India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 4 Highlights – Nov 27, 2017

Sri Lanka tour of India 2nd Test Highlights

Umpires – Richard Kettleborough, Joel Wilson
TV Umpires – Nigel Llong
Match Referee – David Boon
Reserve Umpire – Chettithody Shamshuddin
Match number – Test no. 2283

India 610 for 6 dec. (Kohli 213, Pujara 143, Vijay 128, Rohit 102*) beat Sri Lanka 205 (Chandimal 57, Karunaratne 51, Ashwin 4-67, Ishant 3-37, Jadeja 3-56) and 166 (Chandimal 61, Ashwin 4-63) by an innings and 239 runs. Virat Kohli will go to South Africa without having lost a Test series as a captain after India took an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series with their joint-biggest Test win and Sri Lanka’s biggest defeat. As Kohli crept closer to most Test wins for India, his No. 1 matchwinner so far, R Ashwin, became the fastest man to 300 Test wickets. It is not easy to keep turning up after you have wasted all the good fortune in one Test and then lost the second Test on the first day itself. Sri Lanka’s downward slide continued into the first session of the fourth day as they gift-wrapped two wickets to India, who now need two more to take an unassailable lead in the series. Beginning the day 384 behind and needing to bat about five sessions to save the Test, Sri Lanka were expected to go down, but the point of interest was whether they would make India – already resting players and playing on pitches that reduce home advantage in order to prepare for South Africa – work hard for their wickets. Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews answered in the negative.

Before that, though, Dimuth Karunaratne encountered some tough luck with a freak short leg catch from M Vijay sending him back in the seventh over of the day. Having survived 61 balls, Thirimanne then scooped a wide half-volley straight to point. Mathews soon lobbed Ravindra Jadeja straight to mid-off to end his 32-ball innings. With no hope left, Dasun Shanaka threw his bat at everything, connecting well enough for a four and two sixes, but not well enough when he skied one to end his eight-ball 17. Once given a whiff, R Ashwin was too good for Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath, whom he sent back for ducks in the space of three balls. Probably expecting more of the same capitulation, the first session was extended by 15 minutes to see if India could wrap the game up before lunch but Sri Lanka just about hung in to force a second session. Some of the capitulation was down to accurate and skilful bowling on a deteriorating surface, but India will be the first ones to say they have worked harder for wickets. The good bowling was evident in how Niroshan Dickwella was forced by Ishant Sharma to play at a length ball outside off in a spell that he extracted each-way reverse swing, playing with the scrambled minds of the batsmen.

Sri Lanka went into the break trailing by 260 runs. There was three-fold uncertainty at the start of the final session with two wickets standing. Would Ashwin get the one wicket he needed to reach 300? Would Sri Lanka score the 22 required to deny India their biggest Test win and the 32 required to avoid their biggest defeat? After having scored 61, and having put together 58 for the ninth wicket, Dinesh Chandimal picked out long leg perfectly when he flicked a leg-stump half-volley from Umesh Yadav. India’s lead now was 240. Only one run was added to the total when an Ashwin carrom ball kissed Lahiru Gamage’s off stump.

Day 4
Last July, Virat Kohli had no double-centuries. He now has five. Only Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the Indians with more. Kohli waltzed to 213 off only 267 balls to set up a declaration and asked Sri Lanka to survive for nine overs before stumps on day three. But the fatigue of having spent 176.1 overs in the field showed in how Sadeera Samarawickrama flashed at a wide ball and left alone a straight one. At times, teams have to tackle those dreaded days of trying to delay the declaration, and how they go about it can tell a lot about where they are at as a unit. Sri Lanka, unfortunately, were all over the place: bowlers were not accurate, fielders not alert, and plans absent. There was a buffet out there, and all bar KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane tucked in.

Kohli took the record for the most centuries for an Indian captain. Rohit Sharma ended his 13-month wait for first-class cricket and a four-year wait for a Test century in the course of a mere 160 balls. The declaration came as soon as Rohit reached the mark, making it only the third time India have had four centurions in one Test innings. The start of the day was indicative of how the rest of it would go. Cheteshwar Pujara, 121 at the time, played out a watchful maiden – he took 23 balls to add to his overnight score – and Kohli started off with a single to long-on off his first ball. By the fourth over, it was clear Sri Lanka – understandably – were not there a 100% and that Kohli was, in his hyper-active T20 mode no less.

Kohli pushed one to long-on, Suranga Lakmal lobbed the throw to Rangana Herath, he was slow to come down, and Kohli stole a second with the ball wandering only as far as point. Fielders were under extreme pressure. Later, Herath had his pride hurt when Kohli pinched a single after hitting a firm drive straight to him at mid-off. Flustered, Herath threw anyway and conceded an overthrow. If Lakmal had reason to be upset, he didn’t help matters when he forgot to make an effort to collect a throw the last ball of that over. Towards the end of the session, Niroshan Dickwella was busy applauding the wide slip for getting a hand to a late cut when Kohli raced across for a single. Pujara continued to play the old-fashioned way. Despite the slow start, he didn’t look for a big shot to get going, clipping to leg for his first single of the morning. Kohli was more fluent as he kept driving either side of the wicket from wide outside off.

The seamers tried going round the wicket and Herath tried going over the wicket, but there was hardly a moment of concern for India. While Pujara and Kohli batted together on day three, the bat was beaten only five times, one of them a Dasun Shanaka yorker about seven minutes before lunch and Pujara fell seven short of 150, the ball squeezing under the bat which had covered the line and but hadn’t come down in time. It was a reminder that even when things seem easy for long periods, there are still ways to get out. A minor disappointment for India was that Rahane fell for just 2, to a loose ball from Dilruwan Perera, which was small consolation for the offspinner who has had an ordinary Test. There was nowhere to hide for him as he had to keep coming back for spell after spell, going for 202 in 45 overs despite an improved showing on Sunday.

Kohli and Rohit presented a milder version of their legendary one-day stands as they matched each other shot for shot in a 173-run stand for the fifth wicket. If Kohli welcomed Lakmal back by dancing down and hitting him over mid-off, Rohit dropped Dilruwan over mid-on. Kohli unleashed a six over long-on, bringing up his and Dilrwuan’s 150. So Rohit raised two lofted boundaries off Herath. Rohit’s 11-ball wait to go from 49 to 50 just before tea brought his strike-rate under 50, but Kohli, more used to these landmarks in Tests, saw no reason to slow down even as he approached his double-hundred in the final session.

Kohli fell for 213, but he gave Rohit all the time he needed to get to a hundred that might be important for his confidence going into the South Africa tour, where he might be asked to bat more often than he has at home. It is up for debate whether it is disrespectful to the opposition to wait for one man’s personal milestone, but it wasn’t as if India were going to run out of time or good weather to run Sri Lanka out a second time. It was apparent in Samarawickrama’s two-ball innings and Sri Lanka’s uncertain bid for survival in the remaining overs.

Australia vs England 1st Test Day 4 Highlights – Nov 26, 2017

The Ashes 2017/18 1st Test Day 4 Highlights

Umpires – Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus
TV Umpires – Chris Gaffaney
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Paul Wilson
Match number – Test no. 2282

In the course of what is rapidly developing into a supernatural Test career, Steven Smith has surpassed himself time and time again. But in the course of 57 Tests and 21 centuries, it is hard to believe that he has compiled more brilliant and vital innings than his unbeaten 141 in the first Test of the 2017-18 Ashes. On Smith’s dogged and indomitable watch, Australia seized hold of rapidly freefalling first innings, and dot by dot, nudge by nudge, turned what had at one stage looked like being a 100-run deficit into a vital lead of 26. And then, as if ignited by their skipper’s deeds, Australia’s bowlers tore into England’s top order in a gory final hour. Josh Hazlewood ripped out two prize wickets, including Alastair Cook for his second failure of the match, before Mitchell Starc clanged England’s captain, Joe Root, a savage blow on the helmet. Root and Mark Stoneman limped to the close on 2 for 33, a lead of 7, but in the course of 16 high-octane overs, the legend of the Gabbatoir had burst back to prominence in no uncertain terms.

It was a sensational day’s cricket, glacially slow at times – particularly during a morning session in which Smith added just 17 runs to his overnight 64 – but never less than utterly absorbing, thanks to a match situation in which two wholly committed teams have surged and slipped like a pair of boat-race crews hurtling under Hammersmith Bridge. But, by the close of day three, it was abundantly clear which team had pulled ahead by a length. Hard though England toiled in the field, not least in the build-up to the second new ball, when Jake Ball and Chris Woakes – backed up by funky leg-side fields – set themselves to slow the run-rate to a crawl, their efforts were as nothing compared to the pace and fury that Australia’s seamers were able to generate on a surface that is appreciably quicker now than it had been on a sluggish first day.

From the outset of England’s second innings, it was clear that Starc and Hazlewood were generating a touch more heat than their English counterparts. However, Cook was still taken completely by surprise in Hazlewood’s second over, when he fizzed down a pinpoint bouncer that the former skipper could only flap off his eyebrows to fine leg, where Starc had only moments earlier been changing his boots and now dived forward to scoop up a stadium-igniting catch. In came James Vince, England’s hero of the first innings, who moments earlier had been pictured shadow-batting in the dressing room. He got off the mark with a neat clip off his pads but could go no further than that, as Hazlewood zeroed in on his outside edge, for Smith to snaffle a flying edge at second slip.

And before Root had had a chance to settle, it was Starc’s turn to leave his mark on the innings – or more specifically the peak of Root’s helmet, as he smashed a stunning bouncer flush into the corner of the visor and sent his ear-guard flying in the process. Australia’s fielders showed instant concern for the England captain, and the team doctor rushed out to give him a standing count, but with Mark Stoneman showing his mettle once again, England managed to reach the close with their hopes more intact than the fury of the session might have suggested. And yet, England will have regrouped at the close of play wondering how they were not firmly in control of this contest. The simple answer is that Smith refused to let them take control, although there were also some crucial questions flying around about the fitness of James Anderson, whose withdrawal from the attack after just three overs of the second new ball undermined England’s hopes of a quick kill, after he and Stuart Broad had struck twice in as many overs to reduce Australia to 209 for 7.

To focus on England’s tactics in that particular instance, however, would do a disservice to the immense levels of skill and determination shown by Smith in particular, but Pat Cummins too – whose innings of 42 from 120 balls helped add 66 vital runs for the eighth wicket, as Australia put crease occupation ahead of forwarding momentum in a bid to endure by whatever means necessary. Smith had resumed his innings knowing full well how vital his continued presence would be, given that England’s own innings had featured three half-centuries but nothing more substantial than Vince’s 83. And, having converted 20 of his previous 41 fifties into three figures, he was in the right frame of mind to go on again and give Australia the best possible chance of extending their proud unbeaten run at the Gabba.

In total, he needed a hefty 261 balls to bring up his hundred, which he finally achieved with a crunching drive through the covers off Broad, one of the few occasions when he allowed his natural ability to over-ride his defensive mindset. His moments of alarm could be counted on one hand – on 69, he was caught unawares by a perfectly directed throat-ball from Ball, but the spliced opportunity plopped short of the slips. But beyond that, Smith was happy to duck the short balls and get firmly into line against the straight ones and bide his time in a manner that few players of the modern era are willing to do. Shaun Marsh rather proved that point in the manner of his dismissal. He had been Smith’s partner when Australia resumed on 4 for 165, and though he marked his return to the Test team with a hard-fought fifty, he was eventually done in by a canny piece of bowling from Broad. Lured onto the front foot by an apparent wide half-volley, Marsh failed to clock that Broad had rolled his fingers down the seam, and Anderson collected a dolly of a lofted drive, as the ball skidded off the splice to mid-off.

Tim Paine, who had made his Australia debut alongside Smith against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010, came out to join Smith for his first Test innings for seven years. And though he looked solid for a while, he had no answer to the ball of the day from Anderson. Armed with the new ball, as well as the knowledge that he needed to make it count, Anderson produced a snorter that angled into the right-hander, nipped away, and kissed the edge for Bairstow to collect a fine one-handed catch behind the stumps. Starc started his innings with eye-popping intent, slamming his second ball, from Broad, clean over long-off for six – to induce a wry grin and a shrug from the bowler. Two balls later, however, Broad had his revenge, hauling his length back just an inch or two to collect another attempted drive in his follow through. At 7 for 209, Australia were on the ropes.

But then came Anderson’s apparent injury – a clutch of his side midway through his third over with the new ball, and a guarded chat with his captain. Though he initially remained on the field, he was delivered a tablet by England’s 12th man before lunch and departed into the dressing room for further treatment in the afternoon. And without his incisive attack-leading, England’s remaining bowlers went flat at precisely the moment that a moment of magic was required. That it was left to Root himself to end the innings, courtesy of Cook’s leg-side catch off Lyon, was an indictment of a fielding performance that finally ran out of steam. Australia’s bowlers, by contrast, haven’t looked fresher all match.

India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 3 Highlights – Nov 26, 2017

Sri Lanka tour of India 2nd Test Day 3t Highlights

Umpires – Richard Kettleborough, Joel Wilson
TV Umpires – Nigel Llong
Match Referee – David Boon
Reserve Umpire – Chettithody Shamshuddin
Match number – Test no. 2283

That safe, warm, fuzzy, home-like feeling was back for India as their two most valuable Test batsmen in recent times reunited to keep others blissfully unaware of any dangers there might have been of the new ball, fresh bowlers or scoreboard pressure. That M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, now the second-most prolific second-wicket pair for India, would grind the Sri Lankan bowling was predictable, but it wasn’t as straightforward as expected. Sri Lanka tested India at the start of the first two sessions, their front three bowlers arguably fared better than they did in Kolkata, but Vijay and Pujara preyed successfully on the other two, forcing the main bowlers to come back for new spells sooner than they would have liked, and then milking them. Both got hundreds, and once Vijay got out, Virat Kohli drove home the advantage further with a quick unbeaten 54 before stumps.

Dasun Shanaka and Dilruwan Perera released all the pressure built on the pair as the first 18 overs of the day went for just 36 runs. Dilruwan conceded 117 in his 21 overs, and despite a late comeback, Shanaka went at 3.3 an over. The two had bowled just nine of the first 54 overs, which meant Dinesh Chandimal had to ask Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath and Lahiru Gamage to keep coming back. The overs in the legs showed when Lakmal went for 21 in four overs in his mid-afternoon spell despite reverse swing on offer. By the time he took the second new ball, Lakmal had lost all sting and discipline.

The loose balls were almost absent in the first hour of the day. In particular, Vijay, making a comeback into the Test side, had to endure a testing time. As openers do, he needed a little bit of luck going his way, but his discipline otherwise was good. Pujara, at the other end, hardly made an error. Forced to defend, defend and defend, Vijay looked to manufacture a shot. He was 19 off 60 when he skipped down to Herath, got an inside edge to offer a half chance at short leg and also a full chance for a run-out because he had stepped out too far. Wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who seemed to have left his station to attempt a rebound off the short leg’s body, could have completed the run-out had he stayed put. As it turned out, a direct hit was needed, and Sadeera Samarawickrama missed from short leg.

In the next over, Vijay bat-padded a short-arm pull, but wide of short leg. Three overs later, Herath played with his inside and outside edges without creating a chance. Two overs later, Vijay fended at a short ball but the leading edge fell short of point. All this happened during a spell of four maiden overs, which was broken not with a rash stroke – as the Sri Lanka batsmen did on day one – but with a single to deepish mid-on. The introduction of Shanaka brought two cover-driven boundaries for Vijay. He began with a plum half-volley, which got dispatched too. Fifty runs came in the next 13 overs, which took India to lunch. False strokes almost went out of India’s game, and the field looked prone. There was another concerted effort from Sri Lanka after lunch but another 26-ball barren spell was broken calmly by singles from these calm batsmen.

As the mileage grew in those legs, the intensity dipped, the run rate increased and the milestones began to arrive. After the tough start, Vijay scored 102 off the last 135 balls he faced even as Pujara maintained a more moderate acceleration. Vijay brought up his 10th hundred, Pujara his 14th, and the pair its 10th hundred and third double hundred together. Vijay provided Sri Lanka some respite when he top-edged a full toss he was sweeping to short fine leg, but the respite was momentary. While Pujara’s gradual acceleration continued, Kohli went faster than even Vijay had been. He even stole a bye with the ball in the wicketkeeper’s hand. In Test cricket. By stumps, the two had added 96 in 22.3 overs with Kohli repaying the hard work done by those before him, through quick runs that should give India enough time to bowl Sri Lanka out the second time around.

Australia vs England 1st Test Day 3 Highlights – Nov 25, 2017

An absorbing Ashes contest will go into the third day with neither side having made a convincing grab for the upper hand, but with Australia’s captain, Steven Smith, firmly ensconced as the most vital performer of the contest to date. His hard-bitten half-century, with determined support from the recalled Shaun Marsh, hauled Australia towards a position of parity, having clawed back the initiative in the latter half of England’s own innings only for their own top-order to crumble in a gripping passage of mid-afternoon action. Having inched along to 4 for 196 on a cat-and-mouse opening day, England made it through the first hour of an elongated morning session without further loss, as Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan carried their fifth-wicket stand to 83. But thereafter, wickets tumbled like the Barmy Army’s sobriety levels – 6 for 56 as England’s innings shuddered to an underwhelming 302 all out, before Australia put that total in some sort of context by slumping themselves to 4 for 76 in reply.

HIGHLIGHTS WATCH HERE https://tune.pk/video/7469418/a-v-e-1st-t-d3-p1

But, having lost the fourth of those wickets – Peter Handscomb – in the first over after tea, Smith and Marsh found the depths of resolve that their team required, first to guard against disaster and then, in compiling an unbroken 89-run stand spanning 37 overs, to leave to England sweating for further breakthroughs as the shadows began to length. Marsh, back in Australia’s Test team for the eighth separate occasion, grew in confidence as his stay was extended, but was restricted to two scoring shots from his first 36 deliveries as England hounded his defences, with Moeen called back into the attack to challenge his weakness against the turning ball, and James Anderson serving up a typically inventive spell of swing and seam in which no two deliveries seemed entirely alike, except that they were invariably targeting the top of off stump.

But it was Smith, inevitably, who applied the stamp of class to Australia’s innings, and in so doing, he carried his career average in home Tests up into the 70s. He too was obliged to dig deep for long periods – having chiselled his first boundary from his third delivery, he didn’t add his second until 24 overs later. A top-edged hook off Chris Woakes was the closest he came to giving his stay away (the ball plugged safely in no-man’s land at deep midwicket), but he added the second boundary off his hips one ball later, and having brought up his fifty from 112 deliveries, reached the close looking as solid and ominous as any batsman can be. Of the 41 times that Smith has previously reached a half-century, he has converted to three figures on a remarkable 20 occasions – and that, in the final analysis of what is already a keenly fought contest, could be the making of a decisive difference between the teams. For while England’s own performance had been chock-full of promise on three distinct occasions, the abiding tale of their day’s batting was the hasty manner in which it came to an end, with the last six wickets tumbling – their fourth bona fide batting collapse in as many innings on tour.

Not that Australia found the going any easier when their turn came to bat. The pitch seemed markedly quicker than it had been on the opening day and England’s first breakthrough was delivered, as so often in recent Ashes contests, by Stuart Broad, who found some extra zip outside the off stump of the debutant Cameron Bancroft, for Jonny Bairstow to swallow the thin nick and send him on his way for 5. Anderson also threatened the edge with a disciplined new-ball spell, but the arrival of Usman Khawaja at No. 3 prompted Joe Root to take an early look at the off-spin of Moeen – emboldened, no doubt, by the earlier success of Nathan Lyon, who had been the pick of Australia’s bowlers in spite of his underwhelming figures of 2 for 78. Khawaja’s career has been scattered with failures against finger-spin – he lost his Test place in the subcontinent due to doubts about his technique – and sure enough, Moeen needed just two deliveries to bag his man. Khawaja watched one turn appreciably past his off stump, then had no answer whatsoever to a tighter, fuller follow-up that pinned him lbw for 11.

Warner, by this stage, was settling into his groove – without ever letting rip with his full power and fury, he had nevertheless greeted Moeen with a rasping drive for four and had eased along to 26 when the unassuming seam of Jake Ball did him like a kipper. Latching onto a back-of-a-length delivery, Warner swivelled into a half-hearted pull, and Malan at short midwicket juggled briefly before clinging on at the second attempt. And then, five balls after tea, Anderson claimed a deserved first scalp of the series as he out-thought the crease-bound Handscomb with a brilliant variation ball – part yorker, part fast off-break, that burst off the turf and into his shin to prompt a vociferous appeal and a successful review, after umpire Aleem Dar had initially judged it to be sliding down the leg side. But the stage was set for Smith and Marsh to embark on their vital revival.

It was a vital riposte from England, whose own batsmen looked at one stage to have had laid the foundations for a formidable total. But, despite having kept Australia in the field for 117 overs, their tactic of prioritising time over intent was undermined by a series of injudicious dismissals, as they tumbled from 4 for 246 to 302 all out in a harum-scarum display. The momentum swing was initiated at precisely the moment when it seemed that Australia were running short of ideas. Despite resuming with a new ball that had been a mere three deliveries old, Australia’s seamers found themselves thwarted by Moeen and Malan, and when Starc returned for his second spell shortly after the drinks break, he opted for a barrage of short balls that appeared to be an optimistic approach given the sluggish nature of the deck.

It did not appear to have fazed Malan in the least, the third of England’s Ashes debutants to make his mark with a half-century. But, undeterred, Starc persisted with his approach, found some extra height to take the delivery out of Malan’s comfort zone, and Marsh at square leg – whose previous involvement had been to rip Starc’s trousers with his studs in an awkward tangle in the outfield – clung onto a top-edged pull to deliver Starc his 150th Test wicket. Eight deliveries later, England were left with two new batsmen on 0 when Moeen stretched forward to the persevering Lyon and was pinned lbw for 38. Four balls later, Lyon had a second, as Woakes gave himself room to drive against the spin and inside-edged another big turner into his stumps for a duck. England had shed three wickets for four runs in the space of 18 deliveries, and much as had been the case when a Peter Siddle hat-trick wrecked their first innings at the Gabba in 2010-11, their innings had been reduced to pure damage limitation.

Bairstow was, on this occasion, unable to stem the flow, top-edging a steepler to Tim Paine behind the stumps for 9. Ball gave it some Humpty to enliven England’s muted fans, tonking a couple of boundaries before trying to flick Starc off his pads, only to be brilliantly caught by a flying Warner at leg gully for 14. That wicket fell in the scheduled final over before lunch, meaning that play was extended by half an hour as Anderson came out to join Broad. Anderson, not unusually, was the subject of a barrage of verbals and bouncers, one of which he heaved deftly over the cordon for four. Broad, meanwhile, should have been dismissed at fine leg to signal the end of the innings, only for Marsh to spill a dolly over the boundary for four. However, his luck could not last, and where Marsh had erred, Handscomb displayed safe hands to give Josh Hazlewood his first wicket of the series.

India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights – Nov 24, 2017

Ind v SL highlights today 

 Second test day one from Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur (India) Friday 24th November 2017. In their first test, India batted first and scored 172 runs in their first innings which was not a good performance. Sri Lanka scored 294 in their first innings but after that India smashed all Sri Lankan bowlers in their second innings and scored 352 with 8 down their captain declared their innings. Sri Lanka scored 75 with 7 down in 26.3 overs and drawn the match. India was so close to the victory but the bad light does its job all five days, so hopefully this time it may not happen again or rain will not spoil the game.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS


Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
India team/playing XI
KL Rahul, M Vijay, CA Pujara, V Kohli (c), AM Rahane, RG Sharma, R Ashwin, WP Saha †, RA Jadeja, UT Yadav, I Sharma.

Sri Lanka team/playing XI
S Samarawickrama, FDM Karunaratne, HDRL Thirimanne, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal (c), N Dickwella †, MD Shanaka, MDK Perera, HMRKB Herath, RAS Lakmal, PLS Gamage.


Sri Lanka tour of India 2nd Test Highlights

Another green-top awaits India and Sri Lanka, but an even covering of grass does not guarantee the same help fast bowlers found in Kolkata. Not many pitches in the world would, not even in South Africa. The weather in Nagpur is expected to be sunny and dry, and conditions, as a result, could traverse the full arc: early assistance for the quicks, flat batting conditions on days two and three, and then, perhaps, some turn and uneven bounce. “The wicket is quite hard as it usually is at Nagpur with a nice grass covering on it,” Virat Kohli said. “So, the fast bowlers should be in play for the first couple of days, for sure, because of the bounce and the nice carry off it as well. From there on, the spinners will come into play. It is a pretty good wicket for overall Test cricket, I feel.”

With conditions not skewed as heavily in favour of fast bowling as they were in Kolkata, Sri Lanka will have to decide if they need an extra batsman. That could mean Dasun Shanaka might have to make way for Dhananjaya de Silva. Lahiru Gamage was unimpressive in Kolkata and should vacate his place for left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando. Vijay will take the slot vacated by Dhawan but India have different options when it comes to replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will get married during the Test. Ishant Sharma could be his like-for-like replacement or Rohit Sharma could slot in as the extra batsman or rookie Vijay Shankar could play as a seaming allrounder if India want to test a seaming allrounder for South Africa. The spinners should both play because unlike Kolkata, there will be work to do for them, especially in the second innings.

Umpires – Richard Kettleborough, Joel Wilson
TV Umpires – Nigel Llong
Match Referee – David Boon
Reserve Umpire – Chettithody Shamshuddin
Match number – Test no. 2283

Australia vs England 1st Test Day 2 Highlights – Nov 24, 2017

Eng v Aus The Ashes Highlights today – First test day two from Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane (Australia) Friday 24th November 2017. 80.3 overs had been bowled yesterday because the interruption of the rain and England scored 196 runs with four wickets down. The opener of the English team AN Cook had not survived for so long in the first innings, his wickets dismissed when it was 2.4 edged and gone! Cook had no choice but to play the line, but the ball kissed the edge with a hint of outswing, and comfortably pouched by Handscomb at first slip! 2/1. MD Stoneman faced 159 deliveries and scored 53 runs then out, JM Vince runs out at 83, JE Root (c) contributed 15 runs, DJ Malan 28 not out with MM Ali 13 not out. PJ Cummins took two wickets and MA Starc took one at day one.

Australia vs England 1st Test Day 1 Highlights – Nov 23, 2017

Eng v Aus The Ashes Highlights today

First test day one from Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane (Australia) Thursday 23rd November 2017. From 1882–83 to 2015 total 325 (The Ashes) test matches has been played those are total 69 series. 2017/18 The Ashes series will be 70th series in the history of The Ashes series. 162 test matches has been played in Australia (total 34 Series) and 163 matches has been played in England (total 35 series) so far. Australia won total 130 tests out of 325 (40%) and England won 106 (32.6%) and 89 matches were drawn (27.4%). The good thing about this series is that both teams won equal series till 2015 (Australia won 32 and England also won 32 out of 69).

Highlights


England won the toss and elected to bat.
Australia team/playing XI
DA Warner, CT Bancroft, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), PSP Handscomb, SE Marsh, TD Paine †, MA Starc, PJ Cummins, JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon.

England team/playing XI
AN Cook, MD Stoneman, JM Vince, JE Root (c), DJ Malan, MM Ali, JM Bairstow †, CR Woakes, SCJ Broad, JT Ball, JM Anderson.

he Ashes 2017/18 1st Test Highlights

The final pitch prepared by Kevin Mitchell Jnr is likely to offer pace and bounce, generally more so on days two and three than the opening day, before offering cracks and footmarks for the slower bowlers later on. It will have a smattering of grass. Showers are forecast to fall at times throughout the match. Jake Ball was named in the XI as the fourth seamer ahead of Craig Overton*, while Moeen Ali will be seen at No. 6 and Jonny Bairstow at No. 7 with the latter’s ability to bat well with the tail.

As expected, Australia left out Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers from their final XI, while Warner is likely to play despite suffering from a neck complaint during training in Brisbane this week although Glenn Maxwell was added as cover. Shaun Marsh had a stiff back as well so Maxwell could come in for either Marsh or Warner. Cameron Bancroft will debut at the top of the order with Shaun Marsh at No. 6, and the wicketkeeper Tim Paine playing his first Test match since 2010.

Umpires – Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus
TV Umpires – Chris Gaffaney
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Paul Wilson
Match number – Test no. 2282

When England’s Ashes tourists were dubbed the “Un-name-ables”, it was the likes of James Vince and Mark Stoneman whom the detractors would have had in mind – if only they could have picked them out of the crowd. Two first-time visitors to Australia, with a solitary half-century from ten previous Tests between them, their reputations were so lowly that they could only get better, or so the selectors’ logic would have you believe. But lo and behold, by the close of another frenetic, absorbing first day at the Gabba, Vince had replaced that blanked-out question mark on his profile page with a perfect array of no-filter cover-drives, while Stoneman – in reaching his fifth consecutive half-century of the tour – had announced himself as the sort of imperturbable left-handed nugget upon whom English Ashes victories Down Under have recently been founded.

But before anyone starts to equate Vince’s elegance with Michael Vaughan’s tour de force in 2002-03, or Stoneman’s insouciance with Chris Broad’s and Alastair Cook’s efforts in 1986-87 and 2010-11 respectively, it’s worth taking a second look at a scorecard that confirms how hard England were forced to battle for even a share of the spoils. Despite enjoying periods of rare dominance in the midst of a second-wicket stand of 125 that, remarkably, outshone any England partnership at any stage of their dismal last visit in 2013-14, England started and finished the day in a rare old scrap – first with Mitchell Starc exploiting once again Cook’s weakness against quality left-arm seam to bag him for 2 in the third over, and then in the twilight, as Nathan Lyon, in particular, backed up his extreme pre-match lippiness with one of the finest wicketless spells of first-day offspin ever witnessed in an Ashes contest.

Lyon did, however, produce the single most significant moment of Australia’s day – a pinpoint pick-up-and-shy from the covers to run out Vince for a career-best 83. It was the opening that his side desperately needed, and while it may not have been fully exploited before the close, the loss of Joe Root, lbw to the persevering Pat Cummins for 15, did leave Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan clinging on to the close. They did so in a gutsy 33-run stand, but when play was controversially suspended moments after a tight lbw appeal from Starc against Malan, the day’s honours had been left more or less even at 196 for 4, even if Australia’s second new ball was a mere three deliveries old. How much of a difference would it have made to the balance of power had Vince made it through to the close? It’s not the sort of rhetorical question that had been predicted when he was recalled – amid scenes of barely suppressed mockery – to be England’s nailed-on Ashes No. 3. After all, his Test career had appeared dead in the water when he was dropped after the 2016 home summer, with 212 runs at 19.27 to his name.

But the selectors evidently saw something in the quality of his shot-making that deserved a second chance, and in powering past his previous Test best of 42, he returned that faith in spades. Under overcast skies and with palpable humidity in the air, there must have been a temptation for England’s captain, Root, to bowl first after winning the toss – not that such a course of action is remotely acceptable in Ashes contests these days, given what happened when Nasser Hussain went down that route in 2002-03. Instead, Root trusted in his untested top order to deliver the goods, and from the moment the shine went off the new ball and the sluggish nature of Kevin Mitchell Jnr’s final Test wicket was fully revealed, any lingering doubts about his wisdom had been vanquished. Not that he really wanted Vince to be involved in the action as early as the third over – but, having avoided temptation in Mitchell Starc’s first over, Cook had no riposte to a perfect off-stump outswinger that kissed the edge through to Peter Handscomb at first slip.

But right from the outset, Vince had his game brain in full working order. With Australia’s three seamers favouring a full-length approach, there was ample opportunity for Vince to unfurl his favourite cover drive, and one stroke in particular – off Josh Hazlewood in the 11th over – was pure Vaughan in poise and execution. He had one significant let-off on 68, when Tim Paine, of all people, shelled a snick behind the stumps off Lyon to leave the wicketkeeper’s card marked seven years after his last Test. Fortunately, Lyon himself made sure that the damage wasn’t irreparable. At the other end, Stoneman showed that Cook’s influence persists even when his form isn’t quite as it might be. His judgement outside off was impeccable, particularly against the probing Starc, as the pair’s partnership was stretched across 52 overs plus a lengthy rain delay that pushed the tea interval back by an hour and 20 minutes, and effectively forced them to make two separate starts to their innings.

At the culmination of a month of ceaseless Ashes hype, crowned with a week of the purest trash-talk in Brisbane, the manner in which they drew the sting of the most feared Australian venue of them all was inspiring, and at times distantly reminiscent of England’s famous second innings on this ground in 2010-11. But, having nudged coolly along to a Test-best second half-century, it took the ball of the day from the energetic Cummins, a reverse-swinging howitzer that trimmed the top of his bails, to send Stoneman on his way in the closing moments of the afternoon session.

It was a telling breakthrough, with Australia just beginning to make the old ball talk, and though that ball did have to be changed after landing in a puddle by the boundary’s edge, Cummins soon found the length and the skill with the replacement to thud a big inswinger into Root’s pad to pin him lbw for 15. At 163 for 4, England were a couple of quick blows from squandering their hard-fought position, and with Lyon settling into an edge-threatening rhythm against the left-handed pairing of Moeen and Malan, the prospect of the Gabba making a Kraken-like awakening could not be remotely ruled out.

Both men lived dangerously, beaten time and again outside off, as the floodlights blinked into action to add a further layer of threat to England’s position. But it was Starc’s trio of deliveries with the second new ball that offered the starkest reminder of the threat that persists in Australia’s ranks. Despite being made to toil, they stayed very emphatically in the hunt.

India Vs Srilanka 1st Test Match- 19th Nov. 2017 - 5th Day Video Highlights

VISITORS ESCAPE WITH A DRAW

The first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens ended in a thrilling draw, with the hosts almost sealing an unlikely win. Resuming at 171/1, India set Sri Lanka a target of 231 -- courtesy Virat Kohli’s 50th international ton. In reply, the visitors were blown away by an outstanding spell of bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar but bad light played spoilsport as the match ended in a draw. Get highlights of India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Day 5, Kolkata, here. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Man of the Match): “Frankly speaking, it was tougher to bowl in the second innings as the surface was a lot drier,” he says. “But the ball was reversing, so that helped. When I made my debut, I was totally dependent on swing. International circuit tells you what you need to improve on. I worked hard on my fitness and that is paying off. We believed we could win. Virat said ‘Imagine we’re in this situation overseas. If we get two-three wickets early, it won’t be easy for them.”

Virat Kohli: “It was important to make something out of the game with whatever time we had. Conditions changed drastically over the five days. We had to show character, having been on the backfoot on day one and day two. Credit to Sri Lanka. The team showed a lot of character. We didn’t look at the batting collapse. We believed in our strengths. If you didn’t have intent on this wicket, it would’ve been difficult to survive. That was the key. If we got enough good balls in the right areas, it would’ve been tough. All in all, we’re proud of how we finished. Bhuvneshwar is a massive contender to start in every Test for India, he’ll be a vital part of our plans, especially overseas.”

Dinesh Chandimal: “In these kind of conditions, toss was crucial. We fought hard and competed well. Till the last session, we fought well and played as a team. Unfortunately, the last 10-15 overs brought a lot of pressure but we played good cricket and competed well. Lakmal is unbelievable, especially over the last one or two years. He’s one who you can trust as a captain.”

India Vs Srilanka 1st Test Match- 19th Nov. 2017 - 4th Day Video Highlights

Indian Openers turn the tables around 

1st Test: India vs Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Nov 16 - 20, 2017, Cricket highlights

The day that began with Sri Lanka on the top, ended with India getting slightly ahead of the visitors. After conceding a lead of 122 runs, the Indian openers came out to bat with a positive intent, as they quickly wiped out the deficit and pushed their team into a lead. While KL Rahul was the aggressor during the start of the innings, Shikhar Dhawan overtook his partner in the latter part of their 166-run partnership as he scored a brisk 94 off just 116 balls. He missed out on a well-deserved hundred, but the kind of innings he played took the match away from the Sri Lankans.

Also with the pitch wearing out, there was not much assistance either for the fast bowlers or the spinners. Dinesh Chandimal tried all his bowling options, but none of them was effective. They also missed Suranga Lakmal with the new ball, who was out of the attack because of a slight niggle. The medium pace Sri Lankan bowling attack didn’t trouble the Indian openers much and when the spinners came on, both Rahul and Dhawan batted aggressively, which didn't allow them to settle down. Dhawan, especially, took the attack to Rangana Herath as he made good use of his feet to smash the left-arm spinner for a couple of huge hits. He also played the sweep shot really well and didn’t miss out on any boundary scoring opportunities. Sri Lanka also used up both their reviews in order to get Dhawan out, but were unsuccessful on each occasion.

Dhawan’s partner, KL Rahul, looked in fluent touch for the first 40 runs he scored. But as his innings progressed, he looked a bit dodgy and in the process, played and missed a few deliveries. However, he didn’t throw his wicket away and at Stumps, remained unbeaten on 71.

India, because of that huge opening partnership, have been able to take a slender lead of 49 runs. But the important thing is that they have lost just one wicket.