The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 began in fabulous fashion for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, as the Faf du Plessis-led side registered their first victory of the season against the five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Batting first, Mumbai Indians managed to post 171 runs on the board, thanks to Tilak Varma's batting heroics as he played an unbeaten knock of 84 runs in 46 deliveries. However, the Rohit Sharma-led side struggled in the powerplay, and it was due to the excellent spell of Mohammed Siraj.
Siraj only conceded five runs in three overs and even took the wicket of opening batter Ishan Kishan, thus mounting early pressure on Mumbai. By the end of the first innings, Siraj had conceded 21 runs in four overs and taken a wicket. Following the ace Indian pacer’s fiery spell, Mumbai’s bowling coach, Shane Bond, could not help but heap praise on Siraj.
"You look at those first three overs from Siraj. He didn’t give any width. He used his bouncer beautifully and probably should have had Rohit (Sharma) out. He gave us nothing to hit and forced us to take some shots, and got wickets from it. When a guy goes for five runs... We got maybe 29 in the power play on a small ground. We were always behind the eight ball," Bond said while speaking to the media after the game.
"We had a long batting order; we tried to up the ante and got to 170. So, I think we know that if we can get a decent start, we can score all sorts of runs with the power that we have. That opening spell was brilliant. He was too good for us today," he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore look to carry the momentum
After Mumbai posted 171 runs on the board after the first innings, the brilliant knocks of Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis led Bangalore to a resounding win against the five-time champions. RCB will now look to carry the momentum into their upcoming matches and register yet another win in their forthcoming games.
Read the IPL 2023 schedule here
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