New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s sparkling innings on return took Royal Challengers Bangalore to 142 for 5 on sluggish Chinnaswamy wicket against Mumbai Indians in Bangalore.
Kohli was on a different planet altogether as he showed no signs of rustiness and had no difficulties to time the ball on a seemingly uncharacteristic Bangalore pitch. Kohli scored 62 off 47 balls laced with 2 sixes and five fours.
Sent in to bat, RCB got off to a decent start with Kohli going all guns blazing and Gayle holding one end up. Kohli took 17 runs off a Tim Southee over by slamming him for a six and 2 fours. The duo put on a 63 run opening stand before Gayle was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 22.
Mumbai Indians bowlers were good with their line and length and did not allow the powerpact RCB batting line up to get away with the game. Apart from Kohli, everybody else struggled to up the ante.
AB de Villiers (19) tried his best but the slow nature of the pitch and the disciplined Mumbai bowling pulled him back.
The RCB innings did not get the required flourish as regular wickets halted their proceedings. After Kohli’s dismissal Mumbai further tightened their grip as Bumrah and company hit the right areas.