Batting collapses are not something to cheer for a batting unit if one has to rewind the memories of the erstwhile year. For the bowlers, they were moments to rejoice when batsmen struggled to get in-tune with the ingenuity of the bowlers. The astonishing part is that it doesn’t come with a warning and often catches teams off-guard.
2016 has finally come to an end and there have been several batting collapses. Australia suffered quite a few of them while other teams had their share too. Cricket, predominantly being a batsman’s game, deserves the bowlers to have their say. We take a look at the top five batting debacles of the previous 12 months.
#5 India 79/10 vs. New Zealand at Nagpur (Thirteenth T20- World T20)
Albeit India were winless against the Kiwis in the 20-over format of cricket, the odds were well and truly stacked against the Black Caps in the opening game of the 2016 World T20’s main leg. The Men in Blue oozed confidence after clinching the inaugural T20 edition of the Asia Cup in March, cruising to triumphs in all four games.
The decision to bat first on a turning top turned fatal for Williamson and Co. as they hustled their way to a paltry 126/7 in the allotted quota of 20 overs. India, at no point of the chase, were in contention and lost wickets in bundles. Miserly spells from Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner tied the Indian batsmen down with a combined figure of 8-0-29-7.
A partnership of 30 in 37 balls between Ravichandran Ashwin and Mahendra Singh Dhoni attempted to bring India back on track, but the asking rate was always on the rise. India, eventually, folded for 79 runs and slumped to a hefty defeat by 47 runs.
#4 England 64/10 versus Bangladesh at Mirpur (Second Test)
Sabbir Rahman and Bangladesh were left high and dry, stuttering at the threshold of victory in the first Test of the series against England this July. Inexperience caught up with the Tigers as England tantalisingly eschewed their maiden defeat against Bangladesh in Test cricket.
Leading the series by 1-0, England were firm favourites to wrap up the series and accomplish a clean sweep. Bangladesh, on the other hand, rummaged for some sort of inspiration to re-ignite the spark. Courtesy a gutsy ton by Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh scored 220 runs in their first innings.
Following a stern resistance from the lower order, England managed a slender lead of 24 runs. Bangladesh pushed hard in their second innings to set England a target of 273 runs with two days remaining in the contest.
England cantered along to a 100 run stand through Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett, but Bangladesh clawed their way back, riding on Mehedi Hasan and Shakib-Al-Hasan’s stupendous spell, and finally stunned the British to a defeat by 108 runs as they lost all their ten wickets in a space of 21.3 overs.
#3 Australia 85/10 versus South Africa at Hobart (Second Test)
Unlike a five-match series, if a team loses the opening Test in a three-match series, the comeback endeavour becomes synonymous to fighting against the inevitable. Australia tasted defeat in the first Test against South by 177 runs at one of the fastest wickets in world cricket at the W.A.C.A. in Perth.
In their comeback bid, the Kangaroos were shot out for 85 runs in the first innings- their lowest total in Tests in the last 32 years. The Aussie batting never got a measure of the Proteas bowling as Vernon Philander went through the Australian line-up like a knife through hot butter. For Australia, captain Steve Smith was the sole warrior who seemed to storm the Proteas pace-battery with five boundaries.
Nine out of eleven batsmen got out for single figures for the Kangaroos. Despite rain halting play for a substantial period of the game, Australia never recovered from the jolt and succumbed to a defeat by an innings and 80 runs. Even in the second innings, they capitulated from 129/2 to 161 all out after a hard fight by David Warner, Usman Khwaja and Steve Smith.
#2 India 46/9 versus Australia at Canberra (Fourth One Day International)
India had already been humbled by the Aussies, grabbing an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the five-match ODI series. Nevertheless, a couple of stellar performances would still have helped India to retain some pride. Bowling was a matter of concern for the Indians as the Kangaroos were allowed to chase down targets of 300+ without dropping much sweat.
Aaron Finch’s ton propelled Australia to a score of 348 and India were yet again up against it.
India got off to a blistering start, holding hands of twin centuries by Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. It was probably Shikhar Dhawan’s mistimed cut shot into the hands of backward point that changed the entire complexion of the game.
Not only did the wicket broke a 212 runs stand, but also marked the beginning of a remarkable comeback by the Kangaroos. With 72 runs required from the final 76 balls, India was scampering towards victory, but wickets at the wrong time pegged them back and they surrendered the contest to the Aussies by 25 runs. Kane Richardson’s five-wicket haul didn’t help the cause either.
#1 West Indies 23/7 versus India at Gros Islet (Second Test)
The Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium at Gros Islet was the host of the second Test between India and West Indies. After being set back by early wickets, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin piled on a 213 runs partnership to help India post 353 runs in the first innings.
West Indies motored along at a decent rate before Bhuvneshwar Kumar wreaked havoc to pick up a five-wicket haul. West Indies was 151 shy of India’s total and with seven wickets in hand, they had got India on the mat to some extent.
Call it lack of experience or horrendous batting, the last seven wickets fell for 23 runs and West Indies handed India a lead of 128 priceless runs. The blow was abysmal enough to disintegrate the Caribbean into going down by 2-0.
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