2021 saw some of the best Test Cricket being offered to the fans. Cricket finally got its first Test Champion in its more than a century old history, with New Zealand taking the cake. In this ‘World Test Championship’ cricketing fans witnessed some brilliant performances, both with bat and ball.
Below are some of the best bowling performances which the TCA team think have made this year extra sweet. (Please note that these performances are not ranked and should be perceived as such).
James Anderson: 6/40
In a series dominated by England’s spinning duo, Dom Bess and Jack Leach and ‘in-zone’ Joe Root, the hosts-Sri Lankans, had to face an additional problem to meet in the second Test. English legend, James Anderson, produced a six-wicket performance on a spin favoring pitch in the first innings and saw that the Lankan batters didn’t budge much.
While Bess and Leach went wicketless in this innings, Anderson was the ‘Root’ with the ball for Englishmen. Lankans found him unplayable with a staggering 13 maidens and an economy rate of 1.37 in 29 overs. While not the best performance of his career, it still tells that Anderson is turning old like a fine wine, producing such gems regularly in recent times.
Kylie Jamieson: 5/31
The first-ever World Test Championship final, and what does Mr. Kylie Jamieson have in his mind? The tall guy ripped apart the Indian batting lineup and took a fifer that ensured the Indians never really came back.
The ‘Player of the Match’ winner of the final, Jamieson, proved to be the deciding factor and made it too easy for Kiwis to grab the coveted title. Indians struggling to pick his length was evident, and the ever cunning Kane Williamson made sure to capitalize that in the second innings as well, with Jamieson picking up two wickets at 1.25 runs per over.
Sajid Khan: 8/42
If not for the cloudy weather and grey skies that shaped this match, probably the final result might have still been the same. But the way Sajid Khan’s spell ultimately turned out was genuinely entertaining.
Sajid Khan’s eight-wicket brilliance saw Bangladesh’s first innings ending on 87 runs. The match, which was moving to a draw due to the weather God’s interference, was entirely changed by this right-arm off-break bowler. With only a handful of overs left for Pakistan to clinch that win, it was deserving that Sajid took the final wicket of the match – his fourth of the second innings and 12th of the game.
Axar Patel: 6/38
It’s a known fact that Asian pitches favor spin bowling. But what Axar Patel did at Motera Stadium (only the second Test of his career), this notion went to another level.
Axar Patel produced a match-defining performance full of straight deliveries lacking spin that left the Englishmen completely bamboozled. And to put salt on their wounds, Patel again released his onslaught in the second innings and produced another five-fer. A third five-fer in only his fourth innings!
Ajaz Patel: 10/119
If we were going to rank the names on this list, without any doubt, Ajaz Patel would have had his name on the number 1 spot. I mean, who in their right mind would look past a ten-wicket haul in an innings.
An event, which the game of Cricket has only witnessed twice before, Ajaz’s spell at Mumbai this year, was an instant hit all over. In a match where other Kiwi bowlers were significantly ineffective, this Mumbai-born Kiwi bowler produced an extravaganza that the world had been waiting for more than 22 years.
While New Zealand lost this match, making Ajaz Patel’s memory slightly bitter, this spell also became the one with most wickets taken by a bowler in a losing cause. As usual, Cricket is a great leveler in its odd way.