World Cup 2019: Ranking the top five bowlers of the tournament
Since the ICC Cricket World Cup was held in England this time, many cricket pundits expected the fast bowlers to showcase their brilliance. That was exactly the case as pacers fared better than the spinners, and terrorized the batters with their lightning-fast deliveries and menacing line and length.
Indian leggie Yuzvendra Chahal was the only spinner in the list of top 20 wicket-takers of the tournament. Mitchell Starc raised the bar of the competition with 27 wickets in 10 games, and bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah followed suit. Youngsters like Mustafizur Rahman and Shaheen Afridi showed why the world must keep an eye on them, while English pacer Jofra Archer justified his selection in the English team.
While young seeds sprouted, veterans like Lasith Malinga too had a great campaign in the dusk of their careers. All-rounders like James Neesham and Ben Stokes too had a great time with the ball. Let us have a look at top 5 fast bowlers of this World Cup:
#5 Matt Henry (New Zealand)
Before the World Cup, Tim Southee was expected to be a vital clog in the Blackcaps’ playing XI. However, the New Zealand team management decided to opt for the 27-year-old pacer Matt Henry. With his varying pace, incredible control and scrambled seam, the man from Canterbury surprised everyone in this World Cup.
In 9 matches, Henry picked up 14 wickets. He also maintained a brilliant economy rate of under 5 runs per over. Henry had a great start to his campaign when he picked up 3 wickets in the very first match against Sri Lanka. He consolidated his place in the team by picking up 3 more wickets in the second match against Bangladesh.
However, his best performance came in the semi-final against India. New Zealand needed something special to defend a small total of 239, and Henry helped his side wrap up the Indian batting order by picking up 3 top-order wickets, including that of in-form batsman Rohit Sharma.
Also read - World cup all-time records