Swinging sensations: 5 best dismissals by swing bowlers

When the ball is moving around, and a fast bowler exploits those conditions and makes them work to his advantage, there are few better sights in world cricket. In modern day cricket, the likes of Dale Steyn, James Anderson, Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock et al have been wonderful exponents of the swinging ball and how to make it work to their advantage. Here, we take a look at 5 of the best deliveries that have been bowled by swing bowlers.

1. James Anderson v Kieran Powell

There is no better feeling for a fast bowler when he works to a plan, and that plan gets him a wicket. That is exactly what Anderson did in this Test against West Indies opener Kieran Powell. For 3 overs at a stretch, he kept moving the ball away from Powell, kept moving it across him, and got he batsman moving slightly across. When Anderson felt Powell had been set up enough, in came the big in-ducker, and Powell left the ball alone, preempting the outswinger again, and played the shot as an after thought.

Though the video shows only the last bit of the action, this shows how Anderson gets a lot of his wickets. He keeps working the batsman to one delivery, one line, one length, and then makes the sucker punch.

2. Dale Steyn v Cheteshwar Pujara

In terms of natural ability to swing the ball away from the right hander, Dale Steyn probably has it in the most abundance. We’ve seen many a Steyn wicket, where the batsman has edged the ball to the keeper or to the slip cordon. But, this particular delivery to Cheteshwar Pujara was near unplayable, probably the perfect delivery for a fast bowler.

With the ball swinging around wildly, Steyn started this particular delivery on leg stump and it hit Pujara around middle and off stump. Such was the prodigious swing on the ball, that there was no chance the batsman could have played the ball convincingly.

3. S Sreesanth v Darren Ganga

Sreesanth was probably the one Indian bowler who didn’t lose his ability to swing the ball through his career. On the days he got it right, he was more than a handful. That was why it was a big pain to see him do what he did to earn himself a life ban.

This delivery to Ganga was a near-perfect delivery. Pitching on middle and off, hitting top of off stump. Doesn’t get too much better than that for a genuine out-swing bowler. Pity then, that we cannot see this talented fast bowler in action any more.

4. Mitchell Johnson v Alastair Cook

In the ongoing Ashes series, Mitchell Johnson has breathed fire. He’s got back his ability to get the away swinger to the left handers going, and he’s doing it at a pace that is a few notches above where he was when he was dropped.

In Adelaide, after Australia had got to 570, England needed a good start and Cook was going to be crucial. But Johnson had other ideas. In the 3rd over of the innings, he slung an out-swinger at 150 clicks, and the ball pitched on middle stump and went on to dislodge the off stump. It was a big wicket, and Johnson will not forget it, not just because it was Cook that he dismissed, but because of the way he dismissed Cook.

5. Ryan Harris v Alastair Cook

Cook has been unlucky in this Ashes, as he has got a few snorters pretty early in his innings. This was in the second innings of the just concluded Perth test match. This was near unplayable, to be fair to Cook. A ball that swung in, pitched on leg stump, and then moved away of the seam to hit the top of off sump. As a batsman, you can’t do much with a delivery as perfect as that.