Harshal Patel helps RCB dismantle Mumbai Indians
Royal Challengers Bangalore comfortably beat Mumbai Indians by 54 runs to inch closer to a playoff birth in IPL 2021. After putting a target of 166 for the defending champions, the 2016 runner-ups were phenomenal, courtesy of Harshal Patel.
They restricted Rohit’s men to just 111 runs to boost their playoff chances even further.
Kohli, Maxwell propel Bangalore to a considerable total
Despite losing Devdutt Padikkal for a duck, Bangalore made an ideal start. Virat Kohli, who played his 200th IPL match last week, delighted his fans with the second fifty in a row. In the fifth over, the right-handed batsman became only the second batsman in cricket history, after Chris Gayle, to score 10,000 runs in First-class, List A, and T20 cricket.
Despite the run-out scare, Srikar Bharat also joined in the act by hitting Rahul Chahar for the maximum. Soon after, both the players put on the 50-run partnership. The pair was creating a base for other orthodox batsmen to attack the final overs. After hitting the leg-spinner for a six, Bharat was caught at backward square-leg.
The wicket-keeper batsman scored 32 runs off 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes. On the other hand, the skipper continued to impress with superb technical shots. At the halfway mark, the 2016 runner-ups found themselves at 82/2, with Kohli at 42.
The final ten overs were all about consolidation. In the 12th over, Glenn Maxwell smashed Krunal Pandya for a six. However, the left-arm bowler was extremely economical for Mumbai Indians as he finished with four overs for 27 runs.
After getting a start, Maxwell started going for his shots. With five overs to go, Kohli brought up his second consecutive fifty. However, he was removed by Adam Milne in the next over. Will there be late heroics from Mister 360, AB De Villiers? You bet there will be. A six and four in the first five balls got the Royal Challengers’ crowd going.
On the other hand, the Australian carried on the onslaught. Maxwell also reached his fifty, the third of the IPL 2021 campaign so far. However, Bumrah got the wickets of both Maxwell and de Villiers to ensure that Bangalore do not run away with the proceedings. The 2016 runner-ups finished with 165/6.
Patel’s hat trick sinks Mumbai
Mumbai Indians got off to a flying start with Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. Within no time, the opening partnership was worth 50 runs in six overs. However, the South African batsman fell to Yuzvendra Chahal.
Moments before the halfway mark, Maxwell sent the Mumbai skipper packing. Rohit scored 43 runs off 28 balls, with five fours and a six. In the next over, Chahal got rid of Ishan Kishan to put another dent to the Mumbai run-chase. The Australian got another wicket of Krunal Pandya, followed by Siraj showing the pavilion to Suryakumar Yadav.
At this moment, the defending champions had a mountain to climb. The match got decided in the 16th over when Harshal Patel got a hat trick. The fast bowler got Pandya, Pollard, and Chahar on three consecutive balls to seal the match for Kohli’s men. With the heavy hitters gone, the match was practically over for the Men in Blue.
Patel became only the third player in IPL history, after Praveen Kumar and Samuel Badree to grab a hat trick. Soon after, Chahal also grabbed his third wicket by removing Bumrah. Patel, fittingly, took the final wicket to win the match for his team.
