ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The Heartbreakers

Even a rival fan would never fail to admire certain performances that bring out the true essence of cricket. Low scoring thrillers, one man army, match-winning centuries - This world cup has seen all of these along with some performances that turned out to be heartbreaking as they ended up on the losing side. Adding more spice to it, includes almost the same number of performances by the ’minnow batsmen’ in comparison with the batsmen from the ‘big’ nations.Here are the top such performances in this edition of the biggest tourney of cricket so far:

#1 Shaiman Anwar

United Arab Emirates might have lost all their league stage matches, but if they managed to make some of them look competitive, it is largely due to their middle order batsman Shaiman Anwar.

In the match against Zimbabwe on February 19, Anwar's quick-fired 67 ensured UAE of their highest ODI total – 285; however, their bowlers weren’t able to restrict the opposition’s batting line-up.

Six days later, Anwar continued his efforts against Ireland at the Gabba. After a decent start, wickets tumbled and UAE were struggling at 131-6 before Shaiman Anwar joined hands with A Javed. The 107-run stand saw the Irish bowlers getting whacked for runs around the park.

Anwar went on to score a brisk 106, gifting UAE a healthy score of 278. The bowlers from the middle east bowled their hearts out but Gary Wilson and Kevin O’ Brien took the game away from UAE as Ireland edged a win by two wickets, overshadowing Shaiman’s knock.

#2 Mitchell Starc

Low-scoring thrillers are a treat to watch and it was the match between the hosts and co-hosts which satisfied the fan’s appetite this time. Auckland was amazed as the wrath of Trent Boult and Tim Southee tore apart the Australian batting line-up which had dangerous explosives such as David warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell. Defending a mere 152, Australia’s wounds were further deepened by McCullum’s aggressive 50.

The wounded Kangaroos decided to hunt the Kiwis and capitalizing on the breakthrough before lunch, Mitchell Starc rattled the Kiwis batting line up by grabbing 6 wickets for just 28 runs. Guptill, Taylor, Elliot and Ronchi were his four key victims which eventually left the team stranded at 146-9. During his deadly wrath, Starc disturbed the timber four times.

Starc’s both spells ran through the New Zealand batting line-up, but unfortunately it was not enough for the Aussies to taste the fruit of victory as Williamson snatched it with a six over long-on.

#3 Kyle Coetzer

A day before ‘Holi’, the Saxton Oval in New Zealand witnessed a cracker as Scotland and Bangladesh, who locked horns with each other, piled up over 600 runs in a single day. The day also saw the first WC century from a Scottish cricketer’s bat.

Put on to bat, the Scottish opener Kyle Coetzer's dazzling 156 from 134 made Scotland post a mammoth total of 318 on the board. If one looks at the scorecard of Scotland, he would be stunned on seeing one cricketer accounting for almost a half of the team’s total. Not to forget, a cricketer from the associate nations scoring a ton in overseas conditions is no easy task.

Riding on Tamim Iqbal's 95, Bangladesh seated themselves comfortably in the driver's seat and tasted victory with ease. Scotland’s mediocre bowling did not trouble the Bangladeshi batsman at all as they made the chase look like a child’s play. In spite of Scotland’s failure, Kyle Coetzer stood out with the Man of the Match award for his fantabulous knock.

#4 AB de Villiers

If South African batsman falling to Indian bowlers itself was not expected, who would have expected an inexperienced Pakistan bowling line-up to repeat the same? South Africa's story in the rain hit matches continued as they failed to chase down 232 against Pakistan's 222 (D/L method). The debutant Sarfaraz Ahmed was the star for Pakistan with the bat and gloves, claiming six catches including the valuable ones of Amla, Du Plessis, and AB de Villiers.

Auckland’s Eden Park witnessed another unforeseen batting collapse as the Proteas collapsed for the third time in the tournament. With half the side back in the pavilion for just 77, the match was set up more or less between Pakistan and Ab de Villiers.

Every rise in the wicket's column of the Proteas saw an equal rise in ABD's strike rate as he played his natural game of smashing the opposition bowlers. His valiant 77 from 58 was not enough to see off Pakistan and guide his team home. His knock included 7 boundaries and 5 huge sixes. ABD was the ninth batsman to walk back as Pakistan wasted no time to pick up the remaining one wicket, thus effecting an unexpected upset in this world cup.

#5 Sean Williams

Guess what? Another match between two of the ‘so-called minnows’ turned out to be one of the finest matches in this tournament. Many would have hardly had nails to bite after the PAK-SA encounter that day, but this match went down to the last over with all fans on the edge of their seats. Ireland, led by Ed Joyce’s 112 and Balbirnie’s 97 cruised their way to a healthy 331.

Zimbabwe on the other hand was cramping at 74-4 before their skipper Brendon Taylor stitched a 149 run partnership with Sean Williams. All hopes laid on Williams after the centurion skipper walked back to the dressing room.

Williams made sure to keep the run rate elevated with fours and sixes. He added another fifty to his name and took them very close to the target before holing out to deep midwicket for a well fought 96. A heartbroken Williams was almost in tears as he walked back in spite of a referral call to the third umpire to confirm the catch.

He was too unlucky as the fielder’s foot was found flicking the fence but the decision could not be overruled as the batsman had already left the ground.

Mupariwa kept Zimbabwe in the hunt, but it was Ireland who had the last laugh with the win they sneaked by five runs.

#6 Dinesh Chandimal

This was the fourth closest game in five days as Australia were successful this time in the populous city of Sydney. Thanks to Glenn Maxwell's maiden ODI hundred the hosts had the upper hand with their first innings total of 372. Maxwell’s ton also recorded its place as the second fastest WC century, coming off just 51 balls.

Chasing a Himalayan target, the start was not so good for Sri Lanka but the stalwarts Sangakkara and Dilshan steadied the chase with their 130 run partnership. The island team from Asia lost their momentum after Sanga and Dilshan fell for 104 and 64 respectively. In came Dinesh Chandimal, who thrashed the likes of bowlers like Doherty, Faulkner and Watson. He fired a quick half century of just 21 balls that included 8 boundaries.

He was all set to guide Sri Lanka home before he pulled his hamstring, eventually leaving the field retired hurt. Nervousness and worries were at their zenith with Chandimal not coming out to bat after the fall of every Lankan wicket. Sadly, the story continued even after the fall of the ninth wicket with the Lankan innings drawing to an end with 65 more runs to win.

#7 Brendan Taylor

It seems like Eden Park and mind-blowing performances have a very good relationship as Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwean skipper added one more to the tally. Even a few Indian fans wanted India to lose to Zimbabwe, all just for this man.

Even in his last game, he had to rescue the team from the clutches of a decline - a job that he has been doing all throughout his career. It was Taylor again, who ensured Zimbabwe of a total that would give them a chance to win. He notched up his 8th ODI hundred and thus became the first Zimbabwean to score two consecutive centuries in world cups.

Coming out to bat when his team was staggering at 13-2, he built his innings slowly and later smashed the spinners, scoring 138 from 110 balls in the end. His partnerships with Sean Williams and Ervine triggered the team to a big total of 287. Taylor walked back to the pavilion amidst a loud cheer from the crowd and acknowledgement by the Indian players.

Zimbabwe made India face the heat as they reduced the defending champs to 92-4. But with their 196 run partnership, ‘Captain Cool’ Dhoni and Suresh Raina shattered the hopes of Taylor winning his last game for his country in national colours.

#8 Wahab Riaz

Kevin Pietersen, Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Sachin Tendulkar and not but not the least the opposition team captain Michael Clarke were all in praise for one of the best spells bowled in WC history by Wahab Riaz. It was the third quarter final of the series, held in Adelaide against two top teams Australia and Pakistan. Coming into the match with a good win-loss record against Australia, Pakistan were expected to make miracles, but it turned out to be the other way.

Pakistan were wrapped up for a meagre total of 213 as Hazlewood ripped apart their batting line-up. It all looked like an one sided game before Wahab Riaz was brought in to bowl. While the rest of Pakistan and Australia were playing a toothless game, Wahab Riaz with his scary beamers and word-play gave Australia a taste of their own medicine. After seeing off the dangerous David Warner, Riaz was hurling a series of bouncers to Watson as the latter was struggling out in the middle.

Rahat Ali at third man dropped a sitter of Watson from Riaz’s ball, which later costed them the match as Watson went on to score a match-winning half century. The unstoppable Riaz did not give up until the last moment. But, unfortunately, he had to shed tears as Pakistan lost the match by 6 wickets.