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CWTW ...                           2021 w04

Alam Resurrects A Troubled PAK

When you allow Fawad Alam score a 50, he happily converts that into a 100. That's the stat the Proteas experienced when they conceded a lead to Pakistan in the 1st test in Karachi. From a 27 for 4 and what appeared to be a Pak deja-vu, the recalled middle order southpaw Alam along with warhorse Azhar Ali combined to give Pakistan an all-important 158 run lead. 

SA 1st inn 220

Pak 1st inn 378

Whether Pak can convert this advantage into a result in their favor, only their test of temperament and time will tell.

Some Deep-Rooted Stuff In The Emerald Island

Sri Lanka's return to hosting the first international series after the pandemic suffered a 0-2 whitewash at the hands of England. 

A new find in a possible Murali-Herath- successor in an emboldened Embuldeniya fought with 5-fors and 7-fors, but the visitors eased wins with literally a one-man army and captain Joe Root boasting of scores of a mere 228 and 186 in 2 tests.

Will the cricketing world’s G.I. Joe continue in the same vein rooting for a 100 in his 100th test in Chennai next month vs the Indians? A mouth-watering series awaits...

Its The Finals Time At The BIG BASH

After 56 games of home and away encounters at the KFC Big Bash League, we finally have the top 5 teams qualifying for the FINALS.

Australia Day witnessed the last 3 games of the league stage, each of which held significance for 7 out of the 8 teams in the fray to qualify or boost their ranks.

Adelaide Strikers would need to thank the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars whose losses helped them sneak in to the 5th spot and will now play the 4th place and hosts Brisbane Heat in the Eliminator. The winner plays Sydney Thunder on Sunday in the KnockOut.

Meanwhile the Sydney Sixers top the league with their consistent outings and enjoy playing the hosts at Canberra on Saturday to the 2nd placed Perth Scorchers. The winner walks straight into the Final on the 6th of February.

It Ain't No Different For The Windies

3 one-day internationals and 3 losses is what the West Indies will have to accept as they go into the test series with Bangladesh. 

Shakib-Al-Hasan's return to international cricket helped him bag the Man of the Series (averaging 56.5 with the bat and 6.25 with the ball), as Bangladesh steamrolled the visitors with comfortable victories. 

Handy contributions from skipper Tamim Iqbal at the top order and Mehidy Hasan weaving his web were a tad too much for the Jason Mohammed -led visitors from the Caribbean to digest. 

Afghans Rule The Desert

Yet another similar result across the other side of the sub-continent where Afghanistan ruled over Ireland this week in 3 one-day internationals.

A series staged in Abu Dhabi that saw four centuries in six innings and high scoring games of 260+ to boot and narrow result margins, has not meted justice to the series outcome depicting very closely fought encounters. 

A near-300 runs for Paul Stirling with two 100s went in vain as he watched the Afghans clinch the key moments of every game to convert all the results into their favor.

The T20I player of the last decade, Rashid Khan, showed why he is one of the best in any format of the game with scores of 55 and 48 and a tournament haul of 7 wickets.

SUPER SMASH Updates

New Zealand's domestic T20 season Super Smash into its 16th season this year (you read that right!), now has the league stage entering into the last 2 rounds.

Both the 3-time champions Wellington Firebirds and Central Stags hold the top 2 spots thus far and look comfortable to moving further into the Finals, while 4-time champions Auckland Aces are placed at the bottom, almost certain to be out of the race this season.

Bruce Oxenford calls it a day 

One of the big “bulls” of current generation umpires and part of the ICC elite panel, Bruce Oxenford retires from all formats of the game after 15+ years in service. For sure, apart from his popularity in the cricketing fraternity, that arm-shield-on-display will be missed !