7 match-winning performances which were single-handed

There is no ‘I’ in team, so goes the saying. Never has there been a team sport where a tournament was won purely because of one player’s individual brilliance. Be it the Aussies in cricket or the Germans in football, every champion team were titleholders because of that: they were a fine unit of one, instead of great one players of a team.However, there are anomalies. Not always does teamwork reap victories—sometimes, individual genius carries the team across to the victorious shores after defeating tumultuous waves. Sometimes, something out of the ordinary is done for the fans to be in awe and sing glories of the sport and the player.And here are 7 such instances…

#1 Michael Bevan v West Indies

Michael Bevan reacts after hitting a four off the last ball

God sent mosquitoes to ruin sleep and Michael Bevan to finish off games in his team’s favour. The Australian team of that time rarely let matters get to the hands of Michael Bevan, but on the off occasion that they did, he barely ever disappointed.

It all started against West Indies. Chasing a meager target of 173 in 43 overs in a rain-afflicted game, the Australians found themselves reeling at 38 for 6. Michael Bevan, along with Ian Healy, took the score to 74 before the next wicket fell. It was all looking gloomy for the Kangaroos, but there stood Michael Bevan like a Sun in his own right.

In the end, he took Australia to a 1 wicket victory with the very last ball of the game. Paul Reiffel’s 34 runs knock came in handy, but it was Bevan’s brilliant 78 runs off 88 that won the game for Australia and began his journey as the greatest finisher of his era.

#2 Inzamam-ul-Haq v Bangladesh

Inzamam takes the winning runs as a dejected Bangladesh team are denied a first Test victory

This is, by far, the most painful memory for any Bangladeshi cricket fan—and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was the inflicter of the agony.

As Pakistan were in a compromising position of 132 runs with just 4 wickets in hand and required another 131 runs to win, it felt like Bangladesh were seemingly edging closer to their first ever Test win—but ‘Inzi’ had other plans.

Wickets kept tumbling on the other side but the big man held his nerve and marshalled his team across the finish line with an outstanding knock of 138* runs that lasted for over 5 hours. The only other player who scored more than 20 runs, apart from Inzamam, was Salman Butt, who opened the innings and rocketed his way to 37 off 34 balls—making the legendary batsman’s innings even more impressive.

#3 Abdul Razzaq v South Africa

Abdul Razzak celebrates hitting the winning runs

The best Abdul Razzaq innings of all time. The South Africans were smelling victory as Shahid Afridi departed after making a well-played 49 runs. Pakistan were at 136 for 5 from 29.2 overs and still required a hefty 153 runs off just 20.4 overs for the win.

Enter Abdul Razzaq.

He came in and went all guns blazing, storming his way through the South African attack. On the other side, Fawad Alam played a good hand, but departed at 217. Wickets kept falling, but the all-rounder kept his head straight and dug his team out of the stickiest of situations.

He ended up with a magnificent 109 of just 72 balls and registered one of the finest match-winning knocks played by a player—and that, too, against the Proteas bowling line up.

#4 Stuart Binny v Bangladesh

Stuart Binny bowled a magical spell, taking 6 wickets for 4 runs

Single-handed match-winning knocks are found in abundance in cricket, however, not many of them can be traced when match-winning bowling performances are concerned.

Stuart Binny’s bowling against Bangladesh, though, brings a breath of fresh air to this list. The Indian batting line-up couldn’t resist the rampant debutant, Taskin Ahmed, as the youngster desecrated their line-up by taking 5 wickets and conceding just 28 runs in the process.

Bangladesh fans were thought that they were in for an easy chase as the target was a puny 106. But what happened next became the face of embarrassment for Bangladesh. In just 26 balls, Stuart Binny took 6 wickets and gave away 4 runs to snatch the game away from Bangladesh, who didn’t have a chance from the very start and were decimated to a shameful total of 58.

This was perhaps the greatest match-winning bowling performance in cricket.

#5 Marlon Samuels v Sri Lanka

Marlon Samuel was largely single-handedly responsible for the victory in the 2012 World T20 final

In the introductory paragraphs, I claimed that tournaments are won by team effort. This innings partly ridicules the claim. West Indies were, without a shadow of a doubt, the best team in the tournament, but they needed total individual brilliance in the final to grab the trophy.

Wickets kept falling like rain from the very beginning as West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first. In the tempest, Marlon Samuels stood unmoved like a mountain and steered his team to a respectable 138 runs off the allotted 20 overs.

What made this knock so special is that he played very cautiously to keep his wicket intact, while on the other side wickets kept falling. At 87-5 after 15.3 overs and the Calypsos struggling to time the ball, not many thought that they would mount a fighting total.

However, they not only did that, they also defended it spectacularly and Marlon Samuels ended up taking a wicket in 4 overs and giving away only 15 runs.

#6 Michael Hussey v Pakistan

Michael Hussey reacts after hitting the winning runs in the 2010 World T20 semi final

Australia enjoyed a complete dominance for a long time in international cricket, so much that when match-winning finisher Michael Bevan retired, there was another Michael already in place to be his natural successor.

Michael Hussey took the international scene by storm when his belated arrival finally took place. No Australian fans missed Michael Bevan, such was the smoothness of transition. The irony, though, is that they seem to miss the legendary Michael Hussey because of a lack of an apt successor.

The left-handed batsman won the Kangaroos many games, but the best one of the lot would be his match-winning performance against Pakistan in the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20.

Pakistan set a difficult target of 192 for their opponents to chase, who were in a state of bother when they were hanging at 105-5 and then 144-7. Mr. Cricket, as he was so fondly known, though, didn’t let the pressure get to him as a calmly furious innings of 60 in 24 balls finished the game in his team’s favour with just a ball to spare.

#7 Doug Marillier v India

Douglas Marillier was responsible for one of the greatest upsets when he single-handedly defeated India

The source of inspiration for this piece and the true inventor of the scoop which is so shamelessly attributed to Tilkaratne Dilshan, this man showed the world how to win playing the most unorthodox of shots and in the most difficult of situations.

If one looks at the scorecard of this game, the runs column beside Alistair Campbell and Andy Flower would suggest anything but a single-handed win. However, all’s well that ends well and it was the ending that gave meaning to the great knocks played by the aforementioned.

Chasing a strong target of 275, Zimbabwe got off to a terrific start before they collapsed from 186/3 to 200/7. A further dent in the chase was inflicted as Tatenda Taibu departed after 10 more runs where added to the board.

But Marillier played some astonishing overhead scoop shots to blast his way to 56 of just 24 balls. Not only did he score, but he scored at pace to respect the required run-rate and get the win for the Zimbabweans. Indian fans were in disbelief of what they had seen.