The Best of 2017: 5 top class ODI knocks

Ever since the advent of the game of cricket, it has helped populous to witness both actions as well as the interaction of both bat and ball. Batsmen have been groomed to play the ball on merit, meaning having the ability to play through conventional metric or even make a paradigm shift to powerfully lofted shots which were not seen a decade ago. Though the focus still remains to put fortitude to time the ball rather than using sheer power.

After the emergence of T20 cricket, three hundred plus score have easily been amassed in 50 overs cricket, which tells us that cricket has been through a transformation from last decade or so. In the dramatically changed scenario, the game has heavily tilted towards batsmen and it won’t be wrong to term the year 2017, a batting friendly year.

The 365 days calendar helped us witness some spectacular knocks. While some knocks helped the team to cross the winning line, a few went in vain. With 2017 coming to an end, CricTracker brings the top five knocks of the year:

1. Fakhar Zaman – 114 runs vs India

Whenever Pakistan play against their arch-rivals India, they always try and notch up their game standards to put up the best performance. Playing his fourth game at the International level, Fakhar Zaman didn’t disappoint anyone and helped his team post a mammoth total of 338 in the Champions Trophy Final. He didn’t let the Indian bowlers take charge as he attacked with some swagger.

Fakhar is known for using his feet against the spinners, and one would have to say, that the 27-year-old lad was able to smash India’s spinner all around the park. In the final encounter, he smashed Ashwin for 45 runs from 33 balls, whereas Jadeja too didn’t have a decent outing as he was smashed for 33 runs off 23 balls. His innings of 114 runs was laced 12 boundaries and 3 long sixes. It was his knock that proved to be the difference and ensured his team lifted the trophy.

2. Evin Lewis – 176 runs vs England

There are days when it starts in your favour but ends very differently. Well, one would have to say, the same happened with Evin Lewis who played a special inning in the fourth of five-match One-Day International series against England. He amassed 176 runs in just 129 balls at an astonishing strike-rate of 136.44. Unfortunately, in the 47th over, he was hit by a delivery and had to go back to the pavilion. His long stay at the wicket ensured the spectators witness some dismissive shots.

England in reply lost wickets in quick succession before Jos Buttler and Moen Ali took the charge and hammered boundaries all around the ground. With rain interrupting the play, umpires decided to call it a day and England was declared as the winner by 6 runs.

3. Rohit Sharma – 208 runs vs Sri Lanka

With Virat Kohli opting to rest for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, the baton was handed over to the 30-year-old Rohit Sharma. In a short three-match series, it’s always important to capitalize at the start and put the opposition under pressure.

However, India and Rohit didn’t have a great start to the series as they lost their first encounter at Dharamshala. Coming to Mohali it was important for someone to take the responsibility and level the series, and it was none other than the skipper who played with maturity and registered historic third double hundred, becoming the only man in the history of the game to achieve this feat.

With Mohali wicket doing a bit at the start, it was important for Rohit to stay positive. As the time passed, the sheer timing play of Rohit took charge as he played a lethal innings of 208 runs off just 153 deliveries. His innings was laced with 13 boundaries and 12 long sixes.

4. Shakib Al Hasan – 114 vs New Zealand

Bangladesh vs New Zealand wasn’t expected to tour out the way it did as the Kiwis batting first only managed to score 265 runs in a must-win contest. Wicket demanded the batsmen to spend some time in the middle before trying their shots.

However, considering it was a short target, there was little scoreboard pressure the Bangladeshi players tried to dominate from the ball one and went on to throw their wicket away. They were four down for a score of 35, it was important for the experienced campaigners in the middle oreder to notch their game standards and help their side cross the winning line.

Shakib Al Hasan, who has been a constant face in Bangladeshi side struck a beautiful century who was well supported by his counterpart Mahmudullah. Once Shakib got into his groove he was clinical. The innings of 114 runs helped Bangladesh register a threshold victory against the Black Caps.

5. Virat Kohli – 122 runs vs England

India played their first home series of this year under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. England posted a total of 350 runs on board, India needed to play to their strengths to achieve this target. However, things didn’t go as per the plan and the hosts lost four wickets for 63 runs. To go one up in the series, the responsibility was on Virat who was captaining India for the first time in limited-overs after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down.

His innings was a mix of aggression and composure which eventually helped the Indian team win a remarkable encounter against the Brits. His innings of 122 runs of 105 balls was a massive difference between two sides. Though Virat had a scintillating year during which he scored six ODI tons, but this century would definitely stand out.