With 2017 coming to an end, there were plenty of memorable moments in the cricketing world. It included MS Dhoni resigning Indian captaincy, Virat Kohli’s brilliant performance, Sri Lankan poor performance in international cricket, removal of Anil Kumble as Indian coach, West Indies not qualifying directly for World Cup 2019 and many more events that shook up cricketing world.
So let”s look at the top 6 cricketing moments of 2017
- Pakistan winning the Champions Trophy 2017
Being the 8th ranked team in the Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan stunned the world with great performances. Sarfraz Ahmed replaced Azhar Ali as the captain for this prestigious tournament. In their first league match, Men in Green lost to arch-rivals India by a huge margin of 124 runs. The Pakistani team showed great courage by defeating South Africa by 7 wickets and then won a thriller against Sri Lanka in their last two league matches to progress into the semi-finals.
Pakistan raised their bar in the semi-finals against hosts and favorites of the tournament England to reach the finals. In the finals too, Pakistan stunned favorites India by a big margin. It was a team effort which was important for their cricket.
- Indian women reaching the finals of World Cup
When Indian women reached England for the World Cup in June and July this year, nobody gave them a chance to qualify for the finals. Mithali Raj led side surprised with a stunning performance in the opening match defeating hosts England by 35 runs at Derby Ground on 24th June.
Indian team won their next three matches against West Indies, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka easily. In the next two matches against South Africa and Australia, India lost both of the matches. With do or die match against New Zealand, Mithali Raj team showed great fighting spirit and won the match by a big margin. In the semi-finals, Harmanpreet Singh played one of the best innings of her life scoring 171 and helped team India reach the finals for the second time.
In the finals, the Indian team could not handle pressure and lost the match by a small margin of 9 runs at iconic, Lords Cricket ground. This is the best performance by an Indian women’s team in World history. Mithali Raj led from the front scoring 409 runs. Also, she became the first women cricketer to score 6000 runs. Punam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma performed brilliantly with the bat.
- Zimbabwe winning their maiden ODI series in Sri Lanka
The minnows Zimbabwe visited Sri Lanka for a five-match ODI series from 30th June to 10th Jul 2017. In the first match, the hosts posted 316 for 5 in 50 overs. Mire century and contributions from Williams, Sikander Raza and Waller helped Zimbabwe win the match by 6 wickets. The hosts Sri Lanka came back strongly winning the next two matches to take a 2-1 lead.
In the 4th match at Hambantota, Sri Lanka made 300 for 6 in 50 overs. Zimbabwe was given a target of 219 in 31 overs. It was a great batting display by Zimbabwe batsmen who played with positive intent and chased down the target in 29.2 overs. Craig Ervine remained not out on 69. Mire, Masakadza, Muskanda made valuable contributions.
With the series at 2-2, the Zimbabwe bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 203 for 8 in 50 overs. Despite losing quick wickets in middle overs, Raza and captain Cremer helped the visitors to win a memorable 3-2 win over Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan captain Mathews decided to step down from captaincy after a shocking series loss.
- Australia regaining the Ashes
The Australian Cricket regained the 2017/18 Ashes with an innings and 41 runs win over England at Perth. It was a great team performance by all the players who stood out in tough situations. In the first test match at Brisbane, Steve Smith played captains knock of 141 not out, Pat Cummins also made 42 in the lower order. England was bowled out for 195 in their second innings with Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon picking 3 wickets each.
Chasing a target of 173, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft chased down the target without any difficulties. Australia won the match by 10 wickets.
In the day-night test match at Adelaide, Shaun Marsh scored a brilliant century making 126 not out. Australia declared their innings on 442 for 9. All the Australian bowlers showed their class dismissing England for 227.
Australia did not enforce the follow-on
In their second innings, England bowled out Australia for 138. Chasing the target of 353, Joe Root gave hope but Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood pick wickets and bowled out England for 233. Australia won the match by 120 runs to take a 2-0 lead.
Australia outplayed England in third and deciding match at WACA, Perth. England scored 403 in their first innings with centuries from David Malan and Bairstow. Australia responded in style with Steve Smith 239, Mitchell Marsh 181, Tim Paine 49, Pat Cummins 41 helping hosts to post a massive 662 for 9 declared. In the second, Australia bowled out England for 218 with Josh Hazlewood picking up 5 wickets, Starc 1, Cummins 2, Nathan Lyon 2. It was an amazing performance by Australian team who regained the Ashes. Steve Smith has scored 426 in 4 matches so far.
- New Zealand giving tough fight to India in limited overs format
New Zealand came to India for limited overs series in October- November. The visitors won the first match by 6 wickets at Mumbai with centuries from Taylor and Latham. In Pune, the Indian team came back strongly to level the series at 1-1. The third ODI match at Kanpur was a thriller with India scoring 337 for 6. Collin Munro made 75, Kane Willamson 64; Latham 65 could not help New Zealand to win the series.
In the T20I series too, New Zealand lost the first match by 53 runs at Delhi. In the second match, New Zealand leveled the series winning at Rajkot by 40 runs. The third T20I at Thiruvananthapuram was a thriller as India scored 67 for 5 in 8 overs. New Zealand could not handle pressure and lost the match by just 6 runs.
- England registering their 4th World Cup title
England women won their 4th World Cup title by beating India in a closely fought final played at iconic Lords Stadium on 23rd July. Under the captaincy of Heather Knight, they were defeated by India in the opening match of the tournament. After that, they did not lose any match beating Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies in the group stages.
They topped the group stage and then took on South Africa in the first semi-finals. It was an exciting semi-final in which England women beat South Africa by 2 wickets to reach finals. England held their nerves against India and won the match by just 9 runs.
In the batting department, Tammy Beaumont scored 410 runs in 9 matches, Sarah Taylor with 396 runs in 9 matches, Heather Knight 364 runs, N Sciver with 369 runs contributed important runs. Anny Shurbsole picked 12 wickets including a match-winning performance in the finals. It was a team effort to play well as a unit.