IPL-7: 5 Indian bowlers who came away with maidens in the UAE!

Amid a flurry of runs, five bowlers did well to send down maiden overs even before the half-way stage of this IPL season. Check them out.

In Twenty20 cricket, where a dot ball is a rare commodity, bowling a maiden is quite an achievement. Besides, considering that one gets just four overs, and batsmen are looking to go hammer and tongs, bowlers have to be a step ahead in the game.

With the first phase of the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates nearing its end, it is interesting to note that there were five maiden overs amid the flurry of runs. And, yes, they were all Indians!

Rediff.com takes a look at the bowlers who achieved the feat. (All figures till April 28, 2014).

1

Varun Aaron 

The first maiden over in Season Seven of the IPL came as early as the second game. Varun Aaron, who was struggling with Team India, seems to have found his rhythm with his new franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore, with immaculate control over line and length.

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Royal Challengers, after winning the toss, invited Delhi Daredevils to bat first. Aaron’s first over was the fifth of Delhi’s innings and he started off on a perfect note.

Delhi, who were already struggling at 17-2, were further dented when Aaron had Manoj Tiwary caught behind by Parthiv Patel for one, as the batsman tried to play a leg glance.

J P Duminy, who replaced Patel, was cautious up front. In the final analysis, Aaron’s opening spell proved to be crucial in terms of the result.

RCB coasted home with 20 balls to spare, losing just two wickets in the chase of 146.

Aaron finished with excellent figures of 3-1-9-1.

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2. Ishwar Pandey

He is one of India’s most promising bowlers for quite some time now. No wonder Chennai Super Kings signed him up at the auction for Rs 1,50,00,000.

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The medium pacer sent down the second maiden of this IPL, when Chennai took on Rajasthan Royals in Dubai.

Asked to bat first, Chennai Super Kings struggled their way to a modest 140.

When Rajasthan replied, Pandey, introduced in the second over, immediately bagged a maiden over, which saw Abhishek Nayar walking back to the pavilion courtesy a run-out.

Pandey, however, went on to have his name in the wickets column after dismissing James Faulkner for four runs.

He finished with figures of 4-1-22-1 as the Royals were shot out for 133 in 19.5 overs.

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3. Pragyan Ojha

The left-arm spinner has had a mixed outing with Mumbai Indians so far. Talk about the team, and it’s even worse. The defending champions have lost their first four matches, largely because of a poor showing by their batsmen.

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Electing to bat first against Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai’s batsmen faltered and could they put up only 141 runs.

Mumbai knew that to have any chance in the match they needed to begin well. Ojha was given the responsibility of opening the bowling – against Chennai’s attacking duo of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum – and sent down a maiden, tying down the dangerous Smith.

But Smith made up for it in Ojha's second over.

Chennai coasted to victory with six balls to spare.

Ohja’s figures read 4-1-25-1.

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4. Sandeep Sharma

Indian bowlers are having a ball this season. The latest in the maiden-list is young Kings XI Punjab bowler Sandeep Sharma, who has been impressive so far.

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Sandeep was star of the show in a low-scoring match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Asked to bat first, Kings XI Punjab could muster only 132.

In reply, Kolkata were bundled out for 109, largely due to a brilliant spell by Sharma.

Sharma, who had already dismissed Manish Pandey in his second over, struck again in the third with his first delivery. This time it was Gautam Gambhir, having the former India opener caught at shot extra cover for one.  The next five balls were all dots, as he did not allow Chris Lynn to get off the mark.

His spell read: 4-1-21-3.

The 20-year-old from Patiala then achieved the feat again, this time against a strong batting line-up of Royal Challengers. In his first over, he claimed the two big wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli before dismissing Parthiv Patel in his next, which finished as a wicket-maiden.

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His spell read: 3-1-15-3.

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5. Harbhajan Singh

The wily Mumbai Indians’ off-spinner got his name in the maidens’ list against Delhi Daredevils.

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Delhi, who restricted Mumbai to 125 on a slow track, were scoring at a decent pace in the chase.

Bowling the sixth over of Delhi’s innings, Harbhajan cramped Murali Vijay for space, not allowing him to break free.

Ideally a good player of spin, Vijay wasn’t able to get the ball off the square. Just one extra run came from that over, courtesy a leg bye.

Even though Harbhajan did not take a wicket, he was economical in his four-over spell with figures of 4-1-23-0.