The art of death bowling can win you matches. The likes of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Dwayne Bravo, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, etc. have mastered it to help their teams win when all hope seemed lost.
This year, the 200-run mark has been breached 31 times, the most in a single IPL season in history. There are still 13 games to go.
In IPL 2022, a team posted 200+ totals 18 times, which was the most in a single season before this year's IPL.
While batters are soaking in the adulation, bowlers are feeling the heat. However, there have been a few bowlers who have defied the odds and put on some great displays at the death this year.
TSN takes a look at the best death bowlers in IPL 2023.
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Which bowlers have taken the most wickets at the death in IPL 2023?
This year, one only bowler has taken 10 or more wickets at the death: Matheesha Pathirana (12).
For someone who is playing his first full season in IPL and has only one T20I game with Sri Lanka to his name, Pathirana has exceeded expectations and has blossomed into a reliable death bowler under the tutelage of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) captain MS Dhoni.
Not just that, but he has been extremely economical too, considering how merciless batsmen have been at the death.
The following table takes a look at the stats of the five best bowlers at the death in IPL 2023.
| Player | Overs | Runs conceded | Wickets | Avg. | Econ. | Dot balls |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 16.2 | 136 | 12 | 11.33 | 8.32 | 37 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 11 | 65 | 9 | 7.22 | 5.90 | 25 |
| Tushar Deshpande | 13.5 | 165 | 8 | 20.63 | 11.92 | 23 |
| Mohit Sharma | 9.5 | 79 | 8 | 9.88 | 8.03 | 21 |
| Arshdeep Singh | 14.5 | 141 | 7 | 20.14 | 9.50 | 29 |
MORE: IPL most wickets, best bowling figures and other bowling records
