Bowlers play a major role in the game and are the determinants between victories and losses, especially in the IPL playoffs. Just one good over or one good ball that can dismiss a set batter or increase the required run rate that is out of reach can change the entire outcome of the match. These outstanding performances by bowlers have been a significant part of IPL playoff qualification.
Top 5 Best Bowling Spells in IPL Playoff History
5. Jasprit Bumrah: 4/14 vs Delhi Capitals, 2020
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Jasprit Bumrah as usual gave one of the best performances of IPL playoffs history while playing for Mumbai Indians during the Qualifier 1 match of the IPL 2020 season. Bumrah was able to take the wickets of the key batters from DC while they were chasing a target of 201 runs.
Trent Boult gave Mumbai Indians the first wicket of DC, and later on Bumrah continued to exert pressure on the opponent throughout the match by taking continuous wickets.
Jasprit Bumrah took the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer in the Powerplay and then added Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams during the death overs. By the end of the match, Bumrah ended up with 4 wickets at just an expense of 14 runs and led Mumbai to the final.
4. Dhawal Kulkarni (Gujarat Lions): 4/14 vs RCB, 2016
Dhawal Kulkarni, the veteran player from India gave splendid performance in Qualifier 1 for the Gujarat Lions on May 27, 2016. Gujarat Lions batted first and scored 158 runs. He performed exceptionally well with the ball at Bengaluru where runs are easy to score due to the shorter boundaries.
The total of 158 runs was not the ideal target at the ground like Chinaswamy that too against a team like RCB which had some of the best T20 cricketers of that time. But he was able to dismiss Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Sachin Baby within the Powerplay itself.
However, Kulkarni’s efforts unfortunately went in vain due to AB de Villiers’ unbeaten knock of 79 runs. After which RCB secured a 4-wicket win in this match.
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3. Doug Bollinger (Chennai Super Kings): 4/13 vs Deccan Chargers, 2010
Doug Bollinger delivered a magnificent performance in the 2010 semi-final. Batting first while playing for Chennai Super Kings. CSK was able to make a total of just 143 runs in the first innings.
In order to defend this target, Bollinger was able to dismiss openers Adam Gilchrist and Tirumalsetti Suman in the initial phase of the powerplay itself. Later on he also managed to take wicket of Bodapati Sumant and Ryan Harris.
In this match he was able to take a 4 wicket haul at an expense of just 13 runs in his 4 overs. On the top of that Chennai Super Kings were also the title winner of that season which was also the first IPL title of CSK.
2. Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans): 5/10 vs Mumbai Indians, 2023
Mohit Sharma bowled exceptionally well in IPL 2023’s Qualifier 2. After Gujarat Titans managed to post a total of 233 runs while batting first, Mumbai Indians also started strong initially and were going well until the 10th over.
However, Mohit came into attack and dismissed the well-set Suryakumar Yadav in the 14th over and then later on he also picked up four more wickets in the match. Mohit was able to take a 5 wicket haul while giving only 10 runs in 2.2 overs during his spell. It was also the best bowling figure of his life in IPL which came against MI in Qualifier. CSK were the title winners in 2023 who defeated GT in the finals.
1. Akash Madhwal (Mumbai Indians): 5/5 vs Lucknow Super Giants, 2023
Mumbai Indians’ Akash Madhwal achieved a spectacular bowling performance against Lucknow Super Giants on May 24, 2023, in an eliminator match while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023. The Lucknow team not being able to withstand his bowling skills, were bowled out for just 101 runs while chasing a target of 182 runs. Madawal took 5 wickets for only 5 runs in his bowling total of 3.3 overs.
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