Enjoyed the Best of 'Batting'? Now here's more! iSporter Issac John continues his Trilogy with IPL's best bowling moments! Read on!
Invariably, in recent years bowling has been a poor cousin of batting. The likes of Lillee, Thomson, Garner, Marshall, Akram don’t exist anymore – the purists will tell you. As an observation, we seldom come across the word lethal and bowling in the same sentence these days. Yet the rattle of timber, a knock on the helmet or a toe-crushing yorker still makes us scream in our living rooms! That’s precisely the emotion some of the following bowling performances have elicited from fans across the world over the last two editions of IPL.
Shoaib Akhtar 4-11(3) V DD, Kolkata (2009):
Whoever thought T20 is a batsman’s game, ought to watch this match. Daredevils were the strongest side in 2008 and KKR surely weren’t hoping to win this contest with their errant form and surely not after managing a paltry 133 in 20 overs. But Shoaib Akhtar in his first match of IPL had other ideas, knocking off the top 4 DD batsmen in 3 overs for 11 runs. The damage was so telling, he didn’t even have to return for his 4th over with DD folding up in less than 18 overs for an even paltrier 110.
A sub-text that needs to be mentioned is on the same ground when Akhtar had knocked the stumps of Dravid and Sachin in the Asian Test Championship in 1999, there was stunned silence. On this day watching the match on television, you could hear the crowd cheering for Akhtar more clearly than the commentators – such is the game!
Sohail Tanvir 6-14(4) V CSK, Jaipur (2008):
Yes! 6 wickets for 14 runs! It was hard to pick Tanvir’s best in 2008. He was taking wickets in every game and not giving away too many runs. His bowling card at the end of the game’s first 3 overs read 2-0-2-3. If ever an outcome of a game was decided early, this was it.
Anil Kumble 5-5 (3.1) V RR, Cape Town (2009):
The setting was just right. 2008 champions RR were taking on RCB- 2008’s laggards on the first day of the second edition. RCB could only muster 133 for 8 with a solid lone hand from Dravid. To say that Kumble triggered the collapse won’t be right- that was the opening spell of Praveen Kumar and Dale Steyn that did it. But to say that he hastened the collapse faster than a fighter plane, would be just apt.
In his second over, he got Pathan and Jadeja thus ensuring no surprises would spring lower down the order. And then in his third over, he had Warne and Patel.
Amit Mishra 5-17(4) V DC, Delhi (2009)
DD ran up a huge score of 194 in 20 overs and were surely going to win this. But the DC middle order was rising up to the occasion with Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao flaying the DD attack at strike rates of 180 odd. It came down to the last 6 balls with 15 required – a reasonably achievable target. In came Amit Mishra and a hatrick! In his opening spell, he had got Gibbs and Afridi off consecutive overs.
Shane Warne 2-20(4) V DC, Jaipur (2008):
This was one of those spells that belies itself when seen in isolation. So here’s the context - DC were 50 for no loss in 6 overs. Warne’s trump card Tanvir was taken for 20 off 2 overs and Gilchrist had struck 7 fours and a six by now. Warne’s first over, the innings’ seventh, yielded only 4 runs and that was enough to frustrate Gibbs who got out in the next over. Warne’s second over, the innings’ ninth yielded 5 runs. Knowing that the run-rate had stemmed, he held himself back until Afridi came out to bat and then got him in his third over- that yielded 3 runs.
Shaun Pollock 3-12(4) V KKR, Mumbai (2008):
Pollock had not only been one of the most consistent bowlers in world cricket during his playing days but also one of those cricketers who wasn’t in their prime when T20 was sweeping the world off their feet. But this performance showed the world, how a great bowler could straddle all the forms of the game effortlessly. Not only was he stingy with his economy but he also stung thrice to finish with 3-12 off 4 overs resulting in KKR getting folded for 67-the lowest score in IPL 2008! It provided MI the fifth win in a row after losing the first four games – and a greater hope to make the semis.
Kamran Khan 3-18(4) V KKR, Cape Town (2009):
Indisputably, the best league match of 2009. These were early days in the tournament and we were just figuring out if RR were the same never-say-die unit that they were in 2008. The match was headed RR’s way when KKR were reeling at 94/5 off 14 overs chasing 151. Ganguly egged the lower order down and pushed the match down to the last over. 7 required off 6. Barring a wide of his first ball, Kamran Khan did everything right in that over and ensured there were no big hits. 2 were required off 2 and he gets Ganguly! Off the last ball, he gives away only 1 and with help from wily Warne, the keeper runs out Ishant Sharma to set up a Super Over showdown!
Gayle comes out to bat against Kamran Khan and takes 3 consecutive fours but off the last ball, Khan has Gayle caught. Yusuf Pathan is the man of the match as he hits 2 sixes and 1 four in 4 balls to win it for RR. In the hearts of all watching the game, Kamran Khan had arrived!
Warne 3-24(4) V MI, Durban (2009):
A humdinger of a showdown- not just the match but another Warne versus Tendulkar contest. The match kept swinging both ways all through 40 overs. Abhishek Nayar played a gem of a cameo and in the company of Tendulkar was all set to finish off the game in favor of MI. Tendulkar flowered in the innings’ 15th over taking 3 successive fours. MI required 48 off the last 5 overs. By now, Warne had bowled 3 overs for the wickets of Rahane and Jayasuriya and the question was when would he bowl his final one. Warne did not want to leave it for later and took the 16th. Everyone watching knew if Tendulkar survived this over, MI would be on course to win! However, Tendulkar couldn’t, a decisive blow- LBW to Warne and one of those plumb ones. Some succor to Warne’s nightmares of Sachin coming down the track…
Pragyan Ojha 3-28 (4) V RCB, Johannesburg (2009 Finals):
Chasing 144, RCB were doing alright at 36 for 1 off 6 overs. Van Der Merwe had just hit 2 sixes off Harris and was looking good for more. Manish Pandey, who was in top form in the previous two games, was perhaps a bit overawed with the occasion and was biding his time at the crease. If DC was going to win, they had to get one of Pandey or Van Der Merwe immediately. Ojha comes on for the 7th over and gets Pandey first ball. On the other end though, there’s no stopping Van Der Merwe, hitting another towering six of Symonds! There’s a lot of needle in the air when Ojha comes to bowl his second over. Van Der Merwe gets another boundary and then steps out for a wild slog. Gilly completes the act and DC’s back in the game.
Anil Kumble 4-16 (4) V DC, Johannesburg (2009 Finals):
In the previous match, Gilly had scripted what was inarguably the best innings in an IPL game in a crunch situation against a supreme DD bowling attack. The analysts’ reading on the eve of the match was that if Gilly stayed on crease for more than five overs, the match is DC’s for the taking.
The first surprise was that Kumble chose to bowl first in a final. The second surprise was Kumble coming on to bowl the first over with Gilly on strike. Now picture this, two icons of their respective fields were taking each other on in a grand final-stuff that requires fans to chew their nails from the word go. The first two balls are defended. On the third, Gilchrist steps out to club Kumble and Kumble knocks his stumps over. One side’s heartbreak is ecstasy for another. Kumble takes himself off and returns to bowl Symonds when he’s on a roll and then he returns a third time to get Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao in the same over.
4 top-order batsmen sliced in 4 overs for 16 runs in a big final -stuff that champions are made of!
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