We did a bunch of articles on the best performances of some of the best all rounders of the modern era and now it’s time to celebrate some of the great spin bowlers as they too deserve our adulation. First we will talk about one of the best off spinners England has ever seen especially in test cricket and someone who was instrumental in getting crucial away wins. Graeme Swann was a menace for the opponents and a joy for the England fans. We will talk about his records below.
Graeme Swann played ODI cricket for 13 years from 2000-2013 but he played 60 Test Matches in just 5 years from 2008-2013 and became a legend In English cricket. In the 60 test matches that he played for England he picked up 255 wickets that is more than 4 wickets per match at an average of 29.97 and he has taken 17 Five wicket hauls and 3 times he has taken 10 wickets in a test match. He also played 79 ODIs for England and he got 104 wickets at an average of 27.77 with 1 Five wicket haul in his ODI career. So, let’s look at the Top 5 Best Performances of this spin bowler.
6/65 vs Pakistan (2010)
The first performance that we will talk about is this incredible second innings bowling spell that he bowled against Pakistan in 2010 where he absolutely destroyed their batting line-up and which allowed England to win this test match by ) wickets. This is one of his best ever spells of bowling as he bowled 37.5 overs in this innings and he got 6 batters out and limited Pakistan to a second innings score of 296. This was the arrival of a legend in test cricket and he would serve English cricket for a long time.
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4/75 and 6/106 vs Sri Lanka (2012)
He was one of the few overseas spinners who did very well in foreign countries because he was such a skillful Bowler that he adapted himself to the conditions and that is what he did in this test match against Sri Lanka. He took 4 wickets in the first innings after bowling 28.1 overs of spin bowling but in the 3rd innings came his best where he bowled a mammoth 40 overs and took 6 for 106 meaning he got 10 wickets in that test match and as a result of his all round bowling performance England won that test match quite easily by 8 wickets.
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4/42 and 6/90 vs New Zealand (2013)
The third performance that we are talking about is another home performance and this time it was a spin masterclass against New Zealand where he again got 10 wickets in the match and was the main reason that England won this match by a mammoth 247 runs. In the 2nd innings of the test match he only Bowled 9 overs but got 4 crucial wickets and then when the pressure was on in the 4th innings he took 6 Wickets in the innings giving away 90 runs in 32 overs and again showed why he is one of the best in the world.
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5/44 and 4/78 vs Australia (2013)
A best performances article about any England player feels incomplete without a mention against Australia and Graeme Swann had a legendary performance at Lord’s where he bamboozled the Aussies and took 9 wickets in the match. In the second innings he took a 5 wicket haul and only giving 44 runs in 21.3 overs and when Australia was chasing he again took 4 wickets for 78 runs and gave England a comfortable win in this test match.
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5/28 vs Australia (2009)
This is the best ODI performance In the career of Graeme Swann and again the opponents were Australia and this time he took a 5 wicket haul when Australia were batting in the first innings and they were the best team in the world. He decimated the famed batting line-up and dismissed Australia for 176 and England won the match by 4 wickets. Graeme Swann bowled 10 overs and gave runs at an economy rate of just 2.8 per over which is extraordinary.
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