Marco Jansen bowled one of the most sensational spells of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on April 23. Jansen wrecked Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) top order in the first over he bowled at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. After a three-wicket over, Jansen termed it as his “best spell” in the limited-overs format.
The 21-year-old South African bowler started off with the wicket of RCB skipper Faf du Plessis. The fuller delivery beat former South Africa skipper as it beat his bat and hit the stumps. He followed it up with a perfect Test match length. Virat Kohli was drawn forward by Jansen. Kohli edged it to the first slip fielder Aiden Markram. Opener Anuj Rawat got out in similar fashion as well.
“I try to keep it as simple as possible, sometimes it works. I thought the ball was going to swing nicely after the first ball I bowled, the second ball was angled across the right hander, but I enjoyed the third wicket the most (Rawat's wicket). This is the best spell I have bowled with the white ball so far,” the left-arm pacer said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
The young pacer who made his Test debut against India earlier this year and impressed the experts, helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bundle out RCB for their second-lowest total of 68. RCB could not recover from the early damage and could not play the full 20 overs. Their innings included just six boundaries.
Before the clash against RCB, Jansen was expensive against Punjab Kings (PBKS) conceding 35 runs from his quota of four overs. In the other three games, he picked one wicket in every game and bowled economically. Since including Jansen in the side, SRH have not lost a single match and climbed to the second spot on the points table with five wins in a row.
Jansen had a base price of Rs 50 lakh in the IPL 2022 mega auctions. SRH roped him in for Rs 4.2 crore after tussle with former franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). The southpaw had earlier made his IPL debut with five-time IPL champions MI. He played two matches for Rohit Sharma-led side and picked up a couple of wickets from two games.
