The opening pair of Kohli and du Plessis were on a demolition job as they made a mockery of the 172-run target. Both put on a massive 148-run partnership for the first wicket as Bangalore chased down the winning target with 22 balls to spare.
Mumbai bowlers were taken to the cleaners and smashed into all corners of the park as Kohli and Du Plessis greeted the ever-loyal RCB fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in rousing fashion.
With the loss, Mumbai extended their 11-match losing streak in their season openers.
Sent in to bat, Tilak Verma hit a brilliant 46-ball 84 to take MI to 171 for seven, but Kohli and du Plessis were ruthless in their approach towards the total.
Kohli du Plessis produced an exhibition of brilliant stroke-making, plundering 10 fours and as many maximums during an 89-ball stand.
After the dismissal of Du Plessis in the 15th over, Kohli completed the task of scoring the winning run by hitting Arshad Khan for a four and a six.
MI brought in Jason Behrendorff as their impact player in place of Suryakumar Yadav, but it didn’t work as he and his new ball partner Arshad were cleaned up by Kohli and du Plessis for 30 runs in three overs.
If Behrendorff was smashed for consecutive sixes by du Plessis, Kohli hit a four and a six off Jofra Archer on the first ball after being dropped by the bowler.
Veteran spinner Piyush Chawla was then introduced but Du Plessis sent him across extra cover while Kohli pulled a pull across midwicket off Archer as RCB scored 53 runs in six overs.
After this, du Plessis hit Cameron Green for two fours and a six. The skipper repeated the treatment with two maximums to complete his half-century with Ritik Shokeen.
Kohli brought up his hundred in the 12th over by dismissing Chawla at long-on before completing his personal half-century.
In the next over, Jason Behrendorff scored 16 runs and Du Plessis hit a six and a four. Kohli then pulls Archer over deep square leg as the runs keep coming thick and fast.
MI picked up du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik (0) at the fag end but Glenn Maxwell (12 not out off 3 balls) and Kohli finished things off in style.
Earlier, MI had a poor start but Verma took over the innings with a sensational knock, following his successful run last season.
RCB bowlers reduced Mumbai Indians to 20 for three in 5.2 overs but Verma added 50 and 48 runs for the fifth and eighth wickets with Nehal Wadhera (21) and Arshad Khan (15 not out) respectively.
The 20-year-old decorated his innings with nine fours and four sixes.
Ishan Kishan hit two fours before being removed with an outswinger by Mohammed Siraj, while Cameron Green was dismissed by Ricky Topley, who picked up his maiden IPL wicket.
Rohit got a lifeline when Siraj and Dinesh Karthik, who were going to take a catch, collided in the fifth over. However, India skipper Akash Deep failed to capitalize and reduced MI to 20 for 3 in 5.2 overs.
Verma then came out to bat and in the powerplay delivered a massive hit over long on to take MI to 29 for three.
In the eighth over, Topley left the field after injuring his shoulder while diving to block a boundary off Verma’s bat.
Suryakumar Yadav, who is running in poor form, also fell straight to Shahbaz Ahmed after the start.
Verma, however, continued to bat with confidence, hitting Michael Bracewell for a six before hitting Maxwell for a six and a four as 16 runs came in the 12th over.
Wadhera produced back-to-back maximums off Karn Sharma but the bowler had him caught by Kohli as MI were bundled out for 99 for five.
There were a lot of expectations from Tim David but he cleared it when Karn Sharma tried to go for the big hit.
Du Plessis then took a brilliant catch to get rid of Ritik Shokeen as Harshal Patel got his first wicket of the season, leaving MI 123 for 7 in 17.1 overs.
Verma, however, showed his flair as he slammed Akash Deep over deep square leg to reach another maximum half-century.
Siraj, who had figures of 3-0-5-1 after three overs, bowled the 19th over but sent down five wides to contain Verma, who hit two fours and Mumbai were seven for 16 after an over. Reached 149 runs.
Verma hit Harshal for two sixes and a four in the final over and scored 48 runs in the last 17 balls.
(With inputs from PTI)