Alzarri Joseph arrives: From Mumbai Indians’ replacement pacer to IPL’s best-ever bowling figures

Exactly 64 days ago, Alzarri Joseph was representing the West Indies in a Test match against England in his hometown. His mother had died just a few hours earlier, but it didn’t stop the pacer from taking the field for his country and taking two wickets that day.

On Saturday night, the 22-year-old played with a similar kind of passion. And this time, he went on to create a major cricketing record. Making his Indian Premier League debut, Joseph registered the best bowling figures in the T20 tournament’s 12-year history.

Much of the talk before Saturday’s clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians centered around the former’s irrepressible opening combination of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. Little did anyone know that the night would belong to an unheralded Antiguan.

Defending a meagre total of 136 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, thanks to a face-saving 46 not out by Kieron Pollard at the end, Mumbai Indians knew they had to strike early with the ball. Warner and Bairstow’s partnership was yet to be broken inside the powerplay overs, they each had a century to their name this season, and another flying start for them would quite easily finish off the tie.

After Rahul Chahar’s dismissal of Bairstow in the third over, Rohit Sharma decided it was time to hand the ball to Joseph. And the youngster didn’t disappoint his captain. In his very first ball in the IPL, he shattered the stumps of one of the tournament’s most successful batsmen. It wasn’t the greatest delivery, pitched full and wide, but it had enough juice in it to get Warner’s inside edge. The icing on the cake was the fact that the over turned out to be a maiden.

However, even at this juncture in the match, the hosts needed just a little over a run a ball. Mumbai’s dismal turn with the bat had ensured they didn’t have the luxury to merely contain the run-flow, getting wickets consistently was the only route to victory.

The visitors’ next moment of success came in Joseph’s second over. The fast-bowler got one to hurry on to Vijay Shankar, the right-hander attempted a pull but the ball ballooned up and landed in Hardik Pandya’s hands at point. Hyderabad had been reduced to 42/3 just before the end of the powerplay and Mumbai could sense a real opportunity.

From there on, Sharma rotated his bowlers well, with leg-spinner Chahar slipping in a wonderful spell of 2/21 from his four overs, and the Sunrisers stuttered their way to 84/5 in 15 overs. They needed 53 to win off 30, not the easiest proposition but far from impossible as well. However, it was in the very next over that Joseph put the outcome of the match beyond doubt.

Alzarri arrives

The 2016 Under-19 World Cup-winner first castled Deepak Hooda, before holding on to a return catch by the dangerous Rashid Khan off the next delivery. One could sense that the crowd was rallying behind the rookie in the opposition’s ranks to complete his hat-trick, but it was denied by SRH skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

By the end of the 16th over, Hyderabad had been reduced to 89/7 and Joseph had achieved sensational figures of 4/7 from his three overs. But the best was yet to come. In his final over, he knocked over Kumar’s middle stump to bag a truly memorable five-wicket haul. And two balls later, he nicked-off Siddarth Kaul to complete the finest spell in IPL history – six wickets for 12 runs from 3.4 overs. Yes, all this in his debut game. A fairytale on the cricket field if there ever was one.

Mumbai Indians had pulled-off an improbable 40-run victory thanks to Joseph’s heroics, with Sunrisers Hyderabad getting bowled out inside 100 runs for the first time ever.

“It was a sensational bowling effort from Alzarri, to perform like this in first game,” MI captain Sharma said after the match. “He’s come in on a lot of confidence from the Caribbean Premier League and he’s carrying it here.”

Never mind the kind words from the skipper, Joseph’s journey to the Mumbai Indians team wasn’t always certain. He was included in the three-time champions’ squad at the last minute, with New Zealand’s Adam Milne getting ruled out due to injury before the start of the season. The West Indian finally made it to the playing XI after veteran Lasith Malinga had to return to Sri Lanka to participate in a domestic tournament. Now that he’s here, though, Joseph doesn’t look like he’s going to leave anytime soon.

“It is a dream. I could not have asked for a better start,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony after receiving his Player of the Match award. “I just backed my plans and it worked. My plan was to keep it simple and back myself. I know we had a game to win and I was focused on that. The boys are playing well and putting in a lot of hard work. The coaches are also helping us with their inputs.”

Joseph made his international debut for the West Indies in a Test match against India in 2016. In the same year, he also played his first ODI in a match at Sharjah against Pakistan. He hasn’t been a regular feature in the Windies senior team since, but has put in some impressive performances for his CPL side St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. If his historic feat on Saturday is anything to go by, a call-up for his country’s T20 team shouldn’t be far away.