A little delay this week, in getting you the best players of the week gone by. Nevertheless, here we are, to talk about some of the praiseworthy performances. There was plenty of cricket last week. South Africa and Australia played part of their Second Test at Hobart last week although the match didn’t last the distance. India won their second Test against England at Vizag and New Zealand won their first Test against Pakistan at Christchurch.
There is a Tri-Series going on in Zimbabwe involving the host team along with West Indies and Sri Lanka. So here are some sterling players we managed to pick. Some good players like Ben Stokes and Haseeb Hameed miss out despite being impressive.
#1 Virat Kohli
He can do no wrong these days. The Indian Test skipper registered a Player of the Match performance scoring 167 in India’s first innings against England in the second Test at Vizag, walking in at 22 for 2 in the fifth over. He went on to add 226 with Cheteshwar Pujara for the third wicket. Kohli also made it to the top 5 of most runs scored in a Test by an Indian skipper, adding to his 167 in the second innings with a classy, steely and skilful 81. Kohli’s innings was studded with 18 fours as he scored briskly at a strike-rate of over 60.
#2 Cheteshwar Pujara
Pujara has hit a purple patch scoring his third Test century in three Tests. His 119 and marathon partnership set the match up nicely as India went on to post 455. Pujara walked in only in the second over of the Test when India lost KL Rahul for a duck. Pujara, who received a lot of chin music in the first Test, showed plenty of discipline while still scoring at a strike-rate of 58.33.
#3 Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin is turning out to be quite a wonderful all-rounder for India and he showed it again in the second Test at Vizag. Ashwin scored a priceless 58 in India’s first innings, adding 64 for the eighth wicket with debutant Jayant Yadav, who himself had a good game. Ashwin then took a five-wicket haul with the ball as England were wrapped up for just 255 conceding a 200-run lead. He picked up another three in England’s second innings, taking his match tally to eight wickets.
#4 Colin de Grandhomme
Winning the Man of the Match in your debut match is the stuff of dreams. That was what Grandhomme, the 30-year old New Zealand paceman, managed at Christchurch. He picked up a 6-wicket haul against Pakistan in the first innings wrecking their top order. Grandhomme batting at No.6 then scored a valuable 29 off just 37 balls.
He picked another wicket in Pakistan’s second innings, taking his tally to 7 in the match, apart from giving the Kiwis their first breakthrough. Pakistan were bundled out for 171 as New Zealand knocked off 108 runs in 31.3 overs winnings by 8 wickets.
#5 Jeet Raval
Another New Zealand debutant in the first Test at Christchurch against Pakistan was Raval who impressed one and all with a fighting 55 in New Zealand’s first innings. New Zealand were in a spot of bother at 40 for 3 but Raval was solid on one end, walking in as an opener. He scored an unbeaten 36* in the second innings as well, ensuring New Zealand have no trouble knocking off the small target.
#6 Kyle Abbott
Abbott has been one of South Africa’s unsung heroes for long. He performs whenever given a chance given he is always behind the likes of Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn in the pecking order. Abbott followed up his 3/41 in the first innings of the second Test against Australia at Hobart with a 6-wicket haul in Australia’s second. 4 of those were top-order wickets getting him a Player of the Match award.
#7 Donald Tiripano
Tiripano makes it to this list for one of the best final overs in an ODI match for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe set West Indies a target of 258 in the ongoing tri-series match, Sri Lanka being the third team.
At Bulawayo, West Indies were favourites going into the last over requiring just 4 runs with 5 wickets in hand. 28-year old Tiripano, who had bowled only 5 overs in the first spell and nothing from then on, bowled a brilliant over getting T20 World Cup hero Carlos Brathwaite out and then unintentionally affecting the run-out of non-striker Ashley Nurse. He then bowled the perfect last ball, full and wide to prevent West Indies from getting the run they needed to win. The match ended in a well-fought tie.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
