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This week the 22 yards of the cricketing pitch saw some riveting action. Events happened in matches involving Australia and Afghanistan which went down in history. On the other hand, Malinga announced himself he was not a spent force with four wickets in four deliveries. A report by Vijayhardik, exclusively for Different Truths.
The 22 yards of the pitch where names are made and the fates are sealed saw riveting cricket action. This week reminded the world some names are still a force to be reckoned with, others had their names written in glory. While individuals were making the world sit up and take notice, teams too were making their presence felt.
Two A’s and one M rocked the world of cricket. The A’s being Australia and Afghanistan. While the M is the Sri Lankan fast bowling legend, famous for his lethal, toe-crushing Yorkers, Lasith Malinga.
Two A’s and one M rocked the world of cricket. The A’s being Australia and Afghanistan. While the M is the Sri Lankan fast bowling legend, famous for his lethal, toe-crushing Yorkers, Lasith Malinga.
What did they do to become the newsmakers of this week?
Let us start with the first A, Australia. Australia is in the news for repeating the feat they achieved in 2001. After the miracle at Headingley, Australia once again were trying to regain the Ashes. Being hosted at Old Trafford, they wanted to seal the deal in Manchester. Winning a crucial toss and electing to bat first, Australia piled on the runs. Steve Smith continuing his rich vein of form scored a double ton raising comparisons to Bradman.
With plenty of runs in the bag against a fragile looking English batting line up, Australia began their quest to retain the urn
With plenty of runs in the bag against a fragile looking English batting line up, Australia began their quest to retain the urn. A little bit of grit of Burns, Root and Buttler saw them through to 300 in their first innings. Relying on Steve Smith amidst the need to score quick runs, Australia set a stiff target of 383 for England to achieve victory.
With Cummins removing first innings heroes Burns and Roots for back-to-back ducks just before the end of the fourth day’s play, England was fighting for survival. On the last day, they needed to bat out 90 overs to eke out a draw. The overnight batsmen Denly and Roy negotiated the first hour of play surviving the probing bowling of Cummins and Hazlewood and the tricky spells of Lyon and Starc.
Soon after Roy fished for a ball outside the off stump and his struggles with the away moving ball continued. Unfortunately, his demise brought a few quick wickets.
Soon after Roy fished for a ball outside the off stump and his struggles with the away moving ball continued. Unfortunately, his demise brought a few quick wickets. This pattern of a few hours of resistance and downfall of wickets repeated itself a couple of times over the day. Just as the Australians breathed a sigh of relief after the breached the dogged resistance of the English, they ran into Jack Reach.
Jack Reach after his heroics in the Headingley Test match promoted to bat at number 10. In the company of fellow lower order batsman Craig Overturn, the duo frustrated the deadly Australian bowling attack. Desperate to break the partnership Tim Paine, the Australian skipper threw the ball to part time leg spinner Labuschagne to roll his arm over. The gamble paid off and the quicks returned to bowling duty to complete the formalities.
By winning the Manchester Test match, Australia won an Ashes in England after a long gap of 18 years.
On achieving this feat, Australia did not just win the Test match and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series; they achieved something much bigger. Since Australia won the Ashes in England in 2001 under Steve Waugh’s captaincy, no other Australian cricket team could not replicate the feat till this week. By winning 
the Manchester Test match, Australia won an Ashes in England after a long gap of 18 years.
While the event was worth making it to the record books, there was another Test match being on the other end of Northern Hemisphere. Outside of the purview of the World Test Championship, a Test match featuring the newest kid on the block Afghanistan was happening in the port city of Chittagong. Afghanistan here is the second A which made a place for itself in cricketing history.
After the mauling Afghanistan received at the hands of India in the one off Test at the Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru, this was their next Test match. With Bangladesh being an ascendant team in the Test arena in recent years, the result was considered a foregone conclusion.
In an unexpected turn of events, Afghanistan found heroes for itself in its batting effort.
In an unexpected turn of events, Afghanistan found heroes for itself in its batting effort. With a century from Rahmat Shah and couple of half centuries from Asghar Afghan and captain Rashid Khan, they put up a total of 342. It was a complete turnaround from their last outing.
Bangladesh was expected to outperform Afghanistan. However, as the match progressed it was to the viewers and the crowds at Zahur Ahmed Chaudhary Stadium that Bangladesh did not turn up for the Test match. Did they not take their opponents seriously? Might be. No other explanation gives an answer for their dismal performance.
They ended up gifting Afghanistan with a huge lead. On a pitch that was getting slow with the wear and tear as the match progressed, Afghanistan put in another decent performance with the bat. Carrying on into the second innings with a 137 run lead, a total of 260 in the second innings was sufficient enough to set Bangladesh a target of 398.
If Bangladesh cricket team failed to turn up to play in the first innings, the second innings was even more disastrous. They did not offer any resistance nor did they try to adapt to the situation to stretch the game and salvage some pride.
If Bangladesh cricket team failed to turn up to play in the first innings, the second innings was even more disastrous. They did not offer any resistance nor did they try to adapt to the situation to stretch the game and salvage some pride. The much higher rated team Bangladesh capitulated to Afghanistan. In this victory, many Afghan players such as skipper Rashid Khan, Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan reached personal milestones but the victory being Afghanistan’s first in Tests made it an event of note for the record books.
Moving away from harsh and gruelling Test format to the more comfortable climes of the shortest format of cricket, we meet the third newsmaker of the week. The mysterious M.
The mysterious M is no stranger to the limelight. He has been a figure of admiration and controversy. Known for his strange sling like bowling action and fancily curled hair is none other than Sri Lankan fast bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga.
Malinga had taken four wickets in four deliveries. What made the event more tantalising was that it was the second time he had achieved this feat.
In the third and final T20 international series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, he made the news for taking a hat-trick. Defending a total of 125, considered to be sub-par for the T20 format, he decimated the entire batting order of New Zealand. Malinga had taken four wickets in four deliveries. What made the event more tantalising was that it was the second time he had achieved this feat.
The first time he achieved the feat was in the Caribbean during the 2007 World Cup. Sri Lanka were playing South Africa at Guyana. Chasing down a target of 210, South Africa were comfortably placed at 206-5 with Jacques Kallis at the helm of affairs. But Malinga had others. On the last two balls the 45th over and the first two deliveries of the 47th over, he struck four times in four deliveries. He brought South Africa to the brink of defeat and Sri Lanka to the doorstep of victory. Alas, it did not end in a Sri Lankan victory.
Malinga rattled the entire top order of the New Zealand batting line up which included the scalps of Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme. He put on an exhibition of his Yorkers curling in to the toes of the batsmen
Eleven years later, on a starry night in September he repeated the feat against New Zealand in a T20 match. In the third over of the New Zealand innings, he took four wickets in four deliveries. Malinga rattled the entire top order of the New Zealand batting line up which included the scalps of Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme. He put on an exhibition of his Yorkers curling in to the toes of the batsmen and swinging away a touch at the last moment which brought down the curtains on many an inning and a few careers.
The cricketing world which had written him off is now again taking note of his exceptional talent after his spell where he produced 5 wickets giving away 6 runs in the bargain.
This week world cricket saw individual brilliance and team effort that culminated in victory for their respective side while breaking records and etching a name for themselves in the annals of history.
Photos sourced by the author from the Internet
