Glenn Maxwell made a dream debut for RCB on Friday in the IPL season opener against defending champions Mumbai Indians. Maxwell’s 52-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli proved to be decisive in the eventual outcome of the match. Maxwell hit two sixes in his knock and took the pressure off Kohli – who was then looking to bat through.

During his knock, Maxwell hit a monstrous 100-meter six off Krunal Pandya that sent the ball sailing over the stands and out of the ground after bouncing off the roof of the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Kohli – who was at the non-striker’s end was in awe and his reaction is priceless.

After the game, Kohli explained why Maxwell was sent ahead off AB de Villiers in the batting order.

“The thinking was that we wanted to give Maxi some balls at the start and not get him slogging right away. You saw the result today of him playing 10-15 balls. His innings was the game-changer. Had he stayed in we would’ve finished a couple of overs earlier,” Kohli said.

The game went down to the last ball as RCB went over the line against MI – who lost their ninth season opener on the trot. Maxwell was in woeful form last year has found a good rhythm as he scored a brilliant 38 off 27 balls. His innings gave RCB good momentum in the 160 chase.

However, Harshal Patel was the man of the match for his brilliant spell with the ball. He picked up five wickets and became the first bowler to do so against MI.

RCB will take a lot of confidence from this win and it would help them ahead in the tournament.