“Thank you, Mumbai,” Virat Kohli said after Royal Challengers Bangalore advanced to the playoffs following Mumbai Indians’ exciting five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in the IPL’s final game here.
MI eliminated Delhi from the competition on Saturday after chasing down a victory target of 160 in 19.1 overs, paving the way for RCB’s admission as the fourth and final team in the knockout stage.
RCB had defeated Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in their final league match to keep their playoff aspirations alive, which were contingent on the outcome of the DC-MI match.
Delhi needed to win to qualify for the playoffs, but they were defeated by bottom-placed MI.
RCB captain Faf Du Plessis stated the entire team was watching the play together and applauding on the Mumbai team’s every move.
“It was very good,” he added. “I think first and foremost, it was really nice to see that everyone was here from the beginning of the game, so we could all watch it together.”
“We were all cheering for every wicket Mumbai gained and then for every boundary they chased. It’s beneficial for everyone to watch together, and the celebration at the conclusion was fantastic to be a part of.”
On May 25, RCB will play third-placed Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator at Edens Gardens.
“We felt virtually like we played our finest game of cricket of this campaign so far in the last game we played, and that is how you want to approach the knockout stages, so we needed someone to do us a favour, and Mumbai did that for us, and we are extremely grateful,” Du Plessis said.
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