Matt Floyd picks out his Team of the Week in world cricket
Wednesday 29 March 2017 10:27, UK
Who have been the standout performers in world cricket this week? Sky Sports' Matt Floyd picks our team of the week...
It proved a tricky task to balance this week's team, with few all-rounders in form, but the batting certainly sorted itself - the entire top five scoring big runs!
Do you agree with our team? And who was the MVP from the XI this week? Tweet us @SkyCricket...
1) Alex Hales (England)
Hales put a poor winter behind him with a typically aggressive century on his return to the side for the third ODI win over the West Indies. He's a player who you always feel has a big, match-winning innings in him when he gets in.
2) Dean Elgar (South Africa)
A gritty, underrated opener, Elgar's 140 in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin helped South Africa recover from a sticky start. He now has two centuries and an 89 in his last three Tests.
3) Joe Root (England)
England may have scored 328 in the third ODI in Barbados but it wasn't the easiest pitch to bat on. Root looked out of nick for the first few balls he faced, but great batsmen can come through those situations and that's exactly what he did in compiling an 11th ODI hundred.
4) Kane Williamson (New Zealand) - Capt
His 130 was the driving force behind New Zealand getting a first-innings lead against South Africa in Dunedin. With 16 Test centuries to his name, he is now level with Ross Taylor, and one off equalling Martin Crowe's New Zealand record. Williamson is seven years younger than Taylor though and on course to be remembered as the Black Caps' greatest batsman.
5) Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka)
After a poor run of form, Mendis' 194 in the first Test win over Bangladesh was a big boost for his confidence. There's certainly no doubting his potential, the 22-year-old has just become the youngest Sri Lankan to 1,000 Test runs and could be the cornerstone of the side's batting for years to come.
6) Ben Stokes (England)
Not a great week for all-rounders, so Stokes sneaks in at No 6. His rapid 34 - off 20 balls - kept England's momentum going in Barbados and, perhaps more importantly for him, he exorcised a personal ghost by trapping Carlos Brathwaite first ball. If only he'd done that last year in the World T20 final in Kolkata!
7) Niroshan Dickwella (Sri Lanka) - Wkt
Impressed in his first Test since 2014 with a run-a-ball 75 in Galle. A naturally aggressive left hander, Sri Lanka will hope he can consistently add some impetus to the middle-order.
8) Liam Plunkett (England)
Three more wickets in Barbados meant he ended up the leading wicket-taker - with 10 at an average of 9.90 - in the series. With question marks still remaining over Mark Wood's fitness, Plunkett's extra pace seems particularly important to England's ODI side at the moment.
9) Alzarri Joseph (West Indies)
Joseph picked up the wickets of England's top three at the Kensington Oval, plus Moeen Ali later, and looks to have a decent change of pace. He was expensive, conceding 76 runs, but at just 20 years old he has plenty of time to improve his economy rate.
10) Keshav Maharaj (South Africa)
Kept the Black Caps in check in Dunedin with a maiden Test five-wicket haul. So far in his five Tests has done a good job of supporting South Africa's excellent seam attack, claiming 16 wickets at 29.25.
11) Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
Nine wickets in Galle means Herath now has more Test victims than any other left-arm spinner in history, his 366 surpassing Daniel Vettori's 362 mark. He is also the king of the fourth innings, with 10 10-wicket hauls in the final innings of a match - no-one else has more than seven!
