Yearender 2021: From Australia winning T20 World Cup to New Zealand becoming first World Test Champions

Cricket returned after a big break due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. In the year 2021, cricket fans were served with many memorable moments by the world cricket. Right from the first-ever World Test Championship to Australia winning their first-ever T20 World Cup. We at India TV will take you through the top 10 moments from the cricketing world. 

New Zealand becomes first World Test Champions

“Sometimes, just sometimes, nice guys do finish first,” these words by commentator Simon Dull echoed in every cricket fans mind for a few weeks as under the captaincy of Kane Williamson New Zealand cricket team became the first-ever World Test Champions after beating India in the final at Southampton. 

Australia winning their first-ever T20 World Cup

The Australian cricket team have a five-fifty overs World Cup title under their belt, they have dominated over a decade in Test cricket as well but yet there was one format in cricket that they were not able to crack and that was the T20 cricket. In the year 2021, they finally got their first-ever T20 World Cup title as they beat New Zealand in the final. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh was named Man of the Match in the summit clash while David Warner was awarded Man of the Series. Kiwis thrashed Team India by eight wickets and Kyle Jamieson was named the Man of the Match for his exceptional bowling in the summit clash. 

Matthew Wade hit three sixes against Shaheen Shah Afridi

Australia were down and out in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2021 as they were reduced to 95/5 chasing 177 to reach the final. Shadab Khan broke the back of Australia’s middle order with a four-wicket haul. With in-form bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi bowling the death overs, Pakistan were cruising towards their 3rd final. But in came the game-changer Matthew Wade, who smashed Afridi for three back to back sixes to seal the game of Kangaroos. To add to Pakistan’s misery, Wade was dropped by Hasan Ali in the same over. 

Joe Root’s record-breaking run in Test cricket

England’s Joe Root is going through a dream run in the year 2021 not as a captain but as a batsman as he has scored 1680 runs in 15 Tests so far. The talisman is averaging above 62 in the longest format of the game this year. He has scored six hundreds and four fifties, with the highest score of 228. Root hit two double-centuries in 2021 and both of them came out of the home. 

Kieron Pollard’s six sixes against Sri Lanka

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard became only the third man to hit six sixes in international cricket. West Indies skipper tore into unconventional off-spinner Akhila Dananjaya, taking 36 runs and becoming only the third man to hit six sixes in an international match, emulating Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh. Interestingly, Dananjaya had dismissed Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran off consecutive deliveries in the earlier over. 

Mohammad Rizwan’s T20I stats

Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan has scored1326 runs in T20I in the year 2021. The right-hand batsman has hit one century and 12 fifties. He is averaging 73.66 and has a strike rate of 134.89. It won’t be wrong to say that it was his batting heroics that helped Men in Green reach the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2021. In the six matches, the wicket-keeper batsman scored 281 runs. Following are a few of his T20 records – 

1. First batter with over 2,000 T20 runs in a year
2. Joint-second-most 50+ scores in a calendar year (T20s)
3. Only batter with 1,000 T20I runs in a calendar year

Bangladesh beat Australia in the T20 series for the first time ever

Bangladesh cricket team thrashed Australia 4-1 in the T20 series for the first time ever. Bangladesh had never even beaten Australia in a T20. It was their first series win over their lauded opponents in any format. 

West Indies tour of Pakistan

The West Indies cricket team toured Pakistan in December 2021 to play three ODI and three T20I matches. During the T20I series, multiple cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the West Indies team and support staff. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the T20I matches went ahead as planned, however, both cricket boards agreed to postpone the ODI series until June 2022. Pakistan won the T20I series 3-0. 

Ireland draw ODI series against South Africa

Bangladesh were the favourite to win the Twenty20 series against New Zealand in September, owing to their excellent recent home record against the Kiwis. Furthermore, the Bangladeshi team came into the match with a lot of confidence, especially after winning a bilateral series against Australia a month ago. Bangladesh defeated New Zealand 3-2 in the T20I series. 

Ajaz Patel’s Perfect 10

Mumbai born New Zealand player- Ajaz Patel achieved what actually is a dream for any Test bowler- 10 wickets in Test innings. The left-arm orthodox scalped all ten Indian wickets in the second Test at Wankhede. With this achievement, he has equalled Indian spinner Anil Kumble’s record. With this dream spell of 10 wickets, Ajaz Patel becomes only the third bowler in 144 years of the history of Test cricket to take all the wickets in an innings. Jim Laker and Anil Kumble were the first two to have achieved this feat.