Bouncers and yorkers on 2016's pitch
Pakistan defeated England at Lord's and celebrated the victory by doing push-ups
LAHORE (Web Desk) - As the year 2016 comes to an end, let s have a look at some of the top moments of the year in the cricket grounds all over the world.
It was a busy year for cricket as World T20 was played, whereas Pakistan conducted their first T20 cricket league.
1. Pushups at Lord s cricket ground
The 2010 test series in England had ended in an awful way for Pakistan as they lost the test match at Lords in a one-sided affair and got their 3 main players Muhammad Amir, Muhammad Asif and skipper Salman Butt banned. But they returned at the same venue 6 years later and started the series at same ground.
Pakistan team had gone to England after taking training from Pakistan Army at Military Academy in Kakul and captain Misbah paid a tribute to Army by doing pushups after scoring a century in the first innings.
But the best scenes were witnessed at the end when Pakistan won the match and whole side did pushups, to thank Pakistan Army.
2. Pakistan hosted the first edition of PSL
Pakistani players were looking for an opportunity and a chance to showcase their T20 skills, as Pakistan had not hosted an International T20 league, despite being former T20 champions.
Due to secuity issues, players were reluctant to come to Pakistan so country s first ever T20 league was hosted in UAE, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
It proved to be a great success and many top players like Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Shaun Tait were part of the league.
Dunya News team Islamabad United went on to become the champions under the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq and gave some promising players like Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Babar Azam to the national side.
3. West Indies won the World T20
West Indian cricket team were not among the favourites to win the title as they were struggling in other formats, but they surprised everyone by reaching semifinals of the event, where they faced in-form hosts India.
Virat Kohli was in sublime form and scored a fifty but West Indies chased that total and faced former champions England in the final. They needed 24 runs in the last over and then Carlos Braithwaite stunned the whole world by hitting 4 sixes off four balls.
4. Muhammad Amir s comeback
Muhammad Amir remained out of cricket world for 5 years due to spot fixing ban and then finally made the return at the start of the year against New Zealand in New Zealand.
The young pacer showed that he still had got the talent and represented Pakistan in the Asia Cup and World T20. But everyone was looking for him to perform against England in England where he was banned.
Amir resumed his test career at the same Lords ground and finished the match by taking the wicket.
5. Afghanistan defeated eventual champions West Indies
West Indies went on to win the World T20 but they faced only one defeat in the competition. The loss came against the high-spirited Afghanistan side, who were coached by Pakistan s Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Afghanistan scored 123 runs in 20 overs and it was expected that strong West Indian batting line-up will easily chase the total, but Afghanistan stunned the eventual champions by restricting them to just 117 runs.
The amazing scenes were seen as Afghani players celebrated in the DJ Bravo style, by dancing. Chris Gayle also showed some great sportsman spirit and danced with the winning side.
6. Brendon McCullum s fastest century in the last test
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was playing in his last test against Australia. The aggressive batsman had turned the Kiwi side into an attacking unit and showed them how to play in a perfect farewell match.
McCullum hit 4 sixes and 16 fours against the strong Australian bowling line-up, which featured bowlers like Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird and Mitchell Marsh.
The Kiwi captain reached century off just 54 balls and broke the record which was previously held by Pakistan s Misbah-ul-Haq and West Indies Sir Vivian Richard.
7. Asia s first day and night test/Azhar Ali s triple ton
Pakistan and West Indies faced each other in Dubai in the first ever day and night test match in Asia and second overall. The match was made memorable because of Azhar Ali s triple ton, which was first ever century in day and night test cricket.
Pakistan scored 579 runs in the first innings and declared but West Indies showed some resistance and scored 357 in reply, as Yasir Shah took 5 wickets.
The match took an interesting turn as Pakistan were bowled out for 123 in the second innings to set up a target of 346. West Indies fought hard and match could have had all 3 results, but at the end it went in Pakistan s favour as they won the historical match by 56 runs.
8. Pakistan scored 450 in the fourth innings at Gabba
Pakistan played their second day and night test match at Gabba stadium in Brisbane against Australia and were bowled out for just 142 in the first innings.
Australia were in very strong position and declared early with almost 2 days left. They had set a target of 490, as Pakistan were not expected to go even close of the target.
Pakistan were 223/6 and many were predicting them to lose by 200 runs, but Asad Shafiq showed some great fight with the tail-enders to take Pakistan s scored above 400 for the first time in the history.
Pakistan became only the fourth team to score 450 in the fourth innings of the test and lost by just 39 runs, as Australians did not have many nails left on their fingers.
9. Kashmiri crowd supported Pakistan in World T20
There were tensions between Pakistan and India ahead of the World T20 ahead of the tournament and Pakistan got a last moment invitation and security clearance.
When Pakistan finally got the clearance, Kashmiri people reached the stadiums in big numbers, coming all the way to Kolkata and Mohali. The support for Pakistan team was amazing throughout the tournament.
Shahid Afridi also thanked the Kashmiri crowd, for which Indians were furious and warned him for not saying anything about Kashmiris again. But Afridi thanked the Kashmiri crowd again after the last match against Australia.
10. Pakistan reached the World No 1 spot in Test cricket
International Cricket remained out of Pakistan due to security reasons again but ICC was forced to come to Pakistan when they became the top ranked test side.
ICC representatives came to Pakistan handed over the test mace to Pakistan s captain Misbah-ul-Haq at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, which was a proud moment for every Pakistani.
The story has been written by Talal Dar.