IPL 2018: 5 times a part-time bowler turned a match around

In the match against KKR, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were hitting the ball to all parts of the ground. RCB looked like they were going to score in excess of 200.

KKR was on the verge of giving up. That is when KKR captain, Dinesh Karthik, gave the ball to part-timer Nitish Rana. Rana went for a six off the very first ball but, made a brilliant comeback by removing both AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli on the next two balls.

Captains generally go to part-time bowlers when things aren't working out for the team. Batsmen try to take full advantage of the opportunity and sometimes, in the process, they give away their wicket.

Yesterday was one of those occasions, but not the only one. We will look at 5 instances when a part-time bowler has turned a match on its head in IPL.

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#5 Sourav Ganguly 2/27 against Delhi Daredevils, 2012

Ganguly celebrating Pietersen's wicket

Sourav Ganguly often rolled his arm over playing for India. However, he hasn't bowled much in the IPL. Leading Pune Warriors India against Delhi Daredevils in 2012, Ganguly turned the match on its head through his bowling.

Chasing a massive target of 193, Daredevils batted aggressively from the very beginning. Sehwag and Pietersen were on song, as Daredevils were 87 for 1 after 9 overs.

Ganguly decided to bowl himself and, took the crucial wicket of Kevin Pietersen on the very first ball. He later took the wicket of dangerous looking Irfan Pathan. Ganguly finished with 4/27 in his 4 overs as Pune Warriors India emerged victoriously.

#4 Nitish Rana 2/11 against RCB, 2018

Nitish Rana brought KKR back in the match by taking back-to-back wickets

Nitish Rana had bowled just one over in IPL before yesterday's match. AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were going berserk when captain Karthik brought him to bowl.

RCB had the momentum on their side, and decided to score maximum runs off Rana's over. After hitting a six off the first ball, de Villiers tried to go for another maximum and was caught by Mitchell Johnson at the boundary.

On the very next ball, Rana bowled out Kohli to tilt the match in KKR's favor. Quick wickets of Kohli and de Villiers cost RCB at least 20 runs, proving to be the difference at the end of the match as KKR defeated RCB by 4 wickets.

#3 Brad Hodge, 4/13 against Rajasthan Royals, 2011

This was Hodge's best bowling performance in T20s

The Australian middle-order batsman has played a lot of T20 cricket across the world and, has won many matches with his batting.

However, there was this one instance when he won the match with his bowling. In the match against Rajasthan Royals in the year 2011, Brad Hodge, who was part of Kochi Tuskers side that year, recorded the best bowling figure of his T20 career.

He ran through the Rajasthan Royals' middle order, as he took 4 wickets in 4 overs while giving away just 13 runs. The Royals were bowled out for a paltry score of 97, a target that was easily chased down by Kochi Tuskers.

Hodge was named the man of the match for his bowling performance.

#2 Yuvraj Singh, 3/13 against Deccan Chargers, 2009

Yuvraj has two IPL hat-tricks

Even though Yuvraj was considered a batting all-rounder in ODI cricket, he hadn't bowled much in IPL.

To everyone's surprise, Yuvraj has two IPL hat-tricks, both in the same year, to his name. While his team, Kings XI Punjab, lost the match against RCB in the first instance, he was able to get his team across the line against Deccan Chargers.

Defending a modest total of 134, Yuvraj bowled himself from one end to strangle the batsmen for runs in the middle overs. Yuvraj not only stopped the flow of runs but also, took a game-changing hat-trick, which included the crucial wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds.

This stalled Deccan Chargers' run-chase and Kings XI Punjab won the thrilling match by 1 run.

#1 Rohit Sharma, 4/6 against Mumbai Indians, 2009

Rohit Sharma joyous after taking the hat-trick

Rohit Sharma is known more for his batting than bowling. He has rarely bowled in the IPL too. However, in 2009, playing for Deccan Chargers against Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma won the match for his side with his off-spin bowling.

Deccan Chargers made 145 runs in their innings with Rohit top-scoring with 38. Mumbai Indians were cruising along, as they needed just 46 runs from the last 5 overs with 6 wickets in hand.

Chargers' skipper Gilchrist took a big gamble, giving the ball to Rohit, and the gamble paid off as he took a hat-trick. The present Mumbai Indian captain, took the wickets of Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, and JP Duminy, as he finished with the figures of 4/6 in 2 overs and won the game for his team.