Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians on Friday in a thrilling encounter as AB de Villiers displayed why he’s regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. Also, announcing his arrival in competitive cricket was Harshal Patel, who wreaked havoc by claiming five wickets in the match. This was the inaugural match of the current IPL season.
Batting first Mumbai Indians made 159-9 in their quota of 20 overs with Chris Lynn scoring making 49 in 35 balls. Suryakumar Yadav scored 31, while Ishan Kishan contributed with 28 runs. No other Mumbai Indian batsman was able to withstand the penetrating attack of the Royale Challengers Bangalore bowlers, particularly Harshal Patel, who became the first bowler ever to claim a five-wicket haul against the Mukesh Ambani-owned IPL team.
Patel, who was unlucky to not have claimed his hat-trick, dismissed four Mumbai Indians batsmen in his last over by conceding just one run. Mohammed Siraj finished with 22-0 in his quota of four overs.
The RCB’s response was electric with Glenn Maxwell playing a knock of 28-ball 39 runs. Skipper Virat Kohli made 33 runs before he too returned to the dressing room. Maxwell was with the Kings XI Punjab last season but he had failed to shine with the bat. He was bought by the RCB for a whopping Rs. 14.25 crore in this year’s IPL auction.
AB de Villiers, who came to bat next, too started on an aggressive note. The South African made 48 runs in just 27 balls and pulled off what later became an incredibly difficult target to achieve. AB de Villiers was unlucky to run himself out when the team needed just two runs to win.
The RCB pulled off a two-wicket win on the last ball of the match.
Reacting to his side’s loss, MI skipper Rohit Sharma said, “Winning the championship is important, I guess, not the first game. Great fight, we didn’t let it go easily. Although the score wasn’t something we were happy with. We were 20 short. We made some mistakes, those are bound to happen. We need to move on.”
Kohli, for his part, said, “Last time we won the first game we played as well. It was important to play agains the strongest opposition to test the depth of your team. Everyone got involved, everyone’s got game time. Lot of options in the kitty which helped bring the game back. To be honest, the pitch was looking decent in the first half. I thought the dew might help, but as the ball got slower and the length ball got difficult to get away. That’s why all those partnerships were crucial.”
Harshal Patel was declared Man Of The Match.