Rajasthan Royals' Shreyas Gopal added further gloss to what has already been an excellent IPL 2019 for him by taking a hat-trick in the rain-hit fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis, in that order, fell to the dip and the variation in line and length from the Karnataka leg-break bowler, who dismissed Kohli and de Villiers for the second time this season, having had their scalps in the reverse fixture at Sawai Mansingh Stadium as well.
Kohli mishit an attempted lofted shot to the fielder at long-on, with Liam Livingstone taking a comfortable catch. De Villiers sliced the next delivery to Riyan Parag at cover and Stoinis hit a ball that was in the slot straight to the fielder at mid-off.
Gopal's hat-trick is the second of this IPL season, with Sam Curran's 20th-over hat-trick in Kings XI Punjab's fixture against Delhi Capitals at PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali leading his team to an unlikely win.
Gopal's hat-trick is the 19th in IPL history. He finished his one-over quota with figures of three for 12.
