Top 5 finishers going into the Champions Trophy
Ever since ODI cricket came into existence, finishers have been a part and parcel of every One Day side. Michael Bevan, the lanky Aussie lower middle order batsman, took finishing to another level with his ability to occupy the crease and remain unbeaten till he finished the match for his side.
Lance Klusener showed that Bevan wasn't the only one who could do it in a brilliant display of batsmanship through a whole World Cup although he could not add the finishing touches needed to lift South Africa's curse.
Finishing is an art. Ask MS Dhoni. Cricket has barely seen a better finisher, someone who could take it down to the last over, where a one on one battle ensues between the bowler and himself. Rarely was he the loser. Dhoni knew how to win over the bowler even before he had bowled a ball.
2017 is another trophy year, with the Champions Trophy in England welcoming the top cricketing nations to vie for another silverware. As the multi-nation tournament approaches, we take a look at the best finishers in ODI cricket in recent years.
#5 Chris Morris
The South African bowling all-rounder is South Africa's answer to the finisher conundrum. Not long ago, Morris was considered a bowler capable of hitting the 150kmph mark having an ability with the willow.
But that has changed ever since his match-winning knock from the lower order in an ODI against England. Morris's clean hitting ability and pressure free batting might just be what the Proteas need in death overs to overcome their fickleness.
Morris has just one ODI fifty, a match-winning knock against England in Johannesburg but rather than sheer runs it is the manner in which he gets them that will keep the Proteas happy. That kind of fearlessness in the death overs was rarely seen in a South African since Lance Klusener.