The top 10 moments that shaped cricket
Cricket’s whirlwind year began as South Africa lit up a home Women’s T20 World Cup with a stunning run to the final, only to come up against the mighty Australians who crushed the home crowd’s hopes and walked away with a record-extending sixth title.
India hosted the men’s 50-over World Cup and the home favourites charted a blistering undefeated run to the final at the sport’s biggest stadium in Ahmedabad but were handed a shock six-wicket loss by five-time champions Australia.
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1. Australia repeat a three-peat of T20 titles
The ninth women’s T20 World Cup opened with Sri Lanka’s thrilling win over hosts South Africa but the Proteas soon bounced back and reached the final after a win over mighty England.
The Australian juggernaut, led by Meg Lanning – powered by Beth Mooney’s 53-ball 74 and their experienced bowling unit’s controlled performance – beat the hosts by 19 runs in a closely-fought final in Cape Town.
2. Women’s Premier League takes off in India
On March 4, India launched its women’s version of a lucrative T20 franchise league amid fanfare. Top players from across the world were pitted against each other in five teams a week after the T20 World Cup.
More than $580m was spent on acquiring the five franchises and broadcasting rights were sold for $117m over a five-year period.
India and Mumbai captain Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the inaugural trophy after her side beat Lanning’s Delhi by seven wickets in the final. The league has been touted as a game-changer in women’s cricket, much like its men’s version, the Indian Premier League.
3. South African legend Shabnim Ismail retires
The fastest woman in cricket called time on her 16-year international career, which began as an amateur player in 2007. Ismail went on to play 241 international matches for South Africa and is their all-time leading wicket-taker in international matches with 317 scalps to her name.
Her 191 one-day international (ODI) wickets are second only to India’s Jhulan Goswami, while her participation in all eight T20 World Cups and four 50-over World Cups is a testament to her legendary status in the game.
Ismail cited a desire to “spend more time with my family, particularly my siblings and parents as they get older” as the deciding factor but said she will continue to play league cricket.
4. India vs Pakistan takes centre stage Asia Cup
After months-long deliberations and discussions, India refused to play its 2023 Asia Cup matches in host nation Pakistan and more than half of the fixtures were moved to Sri Lanka.
The hotly-anticipated India-Pakistan group A match was washed out by heavy rain in Kandy, prompting fears of a similar scenario in their Super Four clash. With more rain forecast in the capital Colombo, tournament organisers added a reserve day for the marquee fixture, prompting criticism from fans who termed it a financially-motivated decision given the interest in the match. The reserve day did come into play and India walked away with a huge 228-run win. They lifted the trophy a few days later with a 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
5. World Cup opens to empty stadium
The men’s 50-over ICC Cricket World Cup was meant to attract millions of fans in cricket-mad India to the 10 stadiums across the country. However, a glaringly empty Narendra Modi Stadium in the tournament’s opening match at Ahmedabad left fans shocked and set the tone for all matches not involving the host nation.
While all India matches saw fans pack the venues in a sea of blue shirts, others were far from being filled, leaving fans to question ticket sales, tournament scheduling and marketing.
6. Afghanistan go from minnows to contenders
Afghanistan opened their World Cup campaign poorly, with losses at the hands of…
