5 best IPL bowling performances from Jasprit Bumrah

The fact that the Mumbai Indians' speedster Jasprit Bumrah is one of the greatest match-winners ever in Indian cricket is not an overstatement by any means. He has soared to great heights in the international arena in a relatively short period. He has managed to bamboozle best in the business with his pinpoint yorkers.

The Gujarat lad was brought into the Mumbai Indians set up by former Indian team coach John Wright and Bumrah has proved the Kiwi coach's decision to be the right one. Bumrah's performances for Mumbai have grown steadily in stature over the past few seasons.

He is one of the primary reasons for Mumbai performing as a well-oiled machine. He joined the cricketing world as an unorthodox bowler in 2013 and is now one of the deadliest limited-overs pacer.

On his way, he has produced several unforgettable performances in the IPL. Let's take a look at 5 of his best performances in the IPL.

#5 3/20 vs RCB, 2019

Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Hetmyer (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

This humdinger of a match between arch-rivals Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore is now remembered for a very famous no-ball. However, what we tend to forget is the role Bumrah played in the match which earned him a well-deserved man of the match award. All the talk before this game was about the 'Kohli vs Bumrah' battle and this contest was won by Mumbai pacer. Kohli was hurried by a well-directed short ball and ended up giving an easy catch to Hardik Pandya.

The wicket came at a crucial juncture for Mumbai as this brought the game back into the balance for Mumbai just when RCB were tightening their hold on the game. Bumrah's other victims in the game were Hetmyer and Grandhomme, who are primarily known for their power-hitting prowess. He managed to turn the game completely in Mumbai’s favor when by giving away a combined tally of 6 runs off the 17th and 19th overs.

#4 3/18 vs KXIP, 2018

Bumrah was adjudged man of the match for his 3/18 (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

The Mumbai bowling unit was provided with 186 runs to defend in a do-or-die encounter on a slightly batting-friendly pitch. Bumrah once again proved to be the difference, taking home the man-of-the-match trophy for his superb figures of 3/18 in the crucial encounter. Lokesh Rahul, who had extended his purple patch in the tournament by scoring 94 runs in the match, was one of his victims.

His other two victims were Finch and Stoinis, both match-winners in their own right. Mumbai have lost a lot of games that have gone down the wire but Bumrah ensured that this match didn't go down the same way.

#3 Super over against Gujarat Lions, 2017

Mumbai players celebrate after winning the super-over. (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

The match swung like a pendulum with both teams giving each other opportunities to claw their way back into the contest. Just when it seemed to be on course for a Mumbai win, Ravindra Jadeja’s pinpoint direct hit pushed the match into a super over. Mumbai managed to score 12 runs in the super over.

Bumrah was given the huge responsibility of defending 12 runs against the duo of McCullum and Finch, who are known for their six-hitting abilities. He bowled a wide and a no-ball but still gave away only 6 runs and won them the match quite comfortably. The batsmen, who were seasoned campaigners and proven match-winners for their respective teams didn’t seem to have any clue against his well-disguised slower balls, yorkers, and low full tosses.

#2 2/26 vs RPSG, Final, 2017

Mumbai Indians lift their 3rd IPL trophy(picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

This was Mumbai’s only win against Pune in 2017. Mumbai had managed to huff and puff to a total of 129 courtesy of a valiant knock of 47 from Krunal Pandya. Bumrah stepped up to the plate by being one of the chief architects in Mumbai’s victory in the closely contested final.

Even though his figures were spoiled somewhat courtesy of a six off his penultimate ball in his spell, he had done the damage already by dismissing the dangerous MS Dhoni.

Bumrah’s economical spell along with Johnson's brilliant final over eventually proved to be the difference in this nail-biting contest. Defending 129 is never an easy task, let alone in a final. However, Mumbai's bowling unit did just that to help the team take home their 3rd IPL trophy

#1 2/14 vs CSK, Final, 2019

Bumrah"s economical spell won Mumbai their 4th IPL trophy.(picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Imagine a death bowler giving away runs at an economy rate of just 3.5 runs an over in a match and taking a couple of crucial wickets along the way. It is not something we get to see every day in the shortest format.

Bumrah did just that and he chose the most important match in the tournament to achieve that, the Final. The Mumbai batting unit had just given 149 runs for their bowlers to defend. And to defend that score Mumbai needed their best bowler to be at his absolute best.

Bumrah didn't disappoint as he responded in style by snapping the wickets of Rayudu and Bravo, with a vicious bouncer claiming the wicket of the latter. He was in such good form that the opposition batsman chose to just play out his overs

His brilliant death bowling paved the way for Mumbai's 4th IPL trophy. All of his skills were put to test that day and he came through with flying colors with an IPL trophy in hand.