Another action-packed week of cricket has given us some excellent cricketers to talk and discuss. Some efforts were special and some came against adversities of different types; some played well as expected and some chased away poor form with runs that really mattered.
There was Haseeb Hameed who scored a gutsy and unbeaten 59* for England against India despite an injury that has ruled him out of the Test series. His innings ensured India batted again and had more than hundred runs to score in the final innings of the third Test at Mohali.
There is Parthiv Patel’s unbeaten 54-ball 67 that made sure India didn’t have any trouble scoring those 103 runs England set them. There is Neil Wagner’s 3-for as well, helping New Zealand wrap up the Test series against Pakistan. But, here are the 5 cricketers of the week gone by, whose performances really earned their own place.
#1 Ross Taylor
Taylor has a growth in his eye which has ruled him out of cricket for a few weeks. Battling that discomfort and bad form, he smashed an unbeaten 102 from 134 balls in New Zealand’s second innings in the second Test against Pakistan at Hamilton. His score ensured Pakistan were chasing a target of 369 and while the target was never under any threat, Pakistan fought enough to give fans the hope of a draw.
That was not to be as Pakistan’s second innings was wrapped up in the 93rd over, despite a valiant 91 from Sami Aslam. New Zealand won the match by 138 runs and the Test series 2-0. Taylor had also scored a 31-ball 37 in the first innings.
#2 Sami Aslam
Pakistan’s Sami Aslam almost saved the match for Pakistan in the second Test at Hamilton against New Zealand. Pakistan had to bat out 86 overs before the last hour of play began (a maximum of 101 overs in total) having been set an impossible target of 369. Aslam’s 238 ball 91 gave them a solid start of 131 with Azhar Ali, a rare opening century partnership for Pakistan.
However, once Aslam fell in the 73rd over, the rest of the batsmen folded like a house of cards and Pakistan were all out for 230 in the 93rd over, losing all their 10 wickets across a span of 32 overs. The 20-year old southpaw also narrowly missed out on a debut century.
#3 Steve Smith
Dropped on 12, Steve Smith made New Zealand pay by smashing a 157-ball 164 in the first ODI between Australia and the Black Caps on 4th December at the SCG. Smith took Australia from a precarious 92-4 to an imperious 324, adding 127 runs for the fifth wicket with Travis Head, who scored 52, and then another 83 runs with Matthew Wade, who scored a 22 ball 38.
This was the Australian skipper’s highest ODI score and his 7th century in 75 innings.
#4 Martin Guptill
Guptill looked in sublime form as New Zealand looked to chase down a humongous target set by Australia in the first ODI at SCG on a good batting track. Their chase faltered when they lost Tom Latham in the second over and then their skipper Kane Williamson in the 8th over. But Guptill’s innings was a gem as he gave New Zealand a lot of hope.
Guptill’s 102-ball 114 was studded with 10 fours and 6 effortless sixers. It was Guptill’s 11th century but he, unfortunately, ended up on the losing side. Guptill lost his wicket to a bad ball, hitting it straight to short midwicket after losing two of his partners in James Neesham and BJ Watling. New Zealand didn’t recover from that loss and were all out for 256, falling short of the target by 68 runs.
#5 Mithali Raj
An Indian legend already, Mithali Raj-led Indian women to another trophy – the Asian Cricket Council Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup, by scoring an unbeaten 65-ball 73 to set Pakistan a target of 122 in the Final. They could only accumulate 104 in their 20 overs. Raj picked up Player of the Match and Series having scored 220 runs in 4 innings, with Pakistan’s Javeria Khan coming a distant second with 111 runs. Raj was unbeaten twice and scored two half-centuries.
Follow your cricket stars and what they are up to in the latest cricket news and analysis at Sportskeeda Cricket.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
