Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis lead RCB to easy win against Mumbai; Rajasthan hammer SRH

Bengaluru, April 2

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis dished out a chasing masterclass with a 148-run opening partnership as Royal Challengers Bangalore made a sensational start to their IPL campaign with a comprehensive eight-wicket demolition of Mumbai Indians here today.

Sent in to bat, Tilak Varma smashed a scintillating 84 off 46 balls to single-handedly power MI to 171/7 but Kohli and du Plessis made a mockery of the total, slamming twin fifties as RCB romped home with as many as 22 balls to spare.

Kohli (82 not out) and du Plessis (73) produced an exhibition of sublime stroke-making, plundering 10 boundaries and as many maximums during their near flawless 89-ball stand. After 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.

Earlier, MI had a poor start but Varma held the innings together with a sensational knock. RCB’s bowlers reduced MI to 20/3 in 5.2 overs but Varma added 50 and 48 with Nehal Wadhera (21) and Arshad Khan (15 not out) for the fifth and eighth wickets, respectively. The 20-year-old decorated his knock with nine fours and four sixes.

Royal Buttler

Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by a 72-run margin to start their campaign on a winning note here today. Half-centuries from openers Jos Buttler (54) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (54), and captain Sanju Samson (55) propelled Rajasthan Royals to 203/5 before Trent Boult (2/21) and Yuzvendra Chahal (4/17) ran through SRH’s batting line-up.

Chasing 204, SRH could manage just 131/8. Jason Holder, playing against his former team, returned with figures of 1/16 while Ravichandran Ashwin recorded 1/27. Mayank Agarwal’s 27 was the only bright spot for SRH in the top-order while Harry Brook, playing his first IPL game, managed 13 before he was cleaned up by Chahal.

Boult rocked SRH twice in the first over, cleaning up Abhishek Sharma (0) off the third ball. A brilliant catch at first slip by Holder saw Rahul Tripathi walking back for a two-ball duck. SRH never recovered from the poor start as RR kept making inroads. SRH’s impact substitute Adbul Samad remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 32.

Earlier, last year’s runners-up RR made a rollicking start, ripping apart the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led SRH in their own backyard to pile on the season’s highest total yet. Buttler made a sensational 22-ball 54 with seven fours and three sixes. His departure had no effect on RR’s charge as Samson teamed up with Jaiswal to add 54 runs for the second wicket, with the team crossing the 100-run mark in the eighth over.

Brief scores: MI: 171/7 (Varma 84*; Karn 2/32) vs RCB: 172/2 in 16.2 overs (Kohli 82*, du Plessis 73); RR: 203/5 (Samson 55, Jaiswal 54, Buttler 54; Natarajan 2/23) vs SRH: 131/8 (Samad 32*; Chahal 4/17, Boult 2/21). — PTI

Williamson ruled out of IPL after knee injury

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson has been ruled out of this season’s IPL after sustaining an injury in Gujarat Titans’ opening match against Chennai Super Kings. Williamson injured his right knee in Friday’s match while fielding near the boundary when he leapt to stop a six. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said it was “too early to know” whether Williamson had done significant damage to his knee that would rule him out of the 50-overs World Cup to be held in October-November. Reuters

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