There’s been a lot of cricketing action this week that kept the fans on their toes at each moment. While most of the talks were centered on the first Test match underway between India and England in Chennai, another news that made the buzz was West Indies’ historic win in Bangladesh in the recently concluded Test that set social media ablaze.
In his 100th Test match, English skipper Joe Root became the only 9th cricketer to score a hundred that eventually turned out to be a double-ton as the match progressed.
Root was finally dismissed LBW on Day 2 by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem but not before he scored a majestic 218 off 377 balls studded with 19 fours and 2 sixes that helped the tourists post 578 runs on board at the end of the first innings.
He is now leveled alongside Virat Kohli on the list of active cricketers with the most number of 150-plus scores in the longest format. Also, he is the only cricketer from outside the subcontinent to hammer three consecutive 180+ scores in Asia.
On Day 3 of the ongoing Test match between India and England, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s exciting gameplay caught the attention of the masses. In spite of India losing out their openers Rohit Sharma (6) and Shubman Gill (29), followed by skipper Virat Kohli (11) and Ajinkya Rahane (1), and the scorecard reading 73/4 in 26.3 overs, the 23-year-old wicket-keeper batsman opted for his natural style of play from the very delivery, smashing the likes of Dom Bess and Jack Leach for boundaries across the fence.
Along with Cheteshwar Pujara (73), who held the wicket from an end, Pant added 119 runs for the fifth-wicket, until the former’s dismissal in the 51st over as he tried to pull on Bess’s delivery in only to get caught by Rory Burns at mid-wicket in a most unfortunate manner. Pant continued with his hitting for a few overs, but Bess finally got the much-coveted breakthrough as he dismissed the former on 91, forcing him to hit straight at deep-cover to get caught by Jack Leach. This was Pant’s 3rd 90+ total at home, with the other two being 92 each against West Indies back in 2018.
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Lastly, West Indies chased a mammoth 395-run target set by hosts Bangladesh in the first Test in Chattogram to register a historic triumph and a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The highlight of the Caribbean run-chase was debutant Kyle Mayers, who scored an unbeaten 210 off 310 deliveries comprising 20 fours and 7 sixes, and became only the sixth player to score a double ton on his Test debut. It’s the second-highest score by a West Indian cricketer on debut and the fifth-highest score by a cricketer in a debut match in Test cricket.
Mayers now holds a rare distinction of being the only cricketer in the history of Test cricket to clock a double century in the fourth innings. Batting at No 5, Mayers’ 216-run partnership alongside Nkrumah Bonner for the fourth-wicket played a massive role in the fifth day’s play. Among Bangladeshi bowlers, spinner Mehidy Hasan scalped the best figures of 4/113, with three of his dismissals being the Caribbean top-order batsmen.
Here’s the social media wrap for this week –
