Sports Correspondent- April 9th, 2021.
The last ball finish, an AB de Villiers special, and the start of one of the world’s biggest sporting tournaments, Vivo IPL 2021 kicked off to a great start…
Put in to bat after Kohli won the first toss of the tournament, Mumbai Indians got off to a decent start with Chriss Lynn and Suryakumar Yadav going all guns blazing. Chris Lynn scored quite an eventful 49 off 35 balls knock with three sixes and four fours.
However, the rest of the Mumbai batting line-up failed to capitalize as young Harshal Patel ended with figures of 5 for 27 off his full quota of four overs.
In reply, RCB’s strategy of opening with Washington Sundar backfired as the lanky lefthander never really got going. He ultimately ended his woeful promotion to the top of the innings scoring an uneventful 10 off 16 balls.
It was left to King Kohli to steady the ship. While Kohli did steady the ship, the captain never really found his footing, eventually bowing out for a 29 ball 33.
Glenn Maxwell, dubbed as one of the most controversial buys of the season rose to the occasion and justified the faith and the price tag. With 3 fours and 2 sixes, the talismanic Australian made a quickfire 39 and kept RCB in the chase.
While RCB was coasting, Mumbai hit back with three quick wickets. AB de Villiers continued to do what he did best, with him picking apart Jasprit Bumrah carting him all over the park. The talismanic South African scored an ultimately match-winning 48 off 27. De Villiers ultimately got run out in the final over and it looked like Mumbai Indians will finally able to sneak with the win.
With a photo finish on the horizon, it was once again left to Harshal Patel to score the winning runs. Talk about having a great night. The youngster will surely remember this night for a very long time in the future.
