ICC World Cup 2019: Ranking the death-overs bowling of all teams

The Cricket World Cup 2019 is set to get underway in a couple of days as the last round of warm-up matches are to take place today. The teams have been preparing for this tournament well in advance and hosts England go into the tournament as favorites while Australia, India and South Africa are strong contenders as well.

With the wickets set to support batsmen and 300+ being the par score on most of the grounds, containing the batsmen during the death overs, where they usually tend to go big will be the priority. The death bowling of each side becomes very crucial this tournament because even if they lose their cool for one ball during the death overs, the match might slip out of hand.

However, not all teams are well prepared of how to bowl to oppositions during death overs and on that note, let's rank the death-overs bowling of each team.

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#10 West Indies

Jason Holder

The West Indies have a long line of fast bowlers but none of them have been efficient bowling in the death. Apart from skipper Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel, none of the pacers even have a decent economy rate in T20Is and haven't done much to speak of as far as death bowling is concerned.

Andre Russell and Carlos Brathwaite are very expensive and so is Sheldon Cottrell. Oshane Thomas has good pace but doesn't have the experience to do it on a daily basis and unfortunately, they don't have a mystery spinner or a part-timer to do the job either.

West Indies have a couple of recognized players who are neat with their bowling but no bowler who has consistently bowled in the death and are short on death bowlers.

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#9 Afghanistan

Rashid Khan(C) is a decent death bowling option.

Afghanistan have little or no recognized death bowlers in their side. While their spin trio of Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are pretty economical throughout the innings, it will not be viable to operate in the death overs only using spinners. Despite their fine performance against Pakistan in the warm-up fixtures, their pacers were pretty expensive and aren't well versed in the art of death bowling.

While Rashid or Mujeeb can certainly function as a last resort but to consistently bowl the 10 overs, Afghanistan need their pacers to up their game.

#8 Sri Lanka

Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka have a very experienced pace battery but apart from the aging Lasith Malinga, they don't have an experienced pace bowler to bowl the death overs. The issues in the death bowling of the side were revealed pretty clearly in the warm-up game against South Africa as the side leaked a substantial amount of runs in the death overs.

Nuwan Pradeep is clearly not suited to bowling in the death while Thisara Perera's experience too is on the decline. Left-arm pacer Isuru Udana has done a good job and is an option to consider apart from Malinga. Suranga Lakmal is a bit like Umesh Yadav and while intimidating in the opening spell, he's not as effective during the death.

Overall, Sri Lanka have options but experience and calmness is lacking and if they are to bowl well, some of their bowlers have to make a massive step up.

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#7 Bangladesh

Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh are an average death bowling side with a couple of quality death bowlers but lack the consistency to be among the top few teams. Mustafizur Rahman with his stingy, angled left-arm deliveries makes most batsmen uncomfortable at the crease and is among the best death bowlers in the tournament. The wily and experienced skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has a good arsenal of change-ups and can thrive in the death overs with his experience.

None of the other bowlers, however, have the consistency that these two possess and are unlikely to make too much impact in overs 41-50. Pacer Rubel Hossain is a wicket-taker but is on the expensive side and this inconsistency is what prevents Bangladesh from becoming a top side as far as death bowling is concerned.

#6 Pakistan

Wahab Riaz is a key bowler for Pakistan.

Pakistan have a really impressive arsenal of young fast bowlers but are they equipped well enough to be a top death bowling unit? You can't say 'yes' with too much confidence. The reason for this lies in the first statement - these players are too young to gain as much maturity as to handle the pressure in bowling the death overs.

But that doesn't mean that Pakistan are poor at the death. Wahab Riaz showed his class against Afghanistan in the warm-up game and with Hasan Ali and Mohammad Amir in the side, Pakistan have bowlers who bowl pretty well at the death. While Pakistan are a decent death bowling side, when compared to the other teams, they do lack a bit of craft and steam.

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#5 New Zealand

Trent Boult was exceptional in the warm-up game against India.

New Zealand are a good death bowling side filled with clever and experienced bowlers who can deliver for them. While Tim Southee's poor form is a minus, the rest of the side is pretty good with the ball during the death overs. Trent Boult is among the best in the tournament while James Neesham isn't a bad option as well.

Mitchell Santner is a pretty good choice with his left-arm orthodox being a differential pick for the death overs. Speedster Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson have a lot of pace and can manage well enough as well.

All in all, New Zealand have a good death bowling unit but lack big names apart from Trent Boult.

#4 England

Jofra Archer gets a pat on the back from team-mates. (Image Courtesy: BBC)

England have a good death bowling unit helmed by the young Jofra Archer and the wily, experienced Liam Plunkett. Archer is one of the best T20 death bowlers and can transcend his form to the ODI format. Plunkett is capable of picking up a lot of wickets but is also a bit expensive at times.

Other options like Tom Curran, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes aren't really experts in the craft but can deliver on occasion. Moeen Ali, the off-spinner is also a reliable differential option in the death.

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#3 South Africa

Kagiso Rabada is a pretty good death bowler.

South Africa are a really good bowling side and have an exciting bunch of fast bowlers who can function very well at the death. Kagiso Rabada aldready showcased a bit of his talent during the recently concluded Vivo IPL 2019. With Lungi Ngidi, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn to partner him, South Africa have no dearth in their death-overs bowling and though they lack variations, they are a very able death bowling unit.

#2 India

Jasprit Bumrah.

India have the No.1 ODI bowler and incidentally, the best death bowler in the world, Jasprit Bumrah in their ranks and they are certainly a top death bowling side. However, the backup for Bumrah isn't as strong as India would have hoped for because the misfortunes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar have followed him to the World Cup.

Bhuvi used to be a world-class bowler in the death and nailed the yorkers and change-ups to perfection. Now, however, his dip in form means that apart from Mohammed Shami who has been pretty good, India lack support for their main man Bumrah.

While Bhuvi's return to form will be widely anticipated, India need to make some of their part-timers ready to bowl at the death if they want to be the best death bowling side in the tournament because despite having the best, they lack other options.

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#1 Australia

Marcus Stoinis(R) is praised by team-mates after his impressive death bowling show against England in the warm-up game.

Australia have both the quality and the options to make them a top death bowling side, a trait which they have shown in the 2 warm-up games they have played in. With Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in top form with their fiery yorkers and unplayable deliveries, Australia have 2 in-form bowlers who are well versed with bowling at the death. Also, they have the experienced T20 bowlers in Kane Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile, whose exploits in the death overs were the reason they're in the side now.

Also, the emergence of Marcus Stoinis as an option in the death is a huge positive as the all-rounder's stocky frame is well suited for wide yorkers as well as shoulder-height bouncers which are all part of the death bowling package.