Mumbai’s bowling coach, Shane Bond, was all praise for Siraj’s fantastic bowling performance, which kept Mumbai’s scoring in check and made things difficult for them.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore started the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 with a fantastic win over the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. Batting first, Mumbai Indians managed to post 171 runs on the board, thanks to Tilak Varma’s outstanding batting performance.
However, Mumbai’s batting struggled in the powerplay due to the impressive bowling spell of Mohammed Siraj, who only gave away five runs in three overs and took the wicket of opening batter Ishan Kishan. Siraj’s fiery spell mounted early pressure on Mumbai, and by the end of the first innings, he had conceded 21 runs in four overs and claimed a wicket.
He gave us nothing to hit: Shane Bond
“You look at those first three overs from Siraj. He didn’t give any width. Also, he used his bouncer beautifully and probably should have had Rohit (Sharma) out. He gave us nothing to hit and forced us to take some shots, and got wickets from it. When a guy goes for five runs… We got maybe 29 in the power play on a small ground. We were always behind the eight ball,”
Bond said.
He further added:
“We had a long batting order; we tried to up the ante and got to 170. So, I think we know that if we can get a decent start, we can score all sorts of runs with the power that we have. That opening spell was brilliant. He was too good for us today.”
Mumbai scored 171 runs in the first innings, but Royal Challengers Bangalore’s excellent batting display led by Virat Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis helped them secure a resounding victory over the five-time champions.
Kohli and du Plessis played outstanding innings and made sure that Bangalore chased down the target with ease. They built a strong partnership and helped their team cross the finish line with eight wickets in hand and 22 balls to spare.
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