RCB beats MI by 54 runs

KATHMANDU, September 27: Harshal Patel’s sensational hat-trick and Glenn Maxwell’s all-round dominance were the talking points as the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 39 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Dubai on Sunday.

Elected to bat first RCB set a target of 166 runs to MI to win the match.

Scoring 10 runs before captain Rohit Sharma changed the gears, creaming three fours off Kyle Jamieson in the third over. Quinton de Kock joined the party, hitting three fours in the course of the next two overs while Rohit added two more to his account as MI raced past fifty in five overs.

However, RCB started to pull back things right after the powerplay as Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Quinton de Kock after Maxwell took a fine running catch. Three overs later, Maxwell got the big wicket of Rohit after the MI skipper, who was earlier hit on the hand by a booming drive of Ishan Kishan, holed out in the deep after scoring 43.

RCB continued to chip away as Chahal and Maxwell took one more wicket each. While Chahal had the better of Kishan, Maxwell disturbed the timber to dismiss Krunal Pandya. MI then lost their fifth wicket as Mohammed Siraj dismissed Suryakumar Yadav.

Two overs later, Harshal drew the curtains on MI with a spectacular hat-trick. The right-arm pacer first dismissed Hardik as captain Kohli took the catch, then had Kieron Pollard, disturbing the timber and then completed the hat-trick, trapping Rahul Chahar before the wickets.

While Chahal then had the wicket of Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal sealed the win for RCB, dismissing Adam Milne.

Earlier, RCB, who were put into bat, made three changes to their side as Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian & Kyle Jamieson were named in the team. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya returned to MI's playing XI in place of Saurabh Tiwary.

Virat Kohli got an early reprieve after Rahul Chahar, despite all his efforts, could not hold on to a difficult chance. While Kohli survived, MI managed to strike early as Bumrah dismissed Devdutt Padikkal in the second over.

Kohli and KS Bharat then took on Bumrah, hitting the MI speedster for 2 fours and a six to score 16 runs in the fourth over. Kohli then went after Adam Milne for a four and a six before RCB moved to 48/1 after six overs. The pair completed a fifty-run stand in the next overs.

MI managed to break the partnership in the ninth over as Rahul Chahar got Bharat out for 32. MI then bowled two tight overs before Maxwell opened his shoulder, hammering his first six off a switch-hit off Krunal.

The ‘Big Show’ then creamed two fours and a six in the next two overs as RCB reached 117/2 at the end of the 14th over.

Kohli then brought up his second successive fifty of the season in the 15th over. The RCB skipper though got out in the next over as Adam Milne picked his first wicket of the match.

AB de Villiers joined Maxwell in the middle after Kohli got out and wasted no time going big. He hit a six and a four off Bumrah in the 17th over. Maxwell then went after Milne, who bowled the 18th over, creaming a six and two fours to bring up a 33-ball fifty.

Bumrah then showed why he is one of the best in the business as he dismissed both Maxwell and ABD in the penultimate over, conceding just six runs before Trent Boult a three-run final over and scalped a wicket as MI limited RCB to 165/6.