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SPORTS JANUARY 05, 2024 | The Indian Eye 44

pions England is something that will debut and he turned into a premier
haunt every other team forever, mak- Test bat. The same rule saved Mar-
ing them take this rising Asian side nus’ struggling ODI career.
seriously. Bundling out a strong Introduced as a substitute to
English batting lineup for 215 Cameron Green, Labuschagne took
while defending a solid 284 in front Australia out of troubled waters,
of a loud Delhi crowd sent shock- marshalling his team from 93/6 to
waves across the cricketing world. completing a successful chase of 223
This shock hit England the most and runs. This chain of events brought
sent them on a losing streak that him back into the ODI World Cup
snatched any chances of defending squad, where he hit a match-winning
their crown from them. fifty and a partnership with destruc-
tive Travis Head to secure the Auss-
Siraj’s monster spell against ies’ sixth title.
Sri Lanka Rinku Singh’s five sixes against

his Hyderabadi pace bowler Gujarat Titans
has a knack for taking a useful
Tpowerplay wicket or two. But he match between Kolkata
on September 17 against defending Knight Riders and defending
champions Sri Lanka, Siraj took the Tchampions Gujarat took a turn
whole match away from Sri Lanka from your normal IPL match to an
in powerplay itself, reducing them to instant classic when a little-known
12/6 at one point. Rinku Singh smashed Yash Dayal for
The pacer’s spell of 6/21 in sev- five successive sixes in the final over
en overs destroyed the Lankan team to complete a 200-run plus chase.
inside out, and bundled them out This Uttar Pradesh star rose
for just 50 in 15.2 overs, which In- from a bright prospect to a superstar
dia chased down without breaking a within an over. His consistent perfor-
sweat. mances earned him a place in Team
The long-term damage of this India, where he is prospering as a
spell was such that Lankan Lions, finisher.
who had till then played some real-
ly solid cricket, could garner just two Nathan Lyon comes out to
wins in nine matches of the CWC bat despite injury
2023 and even lost their ICC Cham-
pions Trophy spot. fter picking up a serious calf
injury earlier in the match,
Virat Kohli’s seventh AAussie spinner Nathan Lyon

IPL Century delivered one of the game’s greatest
examples of determination, putting
n Royal Challengers Bangalore’s the team above oneself and pain
(RCB) final league stage match when he came out to bat in the sec-
Iagainst Gujarat Titans, star India ond innings. Although he scored
batter Virat Kohli passed Chris Gay- Siraj emerged as India’s pace spearhead in 2023 (ANI) just four runs, his 15-run stand with
le’s record of six IPL tons, smashing Mitchell Starc proved to be a point of
his 7th in just 61 balls, studded with light, development and stage sharing The controversy over this runout difference in Australia’s 43-run win.
13 fours and a six. with some of the best in the business. and the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ disturbed
This dream translated into a re- England for a short while, losing the New Zealand beat England by a
Not only this was a typical Vi- ality. In a thrilling final, MI, the most second game by 43 runs despite a Ben run in a Test match!
Stokes masterclass of 155 in chase of
successful IPL franchise in men’s
rat day at work, smashing re- cricket, secured its first-ever WPL 371 runs. But it filled England with n a high-scoring second Test at
cords for fun, but a statement title as well, beating Delhi Capitals enough fuel to dominate Australia Wellington, England was given
by seven wickets. This hopefully, has
for the remainder of the series and I258 runs to chase by Kiwis. Ki-
aimed at those who still doubt- started off another success story that level it 2-2 after going down 2-2. wis had England in a tight situation
Just a simple run-out changed
ed his T20 game despite his will change the course of women’s the whole complexion of this bat- at 251/9. James Anderson looked to
cricket in years to come.
become the unlikely hero by hitting a
mind-boggling numbers in the tle between England’s ‘Bazball’ and four and taking England more closer
format that he is not finished! Jonny Bairstow run-out during Australia and let the hosts fight their to a win.
Ashes 2023 way out of the humiliation of being But Neil Wagner removed him
2-0 down in the series. to win the Kiwis a thriller by just one
Mumbai Indians winning the uring the second Test of the Marnus Labuschagne bails Aus- run despite trailing by 226 runs in
first-ever Women’s Premier League Ashes at Lord’s, Jonny Bair- tralia out of trouble against South the first innings, making this one of
The Indian Premier League Dstow was run out for just 10, Africa the greatest Test wins of the modern
(IPL) is a cricketing empire. For with a direct hit by Alex Carey, which Being introduced as a concus- era, which involved an unbelievable
years, women cricketers waited for a happened just after Bairstow had left sion substitute to Steve Smith re-in- fightback by the Kiwis. They levelled
women’s version of the league so that the ball and walked out of his crease, troduced Marnus Labuschagne to the series 1-1. It is also the smallest
they could have their share of spot- expecting no harm. the world after an underwhelming margin in terms of runs in a Test win.

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