Defending 143 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is an arduous task for any team. Such has been the reputation of the venue. Mumbai Indians were expected to chase down 143 with ease before Samuel Badree struck them. Badree, 36, who is playing his first game for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in this season was asked to open the bowling by his captain, Virat Kohli.
Indians scored fours runs off the first over. Losing Jos Buttler (2) in the next over was the first blow for them but not as hard as what followed next. On the second delivery of his second over, Badree dismissed Parthiv Patel (3) as the southpaw failed to clear the inner circle.
Mitchell McClenaghan was sent in to replace Patel as a pinch-hitter. Without wasting any time, McClenaghan went for the big lift on the first ball he faced. To his and everyone’s surprise, he chipped a low full toss straight to Mandeep Singh at long-on. Captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, was the next one to bite the dust. In what his third dismissal against a leg-spinner in four matches, Sharma misread Badree’s googly only to see his furniture disturbed.
Badree changed the course of the game with his second over, bringing back RCB back into the context. He became the second RCB bowler, after Praveen Kumar (vs Rajasthan Royals in 2010) to clinch a hattrick. It was the 15th hattrick of the IPL. Badree further made sure that the over ended as a maiden over. It was the 20th maiden over of his career – most by any bowler in T20 cricket.
Indians will again have to depend on Nitish Rana and the Pandya brothers in order to register a win. It is also a very crucial chance for Kieron Pollard to get amongst the runs and win back the management’s confidence.
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VIDEO: #IPL 2017's first hat-trick, courtesy @qmanbad https://t.co/bQ8UNHv1G3 – @RCBTweets #RCBvMI
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Featured image source: iplt20.com (screen grab)
Video Credits – IPL.
