BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor
From birthdays and debuts to centuries, records and retirements, cricket gives us something every day that stays in our hearts forever. 18 December also has some remarkable moments in cricket history that draw everyone's attention. It is a day when B.B. Nimbalkar scored the highest individual score, the birth of Australia's first Muslim cricketer Usman Khawaja and Sachin getting out on a duck in his ODI debut. Let's take a look at the memorable moments of this day in the pages of cricket history.
In the 2nd ODI match against West Indies being played in Visakhapatnam this day in 2019, Indian players dominated the opponents in both batting and bowling and started making one record after another. This was the second match of the 3-match ODI series, which was mandatory for India to win to stay in the series. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and invited India to bat first. Batting first, India scored a huge score of 387 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs, in which Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul made a record partnership of 227 runs for the first wicket. Rohit Sharma scored a magnificent 159 runs off 138 balls, including 17 fours and 5 sixes. This was Rohit Sharma's 28th ODI century. KL Rahul scored his third ODI century, scoring 102 runs in 104 balls with the help of 8 fours and 3 sixes. Captain Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck (0 runs) on the very first ball, while Shreyas Iyer scored 53 runs and Rishabh Pant scored 39 runs. India thrashed the West Indies bowlers in the last 10 overs to reach a score of 387.
In the second innings, chasing a target of 388 runs, the West Indies team was all out for 280 runs in 43.3 overs. For the West Indies, Shai Hope scored the highest 78 runs and Nicholas Pooran scored 75 runs. Kuldeep Yadav took a hat-trick in this match, which became the main highlight of the game. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Shai Hope, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph on consecutive balls in the 33rd over. Mohammed Shami also bowled brilliantly, taking 3 wickets for 39 runs in 7.3 overs. India won the match comfortably and Rohit Sharma was chosen Player of the Match for his masterpiece innings.
In a Ranji Trophy match between Maharashtra and Kathiawar on 18 December 1948. Maharashtra’s B.B. Nimbalkar played a ground-breaking innings of 443 runs and became the highest individual scorer by any Indian batsman in first-class cricket to date. It was only the second-highest individual score in first-class cricket globally after Sir Don Bradman's unbeaten 452 runs scored in January 1930. He needed just 9 runs to break this record, but the match ended.
Nimbalkar batted for almost 1006 minutes on the crease and shared a key partnership with K.V. Bhandarkar of 455 runs, which was the first highest partnership record in first-class cricket at that time. Nimbalkar is also the first highest first-class scorer who never played any Test or ODI for India. After his great performance, Sir Don Bradman sent Nimbalkar a personal message, stating he considered this Nimbalkar's innings better than his own highest first-class one. This score is still the fourth-highest in the history of first-class cricket after Brian Lara’s unbeaten 501, Hanif Mohammad's 499 and Don Bradman's unbeaten 452.
Australia's first Muslim cricketer and commercial pilot, Usman Khawaja, was born on 18 December 1986 in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is the first Australian batsman to score a double century in a Test match in Sri Lanka. In the 2022 fourth Ashes Test, he made his remarkable comeback by scoring centuries in both innings at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Usman enjoys playing golf and often plays golf instead of practicing the day before a Test match to save mental energy. He has been dropped from the team seven times during his Test career, but has returned stronger each time. Usman is the second Australian and the 13th player overall in the history of Test cricket to have batted on all five days of a Test match. In his cricket career so far, he has scored 6137 runs in Tests, 1554 in ODIs, and 15,324 in first-class cricket. Brisbane Heat captain Usman believes that education gives a lot of options in life, which is why he has decided to help underprivileged youth through cricket and education through his 'Usman Khawaja Foundation'.
Sachin Tendulkar made his ODI debut against Pakistan on 18 December 1989 at Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala. The match was reduced from 40 overs to 16 overs due to persistent rain. India won the toss and elected to bowl first. Pakistan scored 87/9 in their innings, with Saeed Anwar scoring 42 runs off 32 balls and Indian bowlers Salil Ankola and Maninder Singh taking two wickets each. In the second inning, coming in at number 5, India's 16-year-old Sachin played only two balls and was caught for a duck by Wasim Akram off Waqar Younis.
Right-handed batsman Vivek Razdan of Delhi and Salil Ankola of Maharashtra also made their debuts in this game. Mohammad Azharuddin scored the highest with 21 runs off 19 balls. Pakistani bowlers like Imran Khan and debutant Waqar Younis both took three wickets each. Even after its three new debutants, India didn’t perform well and lost the match by 7 runs.
Sri Lanka’s rising cricket star Matheesha Pathirana was born on 18 December 2002 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. He is very popular by the name of Baby Malinga because of his slinging bowling like the greatest Malinga. Matheesha's parents are classical musicians and before his cricket career, he was a talented pianist. He gained immense popularity in India after playing with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, where MS Dhoni made him a death overs specialist. Matheesha considers Dhoni his ‘cricketing father’ and credits his success to his guidance.
Matheesha made his T20 International debut against Afghanistan in Dubai on 27 August 2022 and his ODI debut against the same team in Hambantota on 2 June 2023. He was a key death-overs bowler for CSK until the 2024 IPL season, but he has been acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2025 auction. In the U-19 World Cup, Matheesha has taken 31 wickets in 21 T20 Internationals, with his best performance being 4/24.
18 December 1988 was the day when Australia made history by winning the Women's Cricket World Cup final for the third time. This was the fourth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup and was also known as the Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup. A total of five teams participated in the tournament, including Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and the Netherlands. The match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia with just 3,326 spectators.
The England women's team won the toss and elected to bat first and scored a total of 127 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 60 overs. Australia's Fulston took 3 and Larson took 2 wickets. Jan Brittin was the top scorer for England with 46 runs before being dismissed. Chasing the target, Australia scored 129 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 44.5 overs, with Lindsay Reeler’s unbeaten 59 and Denise Annetts 48 runs Asutraila lift the World Cup title for Australia again after 1978 and 1982.
In the third Test match between Pakistan and England, played in Karachi from 17-20 December 2022, England batsman Harry Brook delivered a truly outstanding performance on the second day. He scored 111 runs off 150 balls in his team's first innings, including 8 fours and 3 sixes. This was only his fourth Test match and sixth Test innings, in which he scored his third century. He became the first England batsman to score a century in every match of a three-match away Test series. Brook amassed a total of 468 runs in the series, breaking former captain David Gower's 1984 record of 449 runs.
His innings came when England were struggling at 145/5 and under considerable pressure after captain Ben Stokes was run out. Despite Stokes' dismissal, Brook forged a crucial 117-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Ben Foakes. His aggressive batting at a strike rate of 74 helped England surpass Pakistan's first-innings total of 304. He was named 'Player of the Match' for this game and 'Player of the Series' for the entire series. This was England's first Test series win in Pakistan in 22 years and Pakistan's first 3-0 home series defeat. Brook's success helped him secure a permanent place in the England Test team. He became the eighth England batsman to score centuries in three consecutive Test matches.
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