Did IPL ever start with a no-ball?
Nothing gives a bowler more joy than picking up a wicket on the very first ball of any match. Whether playing for a country or a franchise, a bowler gets more pumped up when he picks a wicket on the first delivery of the match. But bowling a no-ball on the first ball is a rarity. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 started with a front-foot no-ball, which happened for the first time.
The 15th edition of the IPL kicked off with a clash between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 26, 2022, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was a re-match of the last year’s final as both the sides met in the summit clash with CSK defeating KKR to clinch their fourth IPL title. New KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first. And his seamer Umesh Yadav did something which never happened in the past in the IPL.
Bowling the first over, the right-arm fast bowler bowled a no-ball to CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad who took the strike. This instance occurred for the very first time in the history of IPL. CSK got a free hit and luckily for Yadav and KKR, Gaikwad didn’t score any run. Yadav bowled quite an eventful first over on the opening night as the next ball that came out from his hand was a wide delivery.
The next ball was a dot delivery and then the pacer got his rhythm back as he dismissed last year’s orange cap winner Gaikwad for a duck. He bowled another wide to new batter Robin Uthappa as he conceded just three runs for one wicket in the first over. He didn’t stop there as he went on to get rid of Kiwi batter Devon Conway, who was making his IPL debut, for just three runs. For a terrific spell of two wickets for 20 runs in four overs, Yadav was adjudged with the Player of the Match award as his side also won the match. He bowled 15 dots with two wides and that famous solitary no-ball in his spell.
