Top 5 Cricketers of the Week: November 28th – December 5th
Another action-packed week of cricket has given us some excellent cricketers to talk and discuss. Some efforts were special and some came against adversities of different types; some played well as expected and some chased away poor form with runs that really mattered.
There was Haseeb Hameed who scored a gutsy and unbeaten 59* for England against India despite an injury that has ruled him out of the Test series. His innings ensured India batted again and had more than hundred runs to score in the final innings of the third Test at Mohali.
There is Parthiv Patel’s unbeaten 54-ball 67 that made sure India didn’t have any trouble scoring those 103 runs England set them. There is Neil Wagner’s 3-for as well, helping New Zealand wrap up the Test series against Pakistan. But, here are the 5 cricketers of the week gone by, whose performances really earned their own place.
#1 Ross Taylor
Taylor has a growth in his eye which has ruled him out of cricket for a few weeks. Battling that discomfort and bad form, he smashed an unbeaten 102 from 134 balls in New Zealand’s second innings in the second Test against Pakistan at Hamilton. His score ensured Pakistan were chasing a target of 369 and while the target was never under any threat, Pakistan fought enough to give fans the hope of a draw.
That was not to be as Pakistan’s second innings was wrapped up in the 93rd over, despite a valiant 91 from Sami Aslam. New Zealand won the match by 138 runs and the Test series 2-0. Taylor had also scored a 31-ball 37 in the first innings.