Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel consolidated his position at the top of the leading wicket-takers list by claiming first hat-trick of IPL 2021 against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday (September 26).
Harshal removed Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Rahul Chahar off back-to-back deliveries in the 17th over to become the third Bangalore bowler to take an IPL hat-trick after Praveen Kumar (vs RR) in 2010 and Samuel Badree (vs MI) in 2017.
Harshal deceived Hardik with a cross-seamed slower delivery which the MI all-rounder top-edged while aiming to slog it. On the next delivery, Pollard exposed his middle and leg-stump, before being castled by the 30-year-old. On the hat-trick ball, Harshal trapped Chahar in front of stumps.
Here's the video of the hat-trick:
— Sports Hustle (@SportsHustle3) September 26, 2021
Later in the match, the Haryana player also sent back Adam Milne to finish with impressive figures of 3.1-0-17-4.
Also, with this performance, Harshal extends his lead at the top of the Purple Cap leaderboard, with 23 wickets, ahead of Delhi Capitals' Avesh Khan (15) and MI's Jasprit Bumrah (14).
Overall, Harshal has bagged 23 wickets from 10 games in IPL 2021 including a four-wicket haul and a fifer.
Harshal Patel now has a fifer and a hattrick against MI in the same season.
The Purple Cap isn't going anywhere. #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #nmmRCB #IPL2021 #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/YYOj4mEdBy
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) September 26, 2021
Talking about the match, all-round RCB thrashed Mumbai Indian by 54-run at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. The win keeps Bangalore at third place while Mumbai slip to seventh place in the points table.
Chasing 166, Mumbai were 56 for no loss at power-play and were 79 for 1 in 9.5 overs before Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell.
From there onwards, Mumbai's slide began and they crashed to 111 all out. Apart from Sharma and Quinton de Kock (24), no other batter could reach double-figures.
Earlier, RCB skipper Virat Kohli and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell smashed a half-century each to power their side to a competitive total.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 165/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 56, Virat Kohli 51, Jasprit Bumrah 3/36, Trent Boult 1/17) beat Mumbai Indians 111 all out in 18.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 43, Quinton de Kock 24, Harshal Patel 4/17, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/11) by 54 runs.
