Harshal Patel put on a brilliant performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by three wickets on Wednesday to register their first Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 win. The sailor threw brilliantly for his 2/11 figures and also took an unbeaten 10 on six deliveries to help RCB complete a tricky chase at Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. After having a breakthrough last year when he equaled Dwayne Bravo’s record of most wickets in an IPL season, Harshal joined another elite list on Wednesday with his performance.
His first two overs in the match were back-to-back wicket maidens, making him only the second player in history to throw two maiden overs in an IPL match.
Coincidentally, the first player to achieve this feat was his RCB teammate Mohammed Siraj against KKR in IPL 2020.
Siraj registered figures of 3/8 in Abu Dhabi in 2020, which caused KKR to blow away with the new ball.
The Harshal girls also came out of his first two overs of the game, but they got into the middle overs.
He had Sam Billings out a hole in his first left for the first time after choking him for runs. His next over was even better, as he strapped on a rampant Andre Russell before eventually trailing him with a short delivery.
Although KKR’s collapse meant that RCB was in a strong position when Harshal went bowling, Russell was still on strike and looking for some fireworks.
Russell hit at 25 out of 13 after hitting three sixes and a boundary, but Harshal threw four consecutive point balls, increasing the pressure on the big man.
On his fifth throw from the over, Harshal delivered a short throw that wasn’t wide enough for Russell to free his arms and hit, so the all-rounder tried to back up and cut the ball but only managed an edge. by taking to Dinesh Karthik. †
promoted
The dismissal epitomized Harshal’s outstanding performance, which would have reflected even better grades had he not admitted two unfortunate limits to his bowling.
Harshal Patel won the Purple Cap last year for finishing as the leading wicket taker and is back in the race, taking four wickets in two matches so far. The man currently in the lead, however, is his team-mate Wanindu Hasaranga, who took four in the game against KKR to take his total wickets this season to five.
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