Harshal Patel completes 150 IPL wickets, surpasses Malinga, Bumrah
Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Harshal Patel completed 150 IPL wickets after returning with a solitary scalp against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday at the Ekana Stadium in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Like most of the Hyderabad bowlers, Harshal turned out to be expensive. Still, he managed to scythe a scalp to reach the milestone in the fewest deliveries in the cash-rich league's history. Harshal had to wait till the 16th over to get his solitary scalp of the game. On the fourth delivery, he cleaned up Aiden Markram by executing a flawless yorker deprived of pace and ended his swashbuckling exploits at the crease on 61 (38) and returned with figures of 1/49 after bowling a full quota of four overs.
Harshal celebrated his 150th IPL wicket and achieved the feat in 2381 deliveries, the fastest by a player in the tournament's history. The crafty pacer bettered Lasith Malinga's tally of 2444 and surpassed Yuzvendra Chahal (2543), Dwayne Bravo (2656) and Jasprit Bumrah (2832) to script the elusive milestone to his name.
However, the 2021 and 2024 Purple Cap winners' landmark moment was overshadowed by Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, who went all guns blazing with their swashbuckling display. Marsh drew the first blood and opened his account with a boundary on the first ball of the match by pulling off a flashy upper cut. The hard-hitting opening duo ensured Lucknow remained unscathed as they unleashed a barrage of boundaries to end the powerplay with 69/0. The 115-run opening stand concluded with Harsh Dubey's maiden IPL scalp. The slow left-arm orthodox spinner found the much-needed breakthrough by luring Marsh (65) to slice it straight into the hands of Eshan Malinga.
Nicholas Pooran took the mantle of taking Lucknow past the 200-plus target with his rollicking display. He flaunted his brute force and tormented Hyderabad bowlers at one end. Pooran invited Nitish Kumar Reddy in the final over by smashing the ball into the stands for a towering maximum. But Pooran bit the bullet after Kishan had him run out on 45(26). Akash Deep came in for a one-ball cameo and made the most of it by dispatching the ball past the boundary rope to lift Lucknow to a daunting 205/7.
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