10 Most Memorable Moments of Cricket in 2016 – essentiallysports.com

The year of 2016 has been an eventful one for the cricketing world with the 2016 cricket world cup being a big success and test matches becoming more result oriented. As 2016 comes to an end, Essentially Sports brings you the moments of 2016 to look back to.

1. Carlos Braithwaite?s heroics in the final over of the world cup

It was the final of the T20 world cup 2016 and it was between England and West Indies to decide who will be crowned as the T20 champions for the second time as both the teams have won it once. West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first on a slow Eden Gardens pitch. England didn?t have the greatest of starts as they were reduced to 24 for 3 after 4.4 overs. But then Butler and Root came together and formed a much needed partnership for England before Butler got out to Brathwaite. Root continued his excellent batting and got a half century. Due to some late flourish from Willey, England reached the score of 155, a par score but a good one for a world cup final. Brathwaite was the pick of the bowlers picking up three wickets giving away just 23 runs from his four overs. Chasing the target, West Indies were struggling at 11 for 3 and anybody would have thought that WI would lose from there, but a stubborn Samuels refused to give up. He along with Bravo and Brathwaite brought the equation down to 19 from the last over. Ben Stokes bowled the last over but all it required was only 4 balls for Carlos Brathwaite to win the cup for the windies as he hit 4 consecutive sixes and left Stokes in tears. “Remember the name, remember the name – it is Carlos Brathwaite!” shouted an excited Ian Bishop in the commentary box as West Indies were at their craziest celebrating the victory.

You can watch this video too:?http://www.icc-cricket.com/world-t20/videos/media/id/8783/carlos-brathwaites-4-x-sixes-to-win-2016-wt20-for-west-indies

2. India beats Bangladesh by just 1 run

pic credits- CricketCountry.com

It was a Super 10 match of 2016 T20 world cup between India and Bangladesh held at Bangalore. India had to win it to make it to the semis. Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field. India got off to a steady start but struggled to make amends on what was a typical batting paradise at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. They somehow reached the score of 146 which was easily gettable. Bangladesh were cruising at one point with Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan scoring runs quickly but then the spinners tightened the screws and made it difficult for Bangladesh to score runs. 11 runs were required of the last over to be bowled by Hardik Pandya . Mahmudullah got a single at the first ball which was followed by two boundaries of the bat of Mushfiqur Rahim. The equation was simple now, 2 runs of three balls but nobody would have thought of what transpired then. Lapse in concentrations from Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, trying to hit the glory shot when the target could have been achieved in singles saw the equation reduce to 2 from 1 ball. The last ball was bowled well outside off which Shuvagata failed to make contact with, Mustafizur was haring across to the other end. A run would have meant a Super Over. Dhoni, who had already taken off one glove, gathered the ball, ran forward and took couple of stumps out. Mustafizur was well short of the crease and the scenes which followed are etched in the memory of all the Indians.

Watch this video too:?http://www.icc-cricket.com/world-t20/videos/media/id/7997/india-win-a-last-ball-thriller-against-bangladesh

3. Plunket hits a six to draw the match against SL

pic credits- dailymail.co.uk

It was the 1 ODI of the series played at Nottingham between England and Sri Lanka. England won the toss and chose to bowl first. Sri Lanka were 56 for 3 after which the captain Angelo Mathews steadied the ship and due to his patience and a quick fire 59 from Prasanna at the end saw Sri Lanka get a formidable 286 from their quota. England were 82 for 6 chasing down the target and were in big trouble. Butler and Woakes then stepped up and strung an excellent partnership taking the hosts close to the score. 14 runs were required of the last over which was to be bowled by Nuwan Pradeep. Excellent bowling saw hosts needing 10 of the last two balls. England scored 3 of the penultimate delivery, courtesy some sloppy fielding from the Sri Lankans and now a six was reqired to tie the match which is exactly what Plunket did hitting Pradeep over Mid-off.

4. Virat Kohli giving his bat to Mohammad Aamir

pic credits- indiatoday.in

Indian star batsman Virat Kohli gifted his bat to Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir during a practice session on the eve of the big-ticket clash at Eden Gardens. Kohli was having a batting session during India’s net practice at the Eden Gardens ground when Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi along with Amir went to greet him.?After a few handshakes, Kohli – otherwise known for his on field aggression – was seen presenting the left arm pacer with one of his precious willows. Kohli, after Aamir?s excellent spell in Asia cup against India, had promised that he would gift him his bat as a sign of respect.

5. Temba Bavuma?s stunning run out of David Warner

pic credits- crictracker.com

It was the first test of the test series between Australia and South Africa played at Perth. The proteas set a target of 539 for the hosts. Australia started positively adding 52 runs in quick time. SA was in dire need of a wicket when Bavuma?s brilliance got them one. It was the second ball of the 13th over, bowled by?Kagiso Rabada?that changed everything. Warner set off for a quick single after pushing that delivery to covers. Bavuma sprinted from point and picked the ball one-handed, went airborne and in one swift, stunning motion, unleashed the throw and the ball crashed the middle stumps on the non-striker’s end. This will definitely go down as one of the classics in the history of cricket.

You can watch it here:?http://www.cricket.com.au/video/david-warner-run-out-temba-bavuma-australia-south-africa-first-test-highlights-waca/2016-11-06

6. Misbah does push ups at Lords

pic credits- cricbuzz.com

It was the first of the four test match series to be played between England and Pakistan at Lords. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat which saw Misbah Ul Haq becoming the oldest test captain to score a hundred at the mecca of cricket, getting his name on the honours board. He sprinted down to the non-striker?s mark, took off his helmet went towards the visitor?s balcony, saluted the dressing room before getting down to business ? performing push-ups. ?It was my promise to the army guys in the Abbottabad camp that I?d do ten push-ups whenever I score hundred in England,? Misbah said at post-match presser. He further revealed that the salute was for the Pakistan flag.

7. India clinch test mace
pic credits- indianexpress.com
Skipper Virat Kohli was handed over the test mace after India became the no. one test team in the world taking over from Pakistan who were sitting up at the top after drawing the test series against England. The mace was presented by former India batsman and captain Sunil Gavaskar to Kohli after the Indian team had?rounded off a dominant showing in Indore to seal a clean sweep over New Zealand. India were already assured of finishing at the top of the rankings but it would have been even sweeter to hold it after the whitewash.

8. Australia suffer ODI whitewash?

pic credits- timesofindia.com
History was createdat Newlands as the reigning world champions and no.1 at that time Australia suffered a 0-5 defeat in the ODI series at the hands of South Africa. Although, Australia were without three of their premier fast bowlers ?Mitchell Starc,?James Faulkner?and?Josh Hazlewood?as well as batsman Shaun Marsh, but still nobody could have predicted this result after they had just defeated Sri Lanka 4-1 in Sri Lanka. They started the series by scoring 294/9 at Centurion, a total that was brushed aside in just 36.2 overs by the hosts. In the second ODI Australia conceded 361 and were bowled out for 219. In the third, they made 371 and still lost. In the fourth, they were bowled out for 167 in 36.4 overs. In the last ODI, they conceded 327 and managed 296 to complete a rare embarrassment of this sort.9. KL Rahul getting out on 199
pic credits- hindustantimes.com
KL Rahul became the second Indian to get out on 199 after Mohammad Azharuddin who did this in 1986. It was the 5 and final test between India and England played in Chennai. KL Rahul was low on confidence as he hadn?t got many runs under his belt and because of his injury scare, he needed to score to solidify his place in the XI. England had posted 477 in their first innings and the onus was on him to give India a good start which is exactly what he did. He played an attacking innings coming down the track to the spinners and lofting the ball over the in-fielders and also showing that he can even play sweep shots, both the conventional and the reverse sweeps. Rahul was batting on 199 when Rashid bowled a slow, loopy delivery well outside the off stump and he decided to go for it. His shot went straight down the throat of Jos Buttler at cover point and Rahul had his head in his hands. He then walked the slow painful walk back to the pavilion and while Ben Stokes came and shook his hands and Karun Nair gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. His teammates at the dressing room looked just as shocked as him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owYcsg-vLyw

10. TV umpire gets it wrong, before correcting it immediately

pic credits- couriermail.com
It was the second day of the second test match between Austalia and Pakistan. Azhar was batting at 93 and was moving towards yet another impressive knock until he had moments of nerves in what seemed to be a bizarre decision?by the third umpire. Ali was at the non-striker?s end when Shafiq played down the ground and Jackson Bird managed to get a fingertip on the ball as it rolled down and hit the stumps. However, Azhar did manage to put his bat inside the crease before the ball dislodged the bails. But umpire S Ravi went up to the third umpire to be sure. The replays suggested that Azhar had grounded his bat into the crease quite comfortably. But surprisingly the third umpire flashed an ?OUT? decision on the big screen. There were loud cheers when the big screen showed the decision in Australia?s favour but the cheers turned into boos when Richard Illingworth, third umpire, realised his mistake and quickly changed his decision and pressed the right button a few seconds later.See it happening here:?http://www.cricket.com.au/video/azhar-ali-third-umpire-mistake-wrong-button-out-not-video-highlights-pakistan-australia-mcg/2016-12-27