The 40 year old World Cup history had seen the West Indian fast bowling quartet of Malcom Marshall, Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts, Indian spin quartet of Bishan Singh Bedi, EAS Prasanna, VB Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akthar bowling in tandem apart from some individual greats including Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Bond, Ian Botham, Shaun Pollock, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Kapil Dev. In spite of that, there are numerous instances when the batsmen stamp their authority over the bowlers and only in few instances, the bowlers managed to get the better of their rivals on the field. Here is the list of top 5 bowling spells from the World Cup.
Andy Bichel 7-20 vs England, 2003 World Cup
Australia’s Andy Bichel takes the top spot in the list of top 5 spells in the World Cups. Australia was in a giant killing spree in the 2003 World Cup as they were trashing each and every team that came their way. It was the turn of their arch rivals England to try and stop their unbeaten run in the World Cup. The oldest rivalry continued on a fine Sunday morning at Port Elizabeth with England winning the toss and choosing to bat. It was all about Aussie pacer Andy Bichel who ran riot in the English batting order.
Andy Bichel celebrates after getting rid of Nick Knight
Four wickets in his first spell put the England batsmen on the back-foot as Alec Stewart and Andrew Flintoff found it difficult to score runs at a brisk pace. The 90 run partnership off 25 overs was ended when Bichel returned for his second spell in which he took 3 wickets. In total, he finished with figures of 10-0-20-7. After facing a minor scare initially, Australia narrowly defeated England by 2 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Needing 73 off the last 13 overs with just two wickets in hand, Michael Beven (74*) and Andy Bichel (34*) steered the eventual World Champions home.
Gary Gilmour 6-14 vs England, 1975 World Cup
England and Australia faced off each other to book a place in the finals of 1975 World Cup. It was expected to be a thrilling clash between equals at the Headingley, Leeds. But it was Australia all the way ever since they won the toss and chose to field. Gary Gilmour was on fire as he rattled England’s top-order. By the time he completed his spell of 12 overs, he had the Poms reeling at 36-6 and Gilmour finished with a personal best of 12-6-14-6.
Rod Marsh takes a stunning catch of Tony Grieg off Gary Gilmour’s bowling
Chasing 94 to win from 60 overs, it was Gilmour once again who starred with the bat and steered his side home by 4 wickets with an unbeaten 28. He shared a crucial unbroken partnership of 55 with Doug Walters for the seventh wicket which saved the Aussies from blushes.
Shane Bond 6-23 vs Australia, 2003 World Cup
In their entire 2003 World Cup campaign, Australia seemed to be on a trouble only once and it was against their Trans-Tasmanian rivals New Zealand at Port Elizabeth. Asked to bat first by the Kiwis skipper Stephen Fleming, fiery pacer Shane Bond reduced the Aussies to 31-3 in 9 overs before he came back to send Damien Martyn and Ian Harvey to the pavilion and put them in a spot of bother at 84-6. Michael Beven and Andy Bichel 97 run partnership before Jacob Oram dismissed Beven and Bond accounted for Bichel in his last over. Inspite of claiming a match figure of 10-1-23-6, he couldn’t stop the Aussies running away with the match by a big margin of 96 runs. Brett Lee took 5-42 in 9 overs to steer Australia home.
Shane Bond is ecstatic after castling Ian Harvey
Lasith Malinga 4-54 vs South Africa, 2007 World Cup
The only reason why Lasith Malinga’s figures of 9.2-0-54-4 in a losing cause against South Africa at Guyana during the Super Eights of the 2007 World Cup has been included in the list of top 5 spells of World Cups is because it was the only instance in International Cricket that a bowler scalped a wicket off four consecutive balls. With just 4 runs required to win from 32 balls with 5 wickets in hand, South Africa were cruising to seal their spot in the semis. But the Chokers almost chocked as Lasith Malinga castled Shaun Pollock and had Andrew Hall at covers off the last two balls of his eight over.
Lasith Malinga successfully appeals for the wicket of Jacques Kallis to complete his hat-trick
Chaminda Vaas just conceded a single run in the next over and Malinga was streaming in to bowl the hat-trick ball against a well-set Jacques Kallis. But to his excitement, Malinga had Kallis caught behind and created history when he castled Makhaya Ntini the next ball to reduce the equation to 3 runs off 22 balls with just a lone wicket in hand. Eventually, South Africa managed to cruise home with 10 balls to spare.
Bishan Singh Bedi vs East Africa, 1975 World Cup
Taking wickets in an ODI is as important as keeping the batsmen at bay with some outstanding bowling. This is the reason why Bishan Singh Bedi’s 12-8-6-1 against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup was included in the list of top 5 spells in the World Cup. This spell from India’s best spinner exhibited a display of some accurate spin bowling. The batsmen had no clue against Bedi as he created pressure and let the bowlers from the other end to take the wickets. When he completed his quota of 12 overs, he had given away just 6 runs apart from taking a wicket. He bowled as many as 8 maidens in his spell that had an economy of just 0.50, which was absolutely astonishing.
Bishan Singh Bedi in action against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup
The Top 5 spells in World Cups are:
|
S.No |
Bowler |
Team |
Opposition |
Figures |
Edition |
|
1 |
Andy Bichel |
Australia |
England |
7-20 |
2003 |
|
2 |
Gary Gilmour |
Australia |
England |
6-14 |
1975 |
|
3 |
Shane Bond |
New Zealand |
Australia |
6-23 |
2003 |
|
4 |
Lasith Malinga |
Sri Lanka |
South Africa |
4-56 |
2007 |
|
5 |
BS Bedi |
India |
East Africa |
1-6 |
1975 |