2021 in review: The year it was

New Zealand claim inaugural World Test Championship title

After missing out on the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup title by the barest of margins, Kane Williamson's Black Caps became the champions of the ultimate test. They were crowned the inaugural champions of the ICC World Test Championship, beating a strong India side by eight wickets on the reserve day.

Rain played spoilsport almost every day, completely washing out the opening day and the fourth day. On Day 2, New Zealand won the toss and asked India to bat first. Kyle Jamison led the New Zeland bowling attack, returning Player of the Match worthy figures of 5/31 and 2/30 as India were bowled out for 217 and 170.

The Black Caps responded to India's first innings with 249, courtesy of Devon Conway's 54 and skipper Williamson's 49. The target was 139, which the experienced duo of Williamson (52*) and Ross Taylor (47*) chased down comfortably.

Australia win their first ICC Men's T20 World Cup

After T20I series defeats to the West Indies and Bangladesh in the lead-up to the tournament, many had placed Australia as rank outsiders to win their first Men's T20 World Cup. Winning unconvincingly in their tournament opener against South Africa only helped the naysayers' arguments, though Aaron Finch's men would go on to prove the doubters wrong.

Buoyed by an all-conquering Mitchell Marsh at No.3 and the late-over hitting of Matthew Wade, Australia found their winning formula. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa kicked on with career-best form, taking the second-most wickets at the tournament, and was pipped for Player of the Tournament honours by compatriot David Warner, who answered his own critics with 289 runs at a strike rate of 147 and an average of 48.

Despite a blip against England, Australia went on to beat Pakistan in the semi-finals, before an emphatic eight-wicket win over Trans Tasman rivals New Zealand to end the tournament hoodoo.

Ajaz Patel claims a ten-wicket haul in Mumbai

The Black Caps spinner became only the third bowler in the history of Test cricket to claim all 10 wickets in an innings. The feat was first achieved by England off-spinner Jim Laker in 1956 vs Australia and India leg-spinner Anil Kumble in 1999 vs Pakistan.

New Zealand sinner Ajaz, who was born in Mumbai (referred to as Bombay at the time), claimed the feat in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium against India. He snared his first four wickets on the opening day of the second Test of the series, before picking up the remaining on the following day.

Kumble took to social media, praising the New Zealand spinner, calling his feat a "special effort" to achieve on the first two days of a Test.

Clare Polosak breaks barriers in Test first

Named as the fourth umpire in Australia's Test match against India in Sydney, Polosak became the first woman in the game's 144-year history to officiate in a men's Test.

The feat was just one more achievement on Polosak's resume, having stood as an umpire in the 2019 World Cricket League Division 2 final, a men's ODI between Namibia and Oman.

The Test match at the SCG ended in a draw.

Namibia reach the Super 12 phase of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Emerging cricket fans earmarked Group A of the Men's T20 World first round as the group of death, and Namibia's eagles certainly made life tough for their adversaries.

Almost primed by a tricky defeat to Sri Lanka, Gerhard Erasmus' men held their nerve in crucial situations, chasing 165 against the Netherlands and 126 against Ireland to enter the Super 12 phase.

Erasmus and David Wiese showed cool in the middle overs with the bat, with several members of the attack chipping in with solid contributions. Ruben Trumpelmann enjoyed a breakout tournament, as Namibia went on to beat Scotland in the next stage among admirable performances against the game's heavyweights.

Mithali became the highest run-scorer in women’s cricket

In her 23rd year as an international cricketer, Mithali Raj continued her rich vein of form. And on July 3, at the County Ground in Worcester, she surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards’s tally of 10,273 runs to become the highest run-getter in women’s international cricket. The Indian legend reached the mark with a boundary down the ground in the 23rd over of the run chase, bowled by Natalie Sciver.

Her 86-ball 75 helped India win the third ODI of the series against England, even though it proved to be inconsequential in the context of the series. For Mithali though, who had surpassed several landmarks through the course of 2021, it was just another innings in yet another rich season of runs.
Campher takes four wickets in four balls

Irish all-rounder Curtis Campher joined elite company at the T20 World Cup, claiming Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe in consecutive deliveries in Abu Dhabi demolition.

The right-arm quick now accompanies Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan as fellow four-in-four history-makers, with the latter achieving the feat against Campher's Ireland teammates back in 2019. Campher joined Brett Lee in 2007 as the only hat-trick takers in men's T20 World Cups, though stands alone as the first to take four wickets in four balls at the tournament.

Kieron Pollard and Jaskaran Malhotra hit six sixes in an over

It's rare to see six sixes hit in an over, let alone twice in the same calendar year, though after Kieron Pollard's efforts against Sri Lanka in March, USA's Jaskaran Malhotra was not to be outdone.

Almost lost in Pollard's exploits was that Akila Dananjaya, the man at the other end of the batting tirade, took a hat-trick earlier in the innings, dismissing Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran. After the mini-collapse, Pollard countered, hitting the Sri Lankan spinner in the arc between long off and deep mid-wicket.

Jaskaran Malhotra's half-dozen came in the last over of their innings against PNG in Muscat, Oman. Hitting Gaudi Toka for 36, Malhotra joined Herschelle Gibbs as the only players to achieve the feat in a One Day International, and finished 173*, the highest ODI score batting at No.5. Malhotra's 16 sixes in the innings is only usurped by Eoin Morgan's 17 against Afghanistan at the 2019 Men's Cricket World Cup.

India avoid defeat thanks to resolute Sneh Rana

Sneh Rana’s 195-minute vigil at the County Ground in Bristol helped India save the one-off Test against England. Rana, who was playing her debut Test match, scored an unbeaten 80 after India were reduced to 199/7. They were barely 34 runs ahead of the hosts, with only the lower order left to bat for nearly two sessions of play.

Rana, who hadn’t played for India since 2016, was a surprise inclusion in the XI - which already had two off-spinning options. However, the all-rounder gave a fair account of her abilities with returns of 4 for 131 - the best by an Indian bowler before putting on a strong resistance with the bat, in the company of Shikha Pandey and Taniya Bhatia.

Mohammad Rizwan's year in T20I cricket

It may be some time before we see someone overtake Mohammad Rizwan's 1326 T20I runs in a single calendar year. Averaging 73.66 with a strike rate of 135, few had answers for Rizwan, who joined in an electric and proficient partnership with skipper Babar Azam (939 runs).

Rizwan launched his year with a strong series against South Africa in February, scoring a maiden century in Lahore, and never looked back. Rizwan made 281 runs across the T20 World Cup, only bettered by Babar and David Warner.

Pant magic at The Gabba

It was a fairytale finish to one of the most famous series victories in the history of Test cricket. Rishabh Pant was the show stopper. His fourth innings 89* on the final day of the Gabba Test guided India to a 2-1 famous Border-Gavaskar series win. Fortress Gabba was finally breached. It was the first time Australia were beaten at the venue since 1988.

Chasing the target of 328, Shubman Gill made a crucial contribution of 91 while Cheteshwar Pujara contributed with 56 at the top of the order. But it was Pant, who took his side across the line with a resolute innings and only three overs of play left on the final session of the final day of the final Test of the series.

Joe Root's Test batting year

1708 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 61, featuring six century-plus scores and four half-centuries. It was Joe Root's year with the bat in Test cricket. Not only did he finish the year as the top run-scorer, he now is third on the all-time list of most Test runs in a calendar year, only behind Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf (1788 runs in 2006) and West Indies' Viv Richards (1710 runs in 1976).

Root kicked off 2021 in style with a brilliant knock of 228 against Sri Lanka in Galle, in January. He struck another double-century, against India in Chennai, in February. Two top knocks in away conditions.

Scott Boland debut

Ajaz Patel's ten-wicket haul would not be the end of crazy bowling figures in 2021, with Scott Boland ensuring scorers and statisticians were kept on their toes, finishing with second-innings figures of 6/7 off just four overs in Australia's emphatic Boxing Day Test win over England.

Boland claimed Haseeb Hameed and Jack Leach in the same over late on day two, before a day three morning rampage, taking Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson.

Boland claimed the Johnny Mullagh Medal as Player of the Match in front of his home Melbourne fans.

Maeva Douma non-striker run-outs sparks talk around the world

Maeva Douma of Cameroon was thrown into the cricketing spotlight back in September, after effecting four run-outs at the non-striker's end during the Women's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier.

Kevin Awino, Rita Musamali, Immaculate Nakisuuyi and Janet Mbabazi all had to make the walk back, after Douma and her teammates noticed a trend of over-exuberant backing up from the Ugandan batting line-up.

"We got to talk about it as a team, since we saw the opening and we had to discuss it, especially after the first (run-out)."

Uganda went on to win the match despite the four dismissals.

Kyle Mayers' incredible debutChattogram was the location of the fifth-highest successful run chase in Test match history, led by debutant Kyle Mayers, scoring an astonishing 210 not out.

After entering at 59/3 and still needing 336 for victory, Mayers put on 216 with Nkrumah Bonner, and a round 100 with Joshua Da Silva, of which he contributed 80 runs. Striking 20 fours and 7 sixes, Bangladesh's four-pronged attack were devoid of answers, and Mayers, showing maturity in spite of little international cricket, hit the winning runs with just 15 balls left in the match.

Unsurprisingly, Mayers' 310-ball stay at the crease earned him Player of the Match honours, overshadowing Mehidy Hasan Miraz's performance of eight wickets and a first-innings century.

2021 Most Men's Test Runs

2021 Most Men's Test Wickets

2021 Most Men's ODI Runs

2021 Most Women's ODI Runs

2021 Most Men's ODI Wickets

2021 Most Women's ODI Wickets

2021 Most Men's T20I runs

2021 Most Women's T20I runs

2021 Most Men's T20I wickets

2021 Most Women's T20I wickets