If Brendon McCullum’s scintillating knock of 158 not out gave the Indian Premier League the kind of raucous start it needed, it was Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir who made everyone stand up and applaud the bowling effort in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
The Pakistani left-arm pacer, playing for eventual champions Rajasthan Royals, achieved that feat against the mighty Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur.
The bowler, who is renowned for his quirky wrong-footed action, began his spell by trapping Parthiv Patel leg before wicket with an inswinger. Former New Zealand skipper and now CSK coach Stephen Fleming was also trapped the same way in the first over.
Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan was the third victim when he edged the ball to Shane Warne in second slip as he ended his first spell of two overs with three wickets while conceding just two runs.
He returned for his second spell in the death overs and packed off Albie Morkel when the South African went for a big hit and missed the ball completely. He then dismissed Muttiah Muralitharan with a slower one in the same over and completed the six-wicket haul by disturbing the woodwork of Makhaya Ntini on the last ball of his spell.
Tanvir bowled a total of 17 dot balls in his four-over spell and helped the Royals to restrict CSK for just 109 runs. The spell of 6/14 remained the best bowling performance in the IPL for 11 years till West Indies’ Alzarri Joseph claimed six wickets for just 12 runs for Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2019.
Also read:Alzarri Joseph arrives: From Mumbai Indians’ replacement pacer to IPL’s best-ever bowling figures
