Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Top 5 bowling performances in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at MCG | A look at the best bowling performances in the BGT at the MCG Boxing Day
Among all the cricket grounds in the world, the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) holds a very special place in the heart of every cricket lover. After an eventful test match at the Adelaide Oval, we are heading for the Boxing Day Test at the historic MCG between Australia and India.
This venue has witnessed several spectacular individual bowling performances from both the sides; thus many bowlers have registered their names in the honours board. In this article, I am going to mention only five of those magnificent bowling spells by bowlers from both the sides in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Here we go.
Also read: Border-Gavaskar Trophy all-time XI
5. Anil Kumble (25-4-84-5), 2007
Anil Kumble’s performance was one of the rare positive things for the Indian team in the Boxing Day Test in 2007, as India failed miserably with the bat and thus lost the game by a huge margin of 337 runs.
Kumble picked his first wicket in the form of Phil Jaques at a time when Australia were marching for a huge first innings total, as they were well placed at 135-0. His second victim was the experienced Michael Hussey, who was adjudged LBW to a googly after scoring just two runs. He came back into the attack when Symonds and Gilchrist were forming a good partnership and dismissed both of them in quick succession. He picked his fifth and final wicket in the form of Brett Lee, who was deceived by a quick, flat delivery on the stumps and thus was declared LBW.
A fifer by a spinner on a first-day MCG pitch takes a lot of effort. Secondly, it was his spell that restricted Australia to 343, when 400 or even 450 seemed gettable.
4. Pat Cummins (11-3-27-6), 2018
I would like to call this spell as a superbly planned and executed one. It was not a typical seam bowling exhibition by Cummins as he persisted with the bodyline tactics and got rewarded.
His first wicket was Hanuma Vihari, who was bounced out for the 2nd time in the Test by him. Then he got rid of both Pujara and Kohli in a similar fashion as both of them flicked straight to the leg gully. The credit must also be given to the skipper Tim Paine for the field placement. Then he went on to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane, who followed Kohli by edging one down the leg side to the keeper. His fifth victim was Mayank Agarwal, who was played on off a delivery that kept low. Then he bounced out Ravindra Jadeja to complete his 6-fer.
Although his efforts went in vain as Australia lost the game by 137 runs, this spell is remembered as one of his special spells in test cricket.
3. Brett Lee (18-2-47-5), 1999
This bowling spell indicated the scorching pace that Brett Lee had, something which we all witnessed throughout his superb International career.
His first wicket was Sadagopan Ramesh, who was played on off a good length delivery. After that, Rahul Dravid edged one to Gilchrist while playing a cut shot, thus became the second victim of Lee. Then, he completed his 5-fer by dismissing MSK Prasad, Ajit Agarkar and Javagal Srinath in a single over. Prasad got beaten by his pace and was bowled off a full toss, whereas Agarkar was adjudged LBW off a toe-crushing Yorker. Srinath was bounced out by him off a very well directed bouncer.
These were mere indications of his extraordinary skills as a fiery fast bowler and this is considered as one of his finest bowling performances in Test cricket.
2. Ben Hilfenhaus (26-5-75-5), 2011
It was the 1st Test of the 2010/11 series and Australia had posted a decent total of 333 on the board after batting first.
The Indian openers added 22 runs for the first wicket and then Gambhir edged one to Brad haddin and thus Hilfenhaus got his first wicket. The rest of the day went good for the visitors as they finished with 214-3 at the end of day 2. But what happened on the next day was simply magical. Ben Hilfenhaus ran through the Indian middle order with a magnificent spell of seam bowling. First, he bowled a well set Rahul Dravid with a ripper that straightened enough after being pitched and hit the off stump. A similar delivery on the fourth stump line found Kohli’s edge and was grabbed by Haddin behind the stumps comfortably. The captain MS Dhoni edged one straight to the gully, off a delivery that was not there to play the drive. His fifth victim was the night watchman Ishant Sharma, who went for a drive with hard hands and was caught behind.
This spell played a key role in restricting India to 282 and therefore Australia could get a crucial lead of 51 runs.
1. Jasprit Bumrah (15.5-4-33-6)
I would term it as the finest bowling performance I have ever seen by an Indian bowler in the BGT. It was the 3rd test of the series and both the sides were looking for a victory as the series was well poised at 1-1. Batting first, India had posted a very good score of 443 in the first innings. What followed next was a masterclass from Jasprit Bumrah.
First, he dismissed Marcus Harris with a well directed short delivery. Then he deceived Shaun Marsh with an absolute peach of a slow Yorker and Marsh was found plumb in front of the stumps. His 3rd wicket was Travis Head, who was beaten for pace and was bowled. Then he dismissed Tim Paine, who edged a good length delivery that was angled in but moved slightly away after being pitched. He completed his 5-fer by getting Nathan Lyon LBW with a delivery that clicked 146kph. His final victim was Josh Hazlewood who edeged a full length delivery to the stumps.
This spell had everything. There were seamed up deliveries, bouncers, yorkers and that famous slow yorker to Shaun Marsh. This was an exhibition of “complete fast bowling” by the world-class seamer and thus is placed in the first position in this list.
So, this is my list of five best bowling performances at the MCG in the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Have your say!
Also read: Border-Gavaskar Trophy all-time XI
Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today.
