RCB vs MI: Virat Kohli Hits Match-Winning Six vs MI as Tribute to MS Dhoni on India’s 2011 WC 12th Anniversary

RCB vs MI: The fifth match of the 2023 Indian Premier League saw two contrasting batting performances. It was Royal Challengers Bangalore locking horns with the five-time champion Mumbai Indians at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. And it ended in grand fashion for the home team. After winning the toss, Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl first. RCB had a brilliant start, and MI lost three wickets within the power play and managed 29/3 in the first six overs.

Mumbai kept losing wickets in the middle, but Tilak Verma held the second end tightly. He was adding little partnerships with the other batters. Tilak scored an unbeaten 84 off 46, including nine fours and four sixes. He took Mumbai to a fighting total of 171/7 in 20 overs. It looked like a challenging total at one stage. But both RCB openers had some different plans. Du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 148 runs for the first wicket in 14.5 overs to push MI out of the game.

RCB vs MI: Virat Kohli hit a match-winning six vs MI to give tribute to MS Dhoni’s World Cup-winning six

Chasing the target, Virat and Faf added their third 100-run partnership between them as a pair. Both batters smashed every MI bowler and collected boundaries at regular intervals. Du Plessis got out after a well-made 73 off 43, including five fours and six sixes. However, Virat stayed till the very end and finished the game in style with a six. He scored an unbeaten 82 off 49, including six fours and five maximums. His match-winning six reminded fans of the six hit by MS Dhoni to win India the 2011 ODI World Cup.

India won the 2011 ODI World Cup on April 2, 2011, and yesterday was its 12th anniversary. The former RCB skipper was part of the Indian team that won only the second ODI World Cup. He scored 35 off 49 in the final against Sri Lanka and added a crucial 83-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir made 97 runs, while MS Dhoni promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh. He took India to victory and made 91 not out of 79.

RCB made 172/2 in just 16.2 overs and registered a dominating win. They won by eight wickets with 22 balls to spare. Notably, it was the first game for RCB on their home ground after a gap of three years. And they did it in style. Du Plessis won “Man of the Match” for his brilliant knock.