IPL 2023: 5 best bowling performances from sixth week of tournament

Rashid and Pathirana (Photo Source: Twitter)

We are almost in the business end of Indian Premier League’s 2023 edition. Till the sixth week, 56 matches have been played. All the teams are still in hunt for the play offs, but there also are teams who only have the chance realistically. The players have put their hearts out for the franchise to get their side a place in top four. 

This week specially has been quite a roller coaster journey. Matches have been played where teams struggled to get past 140, and also 200+ totals have been chased down convincingly. It shows the true nature of the pitch and the way cricketers are putting their performances up for the franchises. In this piece, we talk about some top bowling performances of this week. 

In most instances, their teams have won the match. But even if their team lost, their efforts were valued. In this week’s list, we have got three pacers and two wrist spinners to feature in this list. Special mention to Rahul Chahar, who missed out due to space constraints. 

5) Mitchell Marsh 3/18 vs CSK

Mitchell Marsh. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Ever since his return from Australia, Mitchell Marsh is producing fiery spells. In an all important match against Chennai Super Kings, David Warner handed over the ball to him in the thirteenth over. Lalit Yadav’s next over had CSK ahead in the race but Marsh got the dangerous Shivam Dube. 

He didn’t concede a single boundary till then. Warner then held him for death overs and Marsh paid back the assurance. The penultimate over saw CSK skipper MS Dhoni taking out scoring 21 runs. When it looked almost inevitable that CSK would post a score over 180, Marsh came and dismissed both Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni to halt their run scoring. 

Marsh has been making full use of slower balls. His change of pace deceived the batters most of the time, as they looked to hit him out of the park. Unfortunately, Delhi Capitals couldn’t take advantage and eventually lost the game. But Marsh’s economical bowling on a batting deck was appreciated.

4) Yuzvendra Chahal 4/25 vs KKR

Yuzi Chahal. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

Rajasthan Royals’ prime spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been in fine form. Back to back four-wicket haul takes a lot in this format of the game. His brilliant bowling performance against Kolkata Knight Riders gave RR two crucial points for survival. 

Interestingly, in the game against KKR, he was brought on after 10 over mark. And immediately he removed Nitish Rana to become the highest wicket taker in IPL history. Later, Venkatesh Iyer smashed him for 15 runs in the second over. But a bowler like him knows how to come back. His double wicket third over not only slowed down the flow of runs but also got Royals back in the game. 

Yuzi Chahal is mixing his delivery speed cleverly to outfox the batters. He’s giving flights, keeping the ball away from batter’s range. With today’s performance, he got purple cap for being the highest wicket-taker in this year’s edition till now. Chahal’s coming back into wicket taking form will give delight to team India support staffs specially this year.

3) Mohit Sharma 4/29 vs LSG

Mohit Sharma. (Photo Source : BCCI/IPL)

A match which saw batting masterclass from Gujarat Titans’ openers had an under-appreciated performance from Mohit Sharma. This season, Mohit Sharma has been the man with a golden arm. Yet again in the match against Lucknow Supergiants, he delivered. When things were going against GT, Hardik Pandya called Mohit Sharma and he responded with Kyle Mayers’ wicket. 

An intelligent bowler like Mohit, read the pitch well. He understood that the slower balls were getting stuck on the deck, forcing the batters to mishit. This dismissal slowed down LSG’s run scoring drastically. Wickets kept falling as Mohit Sharma picked his second wicket and dismissed Marcus Stoinis. 

Sharma finished off his spell in the penultimate over itself, killing the game for the away side. In that over, Ayush Badoni and skipper Krunal Pandya fell into his trap. With Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma has formed a formidable bowling attack for Gujarat winning them matches one after another.

2) Matheesha Pathirana 3/15 vs MI 

Matheesha Pathirana. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

Matheesha Pathirana has to be Chennai Super Kings’ biggest find this season. He has evolved himself to a different level altogether. The Sri Lankan cricketer has bowling action similar to his nation’s legend Lasith Malinga. Like his idol, he’s preparing himself to be a treasure for any captain. 

The teenager generally comes to bowl after the 11th over as MS Dhoni is preparing Pathirana as middle and death over specialist. In the cross-ficture against Mumbai Indians, he did the same as he restricted Nehal Wadhera and Tristan Stubbs and let them get a few runs only. 

Then again, when MI looked to post a total around 160, Dhoni reintroduced Pathirana and dismantled their hopes. His fiery yorker took Wadhera’s wicket and most importantly he conceded just two in the eighteenth over. And in the final over he gave five runs in exchange of two wickets. His economical spell not only kept MI under 140 but also got Dhoni’s accolades.

1) Rashid Khan 3/14 vs RR 

Rashid Khan. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Afghanistan’s global T20 superstar Rashid Khan tops the list for best bowling performance of this week. After quite a few forgetful outings in past IPL matches, he returned to form in style. After a poor outing against Rajasthan in their previous meet, Rashid came suddenly forced Sanju Samson to make a blunder which led to Yashasvi Jaiswal run out. 

From there on, momentum started shifting towards Gujarat Titans’ corridor. Rashid kept bowling on good lengths, mostly googlies to keep the run in check. He got well support from other end, they kept things tight. Rajasthan Royals sent Ravichandran Ashwin to counter Rashid’s spin, but he had no clue whatsoever. He toyed with Ashwin and in the end got him bowled. 

The pressure kept mounting on Royals which forced them to bring Riyan Parag as impact player. And more so, an out of form Parag got hit on his pad of the second delivery he faced. Hardik then held Rashid for Shimron Hetmyer and as per the plan, Rashid sent Hetmyer back to the pavilion to put the last nail in the coffin.