Source: Twitter
Veteran wrist spinner Amit Mishra climbed to the third spot in the list of all-time wicket-takers in the history of the Indian Premier League as he surpassed Lasith Malinga’s tally of 170 wickets during Match 43 of IPL 2023 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
After bowling the seventh over of the first innings during the match between Lucknow Super Giants and RCB, Mishra was brought back into the attack in the 15th over of the innings. The 40-year-old dismissed Suyash Prabhudesai on the third ball of the over, getting him holed out at long-off to claim the 171st scalp of his IPL career, thus dethroning Malinga from the third spot.
Mishra further extended his tally to 172 as he got the prized scalp of RCB captain Faf du Plessis in the 17th over of the innings. The wrist-spinner finished with figures of 2/21 in his three-over spell and helped LSG to restrict RCB to 126/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
In his 15-year-long IPL career, Mishra has played 160 matches and taken 172 wickets at an average of 23.75 and an economy of 7.34 with one five-wicket haul to his name. Mishra also holds the record for most hat tricks taken in the history of IPL, having achieved the feat thrice in his illustrious career in the editions 2008, 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Notably, Dwayne Bravo has the most number of wickets in IPL history with 183 scalps to his name from 161 matches with Yuzvendra Chahal closely following him on the second spot with 178 wickets from 148 matches.
Lucknow Super Giants need 127 runs to win
Coming back to the LSG vs RCB clash, RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow surface in Lucknow. The famed opening duo of Virat Kohli and du Plessis had a reserved start as they added 62 runs off 53 balls before Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Kohli on the last ball of the ninth over.
No batter could come to terms with the dryness of the pitch as LSG bowlers had a field day, claiming as many as 9 wickets. Naveen-ul-Haq (3/30), Ravi Bishnoi (2/21), Krishnappa Gowtham (1/10, 2 overs) and Mishra were all amongst the wickets as RCB could only reach 126/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Captain du Plessis was the top scorer for his side with his knock of 44 off 40 balls.