RCB vs MI HIGHLIGHTS IPL 2021: Harshal hat-trick helps Bangalore script double over Mumbai

IPL 2021 Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) vs Mumbai Indians (MI): HIGHLIGHTS

IPL 2021 RCB vs MI Highlights: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Match 39 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 where Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai.

Bangalore ended the first half of IPL 2021 on a strong note but have faltered in the UAE leg, losing both their opening games against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Mumbai also have had a similar tale, suffering defeats against the same oppositions and currently sitting sixth on the points table. 

23:00 IST: HAT-TRICK FOR HARSHAL! Hardik miscued the first ball and Kohli completed the dismissal. Pollard was bowled and Rahul Chahar was struck plumb. He became the third RCB player to take an IPL hat-trick after Samuel Badree (MI Bengaluru 2017) and Praveen Kumar (vs RR Bengaluru 2010).

22:50 IST: WICKET! Bangalore all over Mumbai now as Siraj dismisses Suryakumar for just 7. Mumbai go five down, losing all in just eight overs, for just 41 runs. 

22:42 IST: WICKET! Maxwell turning the show for Bangalore as he dismissed a struggling Krunal for just 5. Mumbai suddenly find themselves in dire straits. In the last 21 deliveries, Mumbai have lost three wickets, all to spinners. 

22:26 IST: WICKET! Bangalore staging a comeback after the strong opening stand. Chahal removed de Kock in the over after powerplay. Rohit and Ishan departed in a space of four deliveries a few overs later as Mumbai go three down in chase of 166. 

22:22 IST: INJURY SCARE? Kishan smashed the ball from Maxwell that hit Rohit flush on his left hand. Well, he continues to play. But falls a delivery later. Walks back from 43 off 28

22:09 IST: WICKET! Chahal brought into the attack to get rid of the openers and the match-up worked as the leggies dismissed de Kock to break the strong opening stand. 

22:00 IST: END OF POWERPLAY! A strong start from Mumbai against the new ball, scoring 56 for no loss against Bangalore, laced with nine boundaries. Bangalore in dire need of a breakthrough here.

21:15 IST: Three quick wickets helped Mumbai restrict Bangalore to 165 for six after half-centuries from Kohli and Maxwell and ably-assisted knocks from KS Bharat and de Villiers. 

21:11 IST: WICKET! Boult removes Shahbaz Ahmed for just one as Mumbai's fightback continues. In a space of four deliveries, Bangalore have gone six down. 

21:05 IST: WICKET! Bumrah dismisses Maxwell, again, for the seventh time in 15 innings. But Maxwell's 37-ball 56 has done the damage. And Bumrah removes De Villiers as well, in the very next delivery. Bangalore go five down as Mumbai look to stage a late fightback. 

20:50 IST: WICKET! Once again Kohli departs shortly after his half-century. And the knock of 42-ball 51 does little damage to an opposition like Mumbai. Milne gets the big fish and Bangalore go three down. 

20:43 IST: Back-to-back fifties for Kohli! A fighting half-century from the Bangalore captain, second in a row, which is now his 42nd in his IPL career and 47th 50-plus score that puts him past Shikhar Dhawan among Indians and second overall after David Warner (54). 

20:33 IST: RCB powered 100! After a couple of quiet overs, Maxwell began the party with a six against Krunal before hitting back-to-back boundaries against Milne to power Bangalore past 100. The partnership, 35 off 27, is now beginning to be a bit of a worry for Mumbai and they desperately need another wicket here.

20:12 IST: A much-needed wicket for Mumbai! The juicy widish and fullish delivery from Rahul Chahar as Bharat holed it out to Suryakumar Yadav in the deep. Chahar ended the 75-run stand to provide Mumbai with a crucial breakthrough. 

19:58 IST: END OF POWERPLAY: Kohli made another impactful start in the powerplay following his score of 33 off 21 against Chennai two nights earlier. Lacing three sixes and two boundaries, Kohli scored 31 off 20 against Mumbai Indians to power RCB to 48 for the loss of just one wicket, the dismissal of Padikkal for a duck by Bumrah. 

19:51 IST: MILESTONE ALERT! With that six against Bumrah in the 4th over, Kohli became the first Indian batsman to 10000 T20 runs. 

19:40 IST: WICKET! The away swinger does the magic as Bumrah dismisses Padikkal for a duck in the very second over of the game. 

Here are the playing XI for the two teams...

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat(w), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Rohit Sharma: We are gonna bowl first. We have tried everything in the two games we played and I though a score in front us to have a crack would be ideal. Important to focus on game in hand and keep ticking those small boxes

Pitch report by Ian Bishop: The outfield is quite superb here. It's a fresh pitch for today's game. It's a very hard and compact surface and there is a nice grass coverage. It looks as though the ball will come on nicely and the spinners are gonna have to work really hard as I don't know how much purchase the slower men can get out of this surface. The faster men are the key on this surface.

SQUADS

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat(w), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Tim David, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Daniel Christian, Dushmantha Chameera, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Roosh Kalaria, James Neesham, Hardik Pandya, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh

IPL 2021 RCB vs MI Preview:  In IPL 2020, Mumbai Indians were a force to reckon with on their way to grab their fifth IPL title in the UAE. A year later, Rohit Sharma and Co find themselves on a tricky pitch. Mumbai were fourth on the points table of IPL 2021 when the season was halted in May due to the second wave of COVID-19 breaching through bio-bubbles.

Their return to the UAE, a place with happy memories, was expected to elevate them higher on the table. But six days into the tournament in the UAE, Mumbai have been far from convincing. They have slipped to losses in consecutive matches, first to Chennai Super Kings and then to Kolkata Knight Riders. [FULL PREVIEW]