Top 10 Best Finisher In The World

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is widely regarded as one the best finisher and the best captain in the world that the ODI cricket has ever witnessed. MS Dhoni would take his time, carefully plan his strategy, and then erupt with a few big hits to put the opposition under pressure. By combining power and touch game, MS Dhoni gave this position a new dimension in the late 2000s. The captain of India has won successful run chases 47 times while remaining unbeaten, scoring 2,876 runs for India. After Sanath Jayasuriya in terms of the amount of balls faced, Dhoni is the only player to reach 10,000 ODI runs while averaging more than 50 runs per game.

Dhoni helped India win game third of the 2006 ODI series against Pakistan by scoring 72 runs off 46 balls, giving India a 2-1 series lead. In the fifth match helped India win the series 4-1 by scoring 77 runs off 56 deliveries. In 62 successful run-chases, MS Dhoni averaged 104.89, the highest average in One-Day International history by any batsmen. These are phenomenal stats that demonstrate his supremacy in run chases. His ODIs second-inning average is 52.39, which is higher than his ODIs first-inning average (52.11).

By chasing down a 275 runs target against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final, MS Dhoni’s 91 not out is one of his finest finishing knocks of all time. Dhoni finished the match with a historical six. For his outstanding effort at the 2011 World Cup final, he won Man of the Match award. According to these amazing stats, MSD has succeeded in winning games most of the time when he stayed at the crease until the final ball. This demonstrates how crucial he was to India’s victories while chasing.

3. Lance Klusener

Lance Klusener is well-known “one-day wrecker”, where he is regarded as one of the most destructive hard-hitter finisher in the word in ODI cricket. He won a lot of matches for South Africa single-handedly against all teams. Lance Klusener is also regarded as one of the best all rounder in the world in ODI cricket history. Blitzing the opposition at the very end to get the team over the finish line regularly stunned them. Klusener is one of the game’s legends for setting such a mark in the 1990s.

South Africa had reached the semi-final of the 1999 World Cup, and Klusener had a fantastic tournament up to that point, taking 17 wickets, scoring 250 runs (including two half centuries) in 8 games, and solidifying his reputation as a hard hitter finisher in pressure situations. From the nine games, he won four Man of the Match awards and also won the 1999 World Cup’s Man of the Tournament award. In 1999 ODI series When South Africa needed four runs to win on the final ball of a game against New Zealand at Napier, Klusener hit a last-ball six against Dion Nash to secure the win for SA. Again in 2000 he did it stupendously against the same team New Zealand in Cape Town in the sixth ODI, Klusener single handedly, saved South Africa from a defeat. In just 42 deliveries, Klusener scored 59 runs, including two fours on the last two balls.

For these remarkable performances, he was also selected as the 2000 Wisden Cricketer of the Year. From 1996 to 2004, he played for South Africa in international cricket. During those eight years, he had a profound influence on the sport as a whole. He played in 49 Tests, scoring 1906 runs at an average of 32.86 with 4 hundreds. In 171 ODI games, he scored 3576 runs at a brilliant average of 41.10 and took 192 wickets at 29.95 with 6 five-wickets hauls.

4. Chris Cairns

Chris Cairns is undoubtedly regarded as one of the greatest all rounders and the best finisher in the world that New Zealand has ever produced. He was a powerful middle order batsman with the ability to smash huge sixes straight down the field. He had destroyed any bowler in the world, which was both a characteristic and an effective aspect of his shots. He formerly held the world record for the most sixes (87) in Test cricket. Cairns was one of the top five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. He was the complete package because he played number of match winning innings for New Zealand against all teams in his whole career.

Chris Cairns hit an outstanding and match winning century 102 not out at the Gabba against South Africa in 2001-02 VB series as New Zealand continued their rich vein of form to score a fantastic four-wicket win. In the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy final, he assisted his side by leading New Zealand to their first victory of ICC title with an unbeaten century of 102 against India. He is also one of just eight players to have taken 210 wickets and 3320 runs in test cricket, Cairns achieved a second ODI double of 201 wickets and 4950 runs. His Test hitting average at position seven (44.02) ranked fifth all-time for that position.

Michael Hussey is popularly known by his nickname Mr Cricket, who is regarded as one of the prolific left handed batsmen of all time for Australia. Hussey established himself as one of the best finisher in the world in a very short period of time. He won lot of matches in the late 2000s, sometimes single handedly, to deliver Australia much-needed victory. He had an extremely successful international career, he was chosen by the ICC as the best ODI player for the year in 2006. Hussey scored five fifties in 2005 and was not out in four of them, quickly earning the reputation of a dependable finisher. In 21 ODIs, he played at position seven and scored superbly 725 runs at an average of 120.83.

He took just 166 days in ODI cricket to reach the landmark of 1000 runs, the fastest ever in terms of number of days taken. He hit the 2000 mark in just 20 games (33 innings) to become the fourth fastest in Test cricket history. Hussey’s international career is magnificent statistically. He scored 6,235 runs in 79 Tests, and his Test batting average of 51.52 is the third-highest of any Aussie. With 4,552 runs scored in ODI cricket, he has the second-best batting average of any Aussie in ODIs (48.15). In the 2010 World T20 semifinal match, Australia required 17 runs from the final 5 balls of their 192-run chase to win, and Hussey heroically finished the match for his team by hitting 6, 4, 6, and 6 to Saeed Ajmal. He scored terrifically 60 off just 24 deliveries and was unbeaten.

6. Javed Miandad

If being able to carefully watch the ball is a requirement for the art of batting, Javed Miandad was a true master. He was a model of control as he observed the ball come directly to the bat and struck it. He exhibited fortitude and bravery. In his first Test encounter, he scored a century, and in his third test, scored double century. Javed Miandad is the earliest “finisher” in one-day cricket history. He scored runs in every match during the 1992 World Cup that Pakistan won.

Miandad’s most well-known achievement in this regard—and the reason he is as well-remembered in Pakistan as for anything else he accomplished—was hitting a six off Chetan Sharma’s final ball of the game to win 1984 Asia Cup final in Sharjah when four runs were required. However, what makes him stand out is how he played in games that Pakistan won when pursuing; he went unbeaten in nearly half of his innings and averaged 66.24. Remember that runs were not as simple to come by in the 1980s as they were later when pitches and pace attacks became more subdued. His 8,832 test runs at an average of 52.57 from 124 matches remain the most for Pakistan.

7. Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq is regarded as the most reliable all-rounder that Pakistan has ever produced and one of the best finisher in the world that ODI cricket has ever seen. Razzaq was the only player on the squad with the ability to ignite the new ball and the composure to bat at any position. In cricket, he is popularly known for being an aggressive batsman with the capacity to score quick runs and he had the power to change the result of a game. His batting became so much better that he was a crucial finisher batsman. Stephen Fleming referred to him as “the best hitter” in the world after he scored 89 runs in just 40 balls in a ODI match against New Zealand in 2003–04.

Against England, he also scored superbly 47 runs off just 11 deliveries in 2005. On October 31, 2010, in the 2nd ODI against South Africa, Razzaq played a tremendous match-winning innings of 109 not out off 72 balls with seven fours and ten massive sixes at a strike rate of 151.38. Pakistan won this match by one wicket with one delivery left in the innings. For Pakistan, he played in 46 Tests, scoring 1948 runs at 28.62, including 3 centuries. He played in 265 ODIs, he scored 5080 runs at an average of 29.71 with three hundreds. He has 3 five-wicket hauls to his name and 269 ODI wickets at an average of 31.84.

8. Viv Richards

Viv Richards is one of the greatest cricketers in the history and one of the best batsman in the world. When every other player in the game wore a helmet as a matter of fact during that time, his choice to never do so was a brazen act of superiority. Viv Richards is the only batsman of all time who could intimidate his opponents even before receiving a delivery. In the third final of the B & H World Series Cup 1988–89, Viv Richards single-handedly destroyed Australia. He played a tremendous 60-run match-winning innings off just 40 balls against Australia.

No one has ever been able to replicate his signature shot through midwicket from a delivery outside off stump, and no one has ever struck the ball harder. Richards’ century in the 1979 World Cup final against England helped the West Indies win the title again that year. His world record ODI innings of 189 runs not out with 5 sixes against England in 1984 was another incredible performance. His 47.00 one-day international average in 187 games is the best of any player to reach 4000 ODI runs. He scored total 6721 runs in 187 ODI matches at an average of 47 with astonishing strike rate of 90.20.