Cricket season is going on in full flow around the world with a couple of International series and some league cricket. So we will start with real cricket means test cricket.
South Africa has started the tour of New Zealand and the home team gave them a humiliating welcome.
South Africa looked a very good side in their last home series against India and they won the series by 2-1. But New Zealand is the toughest part of the world to visit for cricket teams. Because conditions are completely different in this part of the world and with this lethal bowling attack of New Zealand it makes life even tougher for the opposition.
The story of South Africa in 1st test wasn't different either because they were all out on just 95. New Zealand was without Boult and Kane Williamson but it didn't hurt them at all. Matt Henry made a great comeback by picking up 7 wickets in the 1st innings and it was almost finished for South Africa after that horrible batting display. Matt Henry picked 7 for 23 which are the best bowling figures by a New Zealand bowler at the home joint with Sir Richard Hadlee.
You can read also the Review of the India vs South Africa test series 2022
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| Matt Henry |
After that New Zealand, batters made life even tougher for South Africa when Henry Nicholas scored 105, Tom Blundell 96, and Matt Henry 58 runs with the bat also. South Africa was never looking to recover and then Tim Southee came in the way. He got fifer in the 2nd Innings and helped his side to win the 1st test by An innings and 276 runs. This was South Africa's 2nd biggest defeat in test matches. The 1st one was against Australia at Johannesburg in 2002 by An innings and 360 runs.
So New Zealand is looking right on the top and South Africa needs to do a lot of work to make a comeback in 2nd test but it will monumental effort for them.
India crushed West Indies
Rohit Sharma made a comeback in this series after injury and India clean sweep West Indies in the T20 series by 3-0. West Indies has won his last series against England at their home and came here with some confidence and intent to do better. But the story was completely different for them they played not really bad cricket but they lost at crunch moments.1st T20 was one-sided but after that last 2 matches went down to the wire but India came out victorious in those tricky situations. India is still looking for the best combination for the upcoming T20 World Cup so they are trying different combinations and doing better. In this series Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, and Harshal Patel were the stars. SKY played in the last T20 World Cup also but those were the early days for him and now he is looking more confident and more prominent.
In the last T20, India was 98/5 after 15 overs and then SKY and Iyer took the responsibility and respond really nicely by scoring 86 in the last 5 overs. Surya scored 65 in just 31 balls and India finished on 184 with was decent total. Surya is the most complete Indian middle-order batter, he has all shorts in the armory and he plays spin really well. So to me, he is the next big thing in white-ball cricket.
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| Surya Kumar Yadav |
You can read also Squads of IPL 2022
West Indies went hard right from the word to go but Indian bowlers kept taking wickets in regular intervals and they fell short by 17 runs. Nicholas Pooran was the big positive for the West Indies and he scored 3 consecutive 50 plus scores in the series. Rovman Powell also showed his power punch but they were still unable to get their side over the line.
PSL Playoffs
Pakistan Super League is going in full flow in Qaddafi Stadium Lahore and we heading towards playoffs. The lineup is complete defending champions Multan Sultans right on the top by winning 9 matches and that's the record. They are looking for hot favorites to add another title because of their great combination and contribution from every single person on the team. They are really good at the top with Rizwan and Shan and then ruthless finishers like Rossouw, Tim David, and Khushdil. Their bowling was looking a little weak but they have done a splendid job so far and looking good to get another title in the bag.
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| Muhammad Rizwan |
You can read also a Preview of the HBL PSL 2022
Lahore Qalandars
1st time in the history of PSL Lahore has done really well all batting efforts led by Fakhar Zaman and then their bowling attack was truly a box office. Shaheen Afridi with the new ball and then Rashid Khan in middle overs and then Haris and Shaheen in death overs with raw pace and some great skills of yorkers were right on the spot. Zaman Khan a new sensation from Kashmir has also grabbed the attention by defending 12 in the last over against Asif Ali and Azam Khan. After that, he looked superb but now Rashid Khan has left for national duty and it left a big gap in the bowling department. So let's see how they manage.
Peshawar Zalmi
Peshawar Zalmi somehow managed to get the ticket of playoffs. Zalmi is the only side to qualify for the playoffs in all seasons. In 1st half of this season, they never looked good but the addition of Muhammad Haris at the top of the order has changed things altogether. He performed really well with the bat and helped his side to solve a lot of problems. But they are looking in good shape but still missing a decent spinner in middle overs.
Islamabad United
Islamabad United was the hot favorite at the start of the tournament but that was just a matter of time. They faced 5 injuries in the playing XI and that hurt them badly and disturb their whole combination. They have qualified for playoffs but they are not looking comfortable with this combination. It will take a huge effort to go further for them.
So these are the 4 teams for playoffs and Quetta and Karachi are eliminated. That was a really disappointing campaign for the Kings as they lost 9 matches in the season. They couldn't find the best combination as they both faced some problems due to injuries and some unavailability of key players. But we hope that that should not hurt Babar Azam because he is the captain of the National side and Australia tour of Pakistan will be starting from 4th March.
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| Babar Azam |
So that's it from our side you can visit us atwww.cric-talk.com for more news about cricket.