Harshal Patel wickets in IPL 2022: The fast bowler from Royal Challengers Bangalore won his first match award of the season tonight.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler Harshal Patel registered his best performance of the season to win his maiden IPL 2022 ‘Player of the Match’ award in the recently concluded match against Chennai Super Kings in Pune.
Introduced into the attack in the 13th over when Super Kings needed 72 runs off 42 balls with seven wickets in hand to seal a 174-run chase, Patel picked bowling figures of 4-0-35-3 dismissing opposition’s triad of all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja (3), Moeen Ali (34) and Dwaine Pretorius (13).
Having conceded 10 runs including a couple of boundaries in his first over, Patel upped his game by giving away only four runs and dismissing Jadeja in his second over from the other end.
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“To both the left-handers [Devon Conway and Moeen Ali], we decided I would bowl wider of off-stump and that allowed me to use the bigger side. So that was the rationale to changing ends,” Patel told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
While Patel did concede boundaries in both his third and fourth overs, him also picking a wicket each in these overs continued to dent CSK at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium tonight.
Harshal Patel wickets in IPL 2022 (updated)
Purple cap winner in IPL 2021, Patel is currently the joint third-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2022. Second-highest for Bangalore behind all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga (23), Patel has picked 18 wickets at an average of 19.38, an economy rate of 7.75 and a strike rate of 15 this season.
Been playing in the IPL for a decade now, Patel’s career-best season was the last one played in India and the UAE. In 15 IPL 2021 matches, Patel had picked 32 wickets at an average of 14.34, an economy rate of 8.14 and a strike rate of 10.56. It is noteworthy that no other bowler has picked 32 (or more) wickets in an IPL season other than Patel.
