2018 ICC Awards: Five moments that can win 'Spirit of Cricket' award
The year 2018 proved to be yet another scintillating year filled with loads of cricketing action, extraordinary feats, close finishes, and what not. In the course of the last 365 days, we also witnessed quite a few tense moments on the field where the things turned unpleasant between the two contesting teams.
What marked the year 2018 was the abundance of 'Spirit of Cricket' moments that reemphasized the evidence that cricket is well and truly a gentleman's game. To its reference, ICC recently released a few 'Spirit of Cricket Moments' which could be in the line to win the best 'Spirit of Cricket' moment at the ICC honours.
Thus, we bring you five instances which can win the ICC Spirit of Cricket Moment award for the year 2018.
Note: The moments are selected from ICC's list of top 'Spirit of Cricket' moments in 2018.
Also read: Predicting the winners of 2018 ICC awards
#5 When the world came together to support a cause
Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused tremendous devastation in many parts of the Caribbean. Plenty of people lost their homes while plenty of them lost their lives. The hurricanes cost millions of damages. Hence, in May, the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge was played at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground to raise funds for damaged stadiums in Anguilla and Dominica.
A comprehensive World XI led by Shahid Afridi and the West Indies led by Carlos Braithwaite happened to be the two contesting teams in the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge. Windies won the toss and elected to bat first. Evin Lewis, Marlon Samuels, and Denesh Ramdin were the performers for Windies with the bat. On the back of these three, Windies set a mammoth target of 200 for World XI to win the fundraiser T20.
World XI crumbled with no series effort except Thisara Perera who scored 61 runs to only see the Windies winning the game by 72 runs. Evin Lewis won Man of the Match award for his excellent 58. However, cricket was the real winner as we witnessed a 'Spirit of Cricket' moment where the whole world got along together to fund the economic finances for the devastation caused to the stadiums in Anguilla and Dominica. Moreover, ICC also granted the game with an international status.