We continue to bring you the records and achievements which shine bright in the history of cricket. Today we tell you about the most successful bowlers, the bowlers who got the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979. Cricket in the 1970s and 80s was a lot about great fast bowlers. The pitches and the rules in those times would aid the quick bowlers a lot more.
There were no field restrictions back then and the blowers didn’t have any limit on the number of bouncers allowed per over. It thus remains no surprise that the early editions if cricket world cups produced some great bowling performances by the greatest bowlers in history. We take you back to the 5 heroic bowlers who took most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979.
5. Michael Holding (West Indies)
He was one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history and was nicknamed as, ‘the whispering death.’ Holding served West Indies wonderfully in the 1979 cricket world cup by taking 8 wickets in 4 matches. His best bowling performance came in the very first match against India. Michael took 4 wickets in his 12 overs and conceded only 33 runs. This helped the West Indies team to restrict India for just 190 runs and then win the match by 9 wickets.
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Holding has a great economy rate of just 2.58 runs given per over bowled. His strike rate in the tournament remained 30 balls per wicket with an excellent average of just above 13.25. He was thus one of the best bowlers for the Caribbean side in the 1979 world cup and many years after that. Among the bowlers who took the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979. Michael took 249 test wickets along with the 142 One Day scalps in his bowling career.
4. Chris Old (England)
He was one of the effective bowlers in the English team with a handy batting ability also. Chris Old bowled magnificently for his team in the 1979 cricket world cup and took 9 wickets in his 5 matches. His best spell came against Canada at Old Trafford when Old took 4 wickets giving away just 8 runs. England bowled out the Canadian team for mere 45 runs in that match.
Chris Old bowled with a disciplined line and length in the whole tournament and thus had a steady economy rate of 2.70 runs per over. His strike rate in the 1979 world cup was 38 balls per wicket along with a great average of 17.44. He was one of the best players for England’s journey to the final of that historical tournament. Among the bowlers who took the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979.
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3. Asif Iqbal (Pakistan)
Iqbal captained a much improved Pakistan side in the 1979 cricket world cup. He led from the front in both bowling as well as batting departments. The right-arm medium-fast bowler took 9 wickets in the series with an economy rate of 3.34 runs per over. He had a wonderful strike rate of taking a wicket in every 31 deliveries bowled with an average of just above 17 runs per wicket.
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Asif Iqbal made important contributions in Pakistan getting to the semi-final stage of the 1979 cricket world cup. In the all-important semis, he took 4 West Indian wickets for 56 runs. This was his best bowling performance in the tournament. And he was among the bowlers who took the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979. These were of the top 4 Caribbean batsmen Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Vivian Richards, and Clive Lloyd. Iqbal however failed to make a great contribution with the bat and his team lost that match by 43 runs in the end.
2. Brian McKechnie (New Zealand)
The Kiwi quickie was the best bowler for his team in the 1979 cricket world cup. He took 9 wickets in the 4 matches of the tournament. McKechnie’s best performance with the ball came against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge. He took 3 wickets for 24 runs as New Zealand bowled Sri Lanka for 189 and later won the match by 9 wickets. Brian was also a useful lower-order batsman for his side.
His bowling economy rate in the 1979 cricket world cup just above 3 runs per over. McKechnie took a wicket in every 30 bowls thus having one of the best strike rates in the series along with an average almost 18 runs per wicket. Among the bowlers who took the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979. McKechnie represented New Zealand for cricket as well as rugby in his professional sporting career.
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1. Mike Hendrick (England)
Hendrick proved to be the most successful fast bowler in the 1979 world cup. He took 10 wickets in the tournament which were the highest by any bowler. Hendrick bowled consistently in every match but was at best in Headingley against Pakistan where he took 4 wickets for just 15 runs. In the tournament deciding match against West Indies at Lord’s Hendrick took two Caribbean wickets including the important one of Alvin Kallicharran.
Hendrick bowled with a terrific economy rate of 2.66 and gave England a lot of tight overs on important occasions. He took a wicket in every 33 balls which also was a great strike rate along with the average of fewer than 15 runs per wicket. Hendrick was thus the leader of the English attack in the 1979 cricket world cup. He played a great role in his team’s journey to the final of that tournament. He was the bowler who took the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979.
These were the Cricketers with the most wickets at Cricket World Cup 1979. Hope you liked the content, don’t forget to pen down your comments.
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