Sportzwiki’s Year Review 2016: Top 5 Test Bowling Performances

Dec 19, 2016 at 2:16 PM

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Sportzwiki’s Year Review 2016: Top 5 Test Bowling Performances

“You miss, I hit”, the game’s age old saying came back into the picture ever since the first wicket of 2016 fell down. The year which had more to do with the success of bowlers than their counterparts in Tests precisely, saw plethora of records getting stitched to their names.

If not many, then two eight-wicket hauls, four seven-wicket hauls, twenty one six-wicket hauls and fourteen five-wicket hauls so far were among the headlines in the sports section next morning.

So who all performed the best? What were the best bowling figures this year in Test cricket? Here’s a list:

5. Stuart Broad (6-17 against South Africa, Johannesburg)

Former England Twenty-20 skipper Stuart Broad is among the highest wicket-takers in 2016, standing third so far with 46 scalps to his name. The lanky pacer bowled a match-winning spell of 6/17 against South Africa in the third Test match at Johannesburg, his best figures in this calendar year.

Broad was at his imperious best, given the bouncy track underneath and overcast conditions. He took no time in ripping apart the Proteas batting line-up. Starting the proceedings with Dean Elgar, Broad pitched short and made the surface do the talking, picking him up for 15. Couple of overs later, he removed Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Temba Bavuma in quick session, reducing the hosts to 35 for five from 23 for zero.

England could sniff win as he notched up their last recognize batsman Faf du Plessis as his sixth wicket, putting an end to South Africa’s innings for just 83, leaving them a target of 73 runs to chase. England, however, successfully crossed the winning line with eight wickets in hand.

  1. Mehedi Hasan Miraz (6/77 vs England, Dhaka)
Mehedi Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh reacts after picking up a six-wicket haul against England.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh reacts after picking up a six-wicket haul against England.

Bangladesh, over the years, have made a habit of producing exciting and promising talents, from Mustafizur Rahman in 2015 to Mehedi Hasan Miraz in 2016. In the two-match series against England at home, the 19-year-old rookie made his Test debut at Chittagong and grabbed six-wickets. However, it was another six-fer in the second Test which welcomed appreciations from all playing nations.

Chasing 273, England were 100 for no loss, looking set to seal the series on foreign soil. Came in the off-spinner, who had Alastair Cook out three times in the series. Mehedi was all over them, trapping half a dozen scalps into his spin web. Following this, the visitors scripted their worst ever collapse in recent past, losing all ten wickets within 64 runs.

Courtesy Mehedi, Bangladesh registered a famous win over England and leveled the two-match series 1-1. He was also named as the Player-of-the-Series for picking up 19 wickets.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin (7/59 vs New Zealand, Indore)

India's Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates after picking up a New Zealand wicket in the Indore Tests.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates after picking up a New Zealand wicket in the Indore Test.

India’s ace-spinner and by distance the best bowler of 2016 with a total of 71 wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin has all reasons in the world to feel proud of. The off-spinner in the past twelve months has produced some breath-taking performances. Out of the two seven-wicket hauls he took in an innings this year, one against New Zealand at Indore makes the list.

Having won the three-match series 2-0, India were aiming for a whitewash against New Zealand in the third Test at Indore, and who apart from Ravichandran Ashwin could take up the challenge. The 30-year-old, in the second innings, wreaked havoc as he ran through the batting line-up with his magic. From finding the gap between bat-pad to trapping the batsman in-front of stumps, Ashwin banished any hopes of visitors saving the Test.

His magnificent match figures of 13/140 helped India whitewash Kane Williamson’s men 3-0.

2. Rangana Herath (8/63 vs Zimbabwe, Harare)

Rangana Herath led Sri Lanka to a big win over Zimbabwe with the match figures of 13 for 152.
Rangana Herath led Sri Lanka to a big win over Zimbabwe with the match figures of 13 for 152.

Following the finger-turners, Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath couldn’t resist himself from making it to the list. The veteran left-arm orthodox baffled the Zimbabwe batting line-up with a towering spell of eight wickets. Touring the south-eastern part of Africa for two Tests, Sri Lanka were already 1-0 up in the series going into the Harare Test.

The spinner, who had a fifer in the first innings, showed no mercy in the second innings with his loppers and flippers. Concentrating more on line & length than turn, Herath helped the close-in fielders with some catching practice, as four of his eight wickets were caught in that cordon.

Riding on his performance, Sri Lanka dismissed Zimbabwe for 233, setting up a massive 257-run win and thus took the series home.

For clinching 13 wickets in the match, the spinner was bestowed as the Player-of-the-Match.

  1. Devendra Bishoo (8/49 vs Pakistan, Dubai)
Devendra Bishoo of West Indies picked up his career best figures of 8 for 49 against Pakistan at Dubai.
Devendra Bishoo of West Indies picked up his career best figures of 8 for 49 against Pakistan at Dubai.

The first one in the list is West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, who grabbed his career best-figures of eight for 49 against Pakistan at Dubai in the second ever Day and Night Test match.

It was Pakistan, who took the honors early on, as they posted a mammoth 579 in their first innings, courtesy to a triple hundred from opener Azhar Ali. Managing 357 in the reply, West Indies came onto bowl even after trailing by 222 runs. It was Bishoo then who spilled his magic and teared apart the hosts’ batting line-up for just 123, picking up eight wickets, second best by a leg-spinner in Tests after Anil Kumble.

So was his impact that out of ten batsmen, only four managed to score runs in double figures. However, his jaw dropping spell couldn’t help the West Indies get over the line as they were dismissed for 289 runs, 56 short of the target.

Pakistan might have won the Day & Night Tests but the match will largely be remembered for Bishoo’s eight in the second innings.

 

*Stats updated as per December 18, 2016

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