What a start it was to the much-awaited Indian Premier League 2021 as the match went down to the very last ball and it was that moment we all had a deja vu of the super-over encounter between these two sides in the last season.
This time around Virat Kohli and Co. ensured that the match sealed in their favor without the help of the super over as the Man of the Match- Harshal Patel made sure he got bat on the ball ensuring RCB registered their first win of the season.
Cricwizz takes a look at the players who were the stand-out in the season opener of the 14th edition of the IPL and also brings you the MI player who probably made the proceedings easier for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Hero of the Match
A very straight-forward pick for the Hero of the Match as the 30-year old pacer- Harshal Patel went on pick up 5 wickets for 27 runs and in turn, also became the first-ever bowler in the history of the Indian Premier League to claim a 5-wicket haul against the five-time champions- Mumbai Indians. The Right-arm pacer managed to claim three wickets in the last over and was a whisker away from claiming a well-deserved hat-trick. Do you agree with our pick on the Hero of the Match?
Zero of the Match
In a match where the aggregate of the runs around the 320 runs range the spinners are likely to expect to have done a good job with the ball but to one's surprise both the leg spinners of the teams- Rahul Chahar and Yuzvendra Chahal were taken for runs as they both combined together leaked away 84 runs in 8 overs. Chahar edges over the RCB bowler by 2 runs and also the fact that his team ended up on the losing side puts him in the first position for the Zero of the match.
Foreign Player of the Match
The star-studded line-up of MI and RCB consists of some of the biggest foreign names in the sports. The new addition Glenn Maxwell managed to justify his price-tag as he went on score 39 from 28 balls which included two towering sixes and he has made his intentions very clear ahead of the season. Though, it is the proteas legend AB de Villiers who manages to outclass the ‘Big Show’ by scoring a quick-fire 48 of 27 balls.
Game changer of the Match
After a deep analysis of the match, we came up with the game-changer as Harshal Patel himself as we believe the wicket of Hardik Pandya in the 16th over of the innings proved to be vital for the RCB side in restricting the Mumbai Indians to 159 runs. In addition to his master-class, the 30-year-old also went on to bowl a brilliant final over, picking up 3 wickets and giving away just 1 run. He is definitely the game changer according to us. Do you agree with the same?
The second match of the Indian Premier League 2021 is scheduled to take place between Chennai Super Kings and the last season’s finalists Delhi Capitals. Stay tuned with Cricwizz as we bring you more intriguing previews and reviews during this IPL season. Also, do read our fantasy tips and preview on CSK vs DC.
