Major League Cricket has marketed itself as a batter’s paradise — short boundaries, world-class hitters, and pitches that rarely offer much help to bowlers.
This makes what certain individuals have managed all the more striking.
Six-wicket hauls. Sub-3.00 economies. Middle-order collapses engineered in the space of three overs.
The best bowling figures in an innings in MLC tell a story the scoreboards often don’t: that elite bowling can still win T20 matches, even in the most batter-friendly conditions on the planet.
Best Bowling Figures in an Innings in MLC
Here is the complete ranked list, updated through MLC 2025.
What Counts as a Great Bowling Spell in T20 Cricket?
Bowling figures in T20 cricket measure three things: overs bowled, runs given away, and wickets taken.
A spell with four or more wickets is considered exceptional in any T20 league. A five-for is rare.
A six-wicket haul — which has happened once in MLC’s three seasons — is near-mythical.
Across MLC 2023, 2024, and 2025, only four five-wicket hauls have been recorded in total.
Six four-wicket performances have also made the list. Every entry below earned its place.
Top 10 Best Bowling Figures in an Innings in MLC — All Time
| Rank | Player | Ovrs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Team | Opposition | Ground | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SN Netravalkar | 3.5 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 2.34 | Washington | v SF | Morrisville | 22 Jul 2023 |
| 2 | MJ Owen | 3.0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 5.66 | Washington | v SF | Dallas | 28 Jun 2025 |
| 3 | WD Parnell | 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 5.00 | Seattle | v Texas | Morrisville | 21 Jul 2023 |
| 4 | AF Milne | 3.4 | 1 | 23 | 5 | 6.27 | Texas | v Seattle | Lauderhill | 5 Jul 2025 |
| 5 | Mohammad Mohsin | 3.0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2.66 | Texas | v Los Angeles | Dallas | 13 Jul 2023 |
| 6 | R Ravindra | 2.4 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 4.12 | Washington | v SF | Dallas | 25 Jul 2024 |
| 7 | Mohammad Mohsin | 3.5 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 3.39 | Texas | v SF | Morrisville | 10 Jul 2024 |
| 8 | R Ravindra | 3.5 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 4.17 | Washington | v Texas | Dallas | 19 Jul 2024 |
| 9 | TA Boult | 4.0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 4.25 | MI New York | v Los Angeles | Lauderhill | 3 Jul 2025 |
| 10 | IG Holland | 4.0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 4.75 | Washington | v Seattle | Oakland | 14 Jun 2025 |
Two things stand out immediately. Washington Freedom placed five bowlers in the top ten — more than any other team by a distance.
And pace dominates: eight of the ten spells were delivered by seamers or fast-medium bowlers, with spinners appearing just twice.
Player-by-Player Breakdown
1. Saurabh Netravalkar — 6/9 | Washington vs San Francisco | Morrisville | 22 Jul 2023
The record that defined MLC bowling. Netravalkar took six wickets for nine runs in under four overs, reducing San Francisco Unicorns to 103 all out in a chase of 134.
The economy rate of 2.34 in a T20 match is almost impossible to comprehend without watching the spell back.
He removed Marcus Stoinis, Shadab Khan, and Matthew Wade across his opening overs, then returned in the final over to complete the carnage.
There was no lucky dismissal or dropped catch to muddy the picture — this was a masterclass in left-arm swing bowling executed under pressure.
Netravalkar is a full-time software engineer at Oracle who plays international cricket for the USA on the side.
That combination of professional lives became a global talking point when he held his nerve in a Super Over against Pakistan at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
His MLC record had announced him long before that.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 2.34 | Washington won by 30 runs |
2. Mitchell Owen — 5/17 | Washington vs San Francisco | Dallas | 28 Jun 2025
Most people watching this match expected Owen to contribute with the bat.
As an aggressive top-order batter for Washington Freedom, bowling was always going to be secondary. His 5/17 turned that assumption completely on its head.
San Francisco had reached 97/2 and looked in control of their chase.
Owen ran through the middle order and lower order with pace variations and in-swing, collapsing the Unicorns from a position of comfort to 157/9.
The innings effectively ended as a contest inside six overs of his intervention.
He was simultaneously one of MLC 2025’s leading run-scorers — a Player of the Match award that genuinely reflected both dimensions of his performance.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 5.66 | Washington won by 12 runs |
3. Wayne Parnell — 5/20 | Seattle vs Texas | Morrisville | 21 Jul 2023
Four days before Netravalkar claimed the record, Parnell wrote his name into MLC history by bowling the first five-wicket haul the league had ever seen.
Captaining Seattle Orcas, he attacked the Texas Super Kings lineup with swing and intelligent length variation from over one, and never let up.
Seattle won by eight wickets. Parnell took home Player of the Match.
The Orcas reached the inaugural MLC final on the back of a performance that showed exactly what a South African international with over 300 T20 appearances brings to a new competition.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 5.00 | Seattle won by 8 wickets |
4. Adam Milne — 5/23 | Texas vs Seattle | Lauderhill | 5 Jul 2025
Milne’s MLC 2025 season deserves its own article.
His 5/23 against Seattle was the centrepiece of a campaign that produced 14 wickets in just five innings at an average of 8.5 — one of the most destructive single-season bowling returns the league has produced.
Raw pace was the weapon. Lauderhill’s surface gave him little assistance, but he didn’t need it.
Texas won by 51 runs and rose to the top of the 2025 points table. Milne was the reason.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.4 | 1 | 23 | 5 | 6.27 | Texas won by 51 runs |
5. Mohammad Mohsin — 4/8 | Texas vs Los Angeles | Dallas | 13 Jul 2023
Mohsin arrived for MLC’s inaugural season as something of an unknown quantity — a domestic pick from the Dallas Premier League with no international recognition to speak of.
His 4/8 against Los Angeles changed the conversation overnight.
The wickets he took weren’t cheap ones either. Sunil Narine, Adam Zampa, and Lockie Ferguson are not tailenders.
Dismissing that calibre of player for eight runs across three overs is remarkable by any standard. Texas won by 69 runs.
Mohsin was born in Pakistan, moved to the USA in 2021, and now represents American cricket.
He holds the all-time wicket record for Texas Super Kings in MLC.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2.66 | Texas won by 69 runs |
6. Rachin Ravindra — 4/11 | Washington vs San Francisco | Dallas | 25 Jul 2024
This was Ravindra’s T20 career-best, produced at the worst possible time for San Francisco — the 2024 MLC Qualifier.
His left-arm spin dismissed the top order methodically and derailed a chase that the Unicorns had looked capable of pulling off.
Twelve wickets in MLC 2024 at an average of 6.08 made him Washington’s second-highest wicket-taker.
Seven of those came in the knockout rounds. His value to the title-winning campaign went well beyond batting contributions.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 4.12 | Washington won by 7 wickets |
7. Mohammad Mohsin — 4/13 | Texas vs San Francisco | Morrisville | 10 Jul 2024
A year after his debut four-wicket haul, Mohsin did it again — becoming the first bowler in MLC history to record multiple such performances.
The second spell revealed a more complete bowler: better variations, more consistent lines, and a greater ability to dismiss batters who had already settled in.
His 2023 spell announced him. This one established him.
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | 13 | 4 | 3.39 |
8. Rachin Ravindra — 4/16 | Washington vs Texas | Dallas | 19 Jul 2024
Ravindra’s second four-for of MLC 2024 came in the semi-final against Texas — the game before Washington’s title win. Taking four wickets across knockout matches in back-to-back performances elevated him from a reliable contributor to a genuine match-winner. Washington’s coaching staff knew it. The stats confirmed it.
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | 16 | 4 | 4.17 |
9. Trent Boult — 4/17 | MI New York vs Los Angeles | Lauderhill | 3 Jul 2025
If you want a reminder of what elite swing bowling looks like from ball one, Boult’s 2025 MLC spell is the clip to watch.
A golden duck for Unmukt Chand off the first delivery set the tone.
Andre Russell and Andre Fletcher followed inside three overs, and the LA Knight Riders’ top order was gone before the innings had found its footing.
Boult returned for a second spell to remove Sherfane Rutherford and shut down the only remaining counterattack.
MI New York won by eight wickets, barely breaking a sweat.
He had rejoined the MI franchise network for IPL 2025 and walked straight into MLC with the same rhythm.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 4.25 | MI New York won by 8 wickets |
10. Ian Holland — 4/19 | Washington vs Seattle | Oakland | 14 Jun 2025
At 66/1 after the powerplay, Seattle Orcas were in a strong position.
Holland changed that — twice in the 14th over and once more at the death, restricting them to 145/9 and earning Player of the Match in a five-wicket win for Washington.
His legcutter was the standout delivery of the spell, repeatedly defeating the Orcas’ middle order.
Holland is the kind of player MLC has been built to showcase: a USA-based domestic cricketer getting a platform alongside international names, and taking full advantage of it.
| Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 4.75 | Washington won by 5 wickets |
Team-Wise Breakdown
| Team | Entries in Top 10 | Best Spell |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Freedom | 5 | 6/9 — Netravalkar |
| Texas Super Kings | 3 | 5/23 — Milne |
| Seattle Orcas | 1 | 5/20 — Parnell |
| MI New York | 1 | 4/17 — Boult |
Washington’s roster construction has consistently prioritised bowling options.
The results show up clearly here — five of the ten best spells in league history, including the record.
Season-Wise Distribution
| Season | Spells in Top 10 | Top Spell |
|---|---|---|
| MLC 2023 | 4 | 6/9 — Netravalkar |
| MLC 2024 | 3 | 4/11 — Ravindra |
| MLC 2025 | 3 | 5/17 — Owen |
Each season has contributed at least three entries to the list.
MLC 2023 leads with four, though that’s partly because Netravalkar and Parnell both produced five-wicket-plus hauls in the same week of the inaugural season.
Bowling Style Breakdown
Pace has dominated MLC’s top bowling performances. Eight of the ten spells were bowled by seamers or fast-medium operators.
MLC’s pitches — typically flat and true — don’t naturally assist spin, and the two spinners who have broken through (Ravindra and Mohsin) did so in Dallas, a venue that appears to offer marginally more assistance for slower bowlers than Morrisville or Lauderhill.
Key Observations
The most striking number on this entire list is Netravalkar’s economy of 2.34.
In a league where 9–10 runs per over is a routine asking rate, conceding fewer than 2.5 per over across a four-over spell is extraordinary.
Even Mohsin’s 4/8 — second on the economy chart at 2.66 — would look exceptional in a red-ball match.
Five of the ten spells were bowled at sub-5.00 economy.
That threshold matters in T20 cricket because it means the bowler was not only taking wickets but denying runs simultaneously — the hardest thing a T20 bowler can do.
FAQs: Best Bowling Figures in an Innings in MLC
- Who has the best bowling figures in MLC history?
Saurabh Netravalkar, with 6/9 for Washington Freedom against San Francisco Unicorns on July 22, 2023.
- How many five-wicket hauls have there been in MLC?
Four — Netravalkar (6/9), Owen (5/17), Parnell (5/20), and Milne (5/23) across three seasons.
- Who is the top wicket-taker in MLC all time?
Mohammad Mohsin leads Texas Super Kings’ all-time wicket tally in MLC and is among the league’s leading wicket-takers overall.
- Which team has produced the most top bowling spells in MLC?
Washington Freedom has five entries in the all-time top 10.
- Has any spinner taken a five-wicket haul in MLC?
No. The best figures by a spinner in MLC belong to Rachin Ravindra — 4/11 vs San Francisco on July 25, 2024.
- Which ground has produced the most top-10 bowling spells?
Dallas and Morrisville are level, each hosting three of the ten spells on this list.
Conclusion:
MLC’s reputation as a batter’s competition is well-earned. But this list proves the other side of the story.
When bowlers have clicked in this league — through swing, pace, or spin — they have produced performances that would stand up in any T20 competition anywhere in the world.
Netravalkar’s 6/9 may never be beaten. The rest of the list is still being written.
Stay Updated
MLC 2025 is still in progress, and records remain live. This page will be updated as the season concludes — so check back for any new entries that break into the all-time top 10.
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