Harshal Patel joins an elite list; expresses his surprise over his two back to back maiden overs


Harshal Patel joins an elite list; expresses his surprise over his two back to back maiden overs

Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel’s performance was excellent as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by three wickets and registered their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

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RCB shared a video of a dressing room interview where Harshal Patel could be seen discussing the match, his two maiden overs, and procuring Andre Russel’s wicket. His brilliant figures read 2/11 and he also scored 10 off six balls.

He said: “I never bowled a maiden in IPL and bowling two back to back was a bit of a surprise but a good one.”

“The only thing was because there was a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket, I didn’t want him to hit me down the ground. So, I just kept bashing the length and you know it worked out well so.” Said Patel on Russel’s wicket.

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When he was asked if the pitch was difficult to bat, he said: “I mean it was not difficult to bat. We probably were a little too tentative but, in the end, you know crossing the line is always good.”

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Harshal Patel joins an elite list

Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel and RCB

Harshal Patel grabbed 2 wickets and conceded only 11 runs in four overs. He also scored an unbeaten 10 off six balls to help RCB win the match. Last year, he equalled Dwayne Bravo’s record of most IPL wickets in a season and won the Purple Cap.

Along with this breakthrough, he equalled another record alongside fellow RCB bowler Mohammed Siraj. In the match against KKR in 2020, Siraj had given 8 runs, clenched 3 wickets to achieve this feat. In yesterday’s match, Patel bowled two maiden overs in an IPL match. His first back-to-back overs were the maiden one along with a wicket. With this, he became the second player in history to bowl two maidens.

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Harshal Patel first sent back Sam Billings and then the fierce-looking Andre Russell. Russel was batting on 25 off 13 when Patel increased the pressure on the big man by bowling four consecutive dots. In the last ball, Patel delivered a short ball and Russel couldn’t free his arm the ball hit the edge and fell back into the hands of wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.

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