Picture Credit: Twitter/@RCBTweets
Royal Challengers Bangalore had an amazing outing against Mumbai Indians in the 39th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. They beat the defending champions by 54 runs to retain their third spot in the points table. The Virat Kohli-led team showed some extraordinary bowling skills to snatch the win from Mumbai. Harshal Patel, in particular, was exceptional with his cutters taking his first hat-trick in IPL
With this win, RCB was able to break the UAE jinx and its seven-match losing streak. The dugout was elated at the win as their captain Virat Kohli said, “there’s no complaint whatsoever”. The senior most player in the dressing room, AB de Villiers was happy too and it showed from his actions in the dressing room. The former Proteas player, who enjoys a really good bond with the RCB captain, took a moment to imitate Kohli’s animated celebration style. We have all seen Kohli and his celebrations, especially when a wicket goes down in the opposition.
AB was too good as Kohli as he nailed the small performance and left everyone in splits in the dressing room. For a moment, one might confuse de Villiers doing a Kohli as the latter himself.
Have a look at AB’s performance here:
Kohli, Maxwell, Chahal, and Harshal - The stars for RCB
RCB, as a team, were clinical with their performances while Mumbai’s batters, apart from Rohit and de Cock, let them down. Nothing to take away from RCB’s exceptional bowling, but the target was chasable for a batting lineup like Mumbai. Beginning from the start, Bumrah got MI an early breakthrough in form of Devdutt Paddikal. However, Kohli and Srikar Bharat played some good and sensible shots and kept RCB in the game. After Bharat departed, it was all the Big Show. Maxwell and his switch hits were simply brilliant!
The Australian scored a quick half-century and allowed Kohli to play his natural game who also registered his 42nd IPL fifty. But the last two overs from Bumrah (4-0-36-3) and Boult brought Mumbai back in the game. Moreover, Rohit and de Cock started well with a 57-run partnership for the first wicket but RCB just needed an opening, which Chahal (4-0-11-3) gave them. After that, RCB bowlers were all over Mumbai.
Glenn Maxwell got the big wicket of Rohit Sharma and then Krunal Pandya. Harshal Patel, the wizard with his cutters, got Hardik, Pollard, and Chahar on three consecutive deliveries to claim the first hat-trick for himself in IPL. He finished the game by bowling out Adam Milne, yet again with a cutter.