RCB vs MI, IPL 2021: 5 interesting stats to emerge from Match 39

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) perennial weakness over the past many seasons has been their bowling. But on Sunday, the bowling department rose to the big occasion, helping the team find its winning ways as they downed the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in match 39 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Dubai.

Both RCB and MI began their second phase in the UAE with two consecutive defeats. While the RCB remain in third spot with 12 points in the points table, MI’s campaign has been further derailed as they slumped to seventh spot after registering their sixth defeat of the campaign.

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The 54-run win for RCB over MI witnessed several statistical milestones, and we look at five of the most interesting ones.

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#1 Virat Kohli joins Chris Gayle in a unique 10,000-run club

RCB skipper Virat Kohli got his side off to a good start with a 42-ball 51. In the process, he became the fifth cricketer and first Indian to 10,000-run club in T20s.

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle are the only two cricketers with over 10,000 runs in all three formats – first-class, List A and T20.

Moreover, Kohli and Gayle have played together for seven seasons at the RCB.

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#2 Harshal Patel becomes the third RCB bowler to take an IPL hat-trick

Harshal Patel became the third RCB bowler to register an IPL hat-trick after Praveen Kumar (vs Rajasthan Royals in 2010) and Samuel Badree (vs Mumbai Indians in 2017).

The pacer now has figures of nine for 44 against MI in the IPL 2021, which includes a five-wicket haul and a hat-trick. He finished with figures of 3.1-0-17-4. He dismissed Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar off consecutive balls.

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#3 Harshal Patel joins Rohit Sharma in a special hat-trick club

Harshal Patel is now only the second player in the IPL to claim a hat-trick and also be dismissed as part of a hat-trick. He joins Rohit Sharma in this unique club.

Playing for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers, Rohit Sharma claimed a hat-trick in 2009 and, eight years later, became a victim of Samuel Badree’s hat-trick.

Harshal Patel, who claimed a hat-trick on Sunday, was the hat-trick victim of Sam Curran in IPL 2019.

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#4 Harshal Patel equals teammate Yuzvendra Chahal’s record

Harshal Patel is on the verge of breaking his RCB teammate Yuzvendra Chahal’s record of the most wickets by an uncapped player in an IPL season. Currently, he’s tied with the leg-spinner with 23 wickets.

Yuzvendra Chahal was the most successful spinner in IPL 2015 with 23 wickets at an average of 18. With several matches to go this season, Harshal Patel is on the brink of breaking this record.

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#5 RCB breaks multiple streaks

Historically, MI have always had the upper hand against RCB, with the head-to-head record reading 19-12 in Mumbai's favor. However, this season, RCB beat MI twice for the first time in their IPL chronicles.

The win also broke RCB’s defeat streak in the UAE. This is their first victory in the UAE after losing seven consecutive matches.

Also, this is the first time that RCB have been able to bowl out MI.