Best bowling finishers in ODI cricket.

[duffer]

Malinga and Starc come to mind. Anyone else?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Ishant and Dinda manage to finish games far sooner than they should

 

[OverratedSanity]

Now that the obvious joke is out of the way, yeah, Starc and Maling currently. Wasim, Flintoff, McGrath ,Garner from eras gone by.

 

[Debris]

Brett Lee

 

[Prince EWS]

Brett Lee

Brett Lee was a good death option when you were behind in the game and needed something special; he often dragged Australia back into it. He could really go the journey at the death too -- more moreso than other bowlers of his calibre -- so I wouldn't put him up there with the best who you could bank on to ram home a strong position too. Lee was the death bowling equivalent of going all in.

 

[ImpatientLime]

yeah freddie and darren gough were both superb for england at the death.

gough could bowl those hooping yorkers almost at will.

 

[smash84]

Ishant and Dinda manage to finish games far sooner than they should

Gold

 

[anil1405]

Tim Southee is pretty good at this skill I suppose.

 

[Athlai]

Tim Southee is pretty good at this skill I suppose.

Sometimes. Definitely our best death bowler, but he isn't anywhere near the Malinga territory. Southee bowls a pretty good bouncer, has a nice slower variation and you can rely on that game in game out. His yorker and lines at the death can sometimes go missing though. Which typically means he will bowl 3-4 good balls, and 2-3 balls that are decent if we're lucky and outright pies if we're not.

I think with the real top level death bowlers like Malinga, you'll see a few inswinging yorkers, a slower ball, a couple bouncers and all of a sudden you're looking at 5-6 good balls.

People are definitely waaaaaaay too judgy on how a batsman comes off in the short term when criticising at the death though. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing the bowler can do, they're minmising risk, not eliminating it. There is no such thing as an unhittable ball these days.

 

[Debris]

Brett Lee was a good death option when you were behind in the game and needed something special; he often dragged Australia back into it. He could really go the journey at the death too -- more moreso than other bowlers of his calibre -- so I wouldn't put him up there with the best who you could bank on to ram home a strong position too. Lee was the death bowling equivalent of going all in.

I always felt that Lee was as least as reliable as McGrath as a death bowler.

 

[Jono]

Lee was the death bowling equivalent of going all in.

very good

 

[Jono]

Wasn't Umar Gul awesome for around 12-24 months? Around the time Pakistan won the T20 WC in 2009?

 

[OverratedSanity]

I remember that time he got the ball to reverse in like 5 overs in a T20 once

 

[Saint Kopite]

Waqar.

 

[cnerd123]

Garner and Wasim worth a mention.

Wahab is shaping up nicely ATM.

 

[karan316]

Wasn't Umar Gul awesome for around 12-24 months? Around the time Pakistan won the T20 WC in 2009?

Umar Gul was so effective in the 2007 T20 WC, the difference there was that he was assigned a set role which suited him. He didn't bowl with the new ball in the tournament, delivered amazing yorkers, slower ones and bouncers at the death.

 

[Saint Kopite]

WTF is with the eyes thingy, guys?