New Delhi . Although getting 5 wickets in an innings is considered special in any format of cricket, but in T20 cricket, in which a bowler has to bowl a maximum of four overs, this achievement becomes very important. Talking about the Indian Premier League (IPL), bowlers have taken five or more wickets in an innings 29 times in this tournament which started in the year 2008. There are also two such bowlers who have accomplished the charisma of taking five wickets twice in IPL. But many people probably will not be aware that there is a bowler who has achieved the feat of taking five or more wickets twice in a single season of IPL.
This record also becomes special in the sense that it achieved this feat against the same team i.e. 5 wickets against the same team twice in an IPL season. This bowler is James Faulkner, who took five wickets twice in IPL-2013. Faulkner, who played cricket as a useful all-rounder in the Australia team, did so on behalf of Rajasthan Royals. The interesting thing is that both the times in the 2023 season, this feat was done against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Took five wickets for 20 runs on 27 April
On 27 April 2013, in the match played between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad (RR vs SRH) in Jaipur, Faulkner took five wickets for just 20 runs. RR won the match by 8 wickets and Falconer was declared the player of the match. Batting first, Sunrisers were able to score 144 runs losing 9 wickets in 20 overs in front of Faulkner’s excellent bowling. Faulkner dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara, Karn Sharma, Darren Sammy and Amit Mishra of the opposition team in this match. In response, with the help of Shane Watson’s unbeaten 98 runs, Rajasthan achieved the target of 145 runs by losing just two wickets.
5 wickets for 16 runs on 17th May but RR lost the match
In the match played on 17 May 2013, Faulkner once again took the tough test of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batters. However, Faulkner’s team had to face defeat in this match. While batting first, SRH’s team was able to score only 136 runs in 20 overs losing 9 wickets. Faulkner took 5 wickets for just 16 runs in this match and his ‘victims’ included Parthiv Patel, Shikhar Dhawan, Biplab Samantatre, Darren Sammy and Dale Steyn. In response, the Rajasthan team was able to score only 113 runs in 20 overs losing 9 wickets and lost the match by 23 runs.
Was in controversies during PSL last year
James Faulkner’s name came into the limelight last year when he left the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and returned to Australia due to a payment issue. Faulkner accused the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of not honoring the contract and constantly lying to him about payments. Faulkner was part of the Quetta Gladiators team in PSL 2022. According to media reports at that time, Faulkner was upset over the payment issue for a long time and was constantly talking to PCB officials. But on February 18, a pay dispute between him and the PCB had heated up. Faulkner had thrown his bat and helmet from the hotel lobby onto the chandelier. However, before leaving the airport, he had paid the damages to the hotel. The PCB termed Faulkner’s conduct as reprehensible and banned him from playing in the PSL.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : April 27, 2023, 12:50 IST