5 best fast bowling spells of IPL 2023
The IPL 2023 season was back to the home-and-away format, and it is safe to say that it wasn't just spinners who dominated the league as pace also played its part. With some absolutely quality seam bowlers on display, fans witnessed some absolutely breathtaking spells, most of which proved pivotal to their team's win.
While grounds in Chennai and Lucknow had major assistance for spinners, quite a few of the other venues had fast bowlers interested with good pace and bounce. This meant that some incredible bowling spells were on display that seriously dented opposition batting lineups.
On that note, let's take a look at five such fiery spells from the IPL 2023 season:
#5 Mohammed Shami - 4/11 vs DC
Mohammed Shami won the Purple Cap as he picked up a staggering 28 wickets in just 17 games for the Gujarat Titans (GT), being their premier bowler, especially in the powerplay. His ability to swing the ball both ways ensured that he delivered an incredible performance against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
Shami bowled four overs on the trot, conceding just 11 runs and picking up as many as four wickets as Delhi were reduced to a precarious situation at 23/5. Although Gujarat ended up losing the game by five runs, Shami seemed to be at his absolute best.
#4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 5/30 vs GT
Another brilliant spell came in Ahmedabad, and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar seemed to relish the conditions. While the game is remembered for Shubman Gill's maiden IPL hundred, Bhuvneshwar also had a great outing with the ball.
He picked up five wickets and applied brakes to GT's run-scoring towards the backend of their innings. SRH still had too much to score, as they lost the game by 35 runs. However, that shouldn't take anything away from how Bhuvneshwar used his experience to his advantage.
#3 Mark Wood - 5/14 vs DC
In one of the few games that were played on a red-soil pitch in Lucknow, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) speedster Mark Wood enjoyed a brilliant outing against DC in their first game of the season.
Wood's pace and accuracy was just too good for the Capitals, as his sensational figures of 5/14 comfortably helped LSG bag the two points. Wood didn't play many games but could be a crucial part of the LSG team moving forward.
#2 Mohit Sharma - 5/10 vs MI
Veteran Indian pacer Mohit Sharma had an unforgettable IPL 2023 season as he finished just behind Shami in the wickets tally with 27 to his name. Although he couldn't help his team get over the line in the final, Mohit was simply brilliant at the death and showed his class against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2.
In just 2.2 overs, Mohit picked up five wickets and conceded just 10 runs. His delivery to Suryakumar Yadav that castled the latter's stumps proved to be the defining moment in the game, as MI just lost their way and ended up losing by 62 runs. This helped Gujarat storm into the IPL 2023 final.
#1 Akash Madhwal - 5/5 vs LSG
Arguably the best bowling performance by a fast bowler in the IPL 2023 season came from MI's Akash Madhwal in the Eliminator against LSG. Chasing a target of 183, Lucknow seemed to be in a decent position, with Marcus Stoinis threatening to take the game away.
But it was Madhwal who proved to be MI's go-to man, as he kept on chipping away with wickets and triggered a batting collapse. Back-to-back wickets of Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran proved to be lethal blows for Lucknow, as they lost their last eight wickets for just 33 runs. Madhwal's figures of 5/5 helped MI thrash LSG by 81 runs.