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The league stage of IPL 2024 was dominated by the batters.
The 200 run mark was breached 41 times this season in the league stages -- the most in a single IPL season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad broke the record for the highest IPL total as they hammered a huge 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, while Punjab Kings broke the world record for the highest run chase when they successfully chased down 262 in just 18.4 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Despite the batters making most of the flat pitches and small boundaries, some bowlers were not to be left behind as they treated their fans to some incredible bowling performances.
Mumbai Indians were knocked out early but Jasprit Bumrah's five wicket haul against RCB will always be special for the fans, with Sandeep Sharma and Yash Thakur the only other two bowlers to bag five-fers this season in the league stages.
LSG speedster Mayank Yadav enjoyed a breakthrough season -- his fiery spell against RCB being the highlight but an unfortunate injury cut short his promising IPL career, while the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Yuzvendra Chahal got their careers back on track with some exceptional spells.
A look at the 11 Best Spells of the league stages of IPL 2024:
Jasprit Bumrah, 5/21 vs RCB, April 11, 2024
Bumrah demolished the RCB batting with a magnificent five-wicket haul.
His performance was a showpiece in accurate seam bowling, showcasing both fiery yorkers and sharp bouncers to keep the RCB batters tied up in front of his home fans at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
Amazingly, 13 out of the 24 deliveries sent down by Bumrah were dot balls, which included five wickets.
Bumrah struck the early blow by dismissing the in-form Virat Kohli for three in his first over and the third of the innings.
The MI pacer continued his dominance throughout the innings, returning with the old ball to ensure RCB didn't run away with a huge total.
He removed the well-set Faf du Plessis (61) and Mahipal Lomror (0) in the 17th over.
Du Plessis misplayed a hard low full-toss, while Lomror was trapped lbw by a yorker.
Bumrah nearly achieved a hat-trick in his next over, bouncing out Saurav Chauhan and Vyshak Vijaykumar in quick succession.
This exceptional bowling display silenced RCB's hopes for a competitive total as they finished on 196/8 despite three of their batters hitting fifties.
Courtesy of Dinesh Karthik's quickfire 53 from 23 balls helped RCB pile on 66 runs from the last five overs, out of which Bumrah conceded just 14 runs in the 17th and 19th over, while 52 came from the three overs bowled by other bowlers.
Bumrah's 5/21 was the first five wicket haul by any bowler against RCB in the IPL and Bumrah's second five wicket haul in the IPL.
Sandeep Sharma, 5/18 vs MI, April 22, 2024
Making a comeback from injury, Sandeep Sharma put up a brilliant display as he registered his best figures in T20 cricket to send Mumbai Indians crashing to a nine wicket defeat at the Wankhede.
Sandeep's amazing figures of 5/18 are the best by any bowler in IPL 2024 so far.
After Trent Boult had accounted for Rohit Sharma in the first over, Sandeep ripped apart the MI batting line-up with the wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in his next two overs.
His first spell (2-0-4-2) in the Powerplay was instrumental in derailing MI in the early overs.
The pace bowler finished off the innings in grand style with three wickets in the final. He got the well-set Tilak Varma, who had stroked 65 from 45 balls, caught at long on followed by wickets of Gerald Coetzee and Tim David.
Sandeep picked up three wickets while giving away just three runs in the final over of the innings to restrict MI to a below-par 179/9, which the Royals batters chased down easily for the loss of just one wicket.
Yash Thakur, 5/30 vs GT, April 7, 2024
Yash Thakur bagged his maiden five wicket haul in the IPL as he bowled Lucknow Super Giants to their first victory against Gujarat Titans in the IPL.
Thakur dazzled with the ball as he took 5/30, including the big wicket of GT Captain Shubman Gill, who was clearly beaten for pace as he missed the flick off a full straight delivery on the stumps.
What was impressive about Thakur's five wicket haul was that he came to his team's rescue after fast bowler Mayank Yadav's injury breakdown midway into the game.
Despite his good start, Thakur had to wait long for his next stint with the ball but he was not to be denied.
Coming back to bowl the 15th over, Thakur finished off Titans' hopes by dismissing Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan as the Vidarbha pacer sent down a double-wicket maiden.
He finished off the match in great style with another couple of wickets in the penultimate over. Rahul Tewatia, who stroked 30 from 25 balls, pulled the short ball straight to the fielder at deep square leg, while Noor Ahmad top edged the pull and was caught on the leg side as the Titans were sent packing for 130 to lose by 33 runs.
Tushar Deshpande, 4/27 vs SRH, April 28, 2024
Tushar Deshpande's brilliance with the new ball set the tone for CSK's dominant 78 run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Deshpande took 4/27 to send the power-packed SRH batting line-up for a lowly 134.
The pace bowler left SRH in tatters with three wickets in his first two overs in the Powerplay. He started with the big wicket of the dangerous Travis Head for 13, who sliced the slower ball straight to Daryl Mitchell at deep point, before some slight away movement saw him get Anmolpreet Singh caught in the covers off a leading edge.
Another change of pace delivery worked the trick for Deshpande as he got Abhishek Sharma caught at deep point after he mistimed the slash off a short wide delivery.
Deshpande's early strikes set the tone for his pace colleagues Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana, who claimed a couple of wickets each, to dismantle the SRH middle order.
Deshpande dismissed SRH Captain Pat Cummins in the 18th over as CSK romped him to a comprehensive victory and snapping their two-match losing streak.
Mayank Yadav, 3/14 vs RCB, April 2, 2024
LSG pace sensation Mayank Yadav made everyone stand up and take notice with a fiery spell of fast bowling.
After blowing away Punjab Kings in his debut match, the pacer tore through the RCB batting with another sizzling display of lethal fast bowling.
Introduced in the sixth over, Mayank accounted for the dangerous Glenn Maxwell with his trademark weapon -- a cracking bouncer clocked at 151 kph, which the Australian tried to pull but was clearly late into the shot and ended up offering a simple catch to Nicholas Pooran at mid-on.
He produced another magical delivery to rid of the highly rated Australian Cameron Green in his next over. The RCB right-hander played inside the line as the length ball went past the outside edge to crash into the top of off-stump.
The youngster consistently clocked 150-plus to leave the RCB rattled with his express pace. Rajat Patidar became Mayank's third victim when he top edged the pull shot and was caught at fine leg for 29, another RCB batter beaten for pace.
Mayank registered splendid figures of 3/14 in four overs -- his second three-wicket haul in succession.
He also managed to better his own record for the fastest delivery in IPL 2024 when he bowled a 156.7 kph delivery during the game.
Unfortunately the exciting speedster could play just four games in which he took seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.98 before an injury ruled him out for the rest of the tournament.
Matheesha Pathirana, 4/28 vs MI, April 14, 2024
Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana proved to be too hot to handle as he sent MI crashing to defeat at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Chasing 200, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave MI an ideal start, putting a quickfire 70 run opening partnership in just seven overs before Pathirana's introduction turned the match on its head.
Introduced in the eighth over, Pathirana's double strike left MI in a complete mess.
He struck with his first delivery when he got Kishan caught at midwicket for 25. Two balls later, he dismissed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav, who tried the upper cut but ended up steering the short ball towards thirdman, where Mustafizur Rahman took a fine rebound catch.
Back into the attack after a few overs, he stifled MI further when he got Tilak Varma caught at mid-off.
The Sri Lankan kept chipping away at the wickets as he bowled Romario Shepherd for one in his third over.
Rohit finished unbeaten on a magnificent 105 from 63 balls but CSK still managed to eke out a 20 run victory courtesy of Pathirana's 4/28 on a flat pitch.
Thangarasu Natarajan, 4/19 vs DC, April 20, 2024
In a high-scoring contest on a flat pitch, Thangarasu Natarajan emerged as the iceman for Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a career-best bowling performance against Delhi Capitals.
Jake Fraser-McGurk's counter-attack got DC back on track after the early dismissal of their openers. However, Natarajan's exceptional control and strategic bowling stifled the Capitals' chase in its tracks.
He conceded a mere seven runs in the sixth over Powerplay over, a stark contrast to the carnage unleashed earlier with DC smashing 81 from the first five overs.
Varying his lengths and speed, he consistently choked the flow of runs, in his second and third overs yielding just five and seven runs respectively.
Natarajan wasn't just economical; he was lethal. Three of his four wickets came via perfectly executed yorkers, a weapon that the Delhi batters simply couldn't handle.
Lalit Yadav made room to hit over the top but Natarajan cleaned him up with the yorker.
His final over, the 19th of the innings, was a masterclass in death bowling, a triple-wicket maiden to finish off DC's hopes.
Axar Patel mistimed the full toss and was caught in the covers and two balls later Anrich Nortje had no answers to another searing yorker at full pace as the stumps were sent flying.
Natarajan was making the ball talk. Kuldeep Yadav was also done in by the yorker as he missed the flick to be trapped leg before as three wickets fell in the space of four balls, as Captain Rishabh Pant helplessly watched his team capitulate from the end.
Natarajan's 4/19 wasn't just a career-best; it was a match-winning performance, which gave SRH the belief that they not only had the firepower with the bat but were also formidable with the ball.
Mitchell Starc, 4/33 vs MI, May 3, 2024
Despite a rocky start to the tournament, Mitchell Starc -- IPL's most expensive player -- finally lived up to his billing with a stellar performance. His exceptional bowling figures of 4/33 were instrumental in securing a crucial 24 run victory for KKR in a low scoring encounter at the Wankhede.
It looked like MI had the upperhand after bowling out KKR for 169. But Starc came up with a stunning performance with the ball in a thrilling run chase.
The Australian's impact with the ball was evident from the outset. He started with a crucial breakthrough, bowling Ishan Kishan in his very first over, to get revenge for a four and a six hit off the previous two deliveries.
With Rohit Sharma also falling early, MI struggled to 46/3 in six overs in the Powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav waged a superb fighting with a quickfire half-century, to put MI back on the track in the middle overs.
Suryakumar fell to Andre Russell in the 16th over but Tim David, who struck 24 from 20 balls, kept them in the game.
The game was tantalisingly poised but Starc turned the tide in the crucial 17th over. He conceded a mere three runs, to make things difficult for the hosts, who needed a daunting 43 runs off the last 18 balls.
Starc finished off MI's hopes in the 19th over. David started the penultimate over in the right fashion, stroking his fellow Australian for a six over backward square leg.
But the champion bowler had the last laugh.
Starc bowled a full toss wide off the off-stump to stay away from David's pads. The MI right-hander looked to go straight but ended up holing out the full toss straight to Shreyas Iyer at long off.
Starc got lucky again as Piyush Chawla miscued the next ball, again another full toss, into the hands of the fielder in the covers.
Fittingly, Starc finished off the match with a breathtaking yorker that shattered Gerald Coetzee's stumps.
Starc's superb spell saw KKR win a match at the Wankhede after 12 years, and only their second win against MI at their home ground.
Interestingly, this was only the fourth instance in IPL history when both teams were bowled out in a match.
Yuzvendra Chahal, 3/11 vs MI, April 1, 2024
Yuzvendra Chahal once again showed why he is one of the best spinners in the IPL.
The only bowler to have crossed the 200 wicket barrier in the IPL, Chahal has forced his way into the Indian team for the T20 World Cup with some eye-catching displays with the ball for Rajasthan Royals in the first half of the tournament.
His best performance this season came against Mumbai Indians when his brilliant figures of 3/11 in four overs saw the hosts crashing for a lowly 125.
The experienced leg-spinner ran through the MI middle order with wickets at crucial junctures.
Just when Hardik Pandya looked to be getting MI back on track after a difficult start, he was undone by Chahal's guile.
Looking to loft the leggie down the ground, he failed to middle the shot and was caught at long on for 34 in the 10th over.
In his next over, he accounted for another well-set batter in Tilak Varma, who was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin at short third man for 32.
Chahal ensured there was no late recovery for the hosts as he got Gerald Coetzee in the 17th over.
It was an amazing display of bowling from Chahal as his four over spell included as many as 16 dots balls as MI's batters couldn't find a way to cope with him.
Varun Chakravarthy, 3/16 vs DC, April 29, 2024
KKR's spin ace Varun Chakravarthy spun a web around the Delhi Capitals' batters in an exceptional display of spin bowling.
He was introduced quite late into the attack after his team-mates had chipped away at the wickets early on. He started with a tidy over, giving away just seven runs in his first over, the ninth of the innings.
Captain Rishabh Pant looked to revive DC as he made 27 from 20 balls but perished in Chakravarthy's second over. Pant made the mistake of trying the slog sweep against the KKR mystery spinner but got it off the outside edge to be caught in the covers.
Chakravarthy continued his good record against Pant in the IPL, having taken his wicket for the third time in 30 balls bowled. While dismissing Pant, Chakravarthy choked the DC batters as he conceded just a single run in the over, while bowling five dots.
Another big-hitter in Tristan Stubbs paid the price for looking to go after Chakravarthy as he was caught behind after getting an edge trying to play the cut shot, in the 13th over.
In his final over, he missed out narrowly as Kuldeep Yadav's edge flew past the slip fielder for a four but he struck with he wicket of Kumar Kushagra, who was caught off an inside edge by wicket-keeper Phil Salt.
He stood out with figures of 3/16 in four overs as DC were restricted to 153/9 which KKR managed to overhaul easily with 21 balls to spare.
Mustafizur Rahman, 4/29 vs RCB, March 22, 2024
Mustafizur Rahman gave CSK a winning start with a match-winning haul in the tournament opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
After two lacklustre seasons at Delhi Capitals, Mustafizur seems to have rediscovered his form at CSK as he bagged 14 wickets in nine games in the league stage.
Coming to bowl in the fifth over, the Bangladesh pacer rocked RCB with two wickets in his opening over.
He ran through the RCB batting line-up as he accounted for the big wickets of Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli and Cameron Green in his first two overs.
RCB Skipper du Plessis went on the attack in the Powerplay, hitting 35 from 23 balls, before he was caught at deep point and a few balls later, he produced a beauty to dismiss Rajat Patidar for a duck -- getting some late away movement to have the right-hander caught behind.
Surprisingly, he was held back despite the double strike for some overs. He came back to bowl the 12th over, and again made an instant impact.
With the first ball of his second over, he bagged the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli, whose mistimed pull shot was taken at deep midwicket.
And two balls later, he accounted for the big-hitting Cameron Green, who made room but missed the cut and was bowled for 18.
After his two figures, his figures read an incredible 2-0-7-4 as eight out of his first 12 balls were dots, to leave RCB in a complete mess on 79/5 in 12 overs.
Even though he came in for some punishment in last spell, conceding 23 runs in his last two overs, Mustafizur started off the tournament with a bang with excellent figures of 4/29 in four overs -- the second best figures by a CSK bowler on IPL debut.
Photographs: BCCI