Tim Southee Birthday Special: 7/33 Against England & Other Spectacular Spells by Veteran New Zealand Pacer

Veteran New Zealand pacer Tim Southee celebrates his 32nd birthday on Friday (December 11). Hailing from Northland, the right-arm pacer is of the finest bowlers to don the Blackcaps jersey and his record speaks volumes of his prowess. Although Southee isn’t someone who can set the speed gun on fire, his ability to swing the ball is second to none. Apart from being a terrific new ball bowler, the talismanic pacer can torment the batsmen in the death overs with his pace variations and reverse swing. Not to forget, Southee is a handy batsman lower down the order who has played many significant knocks for the Blackcaps. Tim Southee Wins New Zealand Cricketer of the Year Award.

Southee rose to the fame in the Under-19 World Cup 2008 where he played a crucial role in guiding New Zealand U-19 to the finals and eventually bagged the Man of the Series award. The then youngster was fast-tracked to the national team, and he didn’t disappoint by scalping a five-fer on Test debut against England in 2008. Southee didn’t look back since then and bowled one spectacular spell after another. Coming to his numbers, the fast bowler has 289, 190 and 81 wickets in 74 Tests, 143 ODIs and 72 T20Is. As the star bowler turns a year older, let’s revisit some of his best spells. Tim Southee Reveals That New Zealand Players Still Discuss About the Heartbreak Loss Against England in CWC 2019 Final.

5/18 Against Pakistan in 2010

Southee indeed breathed fire with the ball in the first T20I of Pakistan’s 2010-11 Tour of New Zealand. Southee bagged a five-wicket haul in Auckland which also included a hat-trick. His effort took the visitors by storm, and they were restricted to 143 runs in the first innings. The total didn’t challenge the home side much as they registered a five-wicket victory.

7/64 Against India in 2012

Pacers are not known to get much assistance from Indian pitches in the longest format of the game. Southee, however, had some other ideas in the second Test of Kiwi’s 2012 Tour of India. The visiting side mustered 365 runs in the first innings which didn’t look enough. Nevertheless, the right-arm speedster bowled a scintillating spell in Bengaluru, and his seven-wicket haul restricted the hosts to 353 runs. However, India made a comeback later in the match and clinched the clash by five wickets.

5/62 Against Sri Lanka in 2012

Another Tim Southee special came in the second Test of Black Cap’s 2012 Tour of the island nation. On a pitch where the Kiwis mustered 412 runs while batting first, the pacer bowled a scintillating spell and dismissed the likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews. Courtesy Southee’s brilliance, Sri Lanka were packed for 244 runs went on to lose the match by 167 runs.

7/33 Against England in 2015

Southee played a key role in guiding New Zealand 2015 World Cup final. However, his best performance came against England in the group stage. Bowling against the likes of Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell, the bowler wreaked havoc in Wellington and ripped apart the English batting line-up. He went on to take seven wickets in the match which are the best figures a kiwi bowler in ODIs. As a result, England were 123 runs while batting first and eventually lost the game by eight wickets.

4/49 & 5/61 vs India in 2020

After a disappointing show in the T20I and ODI series, Southee redeemed himself in the first Test of India’s 2020 Tour of New Zealand. He made impeccable use to the Wellington conditions and took four wickets in India’s first innings. Southee bettered his tally even further with a five-fer in the second innings. As a result, the Kiwis easily won the game by ten wickets.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2020 08:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).