12 Facts about Tim Southee - The Daring Kiwi

Timothy Grant Southee is one of the most prolific swingers of the ball in world cricket today. He has quite capably taken over the role of the spearhead of the Kiwi bowling attack. The right-arm fast bowler has swing, pace and vigour as the attributes of his bowling along with a stylish and smooth action. Southee is aggressive and blends it with composure and precision to trouble the batsmen.

Here are some interesting facts about Tim Southee:

1. Birth and Rugby:

Southee was born on 11 December 1988, in the city of Whangarei, sited in the northern part of New Zealand. During his school life, he was as prominent in excelling at rugby, as he was on the cricket field.

2. U19 World Cup:

At the age of 17, Tim Southee represented kiwis in the U19 World Cup 2006, held at Bangladesh. Southee had five wickets to his name in the tournament though New Zealand lost to Nepal in the final.

3. Second U-19 World cup appearance:

Two years later, Southee became the heart and soul of the youth team, and irrespective of the mediocre performance from the Kiwis, Southee picked 17 wickets and was the tournament’s second highest wicket taker.

4. T20I debut:

In 2008, Tim Southee made his T20I debut for New Zealand against England at the Eden Park and dismissed England’s Paul Collingwood for his maiden international wicket.

5. Test and ODI debut:

Southee made his Test debut on the same tour, earning him the honour of becoming the seventh-youngest player to feature for New Zealand. He also earned his debuted in ODI cricket against England.

6. Bad form:

Southee fared below par performances against Australia and India. The third ODI against India saw him being battered for 105 runs in his ten overs and that saw him being dropped from the squad fro the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 and the World T20 in the same year.

7. Back with a bang:

Tim Southee had a stellar string of awesome performances in the World Cup 2011. He notched 18 wickets and was the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The purple patch of form sustained in the subsequent tours to India and Sri Lanka.

8. IPL:

In the IPL Southee has featured in 26 matches collectively for Chennai Super kings, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians during which he picked 19 wickets.

9. World Cup 2015:

Southee was the backbone of the New Zealand bowling bout in the World Cup 2015. He took 15 wickets and eased New Zealand’s journey to the finals. It was the first time, New Zealand reached an ICC cricket World Cup final.

10. 7 for 33:

Southee’s astonishing bowling against England in World Cup 2015 is regarded as his best. He bowled nine overs, taking seven wickets, and spent just 33 runs. England was all-out for 123 and obviously, Southee was the Man of the Match for his performance.

11. An able tail-ender:

Southee is one of the best tail-ender in recent years. He has scored over 1000 runs in Test cricket with an unbeaten 77 as his best score.

12. Career stats:

He has been a part of the Black Caps squad in 54 Tests, 106 ODIs and 38 T20Is and has 190, 144 and 46 wickets in respective formats in his account along with 5, 2 and 1, five-wicket hauls in each of the formats.

Written by Gautam Sudev