Rajasthan Royals leg spinner Shreyas Gopal scripted history and became only the 2nd bowler in Vivo IPL 12 to bag a hat-trick. However, the match was abandoned after the rain-curtailed 5 overs match was called off owing to persistent rain. Shreyas Gopal yet again bagged the wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis to complete his maiden IPL hat-trick. He also became the 2nd bowler to bag a hat-trick in this competition after Sam Curran of Kings XI Punjab.
The 49th match of the competition was delayed by rain to start with. However persistent rains meant the match couldn’t start before 11 30. It was a sensational start with the bat from Royal Challengers Bangalore after batting first. Virat Kohli smashed two sixes in the first two deliveries of the match to get going. RCB collected 23 runs from the 1st over of Varun Aaron.
Kohli looked in ominous touch and even treated Shreyas Gopal with disdain as the leggie was welcomed into the bowling attack with a six and a four. However, the leggie bounced back strongly to dismiss Virat Kohli in the next delivery. AB de Villiers attempted for a big shot the very next delivery and was holed out. The hat-trick was completed after taking the wicket of Marcus Stoinis.
Meanwhile, the abandoned match meant Rajasthan Royals have still managed to keep their hopes alive in the tournament but it will make even tougher for them to make the playoffs. However, after the washout, Royal Challengers Bangalore have been knocked out of the tournament.
“I had a lot more nerves than what they would have had against me. Feels good to be getting them out. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t cross the line and didn’t fall on the winning side. We still don’t know how things are in the table. But it feels good to take those wickets in whatever overs that we had,” Gopal said at the post-match press conference.
Shreyas Gopal has been one of the standout bowlers for Rajasthan Royals in the tournament so far and has bagged some big wickets so far. He also dismissed Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their previous match. However the hat-trick yesterday will surely be a special feeling for Gopal who has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two years.