Part-time bowlers who took the wickets of great batsmen

So often in cricket we speak of the heroics of tailenders whether it's them swinging from the hip to add a few extra runs or blocking out the end of an innings to save their side from defeat. Of course, every player brought into a side primarily for their bowling will be given a chance sooner or later with the bat but for those cricketers who are deemed specialist batsmen the opportunity to gain a couple of ticks in the wickets column may come only a once or twice in a career if at all.

Below is a list of some of the world's best batsmen in recent years who claimed glory with ball in hand by dismissing some of their peers.

Michael Vaughan dismisses Sachin Tendulkar

If you had to choose one player to bowl the best ball of your career to then surely the Little Master would be at the top of any cricket lovers list. England batsman Michael Vaughan was in the form of his life during 2002 and in a Test against India at Trent Bridge that summer the stylish right-hander caressed 197 to leave India struggling to save the match. Enter Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar arguably the 2 best batsmen of their generation. The pair put on 150+ together with Tendulkar rattling along to 92 at the best part of a run a ball until Vaughan brought on as a last desperate move by captain Nasser Hussain, tempted Tendulkar into a booming cover drive only for the ball to spin out of the rough and bowl the Indian legend through his gate. Queue wild celebrations for Vaughan and the England players and fans alike.

Ricky Ponting dismisses Michael Vaughan

It wouldn't really be fair to let Vaughan get away with too much credit on this blog so we'll fast forward 3 years to the famous 2005 Ashes series to even things up a bit. England and Australia were tied at 1-1 going into the 4th Test and Vaughan who by then had become captain of the team had experienced a poor run of form early in the series before hitting a sublime century in the 3rd Test in Manchester. He was looking pretty good in the first innings of this match as well with the late great Richie Benaud uttering the line "It's just as though he's driven out of Old Trafford, picked up his bat and walked out here" as Vaughan punched Bret Lee down the ground for 4 as if he were nothing more than a medium pacer. At 213-3 Australia were fast running out of ideas so captain Ricky Ponting decided to bring himself on to show the likes of Warne, Lee and Kasprowicz how it was done. Bowling very military medium he induced Vaughan into a waft outside his off-stump to a ball that just bounced a little more than he was expecting resulting in an edge through to the keeper. You can watch the dismissal at 18mins 11 seconds on the highlights below

Virat Kohli dismisses Kevin Pietersen

Widely regarded as the best batsmen in world cricket at the moment, going back a few years perhaps Kohli missed an opportunity to develop as an all-rounder. Then again looking at the ball that actually got the wicket maybe not. The commentary team are very generous in suggesting that the ball that claimed the prize scalp of KP swung in. To me, it looks like a delivery angling towards Pietersen's pads and the kind of ball that 999 times out of 1000 he'd knock through mid-wicket for runs. However, on this occasion, England's star man losses his balance and Dhoni quick as flash whips off his bails. KP, of course, had a long-standing run-in with another part-time Indian bowler in the form of Yuraj Singh whom he once described as a pie-chucker. Probably best that he kept his mouth shut after this one!

Marcus Trescothick Dismisses Ramnaresh Sarwan

I remember watching Trescothick playing for Somerset as a youngster when he'd bat in the middle-order and bowl a few dibbly -dobblies. However, the move up to international cricket quickly put a stop to those shenanigans except as it would appear when England were feeling particularly generous to the opposition side. In this ODI the West Indies were in all sorts of trouble at 72-6 before Sarwan and Powell came together to rebuild the innings. They hadn't though reckoned with the awesome wicket-taking ability of Tres who was helped in no small part by an absolutely fantastic catch from Paul Collingwood to break the partnership and send Chris Gayle's best friend on his way - 3mins 30 seconds on the highlights below

Ashwell Prince dismisses Stephen Fleming

When Dan Vettori was dismissed early on the 2nd Day of this Test in Cape Town, to leave the Black Caps 279 for 7 the home team must have had designs on getting a bat themselves before lunch. Instead what followed was the 3rd highest partnership ever for the 8th wicket in Test cricket as captain Stephen Flemming and James Franklin set about amassing 256. Flemming who 3 years earlier had declared when on 274* against Sri Lanka must have been feeling that this was his chance to become the first New Zealander to make a triple century in Tests. However, Ashwell Prince, a man who had only bowled once before in Tests and had never taken a wicket came on to spoil the party and Fleming never got close to the landmark again.

Cricket / part-time bowlers

Revenge of the part-time bowler

Revenge of the part-time bowler

Revenge of the part-time bowler