It has been a fascinating week of cricket with plenty of action around the globe. Below, are some of the highlights.
David Warner’s hat-trick
Playing in front his home crowd for the first time in 18 months, David Warner was quick to remind the Aussie fans what they were missing. The diminutive opener picked up the player of the match award in all three games of the series against Sri Lanka. A century in the opener followed by two unbeaten fifties saw him amass 217 runs in three innings without losing his wicket. Only Aaron Finch (240) and Hashim Amla (224) have made more runs between dismissals in T20Is.
Warner will have a chance to go past both when he opens the batting against Pakistan on Sunday.
India Domestic – Shubman Gill and Jalaj Saxena create Deodhar Trophy history
Shubman Gill, India’s next big thing, continues to punish bowling attacks in the domestic circuit. He smashed 143 against India A to became the first batsman to outscore the opposition in the tournament;s history. India A were all out for 134.
Off-spinner Jalaj Saxena played a key role in helping teammate Gill secure the record as he registered the best-ever figures in the history of Deodhar Trophy: 7-41.
Minnow Miracles
Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Namibia sealed qualification to their first ever T20 World Cup. Papua New Guinea gained direct qualification by topping Group A in the Qualifier held in the UAE while Namibia beat Oman in the play-off to secure their spot in the premier tournament.
PNG needed to beat Kenya in the final league game to top Group A and found themselves at 19 for six after batting first in the clash. They eventually fought their way back to post 118 and beat their opposition by 45 runs. Only one team had ever won an international game after being in a worse spot in the first innings and that was England in 1887 in Sydney when they were reduced to 17 for six in a Test.
Namibia lost their first two games in the group stages before winning five in a row to seal qualification. They’ve now won eight consecutive games whilst defending a total in T20Is.
The curious case of Bailey’s batting stances
Former Australian skipper George Bailey brought out another unorthodox batting stance during a Sheffield Shield match between Tasmania and Victoria in Hobart. As pacer Chris Tremain started his run up, Bailey had his back facing the bowler with his back-foot outside the line of the stumps. Just as the bowler dug the delivery in short, Bailey swiftly turned to take an orthodox batting position to play the pull shot.
It gets more complex every time you watch it 🙈#SheffieldShield #TASvVIC pic.twitter.com/Zi2hh5i3JD
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 31, 2019
Not be left behind the Pakistan Cricket Board tweeted Fawad Alam’s unique batting style from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Tag that one friend with a crazy batting stance (but just doesn't get out) 😂
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 1, 2019
📺: @TheRealPCB pic.twitter.com/eKpGe4NiII
Two sensational catches at long-off
UAE ‘s Rameez Shahzad and India’s Harmanpreet Kaur completed two absolute stunners while fielding in the deep for spinners.
George Munsey must have thought he had carted spinner Ahmad Raza for a six. It was not to be as Shehzad plucked it out of thin air with a perfectly timed leap and managed to hold on to the ball as he hit the ground.
Rameez Shahzad take a bow 🤯
— Out of Context Cricket (@OOCCricket_) October 30, 2019
pic.twitter.com/iuj1Pj8OPV
Harmanpreet Kaur’s catch was equally stunning and it was to dismiss Windies skipper Stephanie Taylor who was batting on 94. Just as Taylor was rehearsing her celebrations for her century in her head, Harmanpreet Kaur ran and launched herself to complete the catch mid air. Super stuff!
Harmanpreet Kaur has just taken one of the great catches to deny Stafanie Taylor, on 94, an ODI century.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 2, 2019
That airtime ✈️ pic.twitter.com/unSBRRuNFu
Abdur Razzak Sets Bangladesh Domestic record
As one left-arm spinner from Bangladesh was banned from playing , another refuses to go away.
At the age of 37, Abdur Razzak became the first bowler from the country to claim 600 first-class wickets. He is the leading wicket-taker in the domestic circuit this season.
Most T20Is played in a single day
On Sunday, October 27, eight T20Is were played which is the most number of international games played in the format a day.
Only two Test playing nations were involved but Gibraltar played in two games on the same day.
The games were:
Australia vs Sri Lanka
Papua New Guinea vs Kenya
Hong Kong vs Nigeria
Gibraltar vs Portgual
Scotland vs Netherlands
Oman vs Jersey
Spain vs Gibraltar
UAE vs Canada
