Watch: Harshal Patel Hat-trick against Mumbai Indians
IPL 2021 leading wicket-taker Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) went for a hat-trick on Sunday against Mumbai Indians (defending champions) in an IPL 2021 match in Dubai During the 17th over of MI's innings, the moment happened. MI began off well in their 166-run chase, but they continued to lose wickets often.
When Harshal Patel took over in the 17th over, he removed Hardik Pandya with the first ball he faced. Kohli snared an easy catch after the MI all-rounder mistimed his stroke with his bat on a sluggish pitch.
Using a slow delivery, Harshal deceived Kieron Pollard, who was forced to return to the dressing room. Harshal finished off Rahul Chahar with a golden duck by bowling him LBW for a third time in as many balls.
A hat trick for the first time this season. Praveen Kumar and Samuel Badree became the first two RCB bowlers in IPL history to take a hat trick, with Harshal being the third.
In the previous season's IPL, RCB's West Indian leggie Samuel Badree had three consecutive wickets against the Mumbai Indians. It was Badree's first hat-trick of the season, and he took 4 wickets in his stint overall like Patel. Even in the third IPL tournament since 2008, former Indian bowler Praveen Kumar was able to achieve this feat in IPL 2010.
By defeating MI by 54 runs, RCB has moved up to third place in the IPL 2021 standings. They now have 12 points after winning 6 of their last 10 games. Two more victories in their last four games would guarantee them a spot in the playoff round if they finish in the top four.
“I was thinking if the batters can’t pick my slower balls then the bowlers also will find it difficult to spot (referring to his Chahar’s wicket that got him the hat-trick). I just bet on that. This is my sixth time being on a hat-trick and finally got one, so pretty happy,” Harshal Patel said post-match.
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