Cricket in 2018: 10 best records that Windies created this year

2018 turned out to be a tough year for Windies where they had minimal success which couldn’t stop them from qualifying for the World Cup 2019. They finished as runners-up in the World Cup Qualifier event which was the only major success for Windies in 2018. The Caribbean team won one-off T20I against the ICC World XI and ran through Bangladesh in the 2-match Test series at home with their pace attack.

However, they later lost both ODI and T20I series against Bangladesh at home. They toured India and Bangladesh towards the end of the year where they were defeated by India in all three formats and by Bangladesh in Tests and ODIs. They managed to finish the year on a high with T20I series win against Bangladesh in what turned out to be a closely fought event.

Here are the ten best records that Windies and its players created in 2018:

1. Rovman Powell comes to rescue:

Rovman Powell scored 101 against Ireland while batting at No.7 during the CWC Qualifier game. Thus, he became the first Windies player and overall the 16th to score a century in ODI cricket while batting at No.7.

2. Shannon Gabriel runs through Sri Lanka:

Shannon Gabriel had figures of 13/121 in the St Lucia Test against Sri Lanka. These are the best bowling figures for any bowler in a Test match in the Caribbean and the 3rd best by any bowler for the Windies. He had bowling figures of 8/62 which are the best by a Windies player in more than 25 years.

3. The Hetmyer series:

Shimron Hetmyer hit as many as 15 sixes during the 2-match Test series in Bangladesh. These are the most number of sixes hit by any player in a Test series. He thus surpassed the record shared by six different players with 14 sixes in a Test series.

4. When Hetmyer lit up Dhaka:

Hetmyer hit a total of nine sixes in the 2nd innings of the Dhaka Test to become the 2nd Windies player after Chris Gayle to hit as many maximums in a Test inning. However, taking into account the six he had hit in the first innings, he became the first player from Windies to hit 10 sixes in a Test match.

5. A year to remember for Jason Holder:

Jason Holder claimed 33 wickets in six Tests in 2018 at an average of 12.39 and a strike-rate of 27.3. Only George Lohmann (38 wickets at 18 S/R in 1896) and Bobby Peer (33 wickets at 19.6 in 1888) have picked over 30 Test wickets in a calendar year at a better bowling S/R.

6. Not the best ways to start:

In the 4th innings of the first Test in Bangladesh, Kieran Powell became the first opener in Test history to be stumped on the first ball he faced. Overall, he is only the first opener in the 100 years of Test cricket to be stumped on a duck and only the 3rd with this rare dismissal in Test cricket after Monkey Hornby and Louis Tancred (twice).

7. A series for Shai Hope:

Shai Hope aggregated 297 runs in the 3-match ODI series in Bangladesh which is the most by a Windies player in a 3-match bilateral ODI series. He thus surpassed Denesh Ramdin who scored 277 runs during the 2014 home ODI series also against Bangladesh.

8. Shai Hope betters Gayle:

Shai Hope struck a 16-ball fifty in the first of the three-match T20I series in Bangladesh. It is the 3rd fastest T20I fifty and the fastest by a Windies player bettering Chris Gayle’s 17-ball effort against South Africa in the 2015 Cape Town T20I. In the last match of the series in Bangladesh, Evin Lewis hit an 18-ball fifty which is the 3rd fastest for Windies.

9. Keemo Paul finishes off in style:

Keemo Paul registered figures of 5/15 in the 3rd T20I against Bangladesh which is the best bowling figures for a Windies bowler in T20I cricket. Darren Sammy’s 5/26 against Zimbabwe in the 2010 Port of Spain T20I was the only other 5-wicket haul in T20Is for the Windies.

10. A new low for the Windies:

Shai Hope’s unbeaten 146 is the highest individual score in International cricket for Windies in 2018. This is the joint smallest highest individual score in Internationals for Windies in a calendar year. Their highest individual score in 1988 was also only 146.

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