Top 5 bowling performances in international cricket by Lakshmipathy Balaji

#1 4/48 vs Australia at Brisbane

Balaji’s four-wicket haul was one of the key reasons in India’s target defence against Australia at Brisbane

It was the fifth ODI of the VB series between India and Australia and India opted to bat first. Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly gave a steady start to the team before Ganguly was dismissed for 18. In came VVS Laxman, and he along with Tendulkar, put up a partnership of 110 for the second wicket to put India in command. He formed another century partnership, this time with Rahul Dravid, and soon reached his century, scoring 103 as India ended their innings with 303 runs on the board.

Australia responded well with the bat as opener Matthew Hayden hit one boundary after another.

However, India were focused on taking wickets and thanks to Lakshmipathy Balaji, they were able to get rid of the dangerous middle-order duo of Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in quick succession.

After the dismissal of Hayden, India were well in the game, and Balaji inflicted further damage on the Australians by taking another couple of wickets and India eventually won the match by 19 runs.

Balaji returned with career-best figures of 48/4, which was surely one Balaji’s best bowling performance in an India shirt.