FEATURES
Follow UsPat Cummins
Despite not having overly impressive overall numbers (10 wkts @ 37.40), Pat Cummins has quietly made the Australian bowling unit tick, doing the dirty work in the middle overs by breaking partnerships and taking crucial wickets with the older ball.
Whether it be removing both the openers in the Sri Lanka game after a 125-run opening stand, or dismissing centurion Rachin Ravindra in Dharamshala, or taking the wicket of a set Dawid Malan to open up England, the skipper has consistently provided moments of inspiration with the older ball to lift his side.
Cummins has taken six wickets in the 11-40 phase in this World Cup and has threatened the batters big time with his variations: in this WC, among pacers who have bowled 30+ overs in the middle phase, he’s drawn the third-highest false shot percentage.
What makes Cummins’ feat impressive is that it’s come at a time where his fellow pacers Starc and Hazlewood have struggled big time outside the powerplay, having taken just three wickets at an average of 110.6 in the middle-overs.
Not just with the ball, Cummins has also made vital contributions with the bat in hand. We know of the two maniacal stands he shared with Glenn Maxwell but the skipper struck an invaluable 37 (14) in the New Zealand clash that eventually proved to be game-defining.
Adil Rashid
Adil Rashid has been a real silver lining in what’s been a wretched World Cup campaign for England. The leg-spinner is the only English bowler to reach double-digits in the wickets column in this World Cup (13) and has been the only consistent performer for the Three Lions throughout the competition.
In this WC, Rashid is one of six spinners to average under 30 and take 10+ wickets in the middle overs.
Not only has he taken at least seven more wickets in the 11-40 phase than every other English bowler, he’s averaged 29.8 in this middle-overs while all the other England bowlers put together have combinedly averaged 62.06. In many ways, he’s single-handedly carried England with the ball in this World Cup.
Rashid took three-fers against both Netherlands (3/54) and Afghanistan (3/42), but his most impressive showing came against South Africa at the Wankhede. In a game in which England got tonked for 399, the 35-year-old returned figures of 2/61 off his 10.
Certainly, Rashid is one English player who can leave India with his head held high.
Gerald Coetzee
17 bowlers have taken 12+ wickets in this World Cup. Of that 17, only two have managed to maintain a bowling strike rate under 20 — Mohammed Shami and Gerald Coetzee.
Shami is a veteran and a World Cup G.O.A.T, but it is truly nuts that Coetzee has put together a campaign like this in his debut World Cup.
When it comes to the Proteas, the batters (and Marco Jansen) have hogged all the limelight in this WC, but Coetzee is also a huge reason why South Africa find themselves in the semis.
The 23-year-old has taken 14 wickets in just 6 appearances in this WC and has picked at least 2 wickets in five of those games.
Coetzee has proven to be an absolute force of nature outside the powerplay, bulldozing batters with his pace and aggression. 40 games into the World Cup, the right-arm bowler is the only pacer to have taken 10+ wickets in the 11-40 phase (12). Remarkably, he’s done that despite missing two matches.
So far in this WC, the Netherlands are the only side that have managed to neutralize his threat. It’s more than just a coincidence that the Proteas went on to lose that particular contest.
Aryan Dutt
What connects Jasprit Bumrah, Marco Jansen, Shaheen Afridi, Josh Hazlewood and Aryan Dutt?
Well, they are the only five bowlers in this World Cup to have bowled 135+ dots in the powerplay.
For Aryan Dutt to find himself on this list, at the age of 20, despite being a spinner, is nothing short of staggering.
The off-spinner has proven to be a model of consistency with the new ball and has provided control up-front for his side in all but one match (against Australia, where he got taken for 24 in 2 overs).
He currently has the fourth-best economy for any bowler in the powerplay in this WC (4.7) and has conceded runs at an E.R under 4.00 in 50% of the games he’s played while bowling 4+ overs with the new ball in each of those games.
Outside Aryan, only one spinner has bowled 20+ overs in the powerplay in this WC — Mujeeb Ur Rahman. That Mujeeb, despite being much more experienced, has averaged 59.3 and has conceded at an E.R of 5.4 in the powerplay (compared to Aryan’s 39.0 and 4.7) should tell you just how well the 20-year-old has fared.
Azmatullah Omarzai
Azmatullah Omarzai shot to the limelight against Australia with his double strike (near hat-trick) with the new ball under lights, but Tuesday was not the first time the youngster stepped up for his side in this World Cup. The 23-year-old all-rounder has had a fantastic debut World Cup, having taken 7 wickets to go along with 256 runs at an average of 51.20.
We’ll get to Omarzai’s bowling, but his batting has proven invaluable to Afghanistan. He’s not had big scores like Gurbaz or Zadran but has played consistently impactful knocks. He’s crossed the 20-run mark in all but one innings and most importantly has struck at 100.00 coming in at No.5, with the team’s No.3 and No.4 combinedly striking at 76.20.
40 games into this WC, he is one of the very few batters (if not the only one) to have taken down both Jadeja and Kuldeep, combinedly striking at 100.0 against the duo without getting dismissed (41 off 41 balls with 4 sixes).
While Omarzai has proven to be expensive with the ball (E.R 7.08), he’s still provided valuable strikes consistently. Apart from the double strike against Australia at the Wankhede, the 23-year-old also struck twice in five balls against New Zealand. In the Sri Lanka clash, meanwhile, he dismissed a set Pathum Nissanka in his first spell.
Other notable mentions
> Glenn Maxwell the bowler (E.R 4.95) has been a revelation for the Aussies. Despite being a fifth bowler on paper, he’s been as tight as any finger spinner in the entire competition. The control he’s given has provided a massive cushion to the seamers.
> Mohammad Wasim Jr has played only three games but has been mighty impressive, taking 8 wickets @ 17.62 a piece. He bamboozled South Africa on his World Cup debut with his skid and reverse-swing, followed it up with a 3-fer against Bangladesh and finished with 3/60 off his 10 against New Zealand in a game in which 601 runs were scored in 75.3 overs.
Note: All numbers in this article are as of November 8th (post the conclusion of Match 40)
