Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) faced each other in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 opener at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday (April 9).
Invited to bat first, the defending champions posted 159/9 in 20 overs on the back of Chris Lynn’s 35-ball 49. Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 23 balls) and Ishan Kishan (28 off 19 balls) also made notable contributions with the willow.
For RCB, Harshal Patel was the stand-out bowler, claiming 5 wickets by conceding 27 runs in his four overs. Kyle Jamieson also chipped in with a scalp by giving away 27 runs in his four-over quota.
In reply, RCB were cruising in the chase when skipper Virat Kohli (33 off 29 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (39 off 28 balls) were at the crease, stitching 52 runs for the third wicket. But once their partnership got broken, the Bangalore-based franchise lost the plot, slipping from 98/3 to 122/6 in quick succession.
Amid the collapse, veteran campaigner AB de Villiers held the one end firmly. He played a key role as RCB accumulated 15 runs and 12 runs from the 18th and 19th over respectively to get back in the chase.
Needing 7 runs in the final over, RCB scored 4 from the first three deliveries before De Villiers got run-out on 48 off 27 balls while stealing the second run. Despite his wicket, RCB got over the line with 2 wickets in hand as Siraj and Harshal managed to take singles on the 5th and final delivery of Marco Jansen.
Cricket experts were left captivated by a thrilling contest in the IPL 2020 opener.
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