The year 2013 saw 136 One-day Internationals and 53 Twenty20 Internationals being played. Although limited-overs cricket had its moments, one could not help but feel that there were way too many of them throughout the year, often resulting in an overkill. Of course, there were good crowds most of the times, but there was scarcely any relevance attached to such contests. Here is a look at the highlights from limited-overs cricket in 2013:-
One Day Internationals
– ODI world champions India were the best one-day team in the year, winning 22 and losing 10 out of 34 games. The only team to manage a 100% win record was Afghanistan, but they played only four games. India and Pakistan played the most number of games, i.e 34 each.
– India won the seventh and last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, which was played in England in June. India defeated the hosts by 5 runs in a rain-shortened 20-over final at Edgbaston. In the semi-finals, India and England beat Sri Lanka and South Africa respectively.
India celebrate after winning the Champions Trophy, beating England by 5 runs. This was the last edition of the tournament, which began in 1998 (source – telegraph.co.uk)
– Ireland won the ICC World Cricket League 2011-13 and became the first of four Associates to qualify for the 2015 World Cup. Afghanistan, who finished second in the WCL, also booked their World Cup ticket for the first time. The remaining two qualifiers will be the finalists of the World Cup qualifiers, which will be played in New Zealand in early 2014.
– The leading ODI run scorer in the year was Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq, who tallied 1373 runs in 34 matches. The leading wicket taker was Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, with 62 wickets in 33 matches.
– The year recorded four tied matches – Ireland v Pakistan at Dublin, South Africa v West Indies at Cardiff, Netherlands v Ireland at Amstelveen and West Indies v Pakistan at Gros Islet.
– India’s Rohit Sharma became the third man after compatriots Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to score an ODI double-hundred. Sharma scored 209 – the second-highest score after Sehwag’s 219 – off 158 balls against Australia at Bangalore in November. Sharma struck 16 sixes in that innings – a new world record – breaking Australian Shane Watson’s tally of 15 achieved in 2011 against Bangladesh.
– In the above-mentioned ODI at Bangalore, India made 383/6, which became the highest team total against Australia batting first. Also, both India and Australia hit 19 sixes each, creating a new record. The earlier best was 18, which was achieved four times. (The record of 19 has since been broken by New Zealand, who struck 22 sixes against West Indies at Queenstown on 1/1/2014).
– Pakistan won their first ever bilateral series in South Africa, when they beat the hosts 2-1 in a three-match series in November. In the process, Pakistan also became the first Asian team to win a series in any format in South Africa.
– South Africa’s Hashim Amla became the fastest to reach 4000 ODI runs, achieving the feat in 81 innings, bettering West Indian Vivian Richards’ 88. Also, India’s Virat Kohli became the joint-fastest to 5000 runs, reaching there in 114 innings (same as Richards).
– South Africa’s Quinton de Kock became the fifth batsman to score hundreds in three consecutive ODI innings. He achieved the feat in the home series against India – scoring 135 at Johannesburg, 106 at Durban and 101 at Centurion.
– Virat Kohli scored the fastest ODI century by an Indian, off 52 balls, against Australia at Jaipur. In the same series, James Faulkner scored the fastest ODI century by an Australian, off 57 balls at Bangalore.
Martin Guptill made the highest individual ODI score by a New Zealander, scoring 189* against England at Southampton (source – tntmagazine.com)
– Martin Guptill achieved the highest ODI score by a New Zealander when he scored 189* against England at Southampton in June. The earlier record was held by Lou Vincent, who had made 172 against Zimbabwe in 2005.
– There were two hat-tricks recorded in the year – Australia’s Clint McKay against England at Cardiff in September, and Bangladesh’s Rubel Hossain against New Zealand at Dhaka in October. In the latter game, Hossain’s 6/26 became the joint-best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi along with Mashrafe Mortaza, who had the same figures against Kenya in 2006.
Twenty20 Internationals
– The leading T20I run scorer of the year was Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad, who made 347 runs in 12 matches. The leading wicket-taker was Kenya’s Shem Ngoche, who picked up 14 wickets in 11 matches.
– Australia’s Aaron Finch created a new record for the highest individual T20I score when he scored 156 off 63 balls against England at Southampton in August. He broke New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum’s record of 123, made against Bangladesh in 2012.
– In the above-mentioned game, Finch also broke the record of the most sixes in an innings by hitting 14 of them. The earlier record was Richard Levi’s 13 for South Africa against New Zealand in 2011-12. Meanwhile, Australia’s total of 248/6 in the game was their highest and the second-highest overall. Australia’s total of 18 sixes was also a new record, going past South Africa’s 17 hit against England in 2009-10.
Aaron Finch slammed 156 off 63 balls against England at Southampton, a new record for the highest T20I score. He hit 14 sixes, another record (source – theaustralian.com.au)
– Kenya were bowled out for the lowest ever T20I total when they were dismissed for 56 in 18.4 overs against Afghanistan at Sharjah in September. Kenya also held the earlier record – 67 against Ireland in 2009.
– Ireland won the ICC world Twenty20 Qualifiers in October, beating Afghanistan by 68 runs in the final at Abu Dhabi. Along with Ireland and Afghanistan, the other teams which qualified for the first round of the 2014 World Twenty20 were Nepal, UAE, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Ireland’s total of 225/7 in the final was their highest ever and the fourth-highest overall.
– Pakistan’s Umar Gul took a record sixth four-wicket haul in T20I’s when he took 5/6 against South Africa at Centurion in March. He earlier shared the record with Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis with five each. Also, Gul became the second bowler after Mendis to take at least five wickets twice in T20I’s.
– In the above-mentioned game at Centurion, South Africa lasted just 12.2 overs in making a total of 100. This became the shortest completed total in T20I’s; the earlier record being 14.3 overs which Australia lasted in making 79 against England in 2005. Also, this was South Africa’s lowest ever T20I total.
The Cricket Cauldron 