. 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.
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. 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.”
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Rohit Sharma, MI Captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: “Didn’t have a great start with the bat in the first six overs. But, it was a really good effort from Tilak and a few other batters. But, we didn’t execute well with the ball. It was a good pitch to bat on. (On Tilak Verma) He is a positive person, quite talented as well. Some of the shots he played, showed a lot of courage. Hats off to Tilak to get us to a competitive total. It was a good pitch to bat on. We didn’t set any target but we didn’t even bat to half of our potential and we got to 170. Probably 30-40 runs more would have been ideal. From the last six to eight months I am used to playing without Jasprit Bumrah. Of course this is a different setup but someone needs to put their hand up and step up. We can’t keep dwelling on it. Injuries are not in our control, we can’t do much about it. The other guys in the setup are quite talented as well. We need to give them that support. Just the first game of the season, there’s a lot to look forward to.”
