Sports can inspire and confuse with unforgettable performances and unlikely comebacks. With well over 100 years of tradition, it’s no surprise that cricket has recorded a litany of these uncanny occurrences.
Below, we take a look at just five of some of the most bizarre cricket moments in history.
Mpumalanga under 19 women vs Easters under 19 women – 2016
Most teams have only a handful of players that score the majority of the runs. However, the Mpumalanga under 19 women’s side took this to a staggering extreme. In December 2016, the side faced Easters under 19 women and were in to bat. Over the course of the next 20 overs, Mpumalanga would score 169 runs. What makes this amazing is that 160 of those runs came from a single player, Shania Lee-Swart and the additional 9 runs came from extras. Every other player on the team was dismissed without scoring a single run.
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Bermuda women vs South Africa women – 2008
In February 2008, Bermuda women’s cricket side traveled to Stellenbosch in South Africa to face the Proteas women’s side. South Africa would go to win by 10 wickets with 296 balls, a whitewash by anyone’s standards. The scorecard however, tells an even more depressing story for the women from Bermuda. Over the course the Bermuda innings just three players managed to score runs and when I say runs, I mean one run. Every other player went out for a duck leaving the team with three runs and an additional 10 runs from extras for a total of just 13 runs.
Australia vs England – 1950
In five-day cricket, it is vitally important to balance the need for a high score with ensuring you finish with time to bowl your opposition out before the end of the fifth day. This balance has resulted in some truly bizarre tactical decisions like in the case of the 1950 ashes opener. Australia won the toss and elected to bat scoring 228 runs in their first innings. England collapsed under the weight of the Australian seam attack in their first innings and were all out for just 68. Then came one of the more bizarre decisions in cricket history. Australia came into bat for their second innings and fared badly losing 7 wickets for just 32 runs. Instead of trying to salvage the innings though, the Aussies declared to give themselves time to bowl out the seemingly hapless English. It worked and Australia went on to win by 70 runs.
Worcestershire vs Glamorgan – 1977
There are no shortage of examples of teams that rely on a single gifted player to carry the bulk of the load. In the 1977 matchup against Glamorgan, the visitors came on and scored 309 runs in their first innings. The hopes of Worcestershire were laid squarely on the shoulders of New Zealander, Glen Turner. Turner opened the batting for Worcestershire and would go on to score a handy 141 runs. His teammates, however buckled with three ducks and not a single tally over 10 runs. The team score a total of 169 runs. Luckily for the hapless Worcestershire, the game would be drawn saving them from an embarrassing defeat.
Rajshahi Division vs Chittagong Division - 2014
Opening batsman generally score the bulk of a team’s runs with the remained coming from the middle order and if they’re lucky, the tailenders may contribute a run or two. In 2014, the Rajshahi Division took on the Chittagong Division in the Bangladeshi National Cricket League. Rajshahi came out to bat for their first innings and almost immediately things started to go wrong. The team’s opening batsman Mizanur Rahman went out for a duck and the rest of the openers struggled to pull the game back. With 6 wickets down and only tailenders to go, Rajshahi had scored just 53 runs. Enter right-handed all-rounder Farhad Reza. The 27-year-old stepped up in his team’s hour of need and would go on to score a double ton. His fellow tailenders Sunzamul Islam and Muktar Ali weren’t going to be left out and scored 172 and 168 respectively. Rajshahi would go into the change rooms after their first innings with a staggering 675 runs on the board.
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