IPL 2021, RCB's Harshal Patel grabs a hat-trick: Key numbers
Harshal Patel grabbed a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians on Sunday in match number 39 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. The RCB pacer, who is this season's highest wicket-taker, claimed figures of 4/17. He helped RCB claim a 54-run victory against the defending champions, who slipped to seventh. Here we decode the numbers as Harshal claimed a famous hat-trick.
A look at Harshal's hat-trick in the 17th over
Harshal did the damage in the 17th over. He bowled an off-cutter to Hardik Pandya, who miscued the shot as Virat Kohli completed a fine catch. The next delivery saw Harshal spot Kieron Pollard move too far across his stumps as the yorker played a role in rooting the stumps. Rahul Chahar missed an off-cutter which dipped as a full-toss to be trapped LBW.
Harshal has raced to 23 wickets this season
Harshal dismissed Adam Milne in the first ball of the 19th over to complete a four-wicket haul. His 4/17 ensured another superb performance as he kept running away with the wickets. Harshal has raced to 23 scalps this season at an average of 13.56. He is the only bowler this season with 20-plus wickets. Besides his 4/17, he also claimed a fifer earlier.
Joint-most wickets by an uncapped player in an IPL season
By getting to 23 scalps, Harshal is now the joint-highest wicket-taker by an uncapped player in the competition. He equaled the mark of Yuzvendra Chahal, who took 23 wickets for RCB in 2015. Sreenath Aravind (21 in 2011) and Siddarth Kaul (21 in 2018) are the other two uncapped players with 20-plus wickets in a season.
3rd RCB bowler to take a hat-trick in the IPL
Harshal is now the third RCB bowler in IPL history to claim a hat-trick after Praveen Kumar (versus RR, Bengaluru 2010) and Samuel Badree (versus MI, Bengaluru 2017).
17th bowler to claim a hat-trick in the IPL
Harshal is now the 17th bowler in IPL history to claim a hat-trick. He is the first bowler to take a hat-trick since IPL 2019, when Sam Curran and Shreyas Gopal achieved the mark.
