IPL 2021: Harshal Patel’s hat-trick steers Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 54-run victory over Mumbai Indians

IPL 2021: Harshal Patel’s hat-trick steers Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 54-run victory over Mumbai Indians

Harshal Patel

Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally have a victory in their arsenal. After losing their last seven games in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Bangalore outfit finally outclassed defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Dubai International Stadium by 54 runs. There is no doubt about the fact that the bowlers especially Harshal Patel won the game for the Men in Red and Black.

Put to bat first, RCB seemed in trouble early in the match. The team lost their opening batter Devdutt Padikkal early in the match on a four-ball duck. However, an in-form skipper Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat joined hands to help the team bounce back stronger from the crisis. 

Kohli smashed a well-deserved fifty while Bharat added 32 runs to the scoreboard. The same was followed by Glenn Maxwell showing his brilliance as he hammered 56 runs off 37 deliveries. While RCB were hoping to post a mammoth score on the board, Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up both AB de Villers and Glenn Maxwell off two consecutive deliveries. 

The Virat Kohli side ended up with just 165 runs on the scoreboard in their 20 overs while losing 54 runs. It was believed that RCB fell short of 15-20 runs in the first innings and the same will provide an edge to the defending champions.

Adding to RCB’s misery, Mumbai Indians got off to a terrific start in the competition. The opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock flaunted their class as they executed some stunning strokeplay. However, MI’s batting woes commenced when they lost de Kock in the sixth over.

Royal Challengers Bangalore presents a disciplined bowling performance

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore

Though there was again a collapse of Rohit Sharma’s side, they still had hopes of a victory owing to their star-studded batting line-up. However, it was Harshal Patel who broke MI’s backbone by picking a hat-trick.

The seam all-rounder sacred the daylights of the Mumbai batters in the 17th over as he scalped the wickets of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Rahul Chahar in the first three deliveries. The same was followed by the seamer picking another wicket in the form of Adam Milne. 

The disciplined bowling effort by RCB helped the team in defending 166 and winning the game by 54 runs. Notably, this was the first time that Bangalore bowled out MI in the history of the Indian Premier League. 

Also Read: IPL 2021: Ravindra Jadeja’s exploits help Chennai Super Kings win the last-ball thriller against KKR