New Delhi. Taking 5 or more wickets in ODIs and T20Is is considered a big achievement. Since the maximum number of overs for a bowler is limited in both formats, a 5-wicket haul is not easy. It is even more rare for a bowler from both teams to take 5 or more wickets in a single match. In the 54-year history of ODI cricket, there has been only one occasion so far when a bowler from each team has achieved the feat of taking 6 wickets in an innings.
This was seen in the ODI between Afghanistan and Ireland in Greater Noida on 17 March 2017. In the match, Paul Stirling from Ireland and Rashid Khan from Afghanistan took 6 wickets each. The score was more than 300 in both the innings. In this match full of runs, one batsman scored a century while the batsman of the opposing team missed it by a small margin. Afghanistan won this match by 34 runs.
Saw Lara’s 501 run innings and also Hanif’s 499, born in India but played for England
Ireland’s non-regular bowler took 6 wickets
After winning the toss and batting first, Asghar Afghan’s Afghanistan team scored 338 runs in 50 overs. The last wicket of the Afghan team in the form of Daulat Zadran fell on the last ball of the 50th over. In this match, while captain Asghar played an innings of 101 runs (90 balls, 6 fours and 6 sixes), openers Mohammad Shahzad (63) and Rahmat Shah (68) managed to score half centuries. Ireland’s non-regular bowler Paul Stirling performed brilliantly. He took 6 wickets for 55 runs in 10 overs. Let us tell you, off-break bowler Stirling, who has played 161 ODIs, has bowled just over 400 overs so far.
Unlucky bowler, dropped catches of three batsmen, all three had made the top score in the test
Paul Stirling was declared Player of the Match for his double performance.
Sterling also shone in batting, scored 95 runs
Ireland gave a befitting reply to Afghanistan’s score of 338 runs. Both the openers remained unbeaten and added 109 runs for the first wicket in 18 overs, but in the 19th over, the Irish team lost their first wicket in the form of Ed Joyce. The second opener Sterling also performed brilliantly in batting after bowling and played an innings of 95 runs with the help of 9 fours and 5 sixes in 80 balls. He became the victim of Rashid Khan as the second wicket and could not complete his century. As soon as he was out, the Irish innings derailed. The Afghan bowlers controlled the situation well and succeeded in losing 5 wickets for 228 runs.
Played one Test and one ODI for India, neither took any wicket nor scored any runs, garnered attention for wrong reasons
Rashid gave a ‘reply’ to Sterling with 6 wickets
Among the later batsmen, only Stuart Thomson could put up some resistance and Ireland’s challenge collapsed by the time they reached 304 runs in 47.3 overs. Leg break bowler Rashid Khan played an important role in wrapping up the Irish innings. He took 6 wickets for 43 runs in 9.3 overs while Daulat Zadran took three wickets. Even though Afghanistan won the match, Sterling, who performed a double performance (6/55 and 95 runs), was the ‘Player of the Match’. The special thing is that apart from this match, Sterling could never take 5 or more wickets in ODIs again. His second best analysis is 4 wickets for 11 runs, which he recorded against Netherlands in Amstelveen in July 2010. This non-regular Irish bowler has taken 43 wickets in 161 matches.
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Rashid is considered the best limited overs spinner
Talking about Rashid, his statistics in all three formats of cricket are tremendous. In ODIs and T20s, he is considered the best spinner of the current era. This right-handed wrist spinner has taken five or more wickets 4 times in ODIs. His best bowling performance in this format is 7 wickets for 18 runs, which he recorded against West Indies (7/18) on 9 June 2017, just 3 months after taking 6 wickets against Ireland. In 2018, he has also taken 5-5 wickets against Zimbabwe and UAE. Apart from taking wickets, Rashid’s specialty is being very economical in bowling, which makes him the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of limited overs cricket.
Tags: Paul Stirling, Rashid khan
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 26, 2024, 07:27 IST