Trailblazing to glory! - Chronicle of great World Cup bowling performances - Part Two

And thus begins part two!

After reliving the exploits of Gary Gilmour, Joel Garner and Winston Davis in the previous article, we have even more enthralling action to follow in part two of some great bowling performances in cricket World Cup history.

If part-one featured some breath-taking fast bowling, then part two also has spin-king Shane Warne being thrown into the mix.

So read on and  enjoy all the action in the second installment of some truly memorable bowling in World Cup history!

'Wizard of Oz' sends West Indies tumbling! - 1996

Ecstatic team-mates mob Shane Warne! (India.com)
 

How the bloody hell did we win that!

That line from Mark Waugh's biography best describes the 1996 semi-final, which till one point was all for West Indies' to play for.

After restricting Australia to a modest 207 at Mohali, West Indies were all set to hunt down the total without any fuss. Timely knocks from Stuart Law (72) and Michael Bevan (69) had earlier disallowed Australia from an embarrassing collapse, and by the time they were finished, a West Indian victory was very much the order of the day.

And quite predictably Richie Richardson's men were on their way to achieve it, as they were poised on a more than comfortable 173 for 4, thanks to Shivnarine Chandepaul's sedate 80.

With in-form Richardson and Otis Gibson at crease...in entered the 'Wizard of Oz!'

Warne sends West Indies packing!

By the time Warne was finished with his quota of nine overs, West Indies had miraculously collapsed to 202 all-out and had agonisingly lost by 5 runs!

Warne displayed his full multitude of tricks, as he dismissed Gibson (1), Jimmy Adams (2) and Ian Bishop (3) in quick succession and sent West Indies in disarray.

If a Gibson played a faster one onto Ian Healy's gloves, then Adams was trapped plumb by a delivery that kept straight. And Bishop suffered a similar fate as he was leg-before after attempting a vain flick of his pads, which meant West Indies were left tottering at 194 for 8!

The rest was just a formality as Damien Fleming mopped up the tail, which meant that Australia had snatched a famous win in the most unlikeliest of circumstances.

Warne who finished with figures of 4 for 36, was aptly named man-of-the-match, and Australia had just booked their tickets for the final at Lahore!

Ashish Nehra goes ballistic! - 2003

Ashish Nehra destroyed England at Durban! 

India were facing England in a crunch league game at Durban, which would have all but determined their Super-Six destiny.

After being mercilessly hammered by Australia in their second league game, India were slowly but surely rising as a force with a clutch of wins, and this game against England showed ample proof of their resurgence.

Earlier, half-centuries from Sachin Tendulkar (50) and Rahul Dravid (62) had propeled India to 250 for 9 on a bouncy Durban track, and as England came in to bat...a virtual pace bombing was just around the corner!

Nehra scalps six..India waltz into Super Six!

At 18 for 2, England were still in the hunt, thanks to the ever reliable Michael Vaughan and Naseer Hussain steading the innings, with a flurry of shots.

Despite England inching their way back into the contest, at 52 for 2, no one in their wildest dreams must have predicted as to what would transpire next.

As skipper Sourav Ganguly tossed the ball to Nehra... Durban was to witness pace bowling at its lethal best!

England crumble to bits!

Final score - England 168 all-out!

Durban had just witnessed an amazing game of cricket, as six English batsmen were dismissed in quick succession by Nehra, as India won a humdinger of a contest.

The English batsmen had no answer to Nehra's fury, as the lanky pacer exploited Durban's famous pace and bounce and skittled them out in super quick time. Nehra made the ball swing prodigiously as five Englishmen were either caught behind or in the slips, thanks to some unplayable outswingers.

England disintegrated to 107 for 8, and though Andrew Flintoff's 64 did some measure of damage control, Nehra's heroics ensured that India were romping home to an easy win. With Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan mopping up the English tail, India had amazingly won the game by 82 runs, and a new star was born!

Nehra finished with figures of 6 for 23 and his performance till date remains the best ever by an Indian in World Cup history, thus piercing an arrow through English hearts in the process!

Andy Bichel sends the Poms packing! -2003

Bichel scalps another Englishman! (India.com)

An England versus Australia game always is an anticipated one, and if it takes place at the biggest stage of em' all, then rest assured dramatics are to follow suit!

And that is what exactly happened as a Bichel-inspired Australia brought it's A-game to the fore and sent England tumbling at Port Elizabeth. Though Bichel narrowly missed out on upstaging fellow pacer Glenn McGrath (he took 7 for 15 against Namibia in the previous game), still figures of 7 for 20 are nevertheless proof of his burgeoning talent.

England bore full brunt of Bichel's fury as he dismantled them over-by-over and ripped them to shreds. Bichel literally breathed fire with the ball, as England were left scurrying for cover, and by the time he was finished with his quota of 10 overs, Hussain's side were ambling at 187 for 8, with the game almost in Australia's bag.

The Aussie was almost unplayable and produced a sensational spell of fast-bowling which would undoubtedly go down amongst the greatest ever in World Cup cricket. Though later England had the Aussies on the mat at 135 for 8 , thanks to a rampaging Andrew Caddick (4 for 35), Bichel (34 not-out) combined with Michael Bevan (74 not-out) and helped them seal a thrilling victory, with two wickets and balls to spare.

Australia buoyed by Bichel's heroics in that particular encounter, later stormed their way to the final, before comprehensively beating India to add a second consecutive World Cup title to it's kitty!

The name is Bond...Shane Bond! -2003

Australia were to get a taste of their own medicine in the Super-Six stages, when New Zealand pacer Bond almost handed them a humiliating defeat.

Bond showcased fast bowling at it's best, as a lethal concoction of pace and swing had Australia reeling at Port Elizabeth. The strong Australian batting line-up crumbled in wake of Bond's lightning quick pace, as the New Zealander finishing with figures of 6 for 23.

Apart from Bevan (56) and Bichel (64), none of Australia's batsmen could handle Bond, as the pacer had them hopping and jumping on a slow track. The best part about Bond's effort is the fact that he could extract quickness of such a slow track, which only shows as to how lethal the pacer in unfavourable bowling conditions.

Shane Bond (R) haunted Australia in 2003! (India.com)

Australia waded off Bond's storm and later ambled to 208 for 9, thus giving New Zealand a great chance for a famous win over their Trans-Tasmanian rivals. It is matter that New Zealand could not match up Bond's heroics, as they were later shot out for a paltry 112, thanks to an equally fine fiery performance from Brett Lee (5 for 42), thus losing the game by 96 runs.

Though the Kiwis were left heart broken post the humbling, still Bond's man-of-the-match award did give them something to cheer about! As Part two ends, four more great performances have been chronicled in the list, which only adds to the excitement, come the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Other notable spells are McGrath's seven-wicket haul against Namibia in 2003 or Wasim Akram's heroics in the 1992 final, which despite not being included, nevertheless are good enough to compete with the above mentioned performances.

So as World Cup season dawns upon us...may the reader be inspired by jaw dropping exploits being mentioned in this chronology...which may in turn set the ball rolling for cricket crazy aficionado's in few day's time!