This wasn’t a Twenty20 encounter, but a Test match.
After losing some three days to rain, India’s bats roared to life in a spectacular fashion against visiting Bangladesh at Kanpur.
No one expected a result, but India turned things around for an extraordinary seven-wicket victory inside two days. This will go down into the Test annals for the number of records that fell by the wayside.
Opening batsmen Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal went on a blistering attack from the very first ball of the first innings that would even put Twenty20 powerplays to shame.
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Two years ago, England gave Test cricket a lift with an aggressive brand of cricket and now India has taken it a mile higher with a furious onslaught. Young Jaiswal started off with three straight boundaries off the first over and skipper Sharma weighed in with two towering sixes to set the tone.
Jaiswal’s 72 off 51 balls that included 12 fours and two sixes was the fastest by an India opener. Sharma made a quick 23 off 11 balls, Virat Kohli (47 off 35), KL Rahul (68 off 43) and Shubman Gill (39 off 36) kept the scoreboard ticking at a freakish pace.
India raced to 50 runs in just 2.6 overs, eclipsing the previous mark of 4.2 overs by England.
India wasn’t done as it raced to 100 in 10.1 overs, 150 in 18.2 overs, 200 in 24.2 overs and 250 off just 30.1 overs — all the quickest by any team.
India declared at 285 for nine after dismissing Bangladesh for 233, a total that was aided by a brilliant unbeaten 107 by Mominul Haque.
In the second innings, Bangladesh was sent packing for a meagre 146 with star spinners Ravi Ashwin and Ravendra Jadeja and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah grabbing three wickets apiece.
Set to get 95 for victory, India made 98 for three with Jaiswal making 51, his second half-century of the contest.
POORAN ON TOP
Nicholas Pooran has had a sensational season with the bat.
When Lucknow Super Giants of the Indian Premier League splurged $1.91 million US for the services of the left-hander, there were howls of disbelief as a majority of them felt he wasn’t worth it.
But Pooran proved them all wrong as he played several match-winning knocks to lead Lucknow into the playoffs and was the second-highest scorer behind Australian Marcus Stoinis.
One of his special innings included a 15-ball half century against Royal Challengers Bangalore, which was the joint third-fastest 50 in the IPL.
He has continued his rich form for Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) this season that has seen him set a world record for most runs scored in a Twenty20 season. Pooran’s 27 off 15 balls against Barbados Royals took his total to 2,059 runs, surpassing Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan score of 2,036 runs.
Pooran has had a busy 2024 season having suited up for Lucknow, Durban Super Giants, MI Emirates, MI New York, Northern Super Chargers, Rangpur Riders and the West Indies.
Rizwan’s total came off 45 innings while took Pooran 65 innings to go past the Pakistani superstar.
In other news out of CPL, star West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has called it a day from all forms of the game.
“Twenty-one years as a professional cricketer — it’s been an incredible journey, filled with many highs and a few lows,” Bravo wrote on his Instagram post announcing his retirement. “My mind wants to keep going, but my body can no longer endure the pain, the breakdowns, and the strain.”
AUSSIES TOP ENGLAND
Travis Head led Australia to 3-2 series One-Day International victory over auld enemy England at Bristol.
In an exciting series, England fought back from 2-0 down to tie things up and the Aussies won the finale by 49 runs of a DLS method after the game was interrupted by rain. England piled on 309 with Ben Duckett making a superb 107 and skipper Harry Brook weighing in with 72.
Australia was set a revised DLS target of 165 and it reached that target just when it threatened to rain again. In fact, England tried time-wasting tactics at the end, but that did not save it from a loss.
Head, who has been in amazing form all season, was named player of the match for his four-wicket haul and hitting 31.
IRISH BROTHERS SMILING
It was more of a family affair in Abu Dhabi as the Adair brothers combined with bat and ball to lift Ireland to its first-ever Twenty20 international victory over South Africa.
Opening batsman Ross Adair set the pace with nine sixes in his 100 from just 58 balls in Ireland’s imposing 195 for six. His younger brother Mark then delivered a terrific spell to take four wickets for 27 runs for the victory and to knot the series at 1-1.
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