5 talking points from all the Boxing Day cricket

Boxing Day brought with it an unequaled euphoria for cricket fans around the globe as many as 4 games were played throughout the day.

This included the 3 Test matches - India vs Australia, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, South Africa vs Pakistan and the BBL game between the reigning champions Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers.

Here we compile the 5 talking points from all the action on a riveting Boxing Day.

#5 Mayank makes a mark on debut

The opening slot had been Team India's chink in the armour on all of their overseas tours this year. Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul had all been tried and tested and didn't impress. Prithvi Shaw's injury at the start of the tour and Rahul and Vijay's continuous dismal performances earned Mayank Agarwal a much-deserved spot in the team.

A boxing day Test match at the magnificent MCG when the series was tied at 1-1 - Mayank Agarwal couldn't have scripted a better stage for his debut and the Karnataka player didn't disappoint.

Agarwal took some body blows from Pat Cummins, survived the devilish invariable bounce off the surface, and most importantly, put out a quintessential display of how to play the offie Nathan Lyon who had devoured his teammates in the last game. It was only fitting that Aggarwal reached his 50 after coming down the track to a Nathan Lyon, exemplarily getting close to the pitch of the ball and drilling it down the ground for a four.

A short ball down the leg proved to be Mayank's undoing but not before the Karnataka batsman became the highest-scoring Indian batsman on debut in Australia during his nifty 76-run knock, going past Dattu Phadkar's 51 at the SCG in 1947.

#4 Babar Azam's gritty knock

The menacing South African pitches spare none and certainly not a collapse-prone Pakistani batting line-up. Pakistan had been cornered within 35 overs in the innings when the scoreboard at Supersport Park read 111-8.

It was once again the intent of an in-form Babar Azam that came to the visitor's rescue. Babar stood valiantly facing the threatening short balls of South Africa's pace battery. He squeezed out 67 invaluable runs with Hasan Ali for the 9th wicket to give Pakistan a chance in the game. Babar's knock was easily one of the best by a Pakistani batsman overseas in recent times.

Due to his efforts, Pakistan managed a decent total of 181 in the end.

#3 Green Mat at Christchurch dissolves many

New Zealand v Sri Lanka - 2nd Test: Day 1

While the MCG looked relatively bowler un-friendly in the first session of the Boxing Day test, the cricket Gods perhaps found a way to strike the perfect balance in the cricket universe when a green carpet was rolled out for the second Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. And the pitch lived up to its outward appearance as 14 batsmen fell prey on the first day of the Test.

Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal wreaked havoc early in the day when he returned with career-best figures of 5 for 54 after his captain asked the hosts to bat first. The young pacers - Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara too made most of the conditions as they combined to take 4 wickets, fostering New Zealand to fold for 178 runs in the first innings.

However, when it was NZ's turn with the ball in hand, they simply returned the felicitations by accounting for 4 wickets before the close of play. It was Tim Southee who grabbed 3 of those 4 wickets.

#2 Scorchers burn through the Strikers' batting line-up

BBL's most successful team had a shaky start to the tournament when they had lost both of their away games. But the homecoming could not have been sweeter for the Perth Scorchers as their pacers set the 'Furnace' ablaze with a masterful show of T20 bowling.

All five fast bowlers in the Perth team had something to show in the wickets column as they brought down a heavy and in-form Adelaide Strikers batting line-up.

The bowlers were fast, accurate, and consistent as they wrapped up Strikers for 88 runs, setting up their batsmen for a straight-forward chase.

It was Jason Behrendorff who started the party for Perth sending back Weatherald and captain Colin Ingram. Young Jyhe Richardson took the reigns from Jason in the middle overs as his spectacular bowling earned him 3 wickets. Andrew Tye then claimed his stake in the latter overs and picked up 2 wickets while David Willey and Nathan Coulter Nile took 1 wicket apiece.

It is fair to say the Scorchers bowlers handed themselves their maiden win of the season.

#1 Steyn becomes SA's leading wicket-taker in Tests

1st Castle Lager Test match: South Africa v Pakistan, Day 1

On a day brimming with cricket, it was Dale Steyn who took away the biggest honours as he became South Africa's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket.

The Steyn-Gun accounted for its record-breaking 422nd victim as Steyn dished out his signature away-swinging delivery on the off-stump which has defeated some of the best batsmen to grace cricket during the South African's 14-year long career.

Dale Steyn was the second-fastest bowler to take 400 wickets when he achieved the feat in his 80th Test in 2015. But a host of injuries slowed the Protea pacer down as he looked to surpass Shaun Pollock's tally of 421 wickets.

Coming into the first Test vs Pakistan, Steyn needed only one wicket to claim the record and it took him only 19 balls to have Fakhar Zaman edge one to Dean Elgar in the slips.

Steyn's 422 wickets come in 89 matches at an astonishing average of 22.60.