Cricket news round-up – December 2: Anjali Chand creates world record; Australia, New Zealand clinch series

Anjali Chand registered the best figures in T20I history across genders; Australia beat Pakistan by an innings at Adelaide to clinch the Test series 2-0; Joe Root’s career-best score helped England secure a strong position at Hamilton; and India announced their squad for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup.

World record for Anjali

Debutant Anjali Chand routed Maldives Women with figures of 2.1-2-1-0-6 – the best in T20I history across genders – in a SAF Games Women’s Cricket Competition match, at Pokhara Rangasala.

Introduced as fifth bowler, Chand took the last six wickets of the innings, rounding things off with a hat-trick as Maldives crashed to 16 in 10.1 overs. She broke the previous world record, Mas Elysa’s 4-1-3-6, for Malaysia Women against China Women at Bangkok earlier this year.

Nepal Women took 5 balls to chase down the total.

Australia whitewash Pakistan

It took Australia a little over two sessions to wrap up the Adelaide Test against Pakistan. They won by an innings and 48 runs to complete a 2-0 whitewash. Nathan Lyon (5/69) took 5 of the 7 wickets to fall in the day, for 69 runs.

Shan Masood (68) and Asad Shafiq (57) batted on gamely in the morning, adding 103 for the fourth wicket before Lyon removed both. After that Mohammad Rizwan (45) was the only one to provide any resistance as Pakistan crashed to 239.

Williamson, Taylor stay firm, New Zealand win series

Joe Root’s 226 had helped England secure a 101-run lead against New Zealand at Hamilton. New Zealand were 96/2 at stumps, Day 4, still 5 behind, with only a day left – but a draw was what they needed to win the series. They were 241/2 when rain halted play for good.

Kane Williamson (104*) and Ross Taylor (105*), on 37 and 31 respectively overnight, reached 96 and 84 by lunch. Williamson got to his hundred shortly afterwards. Taylor, unbeaten on 89 when it started raining, hit a four and two sixes off Root to make sure he got his three figures before rain set in.

India announce Under-19 World Cup squad

Priyam Garg will lead India in the upcoming Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. Dhruv Jurel has been named his deputy, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, the big hitter from Mumbai who took the Vijay Hazare Trophy by storm, has also found a place. The squad reads:

Priyam Garg (c), Dhruv Jurel (vc & wk), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shashwat Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Divyansh Joshi, Divyaansh Saxena, Atharva Ankolekar, Shubhang Hegde, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Akash Singh, Vidyadhar Patil.