Well it's that time when all the cricketing nations come together and participate in the World Cup. It is considered a very prestigious tournament considering it comes only once in every 4 years and this is the ultimate trophy which ODI Teams play for.
The last WC happened in India- Srilanka & Bangladesh and in the finals we had two of the co-hosts take on each other and India came out as triumphant champions.
So, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup is co- hosted by Australia & NewZeland. These two countries are hosting the World Cup together since 1992.
So far, in the 22 matches being played there have been many outstanding performances from many teams and there has also been an upset caused where Ireland beat West Indies.
In this blog post, I will feature the five best bowling performances according to me in this World Cup so far.
Despite the fact that the length of the boundaries being shortened, despite having two balls from both ends and having a mandatory five fielders inside the 30 yard circle throughout the length of the game, there have been some outstanding bowling performances which have humbled the opponents & where bowlers have single handedly won the games for their respective teams.
THE 5 Best Bowling Performances- MY PICKS
5. Imran Tahir( 5 for 45) vs West Indies: A Leg Spinner plays a very important role in team. He controls the situation through his tight bowling and with his various variations he possesses it sometimes gets difficult to play them.
One such leg spinner, who is extremely talented and who uses the googly to great effect is South Africa's leg spinner Imran Tahir. The bearded leg spinner was at his best. He produced some beautiful deliveries to end up with his career best bowling figures of 5 for 45. West Indies were demoralized mentally owing to the maujling AB De Villiers handed to their bowlers earlier in the day & to add to that Gayle & Samuels were dismissed cheaply.
All that was required from Imran Tahir was to keep the run flow down and build more pressure on the West Indies batsmen. Tahir exactly did that taking the wickets of Dwayne Smith, Lendil Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy to hand South Africa their biggest ever win in World Cups with regards to the defeat margin.
Heres a sneak peek into the fine display of leg spin bowling from Imran Tahir:
The highlights video could'not be posted because it has been blocked for copyright purposes.
4. Ravichandran Ashwin( 3 for 41 vs Pakistan): It can't get bigger than this in terms of the rivalry between India & Pakistan. Whenever, the arch rivals play against each other, it becomes an occassion in itself. People of both these cricket crazy countries eagerly wait for this contest. Owing to political tensions between these two countries over the past few years, the games between India & Pakistan have drastically reduced.
Keeping these factors in mind, India & Pakistan played each other in a completly sold out Adelaide Oval. With such an atmosphere, India having posted a 300 run total added to the pressure for the Pakistanis while chasing down the total. And to add to that, Pakistan have never beaten India in World Cup history. They have tried five times before and failed to beat their arch rivals.
So Pakistan were looking to break that rather dubious record against India in World Cups and had a decent beginning to their chase. Then India's captain MS Dhoni brought on his ace spinner R Ashwin who prior to the World Cup was sparsely used in the Test Series & Tri Series which preceded the WC. Ashwin's confidence at his own ability would have reduced a bit as a result of that.
So Ashwin was looking to prove a point and prove his critics wrong. And right from ball one he had perfect control and hit the perfect lengths. He constantly beat the bats of the Pakistan batsmen & he was spinning a web around them. It was amazing to see that Ashwin was using the off spinners & more importantly he was using his height to generate extra bounce to trouble the batsmen.
A testament of the performance of Ashwin on that big day was the fact that he bowled three maiden overs. That considering the modern era where batsmen rule the roost, is one great achievement.
This video is a fine example of one of Ashwin's deadliest weapons " The CARROM BALL". Just see how he bamboozles the batsmen!! A wicket worth savoring.
3. Mitchell Starc( 6 for 28) vs New Zealand: It was the clash of the co-hosts and the atmosphere was electrifying in Auckland. The contest was eagerly awaited by many cricket lovers as New Zealand have been on red hot form right through the tournament & they were up against a team which was on a roll recently, and who went into the tournament as the #1 ODI team.
Australia having gotten off to a rollicking start collapsed miraculously to post a very modest total of 151 runs. This was due to a few factors ie some reckless batting from the Australian batsmen and some fine swing & seam bowling from the NewZealand bowlers.
So after posting such a low total, the Kiwis skipper Brendon Mcclum came out and bludgeoned the spearhead of the Aussie attack Mitchel Johnson who ended up having a pretty ordinary day.
But then at the other end , Mitchell Starc was bowling some unplayable deliveries and he started building pressure at the other end. And once he got his first wicket he was on a roll. He was swinging the ball both ways at very high speeds, and the balls to get Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliot were due to the constant pressure he built up & were special deliveries indeed.
The Kiwis would have thought that they could coast to a victory in this game, but this fabulous spell from Starc stretched them to such an extent that the Newzealanders ended up winning the game but by one wicket. A top quality spell of fast swing bowling which would definitely have impressed many people who saw this game.
Kane Willamson was the solid force behind the Kiwis getting over the line midst the chaos surrounding him courtesy Mitchell Starc. In the video below, he gives us a small insight into what it took to win the game against the Aussies in such a tense situation. And also you guys get to enjoy an additional additional video of Mitchell Starcs 5 for 20 against West Indies.
2. Trent Boult( 5 for 27) vs Australia: In the same game described above, we witnessed one outstanding performance from the Kiwi speedster Trent Boult. He is an extremely talented, quick and nippy fast bowler who is gaining recognition across the globe through his performances in this World Cup so far.
Trent Boult came decimated the Australian middle order on the day. After a rather brisk start from Australia, Boult's spell proved to be the difference between the two sides. First he dismissed the Aussie captain Michael Clarke and then in quick succession he removed Glenn Maxwell & Mitchell Marsh before coming in later to remove Mitchell Johnson & Mitchell Starc.
It was a spell which tested the Australian batsmen on a good pitch and which got him the Man of the Match award. The world of cricket will definitely get to see more from Boult in the coming years. He is definitely here to stay.
In this video, you will see another hostile spell of fast bowling from Trent Boult against Sri Lanka thus proving the fact that he is extremely talented.
1. Tim Southee( 7 for 33) vs England: Saving the best for the last. The game against England was a really important fixture for Kiwi Fans. Com-meth the hour, Com-meth the Man.
Tim Southee is a lanky seamer who usually wont send shivers down the opposition batsmen on most occassions . But on that day game against England he was on a rampaging mission to demolish England. And boy! did he deliver.
Outstanding line & length bowling with pace lead to the downfall of the English Batsmen. The balls to get Ian Bell, Moen Ali & Joss Butler were that good that it would have got the best in the business out on any pitch.
A fantastic display of how quality fast bowling can decimate any good batting line up. Southee deservedly got the Man of the Match award for this performance which apparently happens to be the best bowling figures by a New Zealand bowler in their One Day International cricket history.,
Well need I say more...
Here is another example of Tim Southee's talent. Here we see him get a hattrick against Pakistan in a T20 game.
Because most of the videos of the spells I mentioned above have been blocked owing to copyright issues, I have uploaded the videos you see in this post. Through this I am sure you can get an idea of the talent all these bowlers have.
The last WC happened in India- Srilanka & Bangladesh and in the finals we had two of the co-hosts take on each other and India came out as triumphant champions.
So, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup is co- hosted by Australia & NewZeland. These two countries are hosting the World Cup together since 1992.
So far, in the 22 matches being played there have been many outstanding performances from many teams and there has also been an upset caused where Ireland beat West Indies.
In this blog post, I will feature the five best bowling performances according to me in this World Cup so far.
Despite the fact that the length of the boundaries being shortened, despite having two balls from both ends and having a mandatory five fielders inside the 30 yard circle throughout the length of the game, there have been some outstanding bowling performances which have humbled the opponents & where bowlers have single handedly won the games for their respective teams.
THE 5 Best Bowling Performances- MY PICKS
5. Imran Tahir( 5 for 45) vs West Indies: A Leg Spinner plays a very important role in team. He controls the situation through his tight bowling and with his various variations he possesses it sometimes gets difficult to play them.
One such leg spinner, who is extremely talented and who uses the googly to great effect is South Africa's leg spinner Imran Tahir. The bearded leg spinner was at his best. He produced some beautiful deliveries to end up with his career best bowling figures of 5 for 45. West Indies were demoralized mentally owing to the maujling AB De Villiers handed to their bowlers earlier in the day & to add to that Gayle & Samuels were dismissed cheaply.
All that was required from Imran Tahir was to keep the run flow down and build more pressure on the West Indies batsmen. Tahir exactly did that taking the wickets of Dwayne Smith, Lendil Simmons, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy to hand South Africa their biggest ever win in World Cups with regards to the defeat margin.
Heres a sneak peek into the fine display of leg spin bowling from Imran Tahir:
The highlights video could'not be posted because it has been blocked for copyright purposes.
4. Ravichandran Ashwin( 3 for 41 vs Pakistan): It can't get bigger than this in terms of the rivalry between India & Pakistan. Whenever, the arch rivals play against each other, it becomes an occassion in itself. People of both these cricket crazy countries eagerly wait for this contest. Owing to political tensions between these two countries over the past few years, the games between India & Pakistan have drastically reduced.
Keeping these factors in mind, India & Pakistan played each other in a completly sold out Adelaide Oval. With such an atmosphere, India having posted a 300 run total added to the pressure for the Pakistanis while chasing down the total. And to add to that, Pakistan have never beaten India in World Cup history. They have tried five times before and failed to beat their arch rivals.
So Pakistan were looking to break that rather dubious record against India in World Cups and had a decent beginning to their chase. Then India's captain MS Dhoni brought on his ace spinner R Ashwin who prior to the World Cup was sparsely used in the Test Series & Tri Series which preceded the WC. Ashwin's confidence at his own ability would have reduced a bit as a result of that.
So Ashwin was looking to prove a point and prove his critics wrong. And right from ball one he had perfect control and hit the perfect lengths. He constantly beat the bats of the Pakistan batsmen & he was spinning a web around them. It was amazing to see that Ashwin was using the off spinners & more importantly he was using his height to generate extra bounce to trouble the batsmen.
A testament of the performance of Ashwin on that big day was the fact that he bowled three maiden overs. That considering the modern era where batsmen rule the roost, is one great achievement.
3. Mitchell Starc( 6 for 28) vs New Zealand: It was the clash of the co-hosts and the atmosphere was electrifying in Auckland. The contest was eagerly awaited by many cricket lovers as New Zealand have been on red hot form right through the tournament & they were up against a team which was on a roll recently, and who went into the tournament as the #1 ODI team.
Australia having gotten off to a rollicking start collapsed miraculously to post a very modest total of 151 runs. This was due to a few factors ie some reckless batting from the Australian batsmen and some fine swing & seam bowling from the NewZealand bowlers.
So after posting such a low total, the Kiwis skipper Brendon Mcclum came out and bludgeoned the spearhead of the Aussie attack Mitchel Johnson who ended up having a pretty ordinary day.
But then at the other end , Mitchell Starc was bowling some unplayable deliveries and he started building pressure at the other end. And once he got his first wicket he was on a roll. He was swinging the ball both ways at very high speeds, and the balls to get Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliot were due to the constant pressure he built up & were special deliveries indeed.
The Kiwis would have thought that they could coast to a victory in this game, but this fabulous spell from Starc stretched them to such an extent that the Newzealanders ended up winning the game but by one wicket. A top quality spell of fast swing bowling which would definitely have impressed many people who saw this game.
Kane Willamson was the solid force behind the Kiwis getting over the line midst the chaos surrounding him courtesy Mitchell Starc. In the video below, he gives us a small insight into what it took to win the game against the Aussies in such a tense situation. And also you guys get to enjoy an additional additional video of Mitchell Starcs 5 for 20 against West Indies.
Trent Boult came decimated the Australian middle order on the day. After a rather brisk start from Australia, Boult's spell proved to be the difference between the two sides. First he dismissed the Aussie captain Michael Clarke and then in quick succession he removed Glenn Maxwell & Mitchell Marsh before coming in later to remove Mitchell Johnson & Mitchell Starc.
In this video, you will see another hostile spell of fast bowling from Trent Boult against Sri Lanka thus proving the fact that he is extremely talented.
1. Tim Southee( 7 for 33) vs England: Saving the best for the last. The game against England was a really important fixture for Kiwi Fans. Com-meth the hour, Com-meth the Man.
Tim Southee is a lanky seamer who usually wont send shivers down the opposition batsmen on most occassions . But on that day game against England he was on a rampaging mission to demolish England. And boy! did he deliver.
Outstanding line & length bowling with pace lead to the downfall of the English Batsmen. The balls to get Ian Bell, Moen Ali & Joss Butler were that good that it would have got the best in the business out on any pitch.
A fantastic display of how quality fast bowling can decimate any good batting line up. Southee deservedly got the Man of the Match award for this performance which apparently happens to be the best bowling figures by a New Zealand bowler in their One Day International cricket history.,
Well need I say more...
No comments:
Post a Comment