IPL 2018: Top 5 expensive bowling spells in League stages

The league stage of IPL 2018 has ended, with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals having qualified for playoffs.

As usual in every edition of IPL, the bowlers often be on the receiving end of a batsmen assault and the end up leaking huge amount of runs, and this season of IPL 2018 was no different, as most of the bowlers ended up bowling expensive spells.

So in this article, we are going to look at the five expensive bowling spells bowled by the bowlers in IPL 2018 so far:

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#5 Mustafizur Rahman (4-0-55-0)

Mustafizur Rahman

The Fizz, as he is popularly known among cricket fans was bought by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018 auction for Rs. 2.2 Crores, as he is currently one of the rare fast bowlers in world cricket who batsmen find difficult to pick by his bowling action.

But Mustafizur failed to leave up to the expectations of Mumbai Indians team management and had a poor IPL 2018, and picked up just 7 wickets from 7 matches at a higher economy rate of 8.36.

In one of those 7 matches he played for Mumbai Indians, Mustafizur ended up bowling an expensive spell of 4-0-55-0 in a match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers at Wankhede Stadium, as he was taken to cleaners by RCB batsmen despite Mumbai Indians winning the match by a comfortable margin of 46 runs.

#4 Corey Anderson (3.4-0-58-0)

Corey Anderson

The discarded Kiwi all-rounder went unsold in the IPL Auctions 2018 but was later on brought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for injured Australian fast bowler Nathan Coulter Nile, because of his huge experience of having played in previous editions of IPL.

Corey Anderson, however, had a forgettable IPL 2018 as he picked up just 3 wickets from 3 matches at an expensive economy rate of 13.26 and scored just 17 runs at a very poor average of 5.66.

In a high scoring encounter between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at M. Chinnaswamy stadium, Corey Anderson in particular was at a receiving end of an MS Dhoni assault and ended up bowling an expensive spell of 3.4-0-58-0 and also failed to defend 16 runs in the final over as Chennai Super Kings escaped with a 5 wickets victory.

#3 Shivam Mavi (4-0-58-1)

Shivam Mavi

One of the heroes, from India's U-19 World Cup-winning campaign in January 2018, Shivam Mavi was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL auctions 2018 for a huge amount of Rs. 3 Crores, because of his ability to bowl at a speed in excess of 140 kmph.

However, the 19-year-old youngster has had a poor IPL 2018, as he leaked a huge amount of runs in almost every game and picked up just 4 wickets from 8 matches at a higher economy rate of 9.87.

In a match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders at Ferozshah Kotla, Shivam Mavi was smashed for 58 runs in his four overs by Delhi Daredevils batsmen, which also included 28 runs thrashing in his final over by Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer.

#2 Umesh Yadav (4-0-59-0)

Umesh Yadav

Turning out for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this year's IPL, Umesh Yadav had the best IPL season of his career so far and ended up as second highest wicket-taker in IPL 2018 with 20 wickets from 14 matches at an excellent average of 15.95.

But Umesh Yadav did have his rare off-days with the bowl in IPL 2018, and one of those rare off-days was in a match against Rajasthan Royals at M. Chinnaswamy stadium.

In that particular match, Rajasthan Royals batsmen piled up a huge score of 217/4 in 20 overs, and Umesh Yadav, in particular, was taken to cleaners by Sanju Samson in the death overs and ended up bowling an expensive spell of 4-0-59-0.

Such was the impact of Sanju Samson's assault, that Virat Kohli rarely trusted Umesh Yadav to bowl at the death overs in the later matches, as Mohammed Siraj and Tim Southee took over the mantle of bowling at death overs for RCB in IPL 2018.

#1 Basil Thampi (4-0-70-0)

Basil Thampi

The young Kerala player, who won the Emerging players' trophy in last year's IPL, was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018 Auctions, because of his ability to deliver perfect yorkers in the death overs.

Having begun this year's IPL on a good note by picking up 5 wickets in 3 matches, Basil Thampi's IPL 2018 journey went completely downhill in a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad at M. Chinnaswamy stadium on 17 May 2018.

In that particular game, Basil Thampi's bowling was smashed all around the park by RCB batsmen and Thampi ended up bowling the most expensive spell in the history of IPL with 4-0-70-0, thereby breaking Ishant Sharma's record which had stood for five long years.