5 Cricketers who won the Player of the Match award for fielding

While batting and bowling have racked up a slew of Man of the Match accolades, there have been few times where a player’s outstanding fielding has been recognised with a major trophy. In this article here are 5 Cricketers who won the Player of the Match award for fielding

Although there may now be a distinct category for recognising the skillful fielding exploits of cricketers in today’s game, for the longest time, traditional Player of the Match awards were primarily given to hitters or a significant number of bowlers.

The rigorous art of fielding has just recently become generally regarded; formerly, there was little attention on a player’s fitness or athleticism during fielding.

Despite the importance of fielding in the past, there have been some innovative gun fielders who have won games simply on the basis of their fielding work, earning them Player of the Match awards.

5 Cricketers who won the Player of the Match award for fielding

1. David Miller – 4 catches and 2 run-outs vs Pakistan, T20I 2019

David Miller is without a doubt South Africa’s largest gun fielder, and he is frequently assigned to guard the business end of the fences, such as the long-on and long-off fences. Miller’s overall fielding includes everything that a modern-day fielder needs to demonstrate in today’s game, whether it’s the direct hits at either end or successfully plucking the sky catches.

While we might watch Miller doing his normal saves on the park as a key fielder in the IPL or for South Africa, he was primarily all over the park against Pakistan not long ago, when his total fielding performance had absolutely flooded the Pakistan team to a sloppy defeat.

Pakistani batters Babar Azam and Hussian Talat constructed a scorecard of 85 runs in the first ten overs by neatly pursuing a daunting total of 193, but following Talat’s wicket, Miller’s overall fielding quest began.

David Miller initially shown his greatest staggering effort in the 11th over of Phehlukwayo, when he sent a direct hit at the bowler’s end from the short-mid wicket region, never allowing Babar Azam to make it to the end. Miller’s first of four catches came shortly after this nimble action, when he easily caught Asif Ali’s draw with absolute precision.

Miller then easily pouched a failed timed hit of Imad Wasim at the long-on zone in the next over of Tabraiz Shamsi. Miller’s hounding was at its most enthralling when an overthrow let him to launch a direct hit from deep midwicket, eventually removing Mohammad Rizwan, who was hunting for the second run.

After getting stranded with bowlers, Shoaib Malik and Hasan Ali each gave Miller two regulation catches at the long-on and long-off ends.

2. Gus Logie – 3 catches and 1 run-out against Pakistan, ODI, 1986

Well, this is from a time when the West Indians were the undisputed kings of the game, and it took only the brilliance of their fielders like Logie to win games. With superstars like Sir Viv Richards and Pakistan’s Imran Khan in attendance, the ODI in Sharjah was expected to be a thrilling affair.

By winning the toss, captain Imran Khan elevated Saleem Yousuf to open with Mudassar Nazar to face Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh’s dangerous bowling, which also unlatched Gus Logie’s booming day on the field.

Yousuf was expressly taught to play attacking gaming, and he was eventually caught by Logie at the score of 13, who later snatched Mudassar Nazar’s flat-batted shot. Logie had successfully employed the square-leg umpire as a screen for his emulous fielding exploits in that game.

However, with Rameez Raja and Javed Miandad attempting to steady the ship for Pakistan by taking rapid singles, Javed Miandad was run out by Logie, who, although being the fastest runner, was unable to reach the stumps before Logie’s gunning throw.

Later, Logie got his third catch, which was a sky-high hit by Ijaz Ahmed, which he snatched as a sitter. In the end, with Pakistan bowled out for 143 runs and WI chasing comfortably, Gus Logie’s magnificent fielding performance earned him the game’s first Man of the Match award for fielding.

3. Jonty Rhodes – 5 catches and 40 runs, vs West Indies, ODI, 1993

Prior to this catching masterclass, Jonty Rhodes had already gained widespread praise for his fielding exploits, particularly when he ran out Inzamam-ul-Haq with an acrobatic horizontal dive during the 1992 World Cup. As a result of his extensive fielding acrobats, he was given the tag of someone who could fly on the field.

Before demonstrating his fielding abilities on that day, Jonty had played a crucial 40-run knock that distinctly helped South Africa reach a 181-run goal. As a result of his growing confidence, his first catch of Brian Lara was a fantastic diving catch that caused him to rush from a backward point to dismiss the legend.

His second grab, which was also a stunner for Phil Simmons, was another one-handed dive. Jonty then went on to grab Jimmy Adams and Anderson Cummins, where he had to fly still again to catch a slashing cut to the third man.

Desmond Haynes, who had been injured earlier in the innings, was the last wicket he took. Despite their gallant bowling effort, the West Indies were decimated at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium thanks to Jonty Rhodes’ soaring performance (both with the bat and on the field).

4. Mark Taylor- 4 catches in an ODI against the West Indies in 1992.

Mark Taylor, as a renowned player of his age, was better known for his hitting and his captaincy than for his ability to slip field. Taylor, on the other hand, demonstrated his slip-catching abilities in this match, grabbing four match-winning catches of West Indian batters.

With the match being played at the SCG, Australia were bowled out for a score of 101 for 9 in their planned 30 overs, with Taylor contributing only nine runs. While he had failed miserably with the bat, his four superb catches helped Australia win by a narrow margin of 14 runs.

Mark had captured the sloppy strokes of Gus Logie, Carl Hooper, Junior Murry, and Keith Arthurton in four catches, all of which helped Australia win a close game. As a result of his brilliance, Mark Taylor was selected as the Player of the Game.

5. Viv Richards – three catches against India in an ODI in 1989

Sir Viv Richards must have received many MOM awards for his explosive batting, but in this case the West Indian legend was only recognised for his three outstanding catches. This happened when India was facing the West Indies in the second semi-final of the MRF World Series, and after winning the toss, they immediately elected to bat first.

The West Indian bowling, on the other hand, had eventually reduced the Indian batting to a respectable total of 165 runs, with Sir Viv Richards taking three catches and saving many runs.

Sir Viv’s fielding had eliminated Dilip Vengsarkar, Raman Lamba, and Manoj Prabhakar, reducing the total to such a low level that the Calypso King did not need to bat.

As a result, Viv Richards was reportedly awarded the best player of the match after West Indies came out and won convincingly.