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A superb five-wicket haul from Harshal Patel was backed up by yet another scintillating innings by AB de Villiers as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by two wickets.
In a thrilling start to IPL 2021 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, pacer Patel’s 5 for 27 restricted MI to 159 for 9. RCB stuttered in their chase, but not for the first time, De Villiers lifted them with a brilliant knock of 48 off 27 balls.
AB de Villiers showed his class, hitting Rahul Chahar for a four past extra cover and a six over long-off off consecutive balls in the 16th over. However, RCB kept losing wickets at the other end as Dan Christian (1) cut Jasprit Bumrah straight to point.
De Villiers, though, kept RCB in the hunt. With 34 needed off the last three overs, the South African batsman lofted a knuckle ball from Trent Boult over long-off for six. A couple of balls later, he drilled one straight down the ground for a four.
In the penultimate over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, AB de Villiers guided a low full toss over extra cover for a four. He got another boundary by making room and scything the ball over the fielder at short third man.
With three needed off three, De Villiers was run out going for a tight second. Bowling hero Harshal Patel, however, sneaked a single off the last ball from Marco Jansen to take RCB home by two wickets.
In RCB’s chase, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma dropped a simple chance off Washington Sundar in the slips in the first over from Boult. The missed chance did not hurt MI, though, as Sundar top-edged Krunal Pandya for a rather sedate 10 off 16.
RCB captain Virat Kohli looked in good nick as he brought out his trademark short-arm pulls and swipes. At the other end, though, RCB lost Rajat Patidar for eight, as he failed to pick a knuckle ball from Boult. There could have been more trouble for RCB, but MI missed a run-out opportunity of Kohli with a wide throw.
Some Maxwell magic
Coming in at no. 4, Glenn Maxwell got his first boundary for RCB with a reverse hit off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar. The Big Show spoilt Krunal Pandya’s figures to an extent by launching a length delivery from the left-arm spinner for a monstrous six over wide long-on. Nevertheless, Krunal Pandya still finished with decent figures of 1 for 25.
Meanwhile, Maxwell, rediscovering his mojo, reverse-swatted Chahar for a six over deep point. Maxwell and Kohli added 52 for the third wicket before Jasprit Bumrah trapped the latter lbw for 33 when the RCB captain played across the line.
The young Marco Jansen got the other big breakthrough, having Maxwell (39 off 28) caught at short fine leg.
The Australian was surprised by a slower ball from Jansen and only managed to ramp it to Chris Lynn, who took a smart low catch. Jansen made it two in the over, as Shahbaz Ahmed (1) picked out deep square perfectly.
At that point, it looked like the same old story unfolding for RCB, but ABD came to their rescue yet again.
Harshal Patel five-for stuns MI
A sensational five-or from RCB medium-pacer Harshal Patel restricted the star-studded Mumbai Indians batting lineup to 159 for 9 in the IPL 2021 opener in Chennai.
After losing the toss and sent into bat first, Mumbai Indians were reasonably placed for the final flourish at 135 for 3 in the 16th over. Carnage followed, though, as Patel ran through the MI middle and lower order to restrict the defending champions.
Harshal Patel began by trapping the dangerous Hardik Pandya lbw for 13 with a slower ball that hit the batsman’s pads on the full. Patel then did even better against Ishan Kishan (28), trapping the left-hander in front of the stumps with a yorker.
Krunal Pandya (7), whose bat had just been broken by a Kyle Jamieson yorker, tried to break the shackles. But all he managed was a lofted short-of-length delivery to deep midwicket. Kieron Pollard (7) then perished next ball, getting no timing at all on an off-cutter.
Patel missed his hat-trick by just one ball before a full and straight delivery crashed through Marco Jansen’s defence. The pacer finished with 5 for 27, becoming the first bowler to claim a five-for against Mumbai Indians.
Things looked decent for Mumbai Indians in the first half. After captain Rohit Sharma was run out for 19 following a terrible mix-up with Chris Lynn, the latter took the responsibility to rebuild the innings.
Lynn hammered three sixes and four fours in his 49 before he was brilliantly caught by Washington Sundar off his own bowling. The Australian hit one straight up in the air, and Sundar took a fine running catch.
Earlier, Lynn demonstrated his power by muscling RCB leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for a maximum over long-on in the final over of the powerplay. In the next over, he launched Shahbaz Ahmed for another six over deep midwicket after having already hit him for a four.
When Lynn crashed a free-hit ball from Patel over the ropes, no one had an inkling of what was in store. Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 23) featured in a 70-run stand for the second wicket with Lynn before the former became Kyle Jamieson’s first IPL scalp, edging a short and wide ball behind the stumps.
After Lynn followed Yadav, it was all RCB, rather Patel, to be more specific, as dropped catches by Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj did not come back to haunt the Bangalore-based team. Jamieson (1 for 27) and Siraj (0 for 22) also did a commendable job for RCB.
IPL 2021: MI v RCB - Man of the Match:
AB de Villiers and Harshal Patel were the two contenders for the Man of the Match award. Patel set up the game brilliantly for RCB by mixing up his deliveries, getting his yorkers spot on as the MI batsmen failed to read his slower balls.
Patel got the big scalps of Kishan, Hardik Pandya and Pollard with some smart bowling. All three are dangerous hitters and could have hurt RCB had they stayed on. The pace bowler deserved a five-for, which he got by knocking over the young Jansen.
Meanwhile, one would run out of words to describe the genius of AB de Villiers. Time and again, the 37-year-old has extricated RCB out of difficult situations. Friday was just another day in the office for the South African legend. He timed his big hits at crucial junctures to lift RCB to a thrilling win over MI.
Eventually, it was Harshal Patel who won the Man of the Match award for his memorable five-for.
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