The ICC World Check Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle witnessed two years of enthralling cricket motion amongst 9 Check cricket-playing nations. As many as 57 out of 69 Assessments produced outcomes and solely 12 matches resulted in attracts, proving that ICC’s thought of including context to the longest format with the World Check Championship turned out to be a masterstroke.
The Final Check
Australia bought their fingers on the WTC Trophy by getting the higher of India within the WTC 2021-23 ultimate, also referred to as the Final Check.
Led by Travis Head’s 163 and Steve Smith’s 121, Australia posted 469 of their first innings and managed to bowl out India for 296. Australia declared their second innings at 270/8 and dismissed India for 234, courtesy of three-wicket hauls every from Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland. Australia gained by 209 runs to win their ninth ICC trophy.
The victory made Australia the only staff with every main ICC trophy of their cupboard: 5 ODI World Cups (now six), two ODI Champions Trophies, one T20 World Cup and the World Check Championship.
WTC 2021-23 factors desk
On the finish of the championship cycle, the groups’ standings noticed Australia atop the WTC factors desk with 152 factors and a 66.67% factors proportion, adopted by India with 127 factors and a 58.8% proportion – the 2 groups with the very best proportion of wins certified for the ultimate.
South Africa (55.56%), England (46.97%), Sri Lanka (44.44%), New Zealand (38.46%), Pakistan (38.10%), West Indies (34.62%) and Bangladesh (11.11%) completed the 2021-23 WTC cycle in respective order.
The arrival of Bazball
England’s aggressive play introducing the ‘Bazball’ fashion to Check cricket took the world by storm. Captain Ben Stokes was on the forefront of the ‘Bazball’ technique, putting 28 sixes within the two-year cycle from 32 innings.
In the course of the Rawalpindi Check in December 2022, England achieved their highest staff complete of 657 runs in opposition to Pakistan in solely 101 overs at a run price of 6.50 per over. This match witnessed a staggering complete of 1,768 runs, setting a brand new document for the very best mixed runs scored in a five-day Check.
In distinction, Bangladesh have been bundled out for 53 by South Africa at Durban in March 2022 – the bottom complete within the championship cycle.
High run-scorers
England’s Joe Root emerged because the main run-scorer with 1,915 runs at a mean of 53.19, boasting eight centuries from 22 matches. Australia’s Usman Khawaja (1621 runs) and Marnus Labuschagne (1576) got here second and third.
High wicket-takers
In bowling, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon topped the charts with 83 wickets, adopted by Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) with 67 wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin (India) with 61 wickets.
The championship additionally witnessed 85 five-wicket hauls (per innings) and ten 10-wicket hauls (per match) by bowlers.
Notable victories
Notable victories included New Zealand’s win by an innings and 276 runs over South Africa in February 2022 at Christchurch. West Indies’ one-wicket victory in opposition to Pakistan at Kingston in August 2021 was the narrowest margin of victory.
Particular person brilliance
Inaugural champions New Zealand had a poor present within the 2021-23 cycle however Kiwis did produce some noteworthy particular person performances. Tom Latham’s 252 in opposition to Bangladesh stood out as the highest rating whereas Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls stitched the very best partnership of 363 runs in opposition to Sri Lanka. Ajaz Patel’s exceptional 10-wicket haul for New Zealand in opposition to India at Mumbai set information for the very best innings and match figures within the championship cycle.
Within the Check match in opposition to Sri Lanka at Mohali in March 2022, India’s Ravindra Jadeja achieved a singular feat as the only participant to each rating a century and declare a five-wicket haul. He crafted an unbeaten 175 with the bat and likewise bagged 5 wickets for 41 runs in the identical match.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (1527), who performed simply 14 matches, was the fourth highest run-scorer. His better of 196 got here within the second innings in opposition to Australia and helped his staff save the Karachi Check.
The ICC World Check Championship 2021-23 showcased exceptional cricketing moments which culminated with an thrilling ultimate between Australia and India at The Oval, England.
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