Vernon Philander's Stunning Career
Vernon Philander has been consistent since he had his debut at 2011. South Africa has a huge pipeline of pacers and it's really hard to stay in the squad for a long time. But Philander isn't showing any sign of nervousness. He has been performing outstanding from the top to bottom of his career. In his first 3 test matches, he already had 4 five-wicket hauls. And very recently he got his 13th five-for against Australia in their home-series at Johannesburg. This is Mashhud Hasan from frenzyweb360 and today I'm going to talk about Vernon Philanders career and mainly going to focus on his destructive bowling spell against Australia in the previous match.
Yesterday Philander had his 13th five-for and most importantly, he reached the milestone of 200 test wickets. Philander is the 7th Protean bowler to reach this milestone and he is the 7th highest wicket taker in test format among all the bowlers in the history of South Africa. He has reached this milestone in 54 matches (101 innings) with a brilliant bowling average of 21.46 and currently positioned 3rd in the test bowlers ranking. As we all know Australian's are mentally depressed and physically fatigued due to missing their best batsman Steven Smith, their best opener David Warner and their young-star Cameron Bancroft. Their XI for the 4th test had many vulnerabilities in batting order and they've paid the price by losing the test match by 492 runs. Philander took 3 wickets by conceding 30 runs at the 1st innings but he was still storing his true form for the 2nd innings where he took 6 wickets by conceding only 21 runs in 13 over. He also batted well at the 2nd innings by scoring 33 runs out of 49 balls. His bowling performance was brilliant at the 2nd innings. After 4th day, Australia was 88-3 in 30 over. Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh was still there in the batting crease. Philander delivered the first strike with a beautiful length ball and Marsh tried to block it but got inside edged and Temba Bavuma captured an easy catch from the Gully. It was the first delivery of the 5th day. In that same over he delivered an in-swing which Mitchell Marsh definitely wasn't capable of determining it and got caught behind. With this wicket, Philander has reached his 200th test wicket. Handscomb's wicket was taken by a good ball but there was a batting failure as well. Philander delivered a mid-tracker and it slightly out-swung. Handscomb was looking to cut the ball but then again he was going to lift the bat up to leave the ball. And eventually the ball blew the edge of the bat and hit the stump. Due to Handscomb's lack of timing he got bold out for this unfortunate inside-edge. By taking this wicket, Philander has reached his 50th wicket mark against Australia which definitely proves that Australia is his favorite team to bowl against. Then Aussie captain Tim Paine got out by the same way Mitchell Marsh was out. Philander again delivered a slight out-swing delivery which Paine misjudged and got caught behind. That ball had some out-swing and it bounced a lot to delusion Paine's shot selection. The way Pat Cummins got out was surprising. This time Philander didn't give any swings or extra-bounces but he controlled his line and length very accurately which Lyon misjudged and left the ball to hit it straight to the off-stump. Finally Philander bowled a jaffa delivery which Chad Sayers tried to cover-drive but failed to nick it because of the pace of the ball. He got outside-edged and Elgar captured a good catch. Philander was 0-9 before the 5th day and his bowling figure turned out into 6-12 and ended up as a 6-21. Australia's score was once 88-3 which soon turned out into 100-9. His 1st session's destructive bowling spell was very noticeable for the Cricket world and he deserved this success. As expected he got the man of the match award. This was Morne Morkel's last test series as he has announced his retirement and Philander was the guy to make the series memorable.
This is the natural Philander that we all have been knowing. But it took a long way and time for him to reach this level. He never struggled to take wickets. He was always smooth from the beginning of his career. He had his debut against Australia at 2011 where he took 24 wickets out of only 6 innings with an unbelievable bowling average of just 12.37 and took five wicket haul 4 times in that series. Next year was also very good. He faced Sri Lanka, New zealand and many other big teams in that year but nothing stopped him from getting wickets. In 2012 he took 43 wickets in 9 matches (17 innings). He started the next year by making a bowling figure of 5-7 against Kiwis at the Cape town. In that year he has struggled a bit against Pakistan at UAE tour but still he took 38 wickets out of 8 tests. 2014 & 2015 wasn't good years for him. Combining these two years, he has played 12 matches and took only 21 wickets out of 21 matches. But hopefully he bounced back from that small disaster at 2016 and in that year he took 22 wickets in 6 matches (11 innings). He also had a solid performance at the previous year. At that year he played 9 test matches and took 25 wickets out of 17 innings with a bowling average of only 24.23 and took 1 four wicket hauls. And in this year he is at the peak of his performance. Against Australia in this series he took 16 wickets in 4 matches. In total he took 31 wickets in 14 innings this year including a brilliant bowling average of 16.35 and took five wicket haul 2 times. Overall he has a very bright bowling career. Cape town is his favorite venue where he took 49 wickets out of 18 innings. He wasn't able to show his sharpness at Asia where he took 13 wickets out of 6 matches but an important point is, his bowling average was 32 in Asia which is impressive. That means, even after taking less wickets than usual, he still conceded less runs. Not only Australia, he's also devastating against most of the top teams in test format. He has 28 wickets in 12 innings against India. He also took 21 wickets in 5 test matches against Pakistan, 34 wickets in 9 matches against New zealand, 22 wickets in 6 matches against England and 35 wickets in 7 matches against Sri Lanka. One of Philander's biggest achievements was his 5-30 against England at Lord's. In that innings he took Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Matt Prior's wickets and by name, these wickets are very valuable.
Maybe Philander's batting skills have got shadowed due to his bowling skill but we can't deny the fact that Philander is an excellent lower-middle order batsman in test format. In test, he has scored 1445 runs out of 75 innings with a good average of 24.91 and scored 8 fifties. Not important to mention but his strike-rate was 47.2 and his highest innings was 74(113) against Pakistan at Centurion. He can hit the ball by straight bat to anywhere and his batting is very underrated.
In his ODI career, he showed some potential but wasn't really able to give the full of himself. He has played a total of 30 ODI matches and took 41 wickets at an average of 24.4, an economy of 4.62 and has 4 wicket hauls 2 times. In his debut he took 4 wickets by conceding only 12 runs against Ireland at Belfast which is still his best bowling figure in ODI format. He had a successful time in ODI at 2014 where he played 8 matches (7 innings) and took 13 wickets including 4-45 against Australia at Perth.
So overall I have to admit the fact that Philander is in raging form and a killer pacer. He has been playing test for only 7 years and already reached 200 test wickets. Across all formats he has a total of 249 wickets. He has good speed in his bowling and also has a very orthodox bowling action but mobility isn't his strongest side. His positive side is that he can constantly bowl with the same controlled line and length. He can also give sturdy bouncers and can swing the ball a bit by both of the sides. I would like to compare him with Glenn McGrath. Both doesn't rely on pace but they depend on their controlled line-length and ball movement. Philander has a great future ahead of him and if he can continue his bowling form without any injuries, then he has a good chance of becoming one of the greatest pacers.
Yesterday Philander had his 13th five-for and most importantly, he reached the milestone of 200 test wickets. Philander is the 7th Protean bowler to reach this milestone and he is the 7th highest wicket taker in test format among all the bowlers in the history of South Africa. He has reached this milestone in 54 matches (101 innings) with a brilliant bowling average of 21.46 and currently positioned 3rd in the test bowlers ranking. As we all know Australian's are mentally depressed and physically fatigued due to missing their best batsman Steven Smith, their best opener David Warner and their young-star Cameron Bancroft. Their XI for the 4th test had many vulnerabilities in batting order and they've paid the price by losing the test match by 492 runs. Philander took 3 wickets by conceding 30 runs at the 1st innings but he was still storing his true form for the 2nd innings where he took 6 wickets by conceding only 21 runs in 13 over. He also batted well at the 2nd innings by scoring 33 runs out of 49 balls. His bowling performance was brilliant at the 2nd innings. After 4th day, Australia was 88-3 in 30 over. Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh was still there in the batting crease. Philander delivered the first strike with a beautiful length ball and Marsh tried to block it but got inside edged and Temba Bavuma captured an easy catch from the Gully. It was the first delivery of the 5th day. In that same over he delivered an in-swing which Mitchell Marsh definitely wasn't capable of determining it and got caught behind. With this wicket, Philander has reached his 200th test wicket. Handscomb's wicket was taken by a good ball but there was a batting failure as well. Philander delivered a mid-tracker and it slightly out-swung. Handscomb was looking to cut the ball but then again he was going to lift the bat up to leave the ball. And eventually the ball blew the edge of the bat and hit the stump. Due to Handscomb's lack of timing he got bold out for this unfortunate inside-edge. By taking this wicket, Philander has reached his 50th wicket mark against Australia which definitely proves that Australia is his favorite team to bowl against. Then Aussie captain Tim Paine got out by the same way Mitchell Marsh was out. Philander again delivered a slight out-swing delivery which Paine misjudged and got caught behind. That ball had some out-swing and it bounced a lot to delusion Paine's shot selection. The way Pat Cummins got out was surprising. This time Philander didn't give any swings or extra-bounces but he controlled his line and length very accurately which Lyon misjudged and left the ball to hit it straight to the off-stump. Finally Philander bowled a jaffa delivery which Chad Sayers tried to cover-drive but failed to nick it because of the pace of the ball. He got outside-edged and Elgar captured a good catch. Philander was 0-9 before the 5th day and his bowling figure turned out into 6-12 and ended up as a 6-21. Australia's score was once 88-3 which soon turned out into 100-9. His 1st session's destructive bowling spell was very noticeable for the Cricket world and he deserved this success. As expected he got the man of the match award. This was Morne Morkel's last test series as he has announced his retirement and Philander was the guy to make the series memorable.
This is the natural Philander that we all have been knowing. But it took a long way and time for him to reach this level. He never struggled to take wickets. He was always smooth from the beginning of his career. He had his debut against Australia at 2011 where he took 24 wickets out of only 6 innings with an unbelievable bowling average of just 12.37 and took five wicket haul 4 times in that series. Next year was also very good. He faced Sri Lanka, New zealand and many other big teams in that year but nothing stopped him from getting wickets. In 2012 he took 43 wickets in 9 matches (17 innings). He started the next year by making a bowling figure of 5-7 against Kiwis at the Cape town. In that year he has struggled a bit against Pakistan at UAE tour but still he took 38 wickets out of 8 tests. 2014 & 2015 wasn't good years for him. Combining these two years, he has played 12 matches and took only 21 wickets out of 21 matches. But hopefully he bounced back from that small disaster at 2016 and in that year he took 22 wickets in 6 matches (11 innings). He also had a solid performance at the previous year. At that year he played 9 test matches and took 25 wickets out of 17 innings with a bowling average of only 24.23 and took 1 four wicket hauls. And in this year he is at the peak of his performance. Against Australia in this series he took 16 wickets in 4 matches. In total he took 31 wickets in 14 innings this year including a brilliant bowling average of 16.35 and took five wicket haul 2 times. Overall he has a very bright bowling career. Cape town is his favorite venue where he took 49 wickets out of 18 innings. He wasn't able to show his sharpness at Asia where he took 13 wickets out of 6 matches but an important point is, his bowling average was 32 in Asia which is impressive. That means, even after taking less wickets than usual, he still conceded less runs. Not only Australia, he's also devastating against most of the top teams in test format. He has 28 wickets in 12 innings against India. He also took 21 wickets in 5 test matches against Pakistan, 34 wickets in 9 matches against New zealand, 22 wickets in 6 matches against England and 35 wickets in 7 matches against Sri Lanka. One of Philander's biggest achievements was his 5-30 against England at Lord's. In that innings he took Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Matt Prior's wickets and by name, these wickets are very valuable.
Maybe Philander's batting skills have got shadowed due to his bowling skill but we can't deny the fact that Philander is an excellent lower-middle order batsman in test format. In test, he has scored 1445 runs out of 75 innings with a good average of 24.91 and scored 8 fifties. Not important to mention but his strike-rate was 47.2 and his highest innings was 74(113) against Pakistan at Centurion. He can hit the ball by straight bat to anywhere and his batting is very underrated.
In his ODI career, he showed some potential but wasn't really able to give the full of himself. He has played a total of 30 ODI matches and took 41 wickets at an average of 24.4, an economy of 4.62 and has 4 wicket hauls 2 times. In his debut he took 4 wickets by conceding only 12 runs against Ireland at Belfast which is still his best bowling figure in ODI format. He had a successful time in ODI at 2014 where he played 8 matches (7 innings) and took 13 wickets including 4-45 against Australia at Perth.
So overall I have to admit the fact that Philander is in raging form and a killer pacer. He has been playing test for only 7 years and already reached 200 test wickets. Across all formats he has a total of 249 wickets. He has good speed in his bowling and also has a very orthodox bowling action but mobility isn't his strongest side. His positive side is that he can constantly bowl with the same controlled line and length. He can also give sturdy bouncers and can swing the ball a bit by both of the sides. I would like to compare him with Glenn McGrath. Both doesn't rely on pace but they depend on their controlled line-length and ball movement. Philander has a great future ahead of him and if he can continue his bowling form without any injuries, then he has a good chance of becoming one of the greatest pacers.
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