Top 10 batting collapses

Nowadays, cricket is all about the batsmen. Big bats, small boundaries, field restrictions and innovative shots have caused the balance between bat and ball to tilt. Most ODIs are considered to be boring if at least 600 runs haven’t been scored. As bowlers keep disappearing over the boundary almost every over, their overall grip on the game has gotten relatively weak. Nobody seems to root for the bowlers anymore, and the batsmen continue to make merry.But it is not always the same. Sometimes, the bowlers roar back. An out-swinging peach, a well-disguised googly or a ferocious yorker is all that takes to prise out even the best of batsmen. When the first one falls, the others often follow like a house of cards. It’s often a tiny spark that begins a collapse, and that is usually a form of brilliance by the bowler or in the field.Let’s take a look at some incidents where the batting side crumbled under some excellent bowling and because of some appalling batting, often going from a position of strength to losing more wickets than the runs they scored.

#1 England 6 wickets for 3 runs, vs. Australia, Melbourne 1990

Bruce Reid ran through the English batting line-up

If it’s an Ashes series, you can be sure of high-octane clashes and tempers running high. From Fred Trueman running through the Aussies and Don Bradman’s Invincibles to Shane Warne’s Ball of the Century and Stuart Broad’s catharsis, the Ashes has always given us moments to savour. But a little away from the heap of the legendary moment, alone and forgotten, is a batting collapse by England that most fans would like to forget.

It was the post-lunch session on the fourth day of the second Test, and England was sitting happy, placed at 147 for 4 and a lead of 193 runs. Wayne Larkins had just made a half century and was batting with keeper Alec Stewart. It was all going well for England, until left-arm seamer Bruce Reid came on. Stewart, who had looked very solid till then tried to play an aggressive drive and was caught at gully. That started the slide.

Reid got rid of the well-set Larkins as well and exposed two new batsmen at the crease. Fellow bowler Greg Matthews gave him good company as England was bundled out for 150, from being 147-4. They had lost 6 wickets for 3 runs, and Australia was given a target of 197 which they easily achieved. Reid had never taken more than 4 wickets in an innings before that match, and his figures read 6-97 and 7-51.

#2 Australia 7 wickets for 5 runs, vs. Pakistan, Melbourne 1979

Sarfraz Nawaz and his reverse swing caused the mighty Aussies to fall

Pakistan was in dire straits. They had been dismissed for 196 in the first innings, but had bounced back and bundled out Australia for 168, getting a slender lead of 28 runs. The Pakistani batsmen batted well in the second innings and put up 353 on the board, giving Australia a target of 382 to win. It was an improbable target.

But the Aussies were running riot in the second innings with a 177-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Allan Border and Kim Hughes. They were at 305-3 and only required 77 more runs to record a sensational victory. The Pakistani bowlers were weary and exhausted, and the captain Mushtaq Mohammed gave the ball to his premier fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz to induce some magic.

Ahmed ran up and bowled with the old ball, and he found reverse swing. It was a technique that was often whispered about, but nobody had actually seen it in action before. The Aussies found out the hard way. 33 deliveries later, Australia was all out for 310, from being 305-3. Sarfraz had bowled 4.1 overs (since each over had 8 balls) for 7 wickets, conceding just 1 run. Sarfraz had taken 9 wickets in the innings, and the lone man to escape him - Graham Yallop - had been run out. Australia had been introduced to reverse swing, and they wouldn’t forget it in a hurry.

#3 Pakistan 8 wickets for 16 runs, vs. West Indies, Cape Town 1993

Walsh washed Pakistan

It was a tri-series between South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies. After having qualified for the finals, Pakistan and West Indies were playing a dead rubber. Even then the crowd had turned up in large numbers to support their teams. On a pitch with too much grass, West Indies won a lucky toss and elected to bowl. They had Courtney Walsh, Anderson Cummins and Patrick Patterson, who were all out for blood.

It was a disaster from the start. Ramiz Raja was dismissed first ball and Saeed Anwar came to the crease. Anwar and opener Ghulam Ali managed to block most of the deliveries, but it was only a matter of time. When the score was on 10-1, the collapse began. Both Cummins and Walsh picked up three wickets in a single over as the Pakistani batsmen scored five ducks in a row.

Pakistan went from 10-1 to 26-9, losing 8 wickets for 16 runs. It was only some stonewalling from Zahid Fazal which took them to 43 runs, as they promptly folded to what was then the lowest ever ODI total. West Indies proved that the pitch was demonic as they lost 3 wickets for 11 runs but hung on to win the match. It was a day to remember for the West Indians as their bowling came good against a strong Pakistani line-up.

#4 Sri Lanka 8 wickets for 10 runs, vs. West Indies, Sharjah 1986

Courtney Walsh picked up 5 wickets for 1 run

A one-day international this time, and West Indies had muscled past a toothless Sri Lankan bowling attack to post 248-5 in 45 overs. With stars like Roshan Mahanama, Brendon Kuruppu, Aravinda De Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga in their midst, Sri Lanka would have hoped to chase the target down - or at least put up a good fight. But West Indies had Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh, so the game was on - for a while.

Sri Lanka certainly started well, scoring 22 runs in the first five overs. It appeared that they were comfortable facing the West Indian bowlers, and that the match would be a bit one sided. Eventually, it was. It began when Kuruppu was unceremoniously run out with the score still on 22. Mahanama departed without increasing the score. Ranatunga and Gurusinha then made 23 runs together - the highest partnership of the match, and Sri Lanka were on 45-2.

Then Roger Harper and Walsh came on to bowl and the rest was history. Harper prised out Ranatunga and Gurusinha both before Walsh demolished the lower order with his thunderbolts. Sri Lanka was shot out for 55 runs, from being 45-2. Walsh’s figures read 4.3-3-1-5. It was Sri Lanka’s lowest ODI total at the time. Walsh was declared the Man-of-the-Match, and West Indies won by 193 runs without breaking a sweat. Sri Lanka’s 8 wickets for 10 runs is still the lowest runs scored for an eight-wicket collapse in ODIs.

#5 Australia 8 wickets for 10 runs, vs. South Africa, Cape Town 2011

It was a pretty poor scorecard from Australia’s point of view

It’s not a lot of times that a team gets bowled out for 96 and still wins the match. But that’s exactly what South Africa did when they shocked the Aussies into a spectacular collapse. It was a slow start in Australia’s first innings as they pushed and prodded their way to 284. But they bowled with venom as they kept South Africa to just 96 runs. With a lead of 188 runs and more than 3 days of play left, Australia was well set to get to a mammoth score.

Watson was out LBW again as Australia lost an early wicket. But Phil Hughes and Ricky Ponting steadied the ship somewhat as they negotiated five more overs. Australia was at 11-1, and was just starting to see the new ball well. Vernon Philander came on and the fun began. Ponting was the first to go, trapped in front by an inswinger. Morkel then prised out Hughes and Michael Hussey off successive deliveries, before Philander came back to send off Haddin, Johnson and Shaun Marsh. Morkel completed the demolition by picking up Ryan Harris, and Australia was 21-9.

Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle hung on to take Australia to 47 runs before they were bundled out. South Africa reached the target of 236 runs with ease, completing the turn-around. Australia had lost 8 wickets for 10 runs, going from 11-1 to 21-9. They had been reduced from being the powerhouse of cricket to a laughingstock in just 37 deliveries. South Africa’s bowlers were the new force in town.

#6 India 9 wickets for 29 runs, vs. South Africa, Nagpur 2011

Dale Steyn’s final overs started India’s collapse

India’s World Cup run is best known for Yuvraj Singh’s heroics, MS Dhoni’s promotion up the order, Virender Sehwag’s fiery starts and India’s eventual win. But nobody talks about the dark side of India’s tournament - their batting collapses. India lost 7 wickets for 33 runs against England, 4 wickets for 30 runs against Netherlands and 6 wickets for 36 runs against West Indies. But perhaps the most dramatic collapse was against South Africa, the last match in the group stages.

After a typical Sehwag start, India had reached 142-1 in just the 18th over. Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir took over the reins as the master blaster scored a brilliant century. India was poised at 267-1, in the 40th over as they prepared to launch an all-out assault in the last ten overs and try to push the score up to 350. But then, Dale Steyn came back for another spell.

India wilted under pressure. 267-1 became 268-4 as both the set batsmen were dismissed. Yusuf Pathan was promoted to score quick runs and he was out for a duck. Yuvraj hit a six but got out soon. Dhoni’s poor form continued as he couldn’t middle the ball at all. The tail was nearly non-existent as the South African bowlers swept the floor with them. India was bundled out for 296, losing 9 wickets for 29 runs. South Africa would go on to win a tight match, and then Indian batsmen were under scrutiny.

#7 UAE U-19 9 wickets for 6 runs, vs. Nepal U-19, Kuala Lampur, 2015

The UAE U-19 team collapsed dramatically

U-19 matches are often very energetic. You see youngsters who are hoping to make an impact and get into the national side give their all against opposition teams. The zeal with which they play sometimes exceeds those of international games even. But it’s not always that a team makes an impact for the right reasons, like UAE last month, for example.

Nepal batted first and overcame a top-order collapse as they made 199 runs. UAE had bowled very well to restrict Nepal to under a score of 200. In reply, Nepal had to stick to their guns and try to keep take wickets, because it was difficult to just contain UAE to 199 or below. UAE made a sedate start and were respectably placed at 44-1. Then things started to go horribly wrong.

Off-spinner Sunil Dhamala came on to bowl and started to wreck havoc. The UAE batsmen fell like nine pins. None of the next 9 batsmen made more than one run. There were three ducks, followed by three ones and then three ducks again. UAE were shot out for 50 runs, from being 44-1. They had lost 9 wickets for 6 runs and redefined the term “batting collapse”.

#8 Netherlands 10 wickets for 39 runs vs. Sri Lanka, Chittagong 2014

Netherlands gave Sri Lanka a target of 40 runs at 2 runs per over

It was the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, and Netherlands had qualified the hard way. After a superb outing in the Qualifiers, they were facing relegation unless they chased down Ireland’s total of 190 in 14.2 overs. They went three balls better and their batsmen razed through the Irish bowlers to pull off a spectacular heist. They had managed to come good by the skin of their teeth and wanted to put up a good showing in the main event.

Unfortunately, they ran into a Sri Lankan team which would later be the winners of the tournament. Sri Lanka usually routed minnows during a World Cup, once reducing Bangladesh for 5-4 and then bundling out Canada for just 36 in the 50-over World Cup. This time, it wasn’t any different. Hero of the chase, Stephen Myburgh was sent packing in the very first over by Nuwan Kulasekara who returned figures of 2-2-0-1. In a surprise move, Angelo Matthews shared the new ball which proved extremely efficient.

Matthews picked up three wickets with his accurate bowling and Malinga arrived to send back the middle order with his yorkers. The tail was cleaned up by Ajantha Mendis’ mystery spin as Netherlands collapsed for 39 runs. Only one batsman made it into double digits. Extras were the third highest score. Sri Lanka finished off the target in just 5 overs as Netherlands were given a harsh welcome to the World Cup. Netherlands would later end their tournament on a high by upsetting England, but that is another story.

#9 Nepal 10 wickets for 35 runs vs. Ireland, Belfast 2013

Wreckers In-Chief John Mooney and Stuart Thompson

It was the World T20 Qualifiers and Nepal was determined to put up a promising show. They had failed to qualify for the event in 2012 and desperately wanted to set the record straight. They were up against a dangerous Irish team, which straight up there with Netherlands as one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Nepal lost the toss and was sent in to bat.

Their openers gave them a steady start as they motored to 18 runs in the first three overs. It looked like they would reach a respectable total and give the Irish batsmen a fight – until the Irish seamers found their groove. Alex Cusack finished off his maiden over with a wicket and the slide began. John Mooney proved why he was such an asset as he picked up wickets in consecutive overs, getting Nepal into a tangle.

Kevin O’Brien and Stuart Thompson were introduced into the attack and they promptly took three wickets each. Ultimately, Ireland’s spinners never got to bowl as all the wickets were shared by the seamers. Nepal went from being 18-0 to 53 all out, losing all their wickets for just 35 runs. Just to rub it in, Paul Stirling’s flurry of boundaries ensured that Ireland reached the target in a hurry. Nepal’s loss seemed like a blow to their confidence, but they bounced back and qualified for the T20 World Cup in 2014 after a fairytale tournament.

#10 Scotland U-19 10 wickets for 15 runs, vs. Australia U-19, Chittagong 2004

Only Kyle Coetzer played serious international cricket again after Scotland U-19 collapsed to 22 all out

It was the U-19 World Cup, which was the biggest stage that an aspiring player could ever hope for. All the important delegates would be watching, the team selectors would be appraising them for selection and a cricketer’s entire fate would be decided in a single day. As Scotland’s U-19 team found out, such a situation didn’t always bode well.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the only thing that went Scotland U-19’s way was the toss, which they won and went out to bat. Everything else resembled a nightmare. Openers Ian Young and Moneeb Iqbal played out 22 balls without a smidgeon of an idea of what was to follow. Young went first, gifting his wicket to seamer Cameron Huckett. His partner fell to the other seamer, Gary Putland. Huckett and Putland wrecked havoc as Scotland U-19 made four consecutive ducks.

Then-youngster Steve O’Keefe was brought in and he picked up a couple of wickets. Putland was brought back in to demolish the tail and he obliged captain Tim Paine by taking two more wickets – both ducks. Scotland had gone from 7-0 to 22 all out, losing their entire squad for 15 runs. There were six ducks and nothing above 5 runs. The highest scorer was Extras with 10, also the only double-digit score. Scotland U-19’s had been shot out for 22 runs in just more than 22 overs, which didn’t make for pleasant reading. Only one player from that Scotland team – Kyle Coetzer – would play more than ten internationals for Scotland again.