Wayne Parnell took the most wickets in the 2009 Champions Trophy, despite the Proteas failing to make it past the group stages.

Eleven of Parnell’s 90 ODI wickets came eight years ago, when South Africa hosted the 2009 Champions Trophy. It’s incredible to think that the 27-year-old all-rounder featured that long ago, but the then 20-year-old was at his best back then, with the global showpiece, in front of his own fans, putting him on the map.

He was the shining light in what was an otherwise failed campaign for the Proteas. The opening match against Sri Lanka saw the South Africans lose by 55 runs D/L method. Parnell was expensive as he conceded 79 runs, but he took three big wickets, including the dangerous Mahela Jayawardene.

It was his 5-57 against New Zealand – his second-best figures to date – that allowed his side to win by five wickets and keep themselves in the tournament. He wiped away three of the top four as the Black Caps could only put together 214, allowing the Proteas to win by a comfortable five wickets.

The final group match against England would be enough to put them in the semi-finals, but it wasn’t to be for the hosts, as they lost by 22 runs. Parnell still played more than his part, sending down two maidens and taking three wickets, to eventually finish with figures of 3-60.

He was expensive throughout, but he appeared to be the strike bowler the Proteas were looking for to aid the workload of Dale Steyn. Despite only playing three matches, he topped the wicket-taking charts with 11 wickets at an average of 17.81, one more than England’s Stuart Broad.

Proteas vs New Zealand Scorecard

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