IPL 2021, Match 1 : MI vs RCB, Stats Review - Harshal Patel creates new record, Virat Kohli's milestones and more stats

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a nail-biting victory against Mumbai Indians in the season opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. The first game of IPL this year turned out to be a cliff hanger which kept the viewers on the edge of their seat. RCB captain Virat Kohli won the toss and invited the MI team to bat first.

Mumbai lost their first wicket in form of captain Rohit Sharma early in the innings. They posted a total of 159/9 in 20 overs with an important contribution of 49 runs from Chris Lynn. Harshal Patel bowled brilliantly in this match picking up 5 wickets for 27 runs in 4 overs.

Chasing this total, RCB looked in control of the game in the first half of their innings. However, they lost quick wickets in succession reeling at 122/6 in 16.3 overs. AB de Villiers played a match-winning knock for them scoring 48 runs off 27 balls with the help of 4 fours and 2 sixes. RCB chased down the total on the last ball winning by 2 wickets. Harshal Patel was adjudged as the player of the match for his wonderful spell.

Let’s look at important stats and numbers after the end of first match of IPL 2021:

2013 – For the 9th consecutive time, Mumbai Indians lost their first match of the season. The last time they won their first game of the season was back in 2012 against Chennai Super Kings.

2 – This was only the second time in IPL when RCB chased down a total on the last ball of the match. The other occasion was in 2012 against Pune Warriors.

1 – Harshal Patel became the first bowler in IPL history to pick a fifer against Mumbai Indians. Before him, Rohit Sharma registered bowling figures of 4/6 against Mumbai Indians while playing for Deccan Chargers in 2009.

3 – Harshal Patel is the third bowler to take a five-wicket haul for RCB in IPL.

1 – This was the first time when RCB won an IPL season opener. They lost on 3 occasions before this game when they featured in the season openers.

6000 –  Virat Kohli completed 6000 T20 runs as captain in this match. He is the first captain to achieve this milestone in T20 format.

2753 – Virat Kohli scored 33 runs in 29 balls in this game which included 4 fours. He now has the most runs (2753) while chasing in IPL, surpassing Robin Uthappa (2724).

100 – Yuzvendra Chahal played his 100th match in IPL in this game. Though his milestone game was not memorable in terms of bowling figures as he gave away 41 runs off 4 overs without picking up a wicket.

5 – This was the fifth time that Mumbai Indians lost a game on the last ball in IPL.

2 – Glenn Maxwell who could not hit a single six in IPL 2020 but played a vital knock for RCB in the very first game of IPL 2021. He hit 2 sixes in his 39-run knock off 28 balls.

5 – Before this match, MI had 5 consecutive wins and RCB had 5 consecutive losses at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. However, tables turned in this match and the result did not follow the past record.