Sportzwiki’s Year Review 2016 – Top 5 Spells In ODIs
Dec 20, 2016 at 3:37 PM
In this modern age of the game, bowling has become an art too tedious. The reason for that is pretty simple and uncomplicated indeed. With the gap between the bat and ball widening, due to factors such as willow thickness, boundary sizes and field restrictions, games with high scores have been a very frequent sight. 2016 had its share of high scoring games as well, as the batsmen made merry with relatively easier conditions on offer.
Nevertheless, there is still hope for the bowlers as this year, the fans witnessed some spectacular bowling displays. Displays, where the bowlers actually had the upper hand over the batsmen and some performances yielded positive outcomes. Below, we go through the top 5 ODI bowling performances of the year, where the bowlers put forward a fine show:
- John Hastings – 6-45 vs Sri Lanka, Dambulla:
The brawny pacer from Victoria had an excellent 2016 as he emerged as Australia’s leading pacer in terms of wickets taken. Hastings is not a typical Australian pacer who will knock over the batsman with express pace and bounce. Rather, he is a candidate who relies heavily on accuracy and pitching the heavy ball. His moment to savor came against Sri Lanka at Dambulla this year where he grabbed a well-deserved six-wicket haul. Hastings began by dismantling the top order with early strikes and ended up dismissing the lower-order to ensure that the Sri Lankans were restricted to a below par total. Courtesy his performance, Australian won the game quite comfortably with 19 overs to spare.
- Imran Tahir – 7-45 vs West Indies, St Kitts:
Arguably, Tahir has been South Africa’s biggest asset with the ball and his fantastic numbers make him the leading spinner in ODI cricket at the moment. The leggie is a genuine wicket- taker and due to his knack of picking wickets frequently, his economy is towards the lower side as well. Tahir’s best bowling performance this year came against the West Indies in a Tri-Series also featuring Australia. Tahir bagged a seven wicket haul, as the Proteas decimated the West Indies by 139 runs. In the nine overs he bowled, Tahir picked up seven wickets.
- Sunil Narine – 6-27 vs South Africa, Guyana:
In the series opener of that very Tri-Series, it was Sunil Narine who made merry against the South African batsmen. The mystery spinner’s performance is ranked better than Tahir, because it came at a point where he bowled under greater pressure, as compared to Tahir, who had the cushion of more than 340 runs to defend. Narine bamboozled the Proteas with his mystery spin and picked the prized scalp of Hashim Amla in his six wickets. His spell meant the Proteas were restricted to just 188 and in turn the hosts chased that down with 11 balls remaining.
- Amit Mishra 5-18 vs New Zealand, Vizag:
Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra had an absolute party against New Zealand in the series decider at Visakhapatnam in October. On a pitch that had quite a lot for the spinners, Mishra exploited the conditions fully as he spun a web around the Kiwi batsmen. In his six-over spell, Mishra conceded 18, picking up five wickets to demolish the visitors. Mishra was simply unplayable as his dynamic spell meant India wrapped up the game and series with a colossal margin of 190 runs. In that series, Mishra picked up 15 wickets and ended up being the Man of the Series.
- Kane Richardson 5-68 vs India, Canberra:
This burst from Richardson wasn’t a typical dream spell for a pacer, but finds its way at the top for a very clear reason. As a result of Richardson’s efficient display, Australia turned a certain defeat into an unlikely victory against the reputed Indian batting line-up on a flaccid Canberra surface. Chasing 349 to win, it just seemed a formality for India as they were well placed at 277-1 in 37.1 overs. With Virat Kohli going all guns blazing, it was evident India would wrap up the game with ease. But then began a turnaround, as Richardson foxed Kohli to spark an embarrassing collapse for India. After Kohli was dismissed, there was a flurry of wickets as Richardson ran riot, dismissing the lower middle-order.
Richardson’s spell was so effective that Australia ended up dismissing India for 323. The game changed completely within 40 minutes thanks to a match winning performance from Richardson. Talk about a match winning spell from a hopeless situation, you will find very few this year!