Birthday special: Harshal Patel – Top three spells in IPL
Harshal Patel has flourished into one of the finest pace spearheads. However, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has played a major role in the right-arm pacer’s development in his formative years. The pacer, also known as ‘Purple Patel’, relished the Purple Cap in the 2021 edition of the league with 32 wickets under his belt. Harshal largely started off as a backup seamer but over the years he rose the ranks and has nearly cemented his spot in the national setup. With the potential of bowling the out-swinger coupled with decent line and length, Harshal has been one of the most lethal attackers with the ball. On his 32nd birthday, we take a look at his three best spells in the IPL-
4/34 vs Punjab Kings, 2022
Punjab Kings were up and running in the first innings as they smashed the ball all over the park. However, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Harshal Patel tried hard to keep the match under control as he scalped four wickets and gave away 34 runs in his stipulated four overs. In any case, his efforts went in vain as PBKS made 209-9 runs in 20 overs with English batters Liam Livingstone scoring 70 from 42 balls, while Jonny Bairstow made 66 off just 29 balls. RCB eventually lost the contest as the batting line-up collapsed swiftly.
4/17 vs Mumbai Indians, 2021
RCB registered a comprehensive victory against a dominant Mumbai Indians side in the 2021 edition of the IPL. Patel starred with the ball as he dismissed Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Rahul Chahar in the 17th over of the innings registering a hat-trick under his belt. Moreover, the pace spearhead only gave away mere 17 runs in his 3.1 overs with the ball.
5/27 vs Mumbai Indians, 2021
The very first match of the IPL 2021 saw the clash between RCB and MI where Harshal relished his best bowling figures thus far. The pacer picked a fifer having given away just 27 runs in his stipulated four overs with the ball. RCB restricted the Mumbai franchise to 159 runs which the Bangalore batters chased in the final ball of the contest. Harshal was adjudged the man of the match.
