Curtis Campher became the fifth player to score a half-century and take at least one wicket on men’s ODI debut since 2015 in the first match of the three-game series between England and Ireland, but there are four other cricketers who have achieved the feat in the last five years. Who are they?

Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan v Ireland, 2016)

All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz was picked to play his first ODI against Ireland on Pakistan’s 2016 tour of the British Isles. Batting first, Pakistan were on course for a big score when they lost Babar Azam, opener Sharjeel Khan, who had by then achieved his career-best ODI score of 152, and Sarfaraz Ahmed in a space of 19 deliveries.

But Nawaz, 53, along with Shoaib Malik, 57*, steadied the ship, adding 105 for the sixth wicket to take Pakistan’s total to 337. The left-arm spinner then got the wicket of Gary Wilson stumped by Sarfaraz as Ireland were skittled out for 82.

Aiden Markram (South Africa v Bangladesh, 2017)

Markram made his ODI debut for the Proteas against Bangladesh in 2017. Walking in at number four, the then 23-year-old played a brisk 60-ball-66 as South Africa piled on 369 runs batting first– Quinton de Kock (73) and Faf du Plessis (91) scored respective half-centuries as well.

Then with the ball, Markram dismissed both Shakib Al Hasan and Sabbir Rahman, the two top-scorers from Bangladesh to help complete a comfortable 200-run win. Markram has taken just one ODI wicket since his debut.

Timil Patel (U.S.A. v Papua New Guinea, 2019)

Patel, who had been playing for the United States of America since 2012, made his ODI debut after the USA’s ICC World Cricket League Division Two (WCL2) third-place playoff against Papua New Guinea was given the ODI status, and starred in both disciplines.

He top-scored for his side with 50 and returned figures of 2-34 from seven overs. That wasn’t enough, however, for the USA, as they lost by five wickets. Despite the loss, they secured ODI status for finishing in the top four in WCL2.

Kushal Malla (Nepal v USA, 2020)

The last player to achieve the feat before Campher, Malla debuted at the age of 15 years, 340 days,  the sixth-youngest ODI debutant soon became the youngest player in ODI history to score a half-century, breaking Shahid Afridi’s record.

A 51-ball-50 batting first was followed by figures of 10-1-30-1 as the youngster forced multiple changes in the record books in just his first ODI.

 

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Aiden MarkramMohammad NawazEngland v IrelandInternational CricketSeries Editorial