Kevin O’Brien’s top 3 bowling performances in ODI cricket

The former Ireland star Kevin O’Brien is predominantly known for his batting heroics. But what goes unnoticed is his effective bowling contributions. He was a utility all-rounder who could make a difference with both his batting and bowling. Moving ahead we will highlight his top 3 bowling performances for Ireland in ODI cricket.

1. 4/13 vs Netherlands, 2013

Kevin O’Brien delivered the best bowling performance of his ODI career in 2013, against the Netherlands. In the first innings, Ireland batted impressively to get to 236 runs. However, it was still not a safe total and Ireland had to bowl their way to victory. Kevin O’Brien put his hand up and delivered a mind-blowing spell. He picked up four wickets in seven overs and conceded only 13 runs. This bowling effort caused a collapse in the Dutch batting order and the chasing side could only accumulate 148 runs.

2. 4/26 vs Afghanistan, 2017

Here is another 4-fer for Kevin O’Brien but this time against a much stronger Afghan side. In the fourth match of the ODI series between the two teams, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the Irish bowling unit put up a resilient performance to restrict the opposition to 220 runs in the first innings. Kevin O’Brien was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland with four wickets to his name. He dismissed some of the big names including Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah, and Mohammad Nabi to weaken the Afghan batting unit.

3. 4/41 vs UAE, 2018

As his career progressed, Kevin O’Brien became a more lethal bowler. He showed his class against UAE in 2018 by forcing the opposition to surrender in front of his bowling might. UAE had a massive target to chase in this match. Ireland posted 301 runs in the first innings courtesy of William Porterfield’s century. However, UAE were on track in the run chase but Kevin O’Brien did not let them proceed without any hurdles. In his quota of 10 overs, he dismissed four opposition batters to make the run chase even more difficult. Eventually, his effort helped Ireland win the match by a comfortable margin of 67 runs. 

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