The 2023 World Cup is approaching fast with less than two months left in the marquee event. Cricketing giants India are hosting the competition this time with England looking to defend its title. Ahead of the competition, the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a compiled video of best wickets taken in the marquee event so far. In this article, we will take a look at some of the blazing delivery ever bowled in the giant event.
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1. Shoaib Akhtar vs Stephen Fleming (1999 World Cup)
It would be a foolish thing to not include the Rawalpindi Express to top of our list. Steaming in from over the wicket, Shoaib launched a 148 kmph pacy delivery which went past Fleming in flash, who jammed his bat down an hour too late, and cannoned into the leg stump. Known as one of the best balls bowled, the yorker was dead accurate as Fleming was left clueless with fans remembering it as one of the famous World Cup deliveries till date.
2. Jofra Archer vs Soumya Sarka (2019 World Cup)
How many times have you seen a ball flying over the ropes? More than you can remember right? Now, let us ask you how many times have you seen a bail flying over the boundary ropes? The answer is once, especially in the international arena.
It was Jofra Archer’s steaming delivery which was too good to be true for Bangladeshi senior batter Soumya Sarkar as he was cleaned up by a peach. It must be noted that this was the same edition when England were crowned as the 50-over champions.
3. Lasith Malinga vs Tamim Iqbal (2015 World Cup)
The 2015 World Cup was being held in Australia as the Asian nations, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were taking on each other in a group stage clash. Sri Lanka’s veteran Lasith Malinga bowled a peach to Bangladeshi senior batter Tamim Iqbal to clean him up. The Southpaw had no answers to Malinga’s beauty as he went back to the pavilion without making much of an impact.
4. Kuldeep Yadav vs Babar Azam (2019 World Cup)
Babar Azam has smashed several bowlers in his international career so far. However, the Asian giant should not be able to forget the magical delivery from Indian spin wizard Kuldeep Yadav during the 2019 World Cup. Chasing a big total, the Men in Green lost early wickets but Babar and Fakhar Zaman managed to stitch a decent partnership.
However, both Fakhar and Babar were scalped by Kuldeep. Speaking about Kuldeep’s delivery to Babar, it was a regulation leg-break from the left-arm spinner. However, the massive turn extracted from the pitch helped the Chinaman to get rid of the current Pakistani skipper.
5. Shane Warne to Herschelle Gibbs (1999 World Cup)
Mighty Australia were taking on South Africa in a crucial clash of the 1999 World Cup. Meanwhile, Gibbs playing at 48 was deceived by Warne in the air and clean bowled him. The right-handed batter had no answers to Warne’s magical delivery as he lost his stumps. Visibly pumped up now, he soon bowled the left-handed Gary Kirsten behind his legs. Two balls later, Warne had Cronje caught by Mark Waugh at slip. To note, the Aussies went on to win that match and eventually life the cup in that edition.
