![AB de Villiers [Image-IPLT20]](https://sportzwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/pic.jpg "Ipl 2021: Ab De Villiers Scores Quickfire 48 As Rcb Beat Mumbai Indians In A Last-Ball Thriller 1")
AB de Villiers played yet another match-winning knock to help Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets in the first match of IPL 2021 at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s AB de Villiers was extremely pleased after scripting his team’s 2-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the opening match which was a thriller of IPL 2021 in Chennai on Friday.
AB de Villiers Said It Was An Absolute Pleasure Playing Alongside Glenn Maxwell
AB de Villiers’s quickfire 48 off 27 balls helped RCB chase down 160 off the last ball against the defending champions at the MA Chidambaram stadium.
“Was an incredible game of cricket. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we knew it wasn’t an easy pitch to play on and it’s one of those wickets that gets harder as the game goes on and we knew if we could take it to the end we could take a chance,” AB de Villiers said after the match.
The retired South African legend also spoke about playing with RCB debutant Glenn Maxwell.
“Absolute pleasure playing alongside him (Maxwell). I love playing with players like that and he just wants to win cricket games. And also there’s Dan Christian,” AB de Villiers maintained.
Glenn Maxwell too contributed scoring 39 runs off 28 balls which included 3 fours and 2 sixes while skipper Virat Kohli too scored 33 off 29 balls. But RCB like Mumbai Indians lost too many wickets at the end as their lower middle order failed to contribute much. AB de Villiers was run out in the 4th ball of the final over as they needed 2 runs off the last 2 balls with 2 wickets in hand.
Mumbai Indians Haven’t Won Their Opening Game In IPL For The 9th Successive Time Since 2012
The result was a shot in the arm for the defending champions Mumbai Indians, who haven’t won their opening match in the IPL since 2012. The win helped RCB improve their head-to-head record over MI with 11 wins out of 28 matches. This is also the first time RCB won their opening game of the IPL.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians lost the plot despite being well placed and looking set to score about 170 odd but Harshal Patel had other ideas as he picked 5/27 as MI lost 4 wickets in the final over. Chris Lynn was the top scorer for Mumbai scoring 49 off 35 balls including 4 fours and 3 sixes.
Harshal Patel also became the first bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul against Mumbai in the IPL. He picked up three wickets in the final over, dismissing Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Marco Jansen, and finished with figures of 5 for 27 in four overs. The right-arm pacer helped RCB arrest Mumbai’s momentum towards the end of the innings after Chris Lynn’s 49 had helped the five-time champions get off to a good start.
Chris Lynn and Suryakumar Yadav added a crucial 70 run-stand to get MI back on track. Suryakumar Yadav (31) has raced to 2,055 runs in the IPL.
The right-arm pacer Harshal Patel became the 22nd bowler in the IPL to claim a fifer in an IPL match. He has now recorded the third-best bowling figures by an RCB bowler in the cash-rich league. Harshal Patel also became the third RCB bowler to claim a five-wicket haul.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(c), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
RCB will next face 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue in Chennai on April 14 while MI will take on two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders a day before at Chepauk.