Bob Willis is one of the greatest fast bowlers that England saw during the 1970s. Bob Willis was especially devastating in Test Cricket as he got all of his success in Test Cricket. ODI Cricket was introduced during his time and he did not play much of them. He played 90 Test Matches for England and in those Matches he took 325 Wickets. He had a Bowling average of 25.20 and he took 16 Five Wicket Hauls in Test Cricket. The one wish of cricket fans at that time was for him to play more ODI Cricket.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Bob Willis
1) 8/43 vs Australia (1981)
This was easily the best bowling performance in the glorious career of Bob Willis. This match was in 1981 against Australia and he was at his best in the second innings of Australia. They just needed 130 runs to win the test match and Bob Willis took 8 wickets for only 43 runs in 15.1 overs. This was a match winning performance from the best in the world. It was he that led to England winning this match by 19 runs.
2) 7/78 vs Australia (1977)
The second best bowling performance In the career of Bob Willis was also against Australia and it was in 1977. This was in the first batting innings of Australia. He took 7 wickets for 78 runs in this innings in the 30.1 overs that he bowled in this innings. Bob Willis was a nemesis to Australia and the great batters of Australia were unable to play him. He was also the fastest Bowler in the world.
3) 5/27 vs India (1977)
This performance was imperious. There is no other way to put it. This was a test match at the iconic Eden Gardens in 1977. India were batting first and Bob Willis bowled 20 overs in this innings and he took 5 wickets while giving away only 27 runs which was just above 1 run per over. Bob Willis was unplayable and it was the result of this incredible performance that England won this test match by a whopping 10 wickets.
4) 5/47 vs Pakistan (1978)
This was his first 5 Wicket Haul for the great Bob Willis against Pakistan. This was in the year 1978 and in this match Pakistan were batting after England had put up 364. Bob Willis took 5 Wickets for 47 runs in 13 overs. Pakistan were a good team at that time with the likes of Javed Miandad. Bob Willis was someone who did very well against any team.
5) 5/42 vs New Zealand (1978)
The 5th performance In this list and this performance was against New Zealand. In this list Bob Willis has taken 5 wicket hauls against all the top test playing teams in the world. This match against New Zealand was in 1978 and the time between 1977 and 1981 was the golden period for Bob Willis. This was during the first innings of the test match and he bowled 20.2 overs and he took 5 Wickets for 42 runs at just over 2 Runs per over. England won this match by 7 wickets.
Also Read: Most Successful Bowling Pairs in Test Cricket history
