Top 5 balls of the century

Jessica Williams | 12:00am GMT 16 January 2022

The last century has been phenomenal for cricket fans. We have witnessed the emergence of young talents, and the evergreen professionals grace our screens and pitches. Athletes in all kinds of sports aim to gain control and achieve mastery, which often never happens, only producing bursts of magic. This is why sports like cricket are loved as we get to see the thrill of cricketers as they hit balls to perfection. If you love cricket and are rooting for your favourite teams, you may want to head over to sites like Comeon betting for some of the best odds in the market. Meanwhile, here are the top five balls from the last century.

1. Ryan Harris to Alastair Cook 2013

When it comes to the perfect delivery of the last century, Ryan’s ball to Alistair Cook when Australia and England met in 2013 has to be at the top. Harris has been criticised for much of his career for trying to bowl the perfect ball, but he managed to do it in an extraordinary fashion this time. Harris is a renowned fast bowler, and it is no coincidence this ranks as one of his greatest achievements in cricket in the last century.

2. Mohammad Asif to VVS Laxman

While Mohammad Asif’s career has declined significantly, his ball that dismissed Laxman when Pakistan faced India in Karachi in 2006 deserves the second spot. Laxman had great vision and hands and would play through the leg side. Asif was trying to catch him on the stumps, and they had sparred over five balls before Asif took him out on the 12th over.

3. Muttiah Muralitharan to S Ramesh

Even Muttiah was as surprised as Ramesh when he delivered the ball when Sri Lanka and India faced off in 2001 in Colombo. He was bowling as far as the law allows, with his arm coming almost outside and the ball travelling at a skewed angle. If it had not wavered, it probably would have missed the 2nd set of stumps. Ramesh did not think he needed to bat and even seemed half-hearted to pad it. Only when he saw the drift, he reluctantly tried a defensive shot. He reacted too late, and the bat was not even close to making contact with the ball.

4. Shane Warne to Andrew Strauss

When England and Australia face-off, magic is never far away. This game played in Edgbaston in 2005 did not disappoint as Warne bowled Andrew out. Andrew was trying to play with the spin and was using his body instead of his hands. This meant he was finding himself most of the time outside the line of the ball, and Wayne took advantage of it.

5. Dale Steyn to Michael Vaughan

While Vaughan has a reputation of being out bowled, with 15% of his dismissals being out bowled, this duel with Dale in 2004 when South Africa faced England saw the emergence of one of the fastest bowlers of the century. It was also in this match that legend AB de Villiers debuted. Vaughan had been grumpy and was the culprit for letting South Africa back. His grumpiness allowed Steyn to announce himself to the world after flattening his stumps.