In an era when cricket is more favorable to batters, a bowler’s life can be challenging. Although one might be out of the game for long periods, they can still pick up wickets and help their team win. Looking at some of the cricket facts, there have been many occasions when the bowlers helped their team win. But on other occasions in these cricket facts, the bowlers turned an over a nightmare for the entire team. Let’s take an in-depth look at five of the worst cricket overs.
1) Bert Vance (Wellington), a 22-ball over against Canterbury in a first-class match
Bert Vance, a former cricketer, represented New Zealand in four Tests and eight ODIs between 1988 and 1989. Vance is a utility player who was more skilled at batting than he was at bowling. The Kiwi cricketer has his name in the record books for a record that he won’t be proud of.
The Wellington – Canterbury first-class match was played in New Zealand. With only two overs remaining, the Canterbury team needed 96 runs to win. The opposition captain decided that a draw was the most likely outcome, and he threw the ball towards Bert Vance, a part-timer. He didn’t know it would be an expensive mistake of epic proportions.
Vance bowled 16 no-balls in his over and ended up conceding an unimaginable 77 runs in one over. With only 19 runs remaining to get in the final over, Canterbury wicketkeeper Lee Germon took them home.
2) Mohammad Sami (Pakistan) a 17-ball over against Bangladesh in an ODI
Mohammad Sami, a Pakistani fast-bower, has played international cricket for 15 years and has represented Pakistan now and again. He is the ODI cricket’s longest-ever bowler.
The 35-year-old achieved this ominous feat during a match against Bangladesh at the 2004 Asia Cup. Sami came in to bowl the third over after Bangladesh had scored just 6 runs in their first two overs. The pacer bowled seven wides and four no-balls, and the batting team added 24 runs.
3) Abhishek Nayar (West Zone) a 17-ball over against South Zone in a match under List A
Abhishek Nayar, a Mumbai-based all-rounder, has enjoyed a lot of success in all formats.
Nayar was also a member of Team India but was only in the ODI team for three matches. The 32-year-old represented the West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy. This tournament is India’s top zonal List A tournament.
The all-rounder was called to bowl against South Zone in 2013. Nayar took a wicket, and the over started on a positive note. But no one could have predicted what would follow. The over was completed with a total of 10 wides and a no-ball.
4) Curtly Ambrose (West Indies) a 15-ball over against Australia
The most surprising name on this list is Curtly Ambrose (West Indian fast bowler), one of the greatest pacers to come out of the game. Ambrose was well-known for his ability to take wickets and his accuracy. This trait deceived Ambrose at least once in his career when he bowled a 17-ball over.
All of this happened during a 1997 Frank Worrell Trophy Test match against Australia. Ambrose, who had been doing an excellent job until that point and had taken two wickets, pushed for the Aussie victory. In a surprising twist of events, Ambrose sent down nine no-balls in 15 deliveries.
5) Daryl Tuffey (New Zealand) a 14-ball over against Australia in an ODI
Daryl Tuffey, a former New Zealand fast bowler, represented New Zealand in Tests and ODIs. He was successful with 77 and 98 wickets, respectively. He will never forget a bowling feat that was not possible. In 2005, Tuffey took 14 balls to bowl an over in an ODI match against Australia.
Adam Gilchrist was at the wicket for the opening over. However, the first six balls of the over were not valid deliveries. Daryl Tuffey bowled further wides during the remainder of his over, taking fourteen balls to finish the over.
These players would have never imagined that they would have such a record associated with their names. However, cricket is unpredictable, and that is the best flavor of the sport. Despite being legendary names in bowling history, these players certainly had some bad luck on the days when they bowled these 5 worst overs.