Royal Challengers Bangalore won the tournament opener of Indian Premier League 2021, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. They beat Mumbai Indians by two wickets off the last ball of the match. The star of the match was Harshal Patel, whose 5-27 was the first five-wicket haul by anyone against Mumbai Indians in IPL history. AB de Villiers, too, played a significant role with a dazzling 48 before getting run out with only two balls left. Here is what they said on social media.
#RCB win the #VIVOIPL 2021 season opener against #MI by two wickets.
Scorecard – https://t.co/PiSqZirK1V #MIvRCB #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/87Cu6fkXO3
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2021
De Villiers has been doing this for almost two decades now. Yet, it is not improbable for us to run out of words to celebrate him. Words may fail even professional commentators!
English not my strong suit. What’s the adjective for ‘better than genius’?
That’s what AB is! Really! 🙏🏼🙏🏼#RCBvsMI— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 9, 2021
Unlike de Villiers, uncapped Harshal was never an IPL star. However, one performance has – deservingly – earned him fans. Aakash Chopra, for example.
5 wickets with the ball. Winning runs with the bat. Harshal Patel has owned this game. Last ball finish….perfect to start the #IPL2021 #MIvRCB
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 9, 2021
A lot has been written about Bangalore’s decision to buy Glenn Maxwell in the auctions. Today, they promoted him over de Villiers. No wonder they were happy when he hit his first six in three IPL seasons!
First Maxi-mum in Red and Gold and he nearly hits it out of Chennai!🤯
Thank you @PunjabKingsIPL. We would hug you if not for social distancing 🤗#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #MIvRCB #DareToDream
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 9, 2021
The tweet led to a hilarious exchange between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings.
You missed jersey, helmet, pads…and logo?
But between us, who’s keeping count?🤷♂😉#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #MIvRCB #DareToDream
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 9, 2021
Marco Jansen, all of six foot eight, is yet to play international cricket. However, he debuted for Mumbai today and impressed on his first appearance. He picked up two wickets and bowled an impressive last over.
Well done tonight Marco Jansen!
May have lost but you can be very proud 👊👊👊— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) April 9, 2021
Bangalore’s decision to hold back de Villiers against Mumbai was not random, you know.
AB de Villiers vs MI in death overs (16-20) since 2015
207 runs
SR 249.40
17 X 4s
15 X 6sHe has dominated every MI pacer in this phase.
vs Boult: 50(19)
vs Bumrah: 69(30)
vs Malinga: 44(14)
vs Hardik: 33(10)#MIvRCB #IPL2021— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) April 9, 2021
A statistic Mumbai will not complain too much about.
Mumbai Indians have lost the first game of the season 6 times.
They have won the last game of the season 5 times. #IPL2021 #MIvsRCB
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) April 9, 2021