A confident Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to carry on their winning momentum when they take on title holders Mumbai Indians, who would be low on belief after the opening thrashing in the Indian Premier League, here tomorrow.
Star-studded RCB opened their IPL 7 campaign on a resounding note as they crushed a new-look Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets in Sharjah last night.
Yuvraj Singh, who faced immense criticism after his disappointing knock in ICC World Twenty20 final, silenced his detractors with a brilliant unbeaten 52 and shared 84 runs in just 7.9 overs with captain Virat Kohli (49 not out) for the unconquered third wicket stand to help RCB chase down Daredevils' 145-run target with 20 balls to spare.
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Down with a back injury, RCB did not have the services of the explosive Chris Gayle last night but it hardly made any impact on RCB's chase.
The decision of RCB, who had retained big boys Kohli, Gayle and AB de Villiers for the seventh edition, to shell out a whopping Rs 14 crore for Yuvraj bore fruit as the left-hander justified his price tag with the brilliant half-century knock.
RCB's best finish was the runners-up trophy in 2011 but this time around the team would be hoping to ride on the performances of the big boys to clinch their maiden IPL title.
RCB's bowling was considered their weak link but against the Daredevils yesterday, their bowlers did just enough to restrict the opponents to a modest 145 for four.
While Mitchell Starc generated pace upfront even though he went for a few runs, Albie Morkel and Varun Aaron were right on their money.
In fact Aaron (9 for one in 3 overs) bowled a misery spell but Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda leaked runs.
The star of the day was young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his spell of 4-0-18-1.
