The best of Mitch - 5 Best spells Mitchell Johnson

3. 5/26 v India at Vadodara, 2007

Mitchell Johnson

Australia had gone into the game 2-1 up in the 7-match series and a win would see them take a comfortable lead in the series. Johnson chose the right time to take his first five-wicket haul in international cricket, as he made use of the early morning juice in the Baroda wicket with an impeccable spell of new ball bowling, and followed it up with a late burst to shoot out the tail. When you get Yuvraj, Uthappa and Dhoni within the first 10 overs, you win a game 9 times out of 10, and this game was no different.

4. 7/40 v England at Adelaide, 2013

Mitchell Johnson

After Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin had scored a century each to take Australia to 570, England were moving along with a few jitters at 117/4. When Johnson left his mark and swept a trail of devastation in his post-lunch spell, the score read 135/9. What we saw was fast, accurate, aggressive bowling, and a bowler making great use of the little help that was available in terms of reverse-swing. In a spell where he was twice on a hat-trick, Johnson ensured that Australia wrested control of the test match, and it is now almost certain that Australia will not lose and will, at the very least, keep up a 1-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series.

5. 6/73 v New Zealand at Hamilton, 2010

Mitchell Johnson

With New Zealand set a mammoth 479 for victory, Australia were always favourites. And Mitchell Johnson ensured there were no surprises with a 6-for that enabled him to have a match haul of 10 wickets. More than the performance itslef, it was the circumstances under which they came, that would’ve made Johnson a happy man, because only 6 months prior to this series, he had endured a torrid time in the Ashes series that took place in England, where he was at his erratic best.