Harshal Patel’s maiden five wicket haul followed up by a fine 48 by AB de Villiers as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets in the opening encounter of the Indian Premier League at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
After being sent in RCB skipper Virat Kohli, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma run out following a terrible mix-up with Chris Lynn for 19.
Lynn along with Suyakumar Yadav added 70 runs for the second wicket before the latter edged a Kyle Jamieson’s delivery to wicket keeper De Villiers behind the stumps.
The 31 year old Australian right hander scored a 35 ball 49 before falling to a fine running catch by Washington Sundar.
Harshal Patel got into the act by claiming the wickets of Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan leg before wicket to reduce Mumbai to 145/5.
Patel claimed the wickets of Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard in successive deliveries. He however missed his chance at a hatrick but got debutant Marco Jansen off the very next ball. The Haryana right arm fast bowler finished with figures of 5 for 27, and became the first bowler to claim a fifer against Mumbai Indians. MI ended up with with a below par score of 159/9 after 20 overs.
Chasing 160, Washington Sundar was dropped by captain Rohit Sharma at slips off Trent Boult in the very first over. Sundar however failed to cash in as he was caught at short third man by Lynn off Krunal for 10.
In the sixth over Rajat Patidar chopped a Boult delivery on to his stumps. The pair of Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell stitched together a solid 52 run stand for the third wicket before the former was trapped leg before wicket by Jasprit Bumrah for 33.
Marco Jansen claimed wickets of Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed leaving RCB in a spot of bother at 106/5.
De Villiers effectively took 15 runs off Trent Boult in the 18th over and then followed it with 12 against Bumrah in the penultimate over to bring the equation to seven off six balls.
With three needed off three, the former South African star was run out by a brilliant throw from deep mid wicket by Krunal while going for the second. Bowling hero Harshal Patel snuck a single off the last ball to take Bangalore to a thrilling 2 wicket win.
The second match of the of the tournament will see MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings take on Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.