Harshal Patel took 4-17 including a hat-trick against defending champion Mumbai Indians to provide Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) their first win in this UAE leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Sunday night in Dubai.
Chasing 166 on a decent surface, Mumbai needed 61 in 24 balls when this season's Purple Cap holder Harshal removed Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar in the first three deliveries of the 17th over. Mumbai, already fighting a losing battle, lost the plot completely thereafter and were eventually bowled out 111 to lose by 54 runs.
This, despite having a brilliant start to their chase when Rohit Sharma (43) and Quinton de Kock (24) stitched a fifty-run opening stand in no time. But Mumbai crumbled under pressure, and went from 79/1 to 106/8 in just six overs.
For RCB, apart from Harshal, Yuzvendra Chahal also bowled a sensational spell. He was the one who started the miseries for Mumbai by removing de Kock in the first over after the powerplay. Chahal also got Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah to finish with 3-11 in his four overs.
Earlier, after being sent to bat, RCB recovered despite losing Devdutt Padikkal (0) early. Virat Kohli (51) and wicketkeeper K.S. Bharat (32) built a 68-run partnership to build a platform for a late onslaught. After their dismissals, Glenn Maxwell’s 37-ball 56 powered the team to 165/6 at the end of 20 overs.
With this victory RCB now firmly sit at third place in the point's table with 12 points, while Mumbai Indians slipped to seventh, with just eight points from 10 games along with a poor net run rate (-.551). Their chances of making it to the Playoffs look quite bleak now.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 165/6 (Maxwell 56; Bumrah 3-36) beat Mumbai Indians 111 in 18.1 overs (Rohit 43; Harshal 4-17) by 54 runs. Player of the Match: Harshal Patel