AB de Villiers gets RCB off to a winning start in IPL 2021

A blistering knock from AB de Villiers helped RCB beat Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets in the inaugural match of the IPL 2021. Opting to bowl, RCB bowlers were right on the money and didn’t allow the Mumbai openers to cut loose. While Lynn was looking to play aggressively from the start, Rohit Sharma, as usual, took his time. However, he lost his wicket in the most unfortunate way, a run-out. Mumbai was 24-1 in the 4th over and needed some momentum in the innings which was provided with the partnership between Chris Lynn and Suryakumar Yadav.

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The duo added 70 runs for the second wicket in 7 overs to set up a launching pad. However, the innings never took off as Harshal Patel decimated the Mumbai middle order with an exceptional spell of fast bowling. Mumbai lost their last 8 wickets for 65 runs and eventually had to settle for a par 159-9. Chris Lynn was the top scorer for Mumbai Indians and missed his half-century by a single run. Suryakumar Yadav played some blistering shots in his brief knock of 31. Ishan Kishan also played well for his 29 off 19 balls. Harshal Patel returned with figures of 27-5 in 4 overs.

Virat Kohli surprised many when he walked in with Washington Sundar to open the innings. Kohli got RCB off to a solid start and played some crisp shots. Washington Sundar, on the other end, however, struggled to get going. He was dismissed for a scratchy 10 off 16 balls. Rajat Patidar was promoted to no 3. However, he too failed to make an impact and was dismissed for 8. Maxwell joined Kohli in the middle and stabilized the inning.

Just as RCB looked like getting into the driving seat, Kohli (33) and Maxwell (39) fell in quick succession. Shahbaz Ahmed followed soon to leave RCB in a spot of bother at 106-5 in 15 overs. However, a magnificent inning from AB de Villiers (48 off 27) helped RCB hand Mumbai yet another loss in the IPL opener. De Villiers was  run out in the last over but the game was in RCB's pocket by then. For Mumbai, Marco Jensen was the pick of the bowler and accounted 2 wickets for 28 runs. Bumrah also bowled well and returned with figures of 2-26.