New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell wins ICC's 'Spirit of Cricket' award
Dubai(PTI): New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell is the recipient of the ICC 'Spirit of Cricket' award for 2021 due to his sportsmanlike gesture in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.
Mitchell won the award for refusing to take what was an easy single after coming in the way of bowler Adil Rashid in the high-pressure World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi on November 10 last year.
Mitchell is the fourth New Zealand player to win the award, following the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.
"It's an honour to receive the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award," Mitchell said.
"To be part of that T20 World Cup in UAE was an amazing experience, and to receive an award like this is pretty cool.
"It's something that we pride ourselves on as New Zealanders, the way we go about playing our cricket, and yes, the Spirit of Cricket side.
"Personally, I felt I got in the way and we wanted to win on our own terms, and didn't want to be controversial in such a big game. It paid off in the long run that we won the game. Looking back, it all happened pretty quickly."
The incident occurred on the first ball of the 18th over bowled by Adil Rashid, with the score at 133/4 and James Neesham on strike.
Neesham smashed the ball down the ground and it would have been an easy single. But Mitchell, at the non-striker's end, refused to take the run, conceding that he had impeded Rashid in a high-pressure chase, with a place in the World Cup final at stake.
Nasser Hussain, who was live on commentary during the contest, was full of praise for Mitchell saying, "That is very good. That is so New Zealand, it really is. So easy to take a run there. But the non-strike said, 'No, I've got in the way of Adil.' Anything sums up New Zealand cricket it was that."
Mitchell, explaining why he refused to take the single, added: "It was a pretty tight game against England in that semi-final, with only a few overs to go. Neesh (Jimmy Neesham) hit a single down to long-off I think it was, and I felt like I'd obstructed Rashid from getting to the ball.
"The game that we play, we play it because we love it. Yes, we want to win as much as we can, but we don't want that to come about from doing things that go against the values of cricket. Spirit of Cricket is vitally important. It sets a platform for kids in the future, who will go about playing the game in the right way.
"At the end of the day, it is a game, it's something that we love. So obviously we're so lucky to do that."
Mitchell who opened the batting proved to be the match-winner, playing a memorable knock of 72 not out in only 47 deliveries, while also hitting the winning runs.
A gesture that won the hearts of millions 🙌
— ICC (@ICC) February 2, 2022
Daryl Mitchell – the winner of the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award 2021 👏
Details 👉 https://t.co/pLfSWlfIZB pic.twitter.com/zq8e4mQTnz
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
