3 best bowling spells by an overseas pacer in IPL history 

In what was a superlative bowling display, Mark Wood took his first-ever five-wicket haul to register an emphatic win for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) over the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Match 3 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The high-octane match was played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, April 1.

Playing only his second IPL match and first for the Lucknow franchise, Wood wreaked havoc with his opening burst to rock the Capitals in a steep chase of 194.

After Prithvi Shaw and David Warner got Delhi off to a fabulous start, LSG skipper KL Rahul turned to Wood, who rattled the opposition batters in his very first over. With sheer pace, the Englishman cleaned up Shaw before inflicting a killer blow to skittle Mitchell Marsh out for a golden duck.

In his next over, Wood got the better of Sarfaraz Khan. The 33-year-old was then brought back for his second spell where he bagged the remaining two wickets and became only the second Englishman to bag a fifer in the tournament's history.

Wood's figures of 5/14 are now the fourth-best bowling figures by an overseas pacer in the IPL.

On that note, let's take a look at the three best bowling figures by an overseas pacer in IPL history.

---

#3 Lasith Malinga: 5/13 vs Delhi Daredevils at IPL 2011

It is impossible to leave Lasith Malinga out of this list. Malinga is the IPL's all-time second-leading wicket-taker with 170 wickets to his name.

The Sri Lankan pacer terrorized batting line-ups for many years, but one performance stands out in particular. This was his 5/13 against the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the fourth match of the 2011 IPL.

Malinga started in lethal fashion, unleashing a vintage toe-crushing yorker to knock over David Warner. After another yorker, which Unmukt Chand managed to dig out, Malinga crashed into Chand's stumps with a fast in-swinger which ended up cleaning him up.

After bowling a maiden over against legendary Virender Sehwag, Malinga was taken off for a while and brought back in the 16th over.

The carnage then resumed as Malinga took two wickets in three balls, once again yorking Venugopal Raul and with another toe-crusher sending Morne Morkel back to the pavilion.

Malinga didn't get a chance to bowl out his quota, as Ashok Dinda tamely chipped him to mid-off to bundle out Delhi for just 95 runs. Mumbai won the game by eight wickets and 19 balls in hand.

---

#2 Sohail Tanvir: 6/14 vs the Chennai Super Kings at IPL 2008

Back in 2008, Pakistani players were allowed to play in the IPL, which is unfortunately no longer the case due to hostilities between the two nations. Sohail Tanvir, though, has left a lasting legacy in the IPL as his 6/14 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) remained the best figures in IPL history for a while.

During Match 24 of the inaugural edition, Tanvir took the new ball for Rajasthan and got off to the perfect start. He trapped Parthiv Patel with an in-swinger off his first ball and did the same to New Zealand star Stephen Fleming a few balls later.

In his following over, he got Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan caught behind to reduce CSK to just 11-3 inside three overs. However, he was somewhat mysteriously taken off and only reappeared towards the end of the innings. Yet, he was as clinical then as he was at the start of the innings.

He bowled Albie Morkel, who looked dangerous with 42 to his name, and again a few balls later he bowled Muttiah Muralitharan. Then, off the last ball of his allocated overs, he cleaned up Makhaya Ntini to complete the first-ever six-wicket haul of the tournament.

---

#1 Alzarri Joseph: 6/12 vs the Sunrisers Hyderabad at IPL 2019

During Match 19 of the IPL 2019, Alzarri Joseph created history and surpassed Sohail Tanvir's record to register the best bowling figures in the marquee league's history.

Interestingly, it was Joseph's debut IPL game where he took 6/12 to break the backbone of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting order to register an emphatic 40-run win and was named the Man of the Match.

Defending a target of 137 runs to win, SRH openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow got the team off to a flier, adding 33 runs for the opening wicket. Joseph struck by dismissing David Warner on his first ball in the IPL.

In his next over, he got rid of Vijay Shankar with a skiddy bouncer. In his next spell, Joseph inflicted two consecutive blows, dismissing both Deepak Hooda and Rashid Khan.

With Hyderabad reeling at 91/8, Joseph bowled the 18th over of the game and took the last two wickets to register an emphatic win for the Mumbai Indians.