This World Cup has seen some amazing performances so far both with the bat and ball. There have been massive scores and centuries aplenty from the batsmen but the bowlers are not too far behind. There have been some amazing spells by bowlers across the board. Here, we look at a few of them that have left a mark in this tournament.
1. Mitchell Starc vs New Zealand
The pacy Australian has been nothing short of a revelation this World Cup. It would be safe to say that he has ‘snatched’ the tag of Australia’s pace spearhead from Mitchell Johnson with his mind blowing performances. His spell of 6/28 against New Zealand is probably the spell of the tournament. Defending a very low score he almost took Australia home with his blistering death bowling and at one point almost took a hattrick.
2. Tim Southee vs England
The Kiwis started off their campaign with a thumping win over England. The master of ceremonies this time was Tim Southee who created havoc amongst the English with a spell full of swing and seam. He has the best figures in this tournament picking up 7 wickets for 33 runs.
3. Wahab Riaz vs Australia
If there was any semblance of the Pakistan of old it was from this man. He picked up 2 wickets for 54 runs off 9 overs but that surely doesn’t reflect his performance on the day. At the receiving end was Shane Watson who got a taste of bouncers whizzing past his nose. Riaz was unlucky to have not picked up his wicket and that of Maxwell later as both these catches were dropped. His spell was full of pace and bouncers and many say this was the spell of the tournament purely on the basis of the effort put in by the man.
4. Trent Boult vs Australia
The Black Caps were at it again with a devastating spell from Trent Boult who picked up a five wicket haul for 27 runs. Australia was struck that day with a ‘bolt’ of lightning from Boult as he wrecked havoc amongst the Australian top order. To be fair to Boult he took his 5 wickets in 3 overs! Call that some kind of effort!
5. Rubel Hossain vs England
If Bangladesh reached the quarter-finals it was purely on the basis of Rubel Hossain’s 4 wicket haul against England. He bowled at speeds which the English were surely not expecting. And all his wickets were key batsmen who could have taken their team to victory at it included the likes of Eoin Morgan.
6. Jerome Taylor vs Pakistan
Picking up 3 wickets for 15 runs off 7 overs would certainly deserve a mention. He virtually blew out the opposition with his pace and nullified whatever chance the opposition had to chase down the score.
Many would argue about the hattrick takers not finding a mention. But life is much beyond how good things look on paper. Doesn’t it?
By Ashirbad Hazarika
