ESPNcricinfo Awards 2021 Associate bowling nominees: Lamichhane's six, Smit's five

Peter Della Penna 22-Jan-2022

Jan Frylinck
6 for 24 vs UAE
only T20I, Dubai
The left-arm medium-pacer's bag of tricks were particularly effective on this day, resulting in what were at the time the best figures in men's T20Is by an Associate bowler. Frylinck started with the wicket of opener CP Rizwan in the ninth over and then claimed the big scalp of Muhammad Waseem in the 12th. Coming back in the 16th, he took two more wickets in three balls - including former captain Rohan Mustafa - to snuff out the last serious threat from the hosts. Another two wickets in the final over provided the cherry on top, to close out a 17-run win for Namibia.

Sandeep Lamichhane
6 for 11 vs Papua New Guinea
second ODI, Al Amerat
Having gone 18 months without playing an ODI due to the pandemic, Lamichhane showed little rust in Nepal's return series. He became just the second Associate bowler - after Rashid Khan, who did it before Afghanistan's promotion to Full Member status - to take a six-wicket haul twice in an ODI career. PNG's line-up was completely flummoxed by the legspinner's steady supply of googlies: four of the six wickets fell bowled or lbw. Lamichhane sparked a collapse from 44 for 3 to 82 all out in a spell that lasted just 5.1 overs.

Ruben Trumpelmann
3 for 17 vs Scotland
T20 World Cup, Abu Dhabi
In one of the most remarkable opening overs in the tournament's history, left-arm fast bowler Trumpelmann struck three times in the first four balls to leave Scotland shellshocked in a Super 12s battle for Associate pride. It started with George Munsey chopping the first ball of play onto his stumps. Calum MacLeod followed two deliveries later, poking away from his body to edge a ball angled across from over the wicket. A full inswinger trapped the red-hot Richie Berrington for a golden duck next ball and Scotland never recovered, giving Namibia a four-wicket win.

JJ Smit
5 for 26 vs Oman
World Cup League Two ODI, Windhoek
With Gerhard Erasmus out injured, Smit had one of the more memorable stand-in captaincy debuts, scoring a half-century and taking a five-for in a win over the league leaders. Oman were set 229 to win and Smit's double-wicket-maiden 18th over wrecked their good start, getting rid of key batters Aqib Ilyas and Mohammad Nadeem. Smit killed Oman's hopes for good in the 44th, removing Sandeep Goud for 50 and big-hitting Naseem Khushi for a second-ball duck. The wicket of Khawar Ali to start the 46th made it three in five balls to cap Smit's haul.

Peter Aho
6 for 5 vs Sierra Leone
fifth T20I, Lagos
Jan Frylinck's mark for the best figures by an Associate bowler in men's T20Is didn't last the month. First, Uganda's Dinesh Nakrani one-upped him in a win over Lesotho at the Africa Regional T20 World Cup Qualifier. Aho raised the bar five days later, taking the best figures for any bowler in men's T20Is, going past Nakrani's and Deepak Chahar's figures of 6 for 7. The 18-year-old attacked the stumps, as was evident in the results: five of his six wickets were bowled and the other out lbw. Four of those wickets came off his first eight deliveries with the new ball and he took two more at the death to clinch a 19-run victory for Nigeria.