Mitchell Johnson is one of the most prolific fast bowlers to have ever played for Australia. Before there was Mitchell Starc, there was Mitchell Johnson who would instill fear in the minds of the opposition batters. He has played 73 Test Matches for Australia and he has taken 313 Wickets at an average of 28.41. He has taken 12 Five Wicket Hauls and 3 times he has taken 10 Wickets in a Test Match. He has also played 153 ODIs for Australia and has taken 239 Wickets at an average of 25.26 with 3 Five Wicket Hauls. He has also taken 38 Wickets in T20I Cricket.
Let’s find out the top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Mitchell Johnson
1) 8/61 vs South Africa (2008)
This is the best bowling performance in the career of Mitchell Johnson. Australia lost this match by 6 Wickets but this was a performance worthy of being at the top of this list. Australia had made 375 runs in the first innings. When South Africa came to bat, Mitchell Johnson was at his very best. He bowled 24 overs in this innings and he absolutely decimated the South Africa batting. He gave away 61 runs at 2.54 runs per over and took 8 Wickets on his own. He got the Wickets of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB De Villiers, JP Duminy among others. This was a special performance.
2) 7/40 vs England (2013)
This was also one of his best bowling performances and it came against the arch rivals England in the Ashes. Australia had made a massive score of 570 batting first in this match. Michael Clarke was the highest run getter with a brilliant 148. Then it was the turn of Mitchell Johnson to wreck the English batting. He took 7 Wickets for 40 runs in 17.2 overs at 2.31 runs per over. He took the Wickets of Alastair Cook, Ben Stokes and all of the lower order. Australia won this match by 216 runs.
3) 7/68 and 5/59 vs South Africa (2014)
This was the performance against South Africa and it was in South Africa. This was 6 years after his 8/61 against South Africa where Australia lost that Test Match. Australia made 397 In the first innings. Mitchell Johnson was at his lethal best when South Africa came to bat. He bowled 17.1 overs in this innings and he took 7 Wickets for 68 Runs. He gave away 3.96 runs per over. He got the Wickets of Graeme Smith, Faf Du Plessis, AB De Villiers and others. This was not the end for Mitchell Johnson in this match. In the fourth Innings he once again showed why he was the best in the world. He took 5 Wickets for 59 Runs in this innings. He gave away 3.69 runs per over. Mitchell Johnson took a total of 12 Wickets in this match for 127 runs. Australia won this match by 281 Runs.
4) 6/31 vs Sri Lanka (2011)
This is the best bowling performance for Mitchell Johnson in ODI Cricket. This was against Sri Lanka who were the runners up in the 2011 World Cup a few months before. Sri Lanka were batting first and Mitchell Johnson bowled 10 overs for 31 runs. He took the Wickets of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews. Mitchell Johnson is one of the few bowlers in ODI Cricket to have taken 6 wickets in an ODI innings. Australia won this match by 7 Wickets.
5) 3/29 vs England (2011)
This is one of the best bowling performances for Mitchell Johnson in T20I Cricket. In this match he was bowling well against England. Australia batted first and they made 147 and 148 should have been an easy Target for England. Mitchell Johnson had other ideas as in the 4 overs that he bowled he took 3 Wickets for 29 runs at 7.25 runs per over. He took the Wickets of Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan. Australia won the match by 4 runs.
Mitchell Johnson Bowling Stats:
Test Cricket | ODI Cricket | T20I Cricket | |
Matches | 73 | 153 | 30 |
Overs | 2666.5 | 1248.1 | 109.2 |
Balls Bowled | 16001 | 7459 | 656 |
Runs Conceded | 8891 | 6038 | 797 |
Wickets | 313 | 239 | 38 |
Average | 28.41 | 25.26 | 20.97 |
5 Wicket Haul | 12 | 3 | 0 |
Best Bowling | 8/61 | 6/31 | 3/15 |
Economy Rate | 3.33 | 4.84 | 7.28 |
