IPL 2021: Top 5 bowling performances in the league phase

The recently-retired South African pacer Dale Steyn once eloquently mentioned in one of his tweets:

“Batters wow the crowd. Bowlers win you games.”

While he said this in the context of Test cricket, there is some level of relevance to it in the shortest format as well.

The second half of IPL 2021 belonged to the bowlers, with the slow, sluggish UAE pitches coming to the forefront. But we did see some special bowling performances in the first half of the IPL in India. In fact, three of the five best spells on the list are from the Indian leg of IPL 2021.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the five best bowling performances in the league phase of IPL 2021.

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#5 Deepak Chahar (4-1-13-4) CSK vs PBKS in Mumbai

Deepak Chahar was breathing fire against Punjab Kings

Deepak Chahar has been the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) go-to bowler in powerplay overs for quite a few years now. But he took his performance a notch higher in the game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

He bowled his full quota of four overs on the trot and absolutely dismantled the PBKS' top and middle order. His spell consisted of 18 dots, as Deepak conceded just 13 runs and picked up four wickets. He accounted for the dismissals of Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, and Nicholas Pooran. His tight bowling also contributed to the run-out of PBKS skipper KL Rahul.

This was a comeback of sorts for Deepak Chahar, as he had battled poor form and a bout of COVID-19 in the previous IPL season. He made this match his own with an inspired spell of bowling. This was the seventh instance of him bowling four overs on the trot in his IPL career, but it was certainly the best of the lot.

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#4 Yuzvendra Chahal (4-1-11-3) - RCB vs MI in Dubai

Chahal spun a web around MI Batsmen

While Harshal Patel's hat-trick grabbed the headlines, it was Yuzvendra Chahal’s incredible spell that dismantled the defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in this match.

Fresh from being left out of the Indian T20 World Cup squad, Chahal bowled like a man possessed and as someone who had a point to prove. He bamboozled the opposition with his loopy leg-spinners and variations, as the Mumbai Indians batters didn’t know what hit them.

He started off by foxing a murderous Quinton de Kock in flight, having the South African hole out to mid-wicket. He also dismissed the dangerous Ishan Kishan before coming back late in the innings to get Jasprit Bumrah’s wicket.

While his wickets column looked pale in comparison to Harshal Patel’s (4-17), it has to be argued that Chahal's initial three overs in the middle overs were instrumental in applying the brakes on Mumbai Indians’ innings.

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#3 Harshal Patel (4-0-27-5) RCB vs MI in Bangalore

Harshal Patel and his Purple Patch

The Purple Cap holder has had quite a purple patch this season. And it all started right at the beginning as Mumbai Indians took on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match of IPL 2021 in Bangalore.

Two-time defending champions Mumbai Indians were all set to face the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Mohammad Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal. But it was Harshal Patel who consigned them to submission with his incredible spell of bowling.

The Mumbai Indians sat pretty at 105-3 in 13 overs, with power-hitters Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers (Hardik and Krunal) still to come.

Harshal Patel cleaned up the entire unit in his four overs. The Rohit Sharma-led side could muster just 54 runs in the remaining seven overs as Harshal’s medium pacers, variations and cutters were more than a handful for the middle and lower-middle order batters.

Throughout the season Harshal Patel has proven that it wasn’t a one-off performance. He is currently leading the wicket-taking charts with 30 scalps to his name - the most by an Indian bowler in a single IPL season. He has been one of the key reasons behind the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reaching the playoffs.

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#2 Amit Mishra (4-0-24-4) – DC vs MI in Chennai

MishraJi's brilliance against MI

Amit Mishra has played just four matches this season for the Delhi Capitals (DC). But he made major inroads in one of them, against the Mumbai Indians.

Amit Mishra is massively underrated in the IPL. He is the second highest wicket-taker in the history of the tournament, only four scalps behind Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga. His leggies, doosras and flippers have bamboozled many a batsman in the IPL. And this time, it was Mumbai Indians’ turn to face the music.

His spell started off in ungainly fashion as he leaked 16 runs off his first eight balls. However, in the next 16 balls, he conceded just eight runs and picked up the prized scalps of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Ishan Kishan. He broke the backbone of the Mumbai Indians’ batting lineup and played a key role behind his team winning the game.

While he hasn’t played a lot for DC over the past two years (only seven matches), his value to the team is impeccable, as he showed in the player-of-the-match performance against MI.

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#1 Nathan Coulter-Nile (4-0-14-4) – MI vs RR in Sharjah

Coulter-Nile magic castled Rajasthan Royals

The Mumbai Indians needed to rack up some big wins in order to boost their net run rate (NRR). The margins were getting thinner and MI required a healthy NRR to be able to qualify for the playoffs.

As they faced the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Mumbai Indians needed a special performance to increase their chances of qualification, with Kolkata Knight riders breathing down their necks. It was indeed a special performance, with Nathan Coulter-Nile playing the main protagonist.

Coming on as the second-change bowler, with Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal having given the Royals a solid start, the Australian bowled four extremely tidy overs. He made the ball talk on a pitch that was misbehaving ever so slightly.

In cohorts with Jasprit Bumrah and Jimmy Neesham, Coulter-Nile wreaked havoc as Mumbai Indians consigned the Royals to 90/9 in their 20 overs.

Although the Mumbai Indians ultimately failed to make it to the playoffs, they were in the running until the end due to the Aussie quick's supreme bowling performance.