Top 5 Bowling performances in the First two weeks of IPL 2019
There have been a lot of brilliant performances with the bat in the first two weeks of IPL 2019 but IPL and the entertainment that comes along with it is not only about the batting performances. A good bowling performance creates a lot of engagement among the cricket loving fans since it does not only mean taking wickets but also bowling at a low economy rate and that is considered an excellent performance in T20 Cricket.
The first two weeks of IPL 2019 has seen some amazing performances from bowlers who have led the team to victory from improbable situations. Here is a list of the top 5 bowling performances from the first two weeks of IPL 2019.
Kagiso Rabada, 1-41 in 4 overs
His bowling figures may not show it, but Rabada's performance against Kolkata Knight Riders was an excellent one and it was one of the best examples of death over bowling you will ever see. Kolkata Knight Riders scored 185 runs in their 20 overs with the help of Dinesh Karthik's 50 runs off just 36 balls and Andre Russell's attacking 62 runs off just 28 balls.
Delhi Capitals in their chase were cruising with the help of Prithvi Shaw who missed out on a well deserved Century but Delhi faltered at the end of the innings when they could not score 5 runs off the final over by Kuldeep Yadav and the match ended in a tie.
In the Super Over, Delhi Capitals managed only 10 runs but Rabada after giving away a 4 on the first ball bowled two excellent yorkers including the one which got the wicket of Andre Russell. He was successful in defending 10 runs in the super over as he gave only 6 runs to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Jasprit Bumrah, 3-20 in 4 overs
Jasprit Bumrah, the current death over specialist bowled wonderfully well for Mumbai Indians when they played Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Mumbai Indians scored a mammoth 187 runs in their 20 overs with the brilliance of Hardik Pandya who was the chief destroyer for MI as he scored 32 runs in just 14 balls.
RCB were cruising at one stage when ABD and Virat Kohli were batting together when Rohit Sharma, MI’s Captain, bought Jasprit Bumrah onto the attack and Bumrah responded brilliantly by taking the big wicket of Virat Kohli when he was batting well on 46. Rohit Sharma turned to him again when only 41 was required from 4 overs and it looked likely that RCB will chase this score down with 1 over to go but Bumrah had other ideas as he took the wicket off Shimron Hetmyer and gave away just two runs.
Bumrah gave away only 5 runs in his final over and ended up with a figure of 3 wickets and 20 runs which caused RCB to stutter in the end and ultimately ended on the losing side because they were unable to score 17 runs off the last over by Lasith Malinga.
Alzarri Joseph, 6-12 in 3.4 overs
Windies players never fail to leave a mark, don't they? This time it is a newcomer Alzarri Joseph, a fast bowler from Antigua. He registered the best figures in the IPL, a record which was previously held by Sohail Tanvir of Pakistan. Joseph took 6 wickets for just 12 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mumbai Indians just scored 136 runs off their 20 overs with the help of Kieron Pollard's 46 off just 26 balls but just when they were written off Alzarri Joseph bowled a fiery spell of 6 wickets for 12 runs which helped MI defeat SRH by a big margin of 40 runs.
Alzarri Joseph became the second youngest bowler at the age of 22y 137d to take a 5 wicket haul in IPL.
Mohammad Nabi, 4-11 in 4 overs
Mohammad Nabi, a sly bowler from Afganistan, took 4 wickets for just 11 runs when Sunrisers Hyderabad hosted Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 11th Match of Vivo IPL 2019. Sunrisers Hyderabad, after winning the toss chose to bat first and registered their highest ever IPL score of 231 runs for the loss of just 2 wickets. For the hosts, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow scored centuries and managed to decimate the bowlers of RCB.
While chasing, RCB never got going as they lost 6 wickets for just 30 runs. Mohammad Nabi took the all important wickets of Parthiv Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, AB De Villiers and Shivam Dube to break the back of RCB's Batting and they eventually lost the match by 118 runs.
Mohammad Nabi has an economy rate of 6.03 in 9 matches that he has played in the IPL which is remarkable considering the Quality of Batting we have seen in the IPL over the years.
Sam Curran, 4-11 in 2.2 overs
Sam Curran, the latest addition to the IPL from England, made up for his expensive debut against Rajasthan Royals where he gave away 52 runs in 4 overs by registering the first hat-trick of IPL 2019 and helping Punjab beat Delhi Capitals by 14 runs.
Team Punjab who scored 166 in their 20 overs restricted Delhi to just 152 runs and eventually ended up winning the match by 14 runs. Delhi Capitals were cruising at one stage when Rishabh Pant and Colin Ingram were hitting the ball to all parts of the ground but just when it looked like they will win the match with one over to spare, Rishabh Pant threw away his wicket which led to a massive collapse of 7 wickets for 8 runs.
Sam Curran was the chief architect of the collapse when he took the wickets of Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada and Sandeep Lamichhane to register the first Hat-Trick of IPL 2019 and ended up with figures of 4 wickets for 11 runs in 2.2 overs. He could not have asked for a better start to his IPL Career.
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