Bengaluru: It was meant to be the night of the Reappearing Act by Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They made it perfect by every inch while scripting a commanding 8-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
The Covid-19 pandemic had banished the RCB from their fort for the last three seasons, and on the first night back home they gave their fans a lot to stand not their feet and roar.
A rounded bowling effort led by pacer Mohammad Siraj, except for the 19th and 20th over, saw RCB limited Mumbai to 171 for 7, a total built solely on the maturity of N Tilak Varma (84 off 46 balls)
Kohli and Faf forge 148-run partnership
Chasing 172 on a slightly gripping surface is not an easy task and MI had the reassuring presence of Jofra Archer in their ranks. But the old firm of Virat Kohli (82 off 49 balls) and captain Faf du Plessis (73 off 43 balls), who constructed a 148-run stand for the opening wicket, unleashed their full range as RCB sauntered past the target in just 16.2 over
Archer bowled with pace but made little impact on in-flow Kohli and Du Plessis, conceding runs at more than 9 runs per over. The decimation of their best bowler was a just summary of RCB’s hold over Mumbai on the night that ended with a Kohli six off Arshad Khan.
Tilak Verma's rescue act
Earlier, Tilak played an innings of rare maturity to give Mumbai Indians a healthy total that looked improbable at one stage.
The left-hander came to the crease when MI were reeling at 20 for 3, that soon became 48 for 4 as Suryakumar Yadav too returned to the dugout. At 98 for 5 in 13.5 overs that soon further slipped to 123 for 7 in 17.1 overs, Mumbai were in real danger of settling for a sub-par total
But the final 17 deliveries fetched 48 runs as Mumbai reached a fighting total and Tilak was at the forefront of that assault on Mohammad Siraj and Harshal Patel.
But on this night, the exceptional innings ended up as a reminder of the young man’s talent.
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