IPL debutant Alzarri Joseph breaks record for best bowling figures

Mumbai Indians cricketer Alzarri Joseph celebrates after taking six wickets and winning the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians at The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on 6 April - AFP

A stunning match-winning debut from Alzarri Joseph helped Mumbai Indians defend 136/7 against high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad, the West Indies paceman picking up figures of 6/12 – the best-ever bowling figures in the IPL – as his side prevailed by 40 runs.

Joseph made an emphatic start to his tenure with the Mumbai Indians, taking the wicket of David Warner with the first ball of his IPL career. He then went on to scalp Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda before cleaning up the tail. 

Sunrisers had looked favourites to take home victory after a quality bowling effort, but Joseph and Mumbai topped their potency with the ball, and the game might have looked different had another West Indian – all-rounder Kieron Pollard – not propelled the Indians to a defendable total with some huge hits. Pollard exploded in the final knockings of the innings, notching a 26-ball 46, lifting his side from 97/7 at the end start of the 18th over to 136/7, smashing four sixes along the way. 

Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi was magnificent for his 1/13, taking the first wicket of the match in the fourth over with the wicket of Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (11).

Mumbai were squeezed by a quality bowling effort, Sandeep Sharma taking 1/20 from his three, and Rashid Khan economical for his 1/27. Siddarth Kaul (2/34) picked up two wickets as well, dismissing Quinton de Kock (19) and Krunal Pandya (6).

With the Sunrisers requiring just 137 for victory, it looked as if Mumbai were staring down the barrel of a third defeat, but Hyderabad never got going with their chase, and after losing in-form openers Warner (15) and Jonny Bairstow (16) early on, the away side piled on the pressure. 

Hooda top-scored with just 20, and Joseph wrapped up a magnificent comeback for his side and an immensely memorable debut with the wicket of Kaul in the 18th over, skittling Sunrisers for 96 – their lowest ever score.