ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022: Arshdeep Singh's 3/32 against Pakistan, Brandon Glover’s 3/9 vs South Africa among top five bowling performances from Super 12s stage of T20 World Cup 2022.
The eighth edition of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride where certain individual performances have paved the way for some thoroughly engaging and mouth-watering contests.
From the very first game of the Super 12 stage of the competition, the games have been absolutely fantastic, involving fierce battles between bat and ball. Thanks to the conditions and supreme pitches, some of which have been fast and furious, there have been quite a few impactful bowling performances that have changed the complexion of the game in a blink of an eye.
Let’s take a look at the top five bowling performances from the Super 12 stage of T20 World Cup 2022.
IND vs PAK: Arshdeep Singh (3/32) stymied Pakistan with early blows
Playing his maiden World Cup game and that too against arch-rivals Pakistan in front of a huge pool of fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, 23-year-old Arshdeep Singh displayed no signs of nerves and produced a fiery spell with the new ball to give India a head start in the game.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to take the field and on a vital evening, Arshdeep Singh coming in the second over of the game straightaway sent back opponent captain Babar Azam for a first ball duck as the premier Pakistan batter was trapped by a beautiful moving ball that Babar failed to pick, only to see it rapped on his pads.
With the last ball of his second over, Arshdeep caged another big fish - Mohammad Rizwan - on a personal score of 4; Rizwan was hurried off a short ball due to its pace when he attempted the hook shot and the ball ballooned in the air before Bhuvneshwar Kumar at fine leg completed the formalities.
Coming back for his third over in the 17th over of the game, Arshdeep bounced out Asif Ali on a personal score of 2, who in the face of a 137 kph bouncer was taken by surprise and looked to duck the ball as it popped up off the gloves for an easy catch to the wicketkeeper. Arshdeep Singh finished with 3/32 in his four overs as India, on the back of a memorable Virat Kohli innings, won the nail-biting game by 4 wickets.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, Group 2, IND vs PAK: Kohli's unbelievable 82* bamboozles Pakistan; India win
ENG vs AFG: Smart Sam Curran (5/10) reaped rich rewards against Afghanistan
One of the biggest challenges for England coming into the T20 World Cup 2022 was to find someone who could bowl at the death without leaking too many runs and picking up big wickets. And Sam Curran stood out with a golden performance in their very first game of the tournament.
Opting to bowl first in Perth, England kept Afghanistan under pressure as the latter reached a dreary 62/2 in 11 overs. Sam Curran who gave away just five runs in his first over, sent back Ibrahim Zadran for a run-a-ball 32 who looked to lift the ball straight, but skewed it off the thick toe end of the bat as the extra cover fielder running back grabbed a fine catch.
When Curran came back for his third over in the 18th over of the game, Curran dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai on 8 who pulled a short ball straight into the hands of the deep mid-wicket fielder. On the very next ball, Curran caged Rashid Khan who while going for the hook shot saw the top edge end in the hands of the fine leg fielder.
In his last over, Sam Curran earned the wicket of Usman Ghani for a run-a-ball 30 as the batter making some room slapped the short ball straight into the hands of the deep backward point fielder. With the wicket of Afghanistan number batter, Fazalhaq Farooqi who sliced the slow ball to the backward point fielder, Sam Curran became the first England bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul in T20Is.
Curran’s figures of 5/10 in his four overs were also the best figures for England in T20Is.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, Gr 1, ENG v AFG: Despite Curran's brilliant 5-10, scratchy Eng crawl to victory
PAK vs ZIM: Sikandar Raza (3/25) changed the game with his spell
After a heartbreaking loss to India, Pakistan were under pressure of opening their account in their second Super 12 game against Zimbabwe who had set a target of 131 for the Asian team. Pakistan were on track during their chase with 80/3 in 13 overs, but Zimbabwe with some tight bowling didn’t let the Asian side score freely.
Sikandar Raza who has frequently rescued Zimbabwe with bat in hand in the recent past, was required to do the same job with the ball that evening in Perth. In his first couple of overs, he went for just 11 runs to keep the pressure on the opponents.
In the 14th over of the chase, when Raza was brought back for his third over, he changed the course of the game with two back-to-back wickets. After being smacked for a huge six, Raza sent back dangerous looking Shadab Khan who coming down the track skewed the ball off his thick edge as the long-off fielder grabbed it with ease. On the very next ball, Raza trapped Haider Ali before the wickets with a comparatively faster delivery as Haider missing his flick shot saw the ball hit the middle of his pads. When Raza came back for his last over, he dismissed set batter Shan Masood on 44, who in trying to flick a leg-sided delivery missed it and was stumped.
Sikandar Raza who finished with 3/25 in his four overs turned the game in favour of Zimbabwe who held their nerves to capture a famous 1-run victory against Pakistan.
Read More: T20 WC 2022, Gr 2, ZIM v PAK: Raza's 3-25, Seamers' economical bowling help Zim clinch nail-biter
IND vs SA: Ngidi (4/29) breathed fire to puncture India
High on confidence from their back-to-back victories in the opening two games, India were set for a huge challenge against the expressive pace attack of South Africa on a fast and furious Perth track. Opting to bat first, they were 21/0 after four overs when the destruction began.
Lungi Ngidi, who bowled first-change, with his second ball dismissed the opponent captain Rohit Sharma on 15 who in trying to play the pull shot was undone by pace as the ball flew straight up in the air as the bowler pouched an easy catch. On the last ball of the same over, Ngidi sent back the other India opener KL Rahul on 9 who was looking to run the length ball towards third man only managing to nick it straight in the hands of the slip fielder.
Ngidi was drilled for two beautiful boundaries by Virat Kohli in his second over, but the bowler was successful in silencing the crowd by caging India’s premier batter on 12 who in trying to play the pull shot got cramped in an uncomfortable position after being unable to control the bounce of the ball and ended up being caught by Kagiso Rabada at fine leg. In his third successive over of the game, Ngidi recorded the wicket of Hardik Pandya on 2 who was also superbly caught by Rabada at fine leg.
Lungi Ngidi who finished with figures of 4/29 in his four overs, gave India the early blows to keep them to just 133/9 in their 20 overs.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, Gr 2, IND v SA: Parnell-Ngidi's combined 7-44 hurts India; SA leapfrog to no 1
SA vs NED: Brandon Glover (3/9) inspired Netherlands to famous victory over the Proteas
In a vital game for South Africa for qualifying to the semi-final stage, they were asked to chase down 159 against Netherlands who put immense pressure on the Proteas by reducing them to 63/2 in nine overs.
Right-arm fast bowler Brandon Glover was introduced into the attack in the tenth over and with his third ball, Glover sent back in-form batter Rilee Rossouw on 25 with a length delivery that cut back sharply. Rossow who tried to access the mid-wicket boundary with a slog, hit high on the bat and straight in the hands of the deep square leg.
With wickets falling at regular intervals, the pressure was mounting on the Proteas. When Glover came back for his second over, he picked up the valuable wicket of David Miller on 17 who tried to pull the short ball only to see it being grasped brilliantly by Roelof van der Merwe who took an excellent catch.
Two balls later, Wayne Parnell in trying to play the cover drive offered a faint edge to the wicketkeeper as Glover picked up his third wicket, He finished with 3/9 in his two overs as Netherlands registered a memorable 13-run victory to knock South Africa out of the T20 World Cup 2022.
India will meet England in the second semi-final at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on November 10.
The final will be played on November 13 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne.
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