IPL 2021: Harshal Patel becomes first bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians

IPL 2021: Harshal Patel becomes first bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians

Harshal Patel

The Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2021 kicked off today as defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) went head-to-head with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The match proved to be an excellently contested one as both teams traded blows in what was the first IPL match in India in over one and a half years due to the 2020 edition having been held in the UAE.

RCB won the toss on the night and chose to field first. They gave debuts to three of their overseas players in Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson and Dan Christian. Rajat Patidar was also picked by the side. MI meanwhile, opted to go for Chris Lynn and Marco Jansen as their debutants for the day while preserving a huge chunk of their title winning side from last season’s edition of the tournament.

Harshal Patel shines for RCB

Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel celebrates a wicket

MI got off to a steady start and were going well despite Rohit Sharma‘s early run-out following a mix-up. The likes of Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan came up with brisk knocks and looked set to lead the side to a massive finish. However, Harshal Patel who was traded in by RCB from the Delhi Capitals (DC) for this year’s tournament along with Daniel Sams, shone with the ball.

He picked up a total of five wickets, including a whopping 3 in just the last over. What was even more impressive about the over was the fact that he conceded just one run – off the last ball. His final spell read 5/27 in his four overs. He also scripted history by becoming the first bowler in the history of the tournament to take a fifer against the Mumbai Indians.

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