Harshal Patel has been a top performer for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing IPL 2021.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Harshal Patel on Wednesday became the Indian player to have recorded the most dismissals in an edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Harshal accounted for three dismissals in the IPL 2021 encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to increase his tally of wickets in the ongoing edition to 28. The cricketer sent Kane Williamson, Wriddhiman Saha and Jason Holder back to the pavilion in a statement of intent. Harshal has now surpassed Jasprit Bumrah who earlier topped the charts having accounted for 27 dismissals in the 2020 edition of the popular tournament.
SRH pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar slips to the third position, having picked 26 wickets for the Hyderabad-based franchise in 2017. Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast-bowler Jaydev Unadkat is placed on the fourth spot, after accounting for 24 dismissals for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPSG) in 2017. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Harbhajan Singh rounds off the top-five list with 24 wickets that were accumulated while representing Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013.
Harshal’s three-wicket haul helped restrict the Hyderabad-based franchise to a total of just 141 runs for the loss of seven wickets. The Indian all-rounder received quality support from Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian, who sent Jason Roy and Priyam Garg back to the pavilion.
“I have a couple (of more franchises) left in my young legs (laughs), I’m still enjoying it. Happy to have got a couple of wickets. Roy and Wiliamson were going on well, I think it’s a good effort to restrict them to 140 odd. Lucky one for me, a bit of self-preservation (on the return catch), Jason absolutely smashed that, I got lucky that it came straight into my hands. was going well and it was a good wicket at that stage, was an important wicket as well. Should track this down, I think this was a 170-18- runs wicket, it’s really good. If one of the guys at the top of the order gets 70 or 80 odd, it’s a par total, a good start and needs one of our top-4 to get going. I don’t think there’s any sign of dew out there, the ball did stay dry,” said Christian as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Roy was the top run-getter for the Hyderabad-based franchise, accumulating 44 runs from 38 deliveries. The same was recorded on the back of five boundaries. Skipper Kane Williamson was the second-highest run-scorer, with 31 runs from 29 balls.
Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field, with the Bangalore-based franchise already qualified for the playoffs of the 2021 season. SRH on the other hand, are out of contention for a spot in the playoffs with a win against their Southern rivals, nothing more than a source of pride. A win for RCB will help them mount a strong surge for finishing in the top two spots of the points table, which holds great significance considering the additional opportunities for reaching the final.
