IPL 2015: Top 10 Bowlers of Week 2 of Indian Premier League
While batsmen and big hits tend to dominate the Indian Premier League's headlines, we shouldn't forget the competition's hard-working and often underappreciated bowlers!
The tournament's second week has seen a clutch of great displays from the likes of Imran Tahir, Sandeep Sharma, and Dhawal Kulkarni to name but a few, proving that the game isn't purely about hitting the ball as far as possible.
So, with that in mind, ranked in descending order, here are the top ten best performances by bowlers over the last seven days (12-18 April).
Please note: Rankings are based on individual contributions in a game, not cumulatively over the entire week.
10. Nathan Coulter-Nile
1 of 10
Performance: 0/14 vs. Kings XI
Nathan Coulter-Nile may have failed to take a wicket but, in Twenty20 terms, conceding 14 runs from three overs can still be a match-winning performance.
With 13 dot balls from his 19 deliveries, many of which were bowled to Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag, the Australian put Kings XI Punjab under huge pressure early in their innings.
The 27-year-old has played 10 ODIs and 10 T20I for his country, the last of which was a 50-over clash against South Africa in November.
9. Sunil Narine
2 of 10
Performance: 1/17 vs. Kings XI Punjab
Producing an economy rate of 4.25 per over against the power-packed Kings XI lineup was further evidence that Sunil Narine is one of the best, if not the best, T20 bowler in the world.
His only scalp was Axar Patel, but the pressure a tight spell produces often leads to other bowlers picking up wickets as batsmen try to make amends.
The 26-year-old has an incredible 189 career victims in cricket's shortest format, placing him 10th on the all-time wicket-takers table.
8. Harbhajan Singh
3 of 10
Performance: 2/20 vs. Kings XI
His international career may be behind him, but, as evidenced by his recent performances for Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan Singh remains a handful in T20 cricket.
Despite Kings XI racking up 177 in their innings, the 101-Test veteran's four overs cost just 20 runs and yielded the scalps of Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag.
The Indians will need some similar contributions from Harbhajan in the near future if they are going to turnaround their miserable start to the tournament.
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7. Ravi Bopara
4 of 10
Performance: 2/18 vs. Rajasthan Royals
Despite playing just once for England during the recent World Cup, Hyderabad's Ravi Bopara remains a more-than-useful T20 player, as evidenced by his contribution against the Rajasthan Royals.
The Essex-man picked up two victims and almost helped drag his side to an unlikely win after they posted a sub-par score of 127.
Although he's perhaps better known for his skills with the bat, the Essex-man is closing in on an impressive 500 career victims across all formats of the game.
6. Ashish Nehra
5 of 10
Performance: 3/23 vs. Mumbai Indians
While his compatriots were getting smashed around the park, Ashish Nehra was calmness personified in picking up three wickets from four tight overs.
The left-arm pacemen found his line to send Parthiv Patel, Corey Anderson and Rohit Sharma back to the "pavilion" and contribute to his team's victory in this high-scoring affair.
Having made the last of his international appearances in 2011, it is unlikely India will come knocking for the 17-Test veteran, but Nehra remains a quality T20 performer.
5. Imran Tahir
6 of 10
Performance: 4/28 vs. Rajasthan Royals
It may have been in a losing cause, but Imran Tahir's hot form continued with a four-wicket haul against the high-flying Rajasthan Royals.
The Pakistan-born South Africa international unleashed his box of tricks to pick up the scalps of Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner and Deepak Hooda.
At the age of 36, Tahir is no spring chicken but, as evidenced by picking up 20 wickets in his last 10 outings (including 15 at the World Cup), there is plenty of cricket left in the veteran.
4. Sandeep Sharma
7 of 10
Performance: 1/12 vs. Mumbai Indians
Sandeep Sharma's miserly four overs, which went for just 12 runs, helped Kings XI Punjab record their first victory of the tournament.
Bowling with great control and accuracy, the swing bowler proved very difficult to get away and also picked up the key scalp of his namesake, Rohit Sharma.
Having represented India at U19 level, the 21-year-old has been "one to watch" for a while now but has yet to make a senior international appearance. He may not have to wait much longer.
*Please note: The above photo isn't Sandeep Sharma.
3. Dhawal Kulkarni
8 of 10
Performance: 2/9 vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad
One of the reasons for Rajasthan's flying start to IPL8 has been the form of their seamer, Dhawal Kulkarni.
The 26-year-old had already delivered a miserly spell in the win over Mumbai, but he upped the ante against Sunrisers Hyderabad to concede just nine runs from his three overs while collecting two wickets.
Kulkarni has played four ODIs for India, the last of which was in November 2014 against Sri Lanka, and has taken eight international wickets.
2. Sandeep Sharma
9 of 10
Performance: 4/25 vs. Kolkata Knight Riders
It has been quite a week for Sandeep Sharma, who followed up his performance against Mumbai (see slide seven) with another significant contribution against Kolkata.
Defending a total of 155 was always going to be difficult, but the 21-year-old seamer knocked over four batsmen to pick up his first four-wicket haul in T20 cricket to at least give his side a chance.
*Please note: The above photo isn't Sandeep Sharma.
1. JP Duminy
10 of 10
Performance: 3/17 vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad
The outstanding bowling performance of the week comes from the unlikely source of South African all-rounder JP Duminy.
Better known for his batting, the Delhi Daredevils' skipper picked up four Sunrisers wickets and conceded just 17 runs from three overs of off-spin.
His victims were David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan; not a bad collection.
It may be early days but with two wins from their four games, Delhi are already looking much stronger than the side that collected the wooden spoon in 2014.
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