Top five bowlers in BBL 2021

Onecricket


Batsman's game, they say. Rightly so. Tracks as flat as a pancake. Forearms of steel wielding willows wide as a railway sleeper. A snow-white Kookaburra that glides along the grass as if smeared with petroleum jelly. The license to run riot and a permanent place on the team sheet. And as if the dice wasn't already loaded in their favour, the convenience of Power Surge to cut loose at will. How even do the poor bowlers square off against these batting beasts armed to the teeth? You'd be forgiven to think that they are destined to defeat. Well, that's not the case. Thankfully.

Here's compiling a list of five masterminds in BBL 10 who are always a step ahead of the pinch-hitting demons and ensure the scales don't tilt too far on the side of the empowered.

1) Jhye Richardson

Jhye Richardson likes to keep things simple and reaps plenty of rewards. He chimes in full throttle to nail those nagging seven-meter lengths that make life difficult for batsmen eyeing room to free their arms. Besides hurrying them into submission, Richardson has a top-drawer slower ball to keep the hard-hitters honest. The perfect blend of skill and smarts has shot him to the top of the wickets chart, with as many as 27 scalps in 14 matches, a clear five wickets ahead of the next best. In addition to being the wrecker-in-chief, he has been a very tidy customer for Perth Scorchers, with a tournament economy rate of 7.08 placing him only behind teammate Jason Behrendorff.

Richardson has been thrown the cherry in the Power Surge in a dozen games and has snared the most wickets (nine) of any bowler in that punishment-prone period at a sterling economy rate of 8.17. Despite bowling serious gas and picking bountiful of wickets, that Richardson has been neglected for the red and white-ball tours to South Africa and New Zealand respectively is a tough pill to swallow.



2) Mark Steketee

Mark Steketee is currently the second-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing BBL, with 22 wickets at 21.18. His victims include big fishes like Aaron Finch, Alex Carey, Carlos Brathwaite, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Cutting and Colin Ingram. He has been a vital cog in Brisbane Heat’s wheel since his domestic debut in the 2013/14 edition and is proudly the team’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 64 scalps at 24.67. His first-class exploits haven’t gone unnoticed as he’s all set to board the flight for Australia’s forthcoming tour to South Africa.

3) Tanveer Sangha

Sangha, who plies his trade for Sydney Thunder, sits third in the wicket chart with 21 scalps to his name at the end of the group stage. The leg-spinner’s upsurge is a bolt from the blue, a stint so clinical that has overshadowed wizards of the likes of Rashid Khan and Adam Zampa. Sangha has been put to the task in the Powerplays and at the death to keep a rampaging Glenn Maxwell in check and deliver crucial breakthroughs. Safe to say, he’s been the find of BBL 10 so far. And alike Steketee, his hard work bore fruit with a maiden call-up for Australia’s T20 series versus New Zealand next month.

4) Wes Agar

The recipient of the prestigious Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award in 2020, Wes Agar is the latest fetch from Australia’s seemingly bottomless well of fast bowlers. His performance graph in the ongoing BBL reads 21 wickets in 14 innings at a competent economy of a tick above eight. Given the sheer velocity that Agar possesses, it’s a tough ask to hit him off a length. He got the better of some key players in Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Denly as his four-wicket haul denied Brisbane Heat a target of 198.



5) Nathan Ellis

Nathan Ellis’ is a classic rag to riches story. Not long ago, he had to resort to odd chores like installing air conditioners to make ends meet, but has now carved his own niche in the slam-bang format. With 20 wickets in 14 games, Ellis was central to whatever little glory Hobart Hurricanes could manage in their topsy-turvy ride in BBL 10. His best figures of 4/34 came against Perth Scorchers where he took dangermen Jason Roy out of the equation early. Ellis’ proclivity to yorkers holds him in good stead in the slog overs where batsmen swing for the hills.

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Emotional after becoming parent, Rory Burns banks on 'psychology' to take on India

It’s often said that cricket is a game that is played more between two ears than on a pitch and for English opener Rory Burns who is short of match practise leading up to the first Test against India, it must convert into something substantive for his team in Chennai. Burns missed the Test series against Sri Lanka and has arrived in India directly from England along with Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes and will have only six days time to prepare outdoors before he faces spinning balls for the first time in India in his career. Burns, however, does not want to think too much about the aspects of the game that will not matter much once he sets his foot on the pitch. He is oozing with eagerness and hunger to bat in the middle having last played Test cricket in September last year, which he says must have made the world and all individuals humble in their approach. "Psychology in cricket has always been an interest of mine, so I'm just dipping my toe in to see if I want to pursue it further. It helps to keep you fresh and get your mind away from cricket so that I don't just sit there and stew about the game and things going on in the world. Because if 2020 wasn't a humbler for people, then I don't know what will be,” Burns said in a virtual press conference from Chennai. "But I can't wait to get going. I've literally got a bat in front of the mirror. I've not gone the full Steve Smith and whited up yet, but just having the bat in hand makes me hungry to get going. It's coming down alright, so hopefully, that translates.” Lack of preparation for playing on Indian pitches can be asking some really tough questions but Burns said that players are being helpless about the scheduling amidst a raging global pandemic. "It's obviously a challenge, but there's not much we can do about that schedule. If you waste time thinking about that, it's probably not going to do you any good." Burns missed the series against Sri Lanka that turned out to be a momentous for his side due to the birth of his first child and although he conceded that it was a big decision to take time off from cricket, he looked at it with a ‘little perspective difference’ and said the reason could not have been more special than seeing his first child. "It's a strange feeling, but if you're going to miss it for anything, the birth of your first child is one thing you would do it for. It's a pretty momentous occasion, isn't it? She just makes me emotional looking at her, so the fact I've got a little girl to go and play my cricket, for now, it's a nice little perspective difference,” Burns said. Burns spoke very highly of skipper Joe Root who stood strongly against the spinning attack of Sri Lanka and the left-hander said that the English skipper always leads by an example and that along with Ben Stokes form a formidable combination to follow for other players playing around them. "Joe obviously leads from the front. Some of the sessions I saw him bat, it was pretty incredible watching him go about his business. He's a leader by example, in terms of how he captains the team and how he wants people to go about their batting, so he's an easy bloke to follow. We're very fortunate that we've got Joe and Stokesy, people like that. You can't help but learn from them." A lot was expected out of the spinning trio of England team that includes Moeen Ali, Dom Bess and Jack Leach but Burns warned against putting a lot of pressure on them going into the bg series. He pointed out that the nature of surfaces that will be on offer in India is still unknown and hence it would be unfair to jump the gun on the spinners as Indian team now has a potent pace attack that can also give way to pace-friendly surfaces in India. Burns added that Leach and Bess have experience of touring India with England Lions and hence they could be well prepared to take on Indian batsmen but a lot of it will depend on nature of pitches and with one of the four Tests being a day-night affair, situations might be a little bit different than the one in Sri Lanka where they excelled as a bowling unit. "Honestly, I don't think you need to put too much expectation on them. They will go about their business and they have bowled in Sri Lanka to get into the groove which is important and it's about switching their skills onto Indian surfaces. I think they have both been here before on different tours with the Indian Lions, so they have experience of playing here.” "But you don't want to put too much expectation on them without knowing about the surfaces going to be and with Indian seam attack, it might be slightly seamer-friendly, there is a Day/Night Test, so yeah it could be a bit different," added Burns. Burns also pointed to the threat of Jasprit Bumrah who will be playing his first Test in India after a more than two-year-long Test career. The left-hander said that it will be a difficult task to tackle the right armer given the point of his release and different angles of his bowling. "He's quite a hard man to prepare for, isn't he? He's obviously unique in terms of how he comes and bowls. We'll just be working on those angles, try to work our way on seam and swing and those sort of things and try to replicate that as best as we can," said Burns. Burns has been a formidable batsman for the England team over the last couple of years but he has been on and off from the game with injury ruling him out from some part of the Test series against South Africa in 2019-20 and now with Zak Crawley and Dominic Sibley batting in Sri Lanka the heat will be on Burns to seal his spot once for all. But he ducked the question of his return to the top of the order for the England team in the first Test starting February 05 in Chennai. "I don't know, it's probably not a decision for me, is it? But I'm just looking forward to getting back and getting to work. But as I say, getting back in nets, me, Jofra (Archer) and (Ben) Stokes get a slight head start because of quarantine and those sort of things. However, the challenge of opening an innings in sub-continent conditions has been a tough task and his teammates Sibley and Crawley have gone through tough times in Sri Lanka. "I certainly think it (role of an opener) is getting more difficult .....besides in particular in extra-ordinary conditions, like say in Sri Lanka, you spend (time) from ball one -- some turn and some skid, it is actually must be the hardest place to bat there, as well is back home when it is seaming and swinging," Burns said. "... So you know those numbers (average stand of 30 odd) suggest that it is a really tough place to bat, and like I say the role of Test opener might change and might be how deep you can get it, so the middle-order can cash in.” Burns will be playing his first Test in India and he has the experience of playing in tough conditions and legacy to draw inspiration from before he takes his guard to challenge Indian spinners in their own backyard. Before him, openers such as Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed and Sir Alastair Cook all have left long-lasting marks in their first outing on the Indian pitches.

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BBL10 Eliminator: Labuschagne strong Heat hold the edge against Strikers at Gabba

After 56 matches and 48 days, the Big Bash League 2020-21 got it’s five best teams who qualified for the Finals and now is the time for the first stage of that Finals. Brisbane Heat would face nemesis Adelaide Strikers in the all-important Eliminator clash at thor home ground of Gabba on Friday, 29th January. The heat has an edge over the strikers in a way that they are coming on the back of a great win over a strong Perth Scorchers side while the Strikers gt through to the Finals, merely on the basis of their net run rate, which was better than the Hurricanes. The Travis Head side was even drubbed by nine wickets by the Sydney Thunder in their last league encounter. Labuschagne the key for Heat Ever since he has joined the Heat unit post the Australia- India Test series, the 26-year-old Queenslander has been a livewire in the field and either with the bat or surprisingly with the ball, has been able to change the course of the game and give some momentum to the Heat. In this all-important affair, the Brisbane side would be hoping for a great showing from Labuschagne’s side. In the three BBL 2020-21 games that he has played, the STS (Stranger than Smudge) as the Aussie players like to call him, Labuschagne has scored 123 runs at an amazing average of 41 and has also picked up six crucial wickets with his ‘not so part-time’ leg-spin. Can Carey carry Strikers over the line! Although the Strikers have lost their last game, came through on net run rate got the biggest drubbing by their entire season at the hands of the Thunder, but one thing that doesn’t change even after all this is the fact that they beat the Heat by 82 runs in their last meeting. Adelaide’s vice-captain Alex Carey was the hero of the game, having hit a brilliant century in a must-win the encounter. The onus in this game would again be on Carey to take the lead and take his side through to the Knockout. But after that 101 knock against the Heat, he has remained silent in the next two games, much like Wes Agar, the sturdy fast bowler, who has been another hero of the Strikers’ BBL10 campaign so far. Agar, 23, has 21 wickets in this year‘s league so far but hasn’t been able to pick even a single wicket in his last two games and like Carey, would be itching to prove his worth in the biggest game of his career so far. Heat vs Strikers: Match Details Match- Eliminator Date and Time: 29th January, 01:45 pm IST, 06:15 pm Local, 08:15 am GMT Venue: The Gabba, Brisbane Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony SIX and Sony LIV Pitch Report The Gabba in this entire tournament has been used five times so far and all the five games have seen moderate scores only, indicating that the wicket has something for the bowlers if they hit the right lengths. The Heat has won three out of those five games and the two that they lost were very close affairs as they lost by two and one runs against Strikers and Hurricanes respectively. Weather and Bat Flip Brisbane is going to remain throughout the game with a chance of rain after 10 pm, the match might be finished by then. However, passing showers might also be expected in between 6 pm to 10 pm and hence any team winning the toss would choose to field first, keeping the Duckworth- Lewis system in mind. Luckily, Heat skipper Chris Lynn has got a chance to field first at the Gabba even when he lost the Bat Flip on two occasions, while on the three that he won, he anyways chose to field. There is no reason to believe why wouldn’t he chose to field first again if he wins the flip. Heat Strongest XI Chris Lynn (c), Max Bryant, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Denly, Joe Burns, Lewis Gregory, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ben Laughlin Strikers Strongest XI Alex Carey (wk), Jake Weatherald, Philip Salt, Travis Head (c), Jonathan Wells, Ryan Gibson, Michael Neser, Danny Briggs, Wes Agar, Liam O Connor, Peter Siddle