'Abe bhaad me jaaye 5-time champions' - Fans can't keep calm as Virat Kohli led Bangalore thrash Mumbai by 8 wickets in Indian T20 League 2023

The Bangalore-based franchise started their Indian T20 League 2023 campaign with a promising victory against Mumbai.

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Rohit Kumar
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Bangalore defeated Mumbai (Source - Twitter)

Bangalore defeated Mumbai (Source - Twitter)

The Bangalore-based franchise started their Indian T20 League 2023 campaign with a convincing victory over Mumbai on Sunday, April 2 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Faf du Plessis-led side dominated the Mumbai-based franchise in both batting and bowling departments as they won the match by 8 wickets.

Talking about the match, Bangalore opted to bowl first after winning the toss and their decision proved right as they dismissed Mumbai's first three batters on the score of just 20 runs. However, they suffered a huge blow when they lost the no.1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav in the 9th over and Mumbai were 48/4 at that stage.

However, the young sensation Tilak Verma stood tall and steadied the ship as he played a brilliant knock of 84 runs off just 46 balls which included 9 fours and 4 sixes. In the last 4 overs, Mumbai produced 60 runs and turned the momentum. There were also some handy cameos from Nehal Wadhera and Arshad Khan but it was still Tilak, who stole the show. Bangalore's bowlers displayed a brilliant bowling performance, especially Mohammed Siraj, who conceded only 21 runs in his 4 overs and also picked up a wicket.

A brilliant all-round performance by Bangalore

Chasing the target, the star Bangalore openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis gave a blistering start to the team and stitched a wonderful 148-run partnership for the first wicket. Both made full use of the powerplay and were dealing in only boundaries as only two fielders were allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Both smashed half-centuries. Faf du Plessis departed after scoring 73 runs off just 43 deliveries, which included 5 fours and 6 sixes. On the other hand, Kohli remained unbeaten on the score of 82 runs off just 49 deliveries and hit 6 fours and 5 sixes during his brilliant knock.

He stayed till the end, although Bangalore lost a couple of wickets later, but Kohli took the franchise home with almost four overs to spare. Mumbai bowlers were clueless and were scratching their heads during the 2nd innings as they were able to take only two wickets.

Here's how fans reacted:

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