The leading wicket-taker in the IPL, with 103, Lasith Malinga has bowled many stunning spells for the Mumbai Indians in the past six seasons, but this one at the Feroz Shah Kotla was special. Coming on to bowl after Harbhajan Singh had been smashed for 10 in the opening over, the Sri Lankan struck with his second ball, a yorker, and the stumps behind David Warner were left scattered. Unmukt Chand, making his IPL debut, left in the same manner two balls later as Malinga hit the middle-stump. Coming back for his second over, Malinga achieved a rare feat in cricket: he bowled a maiden to Sehwag.
“This is the first time in the last 10 years that I’ve played a maiden over,” Sehwag, the Delhi captain, said after the match. “I knew the other batsmen would not be able to pick Malinga, so I thought I’d bat against him and let the rest take on the other bowlers.”
That ploy did not work as Malinga returned in the 16th over to clean up the tail. He struck with his second ball again – a swinging, low, full toss that hit the base of the stumps – to send back Venugopal Rao.
Next ball, he broke Morne Morkel’s bat and then his stumps with the fourth ball of the over. Perhaps a bit bored with the monotony of his dismissals, he allowed Ashok Dinda to lob a slower one to mid-off and finished with five for 13 – the third-best bowling figures in IPL history.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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