Champions Trophy 2017: 5 most expensive bowlers in the history of the tournament

The ICC Champions Trophy, which can rightly be called the World Cup of champions, has completed 7 action-packed editions and the 8^th is underway in England and Wales.

Cricket is a very statistical game and each delivery has the potential to mark a milestone. Over the years, the Champions Trophy has also witnessed some attention-grabbing stats and this time it’s the list 5 bowlers with most expensive figures in an innings.

#5 Shane Bond (New Zealand)

9-0-82-0 against Sri Lanka, ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Shane Bond, the fast and fearsome New Zealander, is probably the best pace bowler for his nation in recent times. However, Bond is also remembered for his frustratingly fragile body that suffered count-less injuries throughout the course of his career and at times it seemed like rather than the injuries interrupting his career, it was his occasional cricket that interrupted his downtime.

Away from his good times in matches, there was this one game which propelled him to make it to this list. The Champion Trophy game against Sri Lanka in 2009 where he had a wicket-less spell on the placid pitch of Johannesburg, conceding 82 runs in the 9 overs with an economy of 9.11.

Despite his poor bowling performance, New Zealand went on to win the game by 38 runs.

#4 Lonwabo Tsotsobe (South Africa)

Tsotsobe didn’t have a good outing against India

10-0-83-2 against India, ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, the tall left-arm swing bowler from South Africa, caught everyone’s eyes in his early days of play. He impressed one and all on his debut for the country against Australia where he picked up 4 wickets and earned a central contract.

However, in Champions Trophy 2013 square-off against India, the left-arm pacer leaked runs from all directions with an economy of 8.30 and was the reason why the opposition posted a daunting target of 331 for the Proteas to chase.

In his quota of 10 overs, the 33-year-old was smashed for 8 boundaries and 3 maximums. India emerged victorious as South Africa bundled out for 305 in 50 overs.

#3 Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

Malinga was taken to the cleaners by the Kiwi batsmen

10-0-85-1 against New Zealand, ICC Champions Trophy 2009

It is surprising to see one of the greatest limited-overs bowlers, Lasith Malinga is featuring in this list. The steaming speedster from Sri Lanka gained the reputation of delivering roaring in-swinging yorkers from his famous but peculiar round-arm action.

It was his figures with an expensive economy of 8.50 against New Zealand in the 2009 edition of the CT that has placed his name in the third spot of the list. In this particular innings, the toe-crusher was smacked to all parts of the Johannesburg stadium and ended up conceding 85 runs in the 10 overs he bowled with only one wicket to show for.

Coincidentally, it was the same match where Shane Bond leaked 83 runs. Sri Lanka fell short by 38 runs in the end, though.

#2 Tinashe Panyangara (Zimbabwe)

Panyangara was smacked by the Aussies

10-0-86-1 against England, ICC Champions Trophy 2004

Tinashe Panyangara, the tall right-handed medium pacer has a smooth and relaxed action. He uses the old-fashioned recipe of swing and precision to put the new ball to good use.

In the square-off against England in the Champions Trophy 2004 edition, the pacer wasn’t disciplined with his line and length, giving away 15 runs (5nb, 10w) in the form of extras. In his quota of 10 overs, the English batsmen made complete use of the bad day he was having and smacked him for a total of 86 runs which comprised of 6 fours and 1 six, at an economy of 8.60.

Thanks to the 15 illegal deliveries by him, he almost bowled two-and-a-half overs more than what was required which eventually resulted in a target of 300 for Zimbabwe to chase down. Unsurprisingly, Zimbabwe were done and dusted for a meagre total of 147 in 39 overs.

#1 Wahab Riaz (Pakistan)

Riaz had a day to forget this past Sunday

8.4-0-87-0 against India, ICC Champions Trophy 2017

Wahab Riaz, the left-arm quickie has the speed to trouble the best in business but hasn’t added consistency into the mix. He is a typical Pakistani left-armed fast bowler who loves to run down fast and full at the batsmen.

Riaz is the latest entrant to the list. It was during the most recent and rare encounter of Pakistan against arch-rivals, India in the ongoing ICC Champions trophy 2017. India were put into bat first by Pakistan and the strong and deep Indian batting line-up dominated the opposition from the very beginning.

Wahab was brought into the attack by his skipper to attain some respite, but he was taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen as they carved 87 runs from just 8.4 overs at an economy of 10.03.

Riaz left the field due an injury and could not complete his spell. India posted a massive total of 289 from 41 overs (D/L method) for Pakistan. But the Men in Green succumbed to India’s high-quality bowing attack and were bundled out for 164 in 33.4 overs.