Last week I wrote about the bowlers whose performances in a test match ended in a losing Cause. Today I am writing about the bowlers whose performances in One Day International (ODI) matches ended in a losing cause.
In ODI matches bowlers are permitted to bowl a max of 20% of overs to be bowled by the team, therefore their task becomes really difficult because along with their primary aim of getting the wickets they have to contain the runs which are being scored by batsmen. So when their best performance finally ends in a losing cause then it is really heartbreaking for them.
The top 10 bowling performances in ODI matches that ended in losing cause are listed below
#10 Ashish Nehra (Ind) 6/59- Ind v SL in SL Oct 2005.
SL won the toss and elected to bat.
SL scored 281/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Ashish took the wickets of Atapattu bowled (11), Dilhara lbw (9), Sangakkara caught (8), Jawawardene caught (83) Dilshan bowled (7) Chandana caught (2). The major score was by RP Arnold (64) & Jayasuriya (67).
Ashish Nehra’s analysis 10-1-59-6.
In their reply, India could score only 263/9 ( Ganguly 26, Sehwag 48, Dravid 69, Yuvraj 42, Kaif 31. Vaas 2/38, Chandanna 2/38).
#9 Christopher Mpofu (Zim) 6/52- Zim v Kenya at Nairobi Oct 2008
Kenya won the toss and elected to bat.
They scored 285/9, and here Mpofu performed and he got the wickets of Obuya caught (9), Tikolo caught (102) Ouma caught (12) Kamande caught (18) Odhiambo bowled(11) and mongongo caught (0), the major score was by AA Obanda 71.
In reply Zim were all out 190 in 38.1 overs ( Maruma 32, taibu 25, Matsikenyeri 56, Chakabva 41, H Varaiya 3/53.)
Mpofu’s analysis 10-1-52-6.
#8 Tony Gray (WI) 6/50– WI v Aus at Port of Spain March 1991.
WI won the toss and elected to field.
Aus scored 172/9 in 34 overs, and Gray took 6 wickets and his victims were ( G Marsh caught 23, Dean Jones bowled 64, Allan Border caught WK 0, Steve Waugh bowled 26, P Taylor Caught & bowled 1. MR Whitney caught 0)
In reply, WI was all out for 127 in 31.1 overs. ( Haynes 45, Richards 27, Whitney 3/41. Mcdermott 3/29.
Gray’s analysis 9-0-50-6.
#7 Chris Woakes (Eng) 6/45- Eng v Aus at Brisbane, Jan 30, 2015
Aus won the toss and elected to bat.
Aus scored 249 in 49.3 overs, and Woakes took 6 wickets, his victims were (Watson caught 16, M Clarke caught 54, CL White caught WK 16, Hussey bowled 34, Hastings caught 13, B Lee caught 0. Another major score was by Haddin 37). Woakes analysis 10-0-45-6.
In reply, Eng were all out 198 in 45.3 overs ( Pieterson 40, Bell 36, Anderson 20, Finn 35, Watson 3/25.
Chris Woakes was declared man of the match, which was no consolation for him, as his effort happened to be in losing cause.
# 6 Ajit Agarkar (Ind) 6/42– Ind v Aus at Melbourne Jan 9, 2004.
Aus won the toss and elected to bat.
They scored 288 in 48.3. and Agarkar’s 6 victims were ( Gilchrist caught 34, Harvey caught 28, Hayden caught 20, Martyn caught 0, Symonds caught 88, BA Williams caught 0. Another major score was by Clarke 63.) Agarkar’s analysis 9.3-1-42-6.
In reply, India could score 270 in 49 overs ( Sehwag 35, Tendulkar 63, Ganguly 82, Yuvraj Singh 25. Harvey 3/52.
The man of the match was Andrew Symonds.
# 5 Dale Steyn (SA) 6/39– SA v Pak ,at Johannasberg , Nov 7, 2013. SA won the toss and opted to field first.
Pak scored 262 all out in 45 overs, with Dale Steyn taking 6 wickets and his victims were ( Nasir Jamshed bowled 2, Mohd Hafeez caught 8, Umar Akmal caught 42, Afridi caught 11, Bilawal Bhatti caught 21, Saeed Ajmal caught o, the major scorer was Ahmed Shehzad 102. Steyn’s analysis was 9-0-39-6.
SA , in the nail-biting finish lost the match by 1 run, as they scored 261/6 in 50 overs. ( Amla 98, de Kock 47,de Villers 74. Junaid Khan 3/42.)
It is really heartbreaking when your team fell short of 2 runs for victory, after your wonderful bowling performance.
#4 Shaun Pollock (SA) 6/35– SA v WI at East London Jan 24, 1998.
SA won the toss and elected to field.
WI in their allotted 50 overs scored 292/9, with Pollock taking 6 wickets, he accounted for the wickets of (Wallace caught 0, Chanderpaul bowled 150, McLean caught 0, Brian Lara caught 3, Semple bowled 1, Ambrose caught 2. Another major score was by Carl Hooper 108. Pollock analysis 10-2-35-6.
South Africa could score only 249 in 46.5 overs. ( Kallis 51, Rhodes 21, Cronje 34,Boucher 51, Klausner 46. King 3/40
#3 Mitchell Starc (Aus) 6/28– Aus v NZ at Auckland World Cup 2015
Aus won the toss and elected to bat.
They started well and in the 13th over, were 80/2 but they collapsed afterward due to very accurate and hostile bowling by Boult and were all out 151 in just 32.2 overs. ( Warner 34, Watson 23, Haddin 43, Boult 5/27. )
NZ started brilliantly and they were 79/2 in 8 overs, what Boult did to Aus, now it was the turn of Starc to do the same to NZ and his bowling played havoc with lower-order batsmen, he claimed the wickets of Guptill caught 11, Taylor bowled 1, Elliot b Starc 0, Ronchi caught WK 6, Milne bowled 0, Southee bowled 0. Another major scorer was McCullum 50. It was to the credit of one down batsman Williamson 45 not out, who kept his cool, and eventually, NZ romped home with 1 wicket to spare. They made 152/9 in only 23.1 overs. Aus could have won the game but it was NZ’s day in front of their home crowd. Starc analysis 9-0-28-6.
Because his effort ended in winning cause, Boult was declared man of the match.
# 2 Shane Bond (NZ) 6/23– Aus v NZ, Port of Elizabeth, WC 2003
NZ won the toss and opted to field first.
Aus started really badly, and with the score at 47 in 13th over their top 4 batsmen were back in the pavilion, and all because of the hostile spell bowled by Bond, and soon it was 80/6, with Bond taking 5 of 6 wickets which Aus lost. Thanks to the batting of Martyn, Bevan (56) & Bichel (64), Aus managed to score 208/9 in 50 overs. Bond’s victims were ( Gilchrist lbw 18, Hayden caught WK 1, Ponting caught 6, Martyn caught WK 31, Hogg lbw 0 and Harvey bowled 2) his analysis 10-2-23-6.
In reply NZ totally collapsed against the pace attack of Aus and were bowled out for only 112 in 30.1 overs. Their top scorer was Fleming 48, and only 3 other batsmen crossed the score of double-figure and the score were 10, 15 & 16. McGrath 3/29 & Lee 5/42.
As a consolation, Shane Bond was named the Man of the match.
#1 Imran Khan (Pak) 6/14– Pak v Ind at Sharjah 1984
Pak won the toss and elected to field.
Sharjah track on that was really bowler-friendly, soon Ind was in deep trouble with 34/5. It was only Azharuddin (45) and Kapil Dev (30) who gave some resistance to Pak bowlers, and Ind could finish on 125 in 42.4 overs. Imran was really brilliant on this day and he took the wickets of (Shastri lbw 0, Srikanth caught 6, Vegsarkar caught WK 1, Gavaskar caught WK 2, M Amarnath bowled 6 Madan Lal caught WK 11. His analysis was 10-2-14-6.
With such a low total to chase Pak started very confidently but soon they were also 41/5 and all top 5 batsmen in the pavilion and with all 5 Indian bowlers bowling splendidly and fielders supporting them in saving runs and taking all the catches. In the end, Pakistani buckled under pressure and were all out for 87. Pak scorecard was Mudassar Nazar 18, Mohsin Khan 10, Rameez Raza 29, Javed Miandad 0, Ashraf Ali 0, Imran Khan 0, Salim Malik 17, Manzoor Elahi 9, Tahir Naqqash 1, Tauseef Ahmed 0, and Wasim Akram 0. Kapil Dev 3/17, Binny 1/24, Sivaramakrishna 2/16, Shastri 2/17 and Madan Lal 1/12.
As a consolation, Imran Khan was awarded Man of the match.
You must have seen from all the matches cited above, it is really heartbreaking for any bowler, when his superlative bowling effort, ends up in a losing cause. And that is the game of cricket, where nothing is certain, and few balls can turn the fate of the match. Secondly, individual performances always matter and many a time it ends up in a winning cause and sometimes it ends up in a losing cause.
That’s why Cricket is always called a game of uncertainty.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India.
13 August 2021