Best ODI Bowlers of 2014

We saw who were the Best Batsmen of 2014 in the last post, let us now look at the Top 5 Bowlers from 2014.

1. Ajantha Mendis/ Mohammed Shami - I was very surprised, as must be most of you reading this, to find that these 2 bowlers took the joint highest number of wickets in 2014. Both scalped 38 wickets but both proved extremely expensive, Mendis going at  5.76 runs per over while Shami faring worse at 6.16.

3. Lasith Malinga/ Chris Jordan - Slinga takes the 3rd spot with 29 wickets to his name along with Englishman Jordan. Malinga was also expensive going at almost 6 to the over. He missed the later part of the year due to injuries but hopefully he will be fully fit for the World Cup 2015. Jordan was a rising star for England and he will be eagerly vying for a spot in the playing 11 come the World Cup.

5. Sachithra Senanayake - Senanayake played a major role in Sri Lankan victories in the Asia Cup as well as their win over England in England, a series at the end of which he was called for chucking. He returned at the fag end of the year with a clean action and still tormented the English batsmen, this time in Sri Lanka. He claimed 27 wickets while giving only 4.3 runs per over which is astonishing given the fact that he bowled in the powerplays.

	Wickets	Runs per over
Ajantha Mendis	38	5.76
Mohammed Shami	38	6.16
Lasith Malinga	29	6.00
Chris Jordan	29	5.00
Sachithra Senanayake	27	4.3

Who were your favorite bowlers from the year 2014?

This completes a wrap up of the year 2014 from CricketWise.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2015, see you all next year!!

Best ODI Batsmen of 2014

With the ICC Cricket World Cup scheduled for 2015, all the teams were focussed on ODI cricket in 2014 so as to get their permutations and combinations sorted out for the mega event.

Below are the Top 5 Batsmen of 2014 who were at their very best all through the year.

1. Kumar Sangakkara - The Lankan run machine made telling contributions right through the year and was super consistent. Getting him out was nigh on impossible and he plundered 1256 runs in just 28 matches at an average of over 46 and a strike rate of nearly 90 runs per 100 balls! He capped off his stellar year with a ton at his home ground in Palekelle against England in what was his second last ODI match in Sri Lanka.

2. Angelo Mathews - The Sri Lankan captain led from the front all of 2014, he was the architect in chief of Sri Lanka's ODI success along with Sanga. Angelo was the Sri Lankan version of Superman as he scored runs, took wickets, captained his side to Asia Cup win, blanked England both home and away, beat Pakistan and Bangladesh in bilateral series! He scored 1244 runs in 32 matches at a strike rate of around 90 and an average of almost 63!

3. Virat Kohli - Virat had another superb year and he was one of the only the 3 batsmen who scored 1000 in the calender year. He scored 1054 runs in 21 matches at an average of 59 striking at nearly 100.

4. Tillakaratne Dilshan - Dilshan often appeared rusty but never seemed to be away from the runs. He always found a way to score and battled his way through most of the year. He also fielded like a 16 year old and was as alert as a panther in the point region. He fell just short of 1000 run milestone raking up 990 runs in 25 appearances at an impressive average of over 40 and a strike rate of over 85.

5. Hashim Amla - Amla had a solid 2014 and he continued to pile up the runs in the format that many said he would struggle in. He ended the year scoring 892 runs in mere 18 matches with an average of over 50 and a strike rate of over 80!

Special Mention

6. AB De Villiers - AB has to be one of the most complete cricket player in recent history and he continues to amaze spectators with his dazzling strokeplay all around the wicket. He plundered 879 runs in 2014 in just 16 matches at a staggering average of almost 75 while still maintaining a monstrous strike rate of almost 115 runs per 100 balls!

Name	Country	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike Rate
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	28	1256	46	90
Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	32	1244	63	90
Virat Kohli	India	21	1054	59	100
Tillakratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	25	990	40	85
Hashim Amla	South Africa	18	892	50	80
AB De Villiers	South Africa	16	879	75	115

Who was your favorite batsmen from 2014?

PS: We will look at the Top 5 Bowlers of 2014 in the next post!