Tim Southee shocked the Pakistan lower-middle order on Thursday with two wickets early in the second Test at Dubai, after the start of play. Varun Arora looks at Southee’s brilliant record in the subcontinent conditions.
Tim Southee ran in to bowl the penultimate over of the third day’s play. Putting in all the effort, he took long steps towards the crease and sprayed one delivery outside off which was edged by Asad Shafiq to Ross Taylor at first slip. This was Southee’s first wicket in United Arab Emirates (UAE). He went wicket-less in the first Test math played at Abu Dhabi which Pakistan won by 248 runs. Southee got two more wickets on Day Four of the Test.
He got Yasir Shah out in the third over of the fourth morning, as Yasir tried to take his bat away from the ball just too late and edged the ball to the wicketkeeper. Ehsan Adil came to the crease next, and Southee struck for third time in his fourth over. Adil was stuck in his crease and was dismissed leg-before. The 25-year-old pacer had damaged the lower middle-order of Pakistan with his accurate bowling. Southee has a decent record in with the ball in sub-continent conditions. He didn’t manage to get any wicket in the first Test, but played an integral role in the second Test as he picked up three wickets and gave away 67 runs.
Below is the list of fast bowlers with most wickets in the Asian sub-continent against Asian opponents (excluding Bangladesh):
Name
Team
Period
M
I
W
Ave
Eco
SR
Dale Steyn
South Africa
2006-2014
15
27
70
24.65
3.49
42.3
Jason Gillespie
Australia
2001-2004
11
22
46
25
2.84
52.8
Andrew Flintoff
England
2001-2008
14
24
46
29.58
2.62
67.5
Glenn McGrath
Australia
2001-2004
10
20
45
17.08
2.18
47
Matthew Hoggard
England
2001-2007
12
21
41
29.43
2.93
60.2
Morne Morkel
South Africa
2008-2014
11
20
32
31.65
2.97
63.7
Merv Dillon
West Indies
2001-2002
8
14
30
32
2.72
70.4
Tim Southee
New Zealand
2010-2014
7
11
27
25.33
2.97
51.1
Shaun Pollock
South Africa
2003-2006
7
13
23
30.56
2.52
72.6
Michael Kasprowicz
Australia
2001-2004
8
15
23
31.95
2.78
68.9
Southee will play an important role as both teams head into Day Five of the second Test. Southee has the ability to take wickets both with the new and the old ball. If Southee comes up with an impressive performance on the final day, New Zealand could move closer to a historic Test victory against Pakistan at UAE.
(Varun Arorais a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)
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