Cricket World Cup 2023: Top 5 finishers who can turn the tide in any game. Top 5 finishers to look out for in ODI World Cup 2023.
Strong finishes to an innings give a massive boost to the team in the limited over formats. An additional 20-30 runs added towards the end of an innings is huge for any team and it often proves to be game-changing, further the ability to efficiently chase a big total rises astronomically with good finishers in the side.
Cricket is a team sport and in both departments there will always be specialists for specific roles. In batting, finishing an innings is an art, and most of the teams have a designated batter for this role.
A batter who generally has the power game and one who can hit the ball hard and long from the first delivery they face are usually considered a good finisher. At the same time, they should also have the ability to play calmly and ensure their team ends up on the winning side, according to the situation.
As we inch closer to the start of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, we will see 5 finishers who can have a huge impact on their team’s performance and the tournament as a whole.
Top 5 finishers to watch out for
David Miller (4090 ODI Runs, 103 Strike Rate)
The South African middle-order batter has always been regarded as a dangerous player in the middle and later phases of an innings. Ever since his debut, David Miller has been an important cog in the Proteas limited-overs set up and has batted 137 times for the team in the ODI format.
What is impressive is that he has maintained a strike rate of 103, scoring 4090 runs at an astonishing average of 42.60 with five centuries and 23 fifties to his name. This shows how consistent the left-hander has been for the better part of his career.
In the lead up to the World Cup 2023, Miller seems to have turned a new leaf after enduring a slight slump just before the 2019 edition of the tournament. Since 2022, Miller has played 19 innings for his side - scoring a whopping 723 runs at an average of 55.61, coming at a strike rate of 116.80 with seven half-centuries to his credit.
With an ability to build innings as well as with a potential to strike from the first ball, Miller is one of the finishers to watch out for.
Heinrich Klaasen (1323 ODI Runs, 111.6 Strike Rate)
Yet another South African batter, Heinrich Klaasen, features in the list. The hard-hitting middle-order wicket-keeper batsman is arguably one of the best players of spin - who come from outside the subcontinent.
Though having an inconsistent start to his international career, Klaasen has become an indispensable part of the South Africa ODI squad. Since the beginning of 2022, Klaasen has been prolific for South Africa, he has been coming at the middle-order scoring 710 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 133.70 and averaging 54.61 from 15 innings. This includes two centuries, including a big one (174) against Australia in the recent ODI game at Centurion.
His performance in this phase is a lot more impactful than his overall career statistics. Klaasen has played 38 ODI knocks in all for the Proteas - amassing 1323 runs at an average of 41.34, and striking at over 111 with three centuries.
Glenn Maxwell (2803 ODI Runs, 124.7 Strike Rate)
Glenn Maxwell missed a large part of the last year due to an ankle injury, and he has featured in only 11 ODIs for the Aussies since 2022. He might have scored only 258 runs in this phase, but his striking ability has always been there.
Maxwell is known to shine in the big matches and his record in the ODI World Cup is just outstanding. In the two World Cups he has played, 2015 and 2019, Maxwell has scored 501 runs in 16 innings and it has come at a resounding strike rate 169.26 with an average of 39. He also struck one of his two ODI tons in the 2015 World Cup against Sri Lanka.
Overall in ODIs, Maxwell has the best strike rate (124.7) for any batter who has scored over 2000 runs in the format. He is definitely someone to watch out for, but at the same time, we have to be vary of the fact that Maxwell is coming back from an injury layoff without much match practice.
Liam Livingstone (436 ODI Runs, 116.9 Strike Rate)
Liam Livingstone has quickly established himself as one of the hardest hitters in cricket, especially for his exploits in the T20 leagues. He is yet to make a mark at the international level, but has a century in the T20I format for England.
He made his ODI debut for England in 2021 playing three games in the year, and got consistent game time from 2022. In this period, Livingstone played 11 innings - making 364 runs at an average of 40.44 and striking at 117.79 with a highest score of 95.
With conditions in India likely to be batting-friendly, Livingstone will be a great asset for the team in the middle-order in the World Cup.
Hardik Pandya (1758 ODI Runs, 110.2 Strike Rate)
The mercurial all-rounder from India has grown leaps and bounds as a batter and leader in recent times. Hardik Pandya now plays according to the situation and has bailed the team out of tough predicaments on multiple occasions. One of the examples is his knock against Pakistan in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023- where he scored an innings-saving knock of 87.
Hardik has been amongst runs for India since 2022, wherein he has accumulated 472 runs in 14 knocks. Though his average is over 36, the strike rate is the least among the players in this list at 95.35 - with four half-centuries to go along with the 22 wickets he has taken.
But he has shown the ability to make quick runs, as is evident from his career strike rate of 110.22 from 60 innings with 1758 ODI runs. This makes him one of the strong contenders to be the top finisher in this World Cup.
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