Lasith Malinga made his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians in 2009. He retired after the end of the 2019 edition. His 9-year journey in the league brought 170 wickets for him. He is still the 3rd-highest wicket-taker in the league’s history. He only represented Mumbai Indians in the IPL and has won 4 trophies with them. His illustrious IPL career consists of several incredible spells. Here, we will discuss the top 10 of them.
So, keep reading till the bottom!
1. 2/22 vs Chennai Super Kings In IPL 2013 Final
“Cometh the hour, cometh the man.” Such quotes only suit champions like Lasith Malinga, who always know how to rise to the occasion. It was the final of the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League, and MI were looking for their first IPL trophy. Thanks to an astonishing 32-ball 60 from Kieron Pollard, Mumbai were able to score 148 runs in their 20 overs. Chennai’s Michael Hussey was the top run-getter of the tournament.
Mumbai needed to see the back of him early, and the Sri Lankan produced the big blow in the first over of the chase. The fast bowler made it 2 in 2 by sending Suresh Raina back for a golden duck. The first over producing a couple of massive breakthroughs initiated a collapse that saw CSK falling to 58 for 8. Eventually, they lost the match by 23 runs.
2. 5/13 vs Delhi Daredevils In IPL 2011
Bowling first, MI handed the ball to the Lankan Tiger in the second over. He began by getting David Warner and Unmukt Chand bowled in the first 4 balls. In the 16th over, Venugopal Rao and Morne Morkel also lost their wickets to him. In his last over, he picked his 5th wicket as Delhi Daredevils were bowled out for 95. These are Malinga’s best bowling figures in IPL history. Mumbai got to the target for the loss of just 2 wickets.
3. 0/21 vs Rising Pune Supergiants In IPL 2017 Final
Mumbai Indians were in the hunt for their 3rd IPL title as they faced RPS. After losing 7 wickets for just 79 in 14.1 overs, the game seemed to have slipped out of their hands. However, a fighting innings from Krunal Pandya gave MI 130 runs to defend. Malinga gave only 8 runs in his first 2 overs to develop the run rate pressure. With 56 to defend off last 6 overs, he bowled a brilliant over that went for just 6.
Then, he came to bowl his last over as the equation was 30 off 18. He was spectacular yet again as the over went for just 7. Although the Sri Lankan was wicketless in his 4 overs, his economical bowling played a vital role in Mumbai’s 1-run win.
4. 4/16 vs Deccan Chargers In IPL 2012
Mumbai were bowling first in a league match against the Deccan Chargers. The Sri Lankan got his first and innings’ 3rd wicket in the form of Cameron White. In his last two overs, he grabbed 2 more wickets as DC were folded for just 100. Despite a destructive spell of 2 for 10 in 4 overs from Dale Steyn, MI chased this total with 11 balls and 5 wickets to spare.
5. 2/25 vs Chennai Super Kings In IPL 2015 Final
Mumbai Indians needed to defend 203 to get their 2nd IPL title. Malinga bowled an economical spell of 4 overs, that gave just 25 runs. He also bagged the wickets of MS Dhoni and Pawan Negi to help MI win by 41 runs.
6. 4/31 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore In IPL 2019
RCB were batting first, and they lost their first couple of wickets for 49 runs in 7 overs. Then, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers combined for a gigantic 95-run partnership. Lasith Malinga ended the 61-ball stand by dismissing Moeen for 50(32). The same over saw the back of dangerous Marcus Stoinis for a two-ball duck. The pacers picked two more wickets in the final over to stem the flow of runs. His brilliant spell of 4 for 31 in 4 overs reduced Bangalore to 171 for 7, which Mumbai chased comfortably.
7. 4/23 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad In IPL 2015
Mumbai Indians posted 157 for 8 while batting first. The opening partnership in the chase was flourishing before Warner fell to Malinga as the score was 45. The match went down to the wire, and the target was 31 off 12. The pacer rose to the occasion and dismissed Hanuman Vihari on the first ball of the 19th over. He removed two more batters in the same over as SRH were reduced to 127 for 8. His destructive spell of 4 for 23 handed Mumbai a 20-run victory.
8. 3/15 vs Chennai Super Kings In IPL 2009
The Lankan Tiger loved playing against Chennai, and here is another one of his incredible spells against the franchise. Batting first, Mumbai scored 165 for 7 against their arch-rivals. It was Lasith Malinga’s debut IPL match, and he struck the second ball while bowling the first over. Later in the chase, he got two more wickets to return with magnificent debut figures of 4 overs, 3 for 15. MI emerged victorious by a margin of 19 runs in this match.
9. 4/22 vs Kings XI Punjab In IPL 2010
Batting first, KXIP were looking good at 40 for 1 in the 5th over. Malinga got Mahinder Bisla for 11 to get his first scalp. The batting side was 124 for 4 in the 16th over when the Sri Lankan struck again to send Irfan Pathan back to the pavilion for 18(14). Shaun Marsh was the main man so far in the innings. He was batting at 57, but Malinga picked him too on the next ball. In his next over, he snaffled another scalp to end with the figures of 4 for 22 in his quota of 4 overs. MI chased the 165-run target with 3 deliveries and 4 wickets to spare.
10. 3/23 vs Chennai Super Kings In IPL 2015
It was the first qualifier, and Mumbai asked Chennai to score 188 runs to march to the final. The fast-bowler opened the innings with the ball and got rid of Dwayne Smith in the opening over. The match went deep, and Ravichandran Ashwin was looking dangerous after hitting 23 off 11. Malinga sent him back to shatter CSK’s chances. 2 balls later; he dismissed Ashish Nehra to finish the game. Mumbai defeated Chennai by a margin of 25 runs.
