Act 1: 54 runs were hammered in the last four overs. 128 runs were needed in the remaining 54 deliveries and while the equation was still firmly in favour of the Mumbai Indians, the Capitals were building some momentum and had the resources, both on the field and in the dugout, to pull off a heist under lights at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The home team then pulled out their trump card. Jasprit Bumrah conceded just four singles in the 12th over against the set pair of Abhishek Porel and a rampaging Prithvi Shaw while also sending the latter back to the pavilion with a toe-crushing yorker.
Act 2: Tristan Stubbs walked out to bat in some mood and smashed 16 and 11 off Piyush Chawla and Romario Shepherd in the 13th and 14th overs respectively. Although, 97 were needed off the last six overs but till Stubbs was at the crease, it was not impossible! Skipper Hardik Pandya again gave the ball to his ace spearhead. Bumrah again showcased his repertoire and interspersed his slower ones with a couple of yorkers conceding just six runs while also accounting for the wicket of Porel in the over. The asking rate rocketed from 16 to 18 in the space of six deliveries.
Act 3: Stubbs blasted a 19-ball fifty smashing 19 off the 17th over bowled by Akash Madhwal. Still, 63 runs off the last three overs seemed a tad too much but DC knew they had an outside chance till Stubbs was there in the middle. The ball was again handed to Bumrah who delivered as many as three yorkers in the over giving away just eight runs thereby effectively sealing the encounter for MI. The five-time champions eventually won by a comfortable margin of 29 runs – it was their first victory after three losses at the start of their campaign. And Bumrah with figures of 2/22 in 4 overs – in a match which saw a collective run-rate of almost 11 – had played a small part in it!
Leading wicket-taker, best economy rate, most dots per match
Bumrah has been exceptional with the ball in all phases in this IPL season. He has been the Roger Federer plus Rafael Nadal of bowling in the tournament. Bumrah is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 10 dismissals at a stunning average of 11.9 and strike rate of 12. He also has the best economy rate of 5.95 in the competition amongst all bowlers who have delivered a minimum of 50 deliveries. Bumrah has bowled, on an average, 11.6 dot deliveries per match – the most for any bowler in the tournament.
Just for perspective, the other MI bowlers have a bowling average of 46.6 and strike rate of 25.2 while conceding at a rate of 11.1 – that is how big the gulf has been between Bumrah and his peers in the tournament.
That MI has the worst economy rate of 10.2 in this edition despite Bumrah’s exploits with the ball showcases how poor their other bowlers have fared as a unit. It also highlights Bumrah’s genius with the ball in the competition – the most restrictive bowler from the most expensive bowling unit of the tournament!
Let’s dig deeper.
The Everest in the range of the Aravallis
Match 1: Bumrah returned with exceptional figures of 3/14 in 4 overs accounting for the three big wickets of Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharsan and David Miller against the Titans. The combined economy rate of the other MI bowlers in the match was 9.4 which made them around two and a half times more expensive than Bumrah.
Match 2: In an encounter which witnessed the highest match aggregate ever in the IPL with SRH breaking the record for the highest team total in the league’s history, Bumrah had an economy rate of just 9. The combined rate of the other MI bowlers in the match was 14.75! SRH had blasted 81 in the powerplay. The five non-Bumrah powerplay overs went for 76! Bumrah conceded just five off the fourth over.
Match 3: Bumrah delivered 16 dot balls in the match with as many as 13 of them in the powerplay! Only Mayank Yadav has bowled more dot deliveries in a match this season.
Match 4: With the Capitals threatening to explode and pull off an improbable chase and with every other MI bowler being taken to the cleaners by Shaw, Porel and Stubbs, Bumrah delivered the 12th, 15th and 18th overs conceding a total of 18 runs putting the target beyond the reach of the opposition.
Match 5: Bumrah got the prized scalp of the Orange Cap holder – Virat Kohli – off the third delivery of his spell before returning in the 11th to put a break in the scoring against a rampaging Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar, conceding just four. With RCB well poised to cross 200, Bumrah returned in the 17th over accounting for the wickets of Du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror giving just five away. He bagged two more wickets in the 19th to return with 5/21 off his 5 overs – the second-best bowling figures of his IPL career! The other MI bowlers combined to pick just three wickets and had an economy of 10.8 in the match.
Bumrah has been the Mount Everest amongst a set of bowlers who belong to the Aravalli Range. His bowling is to Mumbai Indians what Sachin Tendulkar’s batting was to India in the mid to late 1990s!
Exceptional in the powerplay and death
The powerplay and the death overs challenge the very best in the business and are the true test for any bowler especially in T20 cricket. Bumrah has been brilliantly restrictive in the first six overs this season and has an economy rate of 5.1 – the best for any bowler with a minimum of 5 overs bowled in this phase of play. Opposition batters have been circumspect against Bumrah and have an attacking percentage of just 28.6% against him in the powerplay – by far the best amongst all bowlers in the tournament. Bumrah has beaten the batter once every five deliveries in the first six overs.
Bumrah has also been outstanding in the death overs where he is the leading wicket-taker in the competition with six dismissals in as many overs at a stunning average of 7! He has been phenomenally restrictive in the last four overs with the lowest economy rate (of just 7) in this phase of play! Bumrah’s frequency of conceding a boundary – which is once every nine deliveries – is also the lowest in this phase of play.
Bumrah was at the top of the wicket-taking charts for the Mumbai Indians during their last three title triumphs – in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Can he inspire them to another win in 2024?
