Monthly International Cricket Round Up

From the heavy weights of the game to the minnows, this month had a lot in store for the cricket fans. 

India vs South Africa - ODI Series

South Africa won 3-2

The South African team which is known to adapt easily in any conditions, proved it yet again. Having clean sweeped the t20 series, they clinched the One Day Internationals too (for the first time in India), which had come down to the last match of the contest. All in all a series, full of enthralling matches and a lot to offer for the Proteas specially, brought some relief for the Indians too but still left some loopholes to be filled in.

Image // indiatvnews

Both the team had their moments throughout the series and each team won alternative matches for the first four encounters which were engrossing and had tight finishes like perfect cricket thrillers but in the last one the Proteas outshone the Indians comprehensively. They etched their name in history by putting up a humongous 438 on board batting up first. Not only that, they cleared down the Indian batting for just a 224 winning by a mammoth margin of 214 runs, credits to a stellar bowling performance by young Rabada who garnered 4 wickets and senior pros Steyn and Tahir. Earlier it was AB de Villiers who set up the platform scoring a 119 along with Faf du Plessis who essayed a splendid knock of a 133.
While for the Proteas it was a constant in-form performances by almost all players who held their nerves applying themselves, which is why they ended up victorious, for the Indians the consistency meter for the players did not strike that high. For the bowlers, death bowling enhanced as a concern, the ruling out of R Ashwin, the most lethal weapon of the Men in Blue came as a huge setback.

Dhawan's willow kept silent, while it was a return in form for star batsman Virat Kohli who scored a century in the 4th match which India bagged by a margin of 35 runs. Rohit Sharma shone in the first game scoring a 150 which the Proteas won eventually by 18 runs. What came as a relief was return of MS Dhoni the batsman who came to rescue at Indore when India were reeling as he scored a 92 helping India clinch the game. The saviour throughout was Ajinkya Rahane who after being promoted at number 3 amassed a lot of runs.

Pakistan vs England- Test Series.

Pakistan won 2-0

Image // Cricbuzz

Having basked in the glory of a successful Ashes Series against their arch-rivals, the Englishmen faced the lows of defeat inflicted by Pakistan. The series was extremely competitive and not a one sided affair, which is told by the fact that the series got a result on the final day of the final test. England had their moments, but Pakistan took the trophy home by holding upon and making it big in those one or two moments when England just let it go. While England were demoted to the 6th slot in the rankings, Pakistan leapt up to the second spot.

Alastair Cook continued his great run in the South Asian conditions scoring a double ton in the very first test,0 which ended in a draw. The other double centurion of the same match was Shoaib Malik whose retirement was the shocking surprise of the series as his performance with the ball too was top notch. Having drawn the first test, the other two tests saw the rise of Pakistan which the won by mammoth margins of 178 and 127 runs, with some proactive captaincy by Misbah Ul Haq who scored runs in the three matches with an average of around 58.66.

England were always in the challenge and the too near yet too far situation for them was capitalised upon by the Pakistanis, especially the bowlers Wahab Riaz in the second test and Yasir Shah and Shoaib Malik in the last test who ruthlessly pinned down the Englishmen, thus backing their team's solid batting performance resulting in their victory.This now leaves a lot of questions to be answered and resolved by the Three Lions specially by their batsmen who were seen completely surrendering to spin.

Sri Lanka vs West Indies- Test Series 

Sri Lanka won 2-0.

Image // Cricbuzz

There was a time when they were called invincible but if one defines a literal drastic transformation, it has been that for the Caribbeans. Sir Gary Sobers shedding tears in an interview just before the second test match of this Sobers-Tissera trophy said it all.

For the West Indians the first test came as a shocker for they lost by a gap of an innings and 6 runs but for the Sri Lankans it was a matter of relief after defeats to Pakistan and India. For the West Indies it was pure lack of application as they seemed to give the match away in a gift wrap to the hosts. When they bowled they looked out of sorts as they allowed the Lankans to put 484 on board wth individual scores of 186 and 151 by Karunaratne and Chandimal respectively. When it came to batting matters went from bad to worse as Rangana Herath single handedly demolished them to register an emphatic win.

While the first test seemed to be just thrown away by the Caribbean, the last one was a hard fought one which is explained by the fact that the West Indians were seeming to march towards victory on the last day, but its was Siriwardana all they way for Sri Lanka who after a match saving 111 in the first innings claimed 5 wickets of the West Indies. Kraig Braithwate was the only man who shone for West Indies claiming 6 wickets to dismiss Sri Lanka for just 206 in the second innings.

It was a huge fiasco for the West Indians yet again, who failed to keep their nerves and threw away a chances of levelling the series.

Sri Lanka vs West Indies- ODI Series 

Sri Lanka won 3-0

Rampage over the visitors by the Men from the Emerald Island continued as they sealed the One Day series which was mostly disrupted with a lot of rain and had all results by the D/L method.

Image // Cricbuzz

The West Indians finally put up a stomach for some fight but their problem of either of the departments failing miserably continued. The Sri Lankans enjoyed a narrow escape in the first match, due to Ajanta Mendis, which they managed to wrap up by just a wicket which might have ended disastrously as they surrendered under pressure. The injury of Russell cost the game for West Indies making them one bowler short.

For the other two games, specially the second one it was letting down of both batting and bowling wherein no one except Narine looked to do some damage, which ultimately Sri  Lanka pulled off easily by 8 wickets. Marlon Samuels finally fired for the West Indies in the last match which was a dead rubber either ways, helping the cross the 20 mark after they were reeling at 52/5. However a long disruption by rain and loss of a lot of wickets before the halt led to declaration of Sri Lankans as winners by 19 runs.

A satisfying series ended for the Si Lankans but as for the West Indians, they don't lack in terms of potential or talent, but stepping p of young team to the occasion and firing of more than just one or two on a given day is required for them to get set on their journey to regain reputation.

Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan 

Afghanistan won 3-2

There is nothing like it when you see an associate nation like Afghanistan take a giant stride in International Cricket and that too against a full time member Zimbabwe. Afghanistan etched history creating an immensely positive impact on their cricket from here on after winning the challenging and tightly fought series.

Image // Cricbuzz

Zimbabwe did initiate the series with an remarkably easy victory of 8 wickets after clearing up the visitors for 122 with major trouble being caused by Masakadza. However in the second game the Afghanistan team ensured that they did not allow Zimbabwe to get going to crush them with a 58 runs victory. Nabi set the platform scoring a century and then it was topped up by an impressive performance by all the bowlers. The pattern continued as Zimbabwe and Afghanistan won alternatively and the series went down to the last match.

Locking horns in the decider, Afghanistan scripted an ideal victory with an impressive all round performance. they set up 245 runs on the board which could have been easy but a tricky task for Zimbabwe. The latter turned out to be true as wickets fell at regular intervals for Zimbabwe with Sean Williams being the lone survivor tying up one end. Zardan was the hero for Afghanistan who clamied 4 wickets as Zimbabwe were demolished for 172.

Zimbabwe might look back at this series with a lot of disappointment and hope of resolving their mistakes but for Afghanistan and their people back home it would be a matter of great pride, for making it to the International level has been a tough journey for them.