India whitewashed Sri Lanka while Bangladesh handed the same fate to Zimbabwe in a week of white washes while Rohit Sharma re-wrote his name on world record books with an extraordinary knock of 264 as the 2nd week of November provided electrifying cricket.
Rohit Sharma’s special masala curry
Rohit Sharma on 13th Thursday created history by smashing the highest individual ODI score with a breathtaking knock of 264 as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 153 runs in the 4th ODI to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Courtesy Rohit’s mayhem, India scored a mammoth 404 for five and then easily bowled out the islanders for 251 in 43.1 overs. Returning after a 10-week injury lay-off, Rohit had everything going his way after being let-off on the individual score of four.runs in the 4th ODI to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Skipper Angelo Mathews was the top-scorer for the visitors with 75 from 68 balls and shared 118 runs with Lahiru Thirimanne (59) but it was too little looking at the monstrous target. UmeshYadav (2/38) once again was the pick of Indian bowlers even as Dhawal Kulkarni decimated the middle and lower order with best figures of 4/34.
India complete 5-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka
Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with a gritty unbeaten century as a dominant India completed a resounding 5-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka by winning the fifth and final one-day International by three wickets on 16th November.
Opting to bat, Sri Lanka rode on their skipper Angelo Mathews’ unbeaten 116-ball 139 to put up a challenging 286 for 8, before Kohli’s 139* guided India home with eight balls to spare with 3 wickets remaining.
Bangladesh thrash Zimbabwe to win 3-0
Bangladesh bowled out Zimbabwe for 262 in the second innings to win the third Test in Chittagong by 186 runs and completed a 3-0 series sweep.
Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain and Shuvagata Hom picked up two wickets apiece for the hosts. Regis Chakabva was stranded on 89 at the non-striker’s end when the final wicket fell for Zimbabwe on the final day. Leg-spinner Jubair had also taken his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings as Zimbabawe conceded a lead of 129 runs, replying to Bangladesh’s 503. The hosts’ huge total was set up by centuries from left-handed openers Imrul Kayes (130) and Tamim Iqbal (109), who combined for a record opening partnership of 224 for Bangladesh. Tamim also scored a 65 in Bangladesh’s second innings while number-three batsman Mominul Haque compiled a 131, his third test hundred.
George Bailey and bowlers help Australia win the 1st ODI
Paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile took four wickets and George Bailey scored a telling 70 to fire Australia to a 32-run victory over South Africa in the 1st one-day international in Perth on 14th November.
Bailey’s match-winning 70 and important contributions from Wade and Maxwell ensured the hosts to score 300. Led by Coulter-Nile’s 4/48, Australian fast bowlers shared 7 wickets as they bowled out the Proteas’ for 268.
Morne Morkel’s spell from hell levels the series 1-1
Morne Morkel took a career-best of 5 wickets for 21 runs and captain AB de Villiers smashed 48 as South Africa beat Australia by three wickets in the 2nd one-day cricket international on 16th November to level the five-match series at 1-1.
Morkel took two wickets in his opening spell to plunge the Australian innings into early crisis, then snared three more in six balls in his second spell to help bowl out the home side for 154. Middle order batsman, Mitchell Marsh top-scored with 67. South Africa surpassed Australia’s total in 27.4 overs, though they struggled at times in the face of hostile bowling from Josh Hazlewood who was twice on a hat-trick before finishing with 5 for 31.
Clarke injures his hamstring again
Australia captain Michael Clarke re-injured his hamstring in Perth last Friday, and was unable to play out the remainder of the 2nd one-day international against South Africa. The cricketer has battled a degenerative back problem and hamstring issues in recent years.
Pakistan thrash New Zealand by 248 runs
Pakistan strolled to victory by 248 runs in their first Test against New Zealand last Thursday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
This was Pakistan’s third Test win in a row after they white-washed Australia 2-0 last week, their first series win over the Aussies for 20 years. The win also made Misbah-Ul-Haq, Pakistan’s most successful Test captain with 15 wins in 33 Tests, bettering the 14-win record of the illustrious Imran Khan (48 Tests) and Javed Miandad (34 Tests).
For Pakistan, Ahmed Shehzad hit a career best 176 and Younis Khan and Misbah smashed hundreds in the team’s first innings total of 566/3 declared. Tom Latham scored his maiden hundred for New Zealand in a paltry 262-run total in the first innings. Mohammad Hafeez scored his first hundred since July 2012 in Pakistan’s second innings. New Zealand were folded for 231 in 70.3 overs in their 2nd innings.
Sri Lanka appoint Trevor Penney as fielding coach
Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed the appointment of former Zimbabwean cricketer Trevor Penney as the Sri Lanka’s fielding coach until the end of the 2015 World Cup in a media statement.
Trevor Penney served Sri Lanka Cricket in the capacity of Assistant coach from 2005 to 2007 and joined with the Indian Cricket team as the fielding coach. Penny had to leave the Indian Cricket team as BCCI asked him to step down from the position after India’s Test series defeat in England recently. Trevor will begin his role with the Sri Lanka cricket on November 20, before the upcoming series against England.
Denesh Ramdin to lead a full-strength Windies team to South Africa
West Indies announced a full-strength squad for the tour of South Africa. Denesh Ramdin too has been retained as the test captain. However, uncertainty still exists, as all the players still have to sign the contracts. The three tests will be played at Centurion, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Test squad: Denesh Ramdin (captain/wicket-keeper), Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle.
Bangladesh announce their ODI squad to face Zimbabwe
Bangladesh have dropped middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain and roped in 19-year-old leg-spinner Jubair Hossain for the first two ODIs of the upcoming 5-match series against Zimbabwe, starting November 21. The side will be led by Mashrafe Mortaza, who has been re-appointed as captain, after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to remove Mushfiqur Rahim from the leadership role in October.
Squad: Masrafe Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-captain), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shabbir Rahman, Imrul Kayes, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny.
