Cricket is often described as ‘a batsman’s game’, and the shortest format can often be a nightmare for bowlers given the battering the likes of David Warner and Virat Kohli can give out.
However, ever since the inception of the IPL and other franchise leagues, bowlers have again showed that they are more than just bowling machines designed to turn up and get smacked out of the ground.
This year’s IPL was no different, once more spinners, medium pacers and quicks all proving their value.
With the ninth edition of the tournament over and the dust settling on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win, we share our five best individual bowling efforts from IPL 2016.
Which performance do you think was the best and which bowler impressed you the most during the competition?
Share with us your thoughts by commenting below or using #360fans across social media.
#1 ADAM ZAMPA BREAKS ONTO THE SCENE WITH 6/19
Rookie Australian leg-spinner, Adam Zampa, was a relative unknown until shining at the World T20 for his country and then being snapped up by MS Dhoni’s franchise. Here, at Vishakhapatnam, he was presented with plenty of opportunities, and Zampa made full use of a helpful wicket to exploit the turn on offer.
Introduced into the attack in the seventh over, Zampa seemed hungry for wickets as he fearlessly flighted the ball and maintained a full length. He outfoxed an advancing Yuvraj Singh with a googly before compelling Kane Williamson to unnecessarily reach for a wide leg-break. He then claimed Moises Henriques’ wicket in the following delivery to end his third over with 3/11.
When Dhoni tossed the ball to Zampa in the last over of the Sunrisers innings, many expected him to go for runs. But the gamble worked as the Australian spun it away from Deepak Hooda, bowled Naman Ojha and got the better of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to finish with the second best figures in the history of the tournament.
#2 DWAYNE SMITH CRUSHES KKR WITH 4/8
As a part-timer, Dwayne Smith is not a usual sight with the ball in hand. However, it was he who set up a six-wicket victory for the Gujarat Lions against Kolkata Knight Riders in a crucial match on May 19, 2016.
On a greenish Kanpur track, the medium pacer befuddled the much vaunted KKR batting line-up with intimidating bounce and lateral movement. The openers, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, succumbed to soft dismissals behind the wicket while No. 3 Piyush Chawla found his middle stump felled in rather ugly fashion.
Smith surprised Shakib Al Hasan with a well-directed bouncer on the third ball of his fourth over, cramping the batsman for space. The upper cut was safely taken by Eklavya Dwivedi at third man. Smith bowled three more dot balls to finish his quota with incredible figures of 4/8, thereby restricting Kolkata to a mere 124 runs.
Dwayne Smith (Ctsy: BCCI)
#3 DHAWAL KULKARNI SCARES THE MIGHTY RCB WITH 4/14
Dhawal Kulkarni’s story could have been best summarized as ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’, had a superhuman named AB de Villiers not taken it away from the Gujarat Lions that day. The stakes could not have been higher as the Lions met the Royal Challengers in the first qualifier match, and Kulkarni was all set to pull off an upset with his sensational spell upfront.
He castled the Orange Cap holder, Virat Kohli for a second ball duck in his first over, and then went on to bang the grille of Chris Gayle’s helmet three deliveries later. He delivered a wicket maiden in his second over, which included the prized scalps of Gayle and KL Rahul in consecutive deliveries.
Sachin Baby turned out to be his last victim as the Lions medium pacer returned with figures of 4-1-14-4. It was largely owing to his exploits that the Bangalore side found themselves reeling at 47/5 at the end of 8 overs.
#4 AMIT MISHRA’S 4/11 TEARS KINGS XI APART
Amit Mishra turned the heat on as early as the seventh match of the IPL with his wily bowling. Playing in his 100th IPL match, the leggie excelled on a slow and low Kotla surface against the Kings XI Punjab.
Mishra’s spin – or the lack of it at times – and variation outwitted the batsmen as he ripped through the top order with authority. First, he lured Shaun Marsh with a tossed up delivery that beat the batsman as he rushed down the track, resulting in an easy stumping by Dinesh Karthik behind the wicket.
Returning in the ninth over, Mishra got rid of the dangerous duo – David Miller and Glenn Maxwell – in quick succession, thus reducing the Punjab outfit to 52/4. A googly from the fourth ball of his third over slipped through Manan Vohra’s defence and rattled his leg stump, marking the Delhi spinner’s first and only four-wicket haul this season.
Amit Mishra (Ctsy: BCCI)
#5 MARCUS STOINIS LEADS LATE KXIP RESURGENCE WITH 4/15
In an otherwise forgettable tournament, Marcus Stoinis has been the sole silver lining for Kings XI Punjab this season. The Australian all-rounder has grabbed attention with both bat and ball, and emerged one of the most valuable players in the IPL.
Against Mumbai Indians, and aided by the likes of Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma, Stoinis utilised a slow Vishakhapatnam pitch to return with his best figures in T20 cricket.
He relied on a fuller length initially to claim the wickets of Nitish Rana and Jos Buttler, the latter being made possible by Gurkeerat Singh’s stunning catch at long-off. He then returned at the death to remove Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard off successive deliveries with Mumbai struggling at 103/7. Rohit Sharma’s men were eventually restricted to 124, a target that was bettered by the King XI with 3 overs to spare.
Marcus Stoinis (Ctsy: BCCI)
[interaction id=”574be22ddaff949d318ec5c0″]
