Australia vs England 3rd Test Day 3 Highlights – Dec 16, 2017

England won the toss and chose to bat

Australia team/playing XI
DA Warner, CT Bancroft, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith (c), SE Marsh, MR Marsh, TD Paine †, MA Starc, PJ Cummins, NM Lyon, JR Hazlewood.

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

Watch the Highlights here      

Australia vs England 3rd Test Day 2 Highlights – Dec 15, 2017

Eng v Aus highlights today

 Third test day two from W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth (Australia) Friday 15th December 2017. Once again England got another chance to gain a victory Aussies because they performed very well at first day 305 with four down. Now if England could reach near about or more then 500 runs in their first innings then they have a huge chance to win this third test. England’s highest total of the venue is 592/8d, which was scored in 1986 against the home team and Australia highest total is 735/6d vs Zimbabwe in 2003. DA Warner played nine innings on this pitch and scored 803 runs with highest 253.

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

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

Highlights
Highlights will be available shortly.
Match Timings: 10.30 start, Lunch 12.30-13.10, Tea 15.10-15.30, Close 17.30




England tour of Australia and New Zealand 3rd Test Highlights

Umpires – Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpires – Aleem Dar
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Paul Wilson
Match number – Test no. 2288

There was a wry smile on Joe Root’s face when he won the toss at the WACA and chose to bat. At Adelaide Oval, he had learnt the hard way that sending the opposition in and then losing is difficult for a captain to live down. So in Perth, it was back to conventional wisdom: bat first and put runs on the board. On a day when Dawid Malan scored his maiden Test century and Mark Stoneman posted his highest Test score, and England moved to 4 for 305 at stumps, Root must have breathed a sigh of relief. And by the close of play, another decision had also paid off for England: the move of Jonny Bairstow up from No. 7 to No. 6. Bairstow was the second leading scorer in Test cricket in 2016 but has found himself batting behind Moeen Ali in this series – until today. At stumps, he was on 75 and Malan had 110, and their unbeaten 174-run partnership was England’s best Ashes stand in Australia since the second Test of their memorable 2010-11 campaign.

Notably, England’s success on this day came without significant contributions from Root, who made a brisk 20 before he gloved one down leg off Pat Cummins, or Alastair Cook, who began his 150th Test in disappointing fashion by missing a straight one from Mitchell Starc and being adjudged lbw for 7 in the fifth over of the match. Little did England care, though, for all that mattered was that at 2-0 down they had given themselves some hope of fighting back in the series. Australia may yet rue a missed opportunity late in the day when Starc swung the first delivery with the second new ball and Malan, on 92, edged to third slip, where Cameron Bancroft spilled the chance. It was Australia’s second dropped catch in the cordon: Mitchell Marsh at first slip had grassed a straightforward chance off Josh Hazlewood’s bowling when Stoneman edged on 52. At least that cost Australia little, for Stoneman was soon out for 56.

But the key to the day was the Malan-Bairstow stand, which lasted throughout the final session and set England up for a potentially hefty first-innings total. Malan was strong when driving through cover and he was given plenty of opportunities to do so. Australian fast bowlers have often spoken of the importance of not getting carried away with the pace and bounce at the WACA, where visiting fast men regularly bowl too short. Here Australia were punished when they bowled full. Malan struck 15 fours and one six – a top-edged hook off Starc – and brought up his century late in the afternoon with a boundary pulled off Hazlewood, from his 159th delivery. It was the 20th century of Malan’s first-class career and his second on this tour after he scored 109 against the Cricket Australia XI in Townsville, and it was the first by any England player in an Ashes Test in Australia since Ben Stokes at the WACA four years ago.

Bairstow too could go to bed dreaming of an Ashes hundred, having already managed the highest score of his 12-Test Ashes career. He was productive on the leg side when the Australians bowled too straight and by stumps had struck 10 boundaries. There were a few cracks on the WACA surface at the toss and a little bit of grass, but the Australians believed it would be a good batting pitch, hence their decision to include Mitchell Marsh for Peter Handscomb as a fifth bowling option. It was Marsh’s first Test since the tour of India earlier this year and while he did send down seven overs on the first day, it was Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins who looked the most likely to do any damage. Stoneman was impressive when sweeping Nathan Lyon, who found himself struggling for impact for the first time in the series, and the opener also picked off three fours from one Starc over early in the day. But Stoneman’s initially quick scoring rate slowed considerably after lunch when he was struck on the helmet by a fierce bouncer from Hazlewood. The next delivery was another short one that Stoneman fended towards Lyon at the point, though he couldn’t hold a tough chance, and soon Stoneman found himself bogged down.

Stoneman’s fifty came up from his 82nd delivery but soon fell to another accurate bouncer, this time from Starc. Stoneman was given not out on the field but Australia’s review was upheld by third umpire Aleem Dar, on the evidence of a Snicko spike as the ball passed Stoneman’s glove on the way through to Tim Paine. The hasty overturning of the decision caused a brief ruckus, but further replays showed it was the correct call. The review perhaps also overshadowed the fact that it was a brilliant take from Paine, who had to leap into the air and snared the catch with one hand thrust above his head. But it was the last breakthrough of the day for Australia, who had picked up Cook and James Vince, who flirted outside off and edged behind off Hazlewood for 25, in the first session, and then Root and Stoneman in the second. Malan and Bairstow ensured this was unequivocally England’s day.

Australia vs England 3rd Test Day 1 Highlights – Dec 14, 2017

                                                      Eng v Aus highlights today 

Third test day one from W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth (Australia) Thursday 14th December 2017. After a small victory of the toss, English team captain JE Root decided to bat first and England team scored 305 runs in 89 overs with four wickets down today. AN Cook poor form continues and he has gone with scoring just seven runs, when his wicket dismissed then it was 4.4 full and fast, 149kph and trapped in front! No review from Cook, he knows that was plumb… Starc finds his line and sends a searing attempted yorker into the pads, no big innings for Cook in his 150th Test (at least for now); too slow to get the bat down and his lean series continues 26/1.




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

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

MD Stoneman scored 56 runs off 110 deliveries and out, He smashed ten 4s in his innings, the dismissal of his wicket was like this, 37.5 ripping bouncer, Stoneman throws up the hands and is beaten… or is he? No, there was a flick of glove on it! Paine took a leaping catch and Australia quickly reviewed Erasmus’ not-out decision, with Aleem Dar determining that a ripple on Snicko was evidence of contact. Erasmus has to reverse the call and up goes the finger, Stoneman’s gutsy knock is over! That was a snorter, unlucky for the batsmen on several levels 131/4. JM Vince contributed 25 runs and JE Root (c) scored 20 runs.

Match Timings: 10.30 start, Lunch 12.30-13.10, Tea 15.10-15.30, Close 17.30

England tour of Australia and New Zealand 3rd Test Highlights

Umpires – Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpires – Aleem Dar
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Paul Wilson
Match number – Test no. 2288

After the fourth wicket down at 131 DJ Malan and JM Bairstow † comes to the crease and smashed all Australian bowlers till the last ball of the day. DJ Malan still not out at 110 and JM Bairstow † also not out at 75. DJ Malan smashed fifteen 4s and a maximum, JM Bairstow smashed ten boundaries so far. MA Starc took two wickets, JR Hazlewood took one and PJ Cummins also took one wicket.

Will it be the WACA pitch of old? Pace and bounce? These questions have preceded every Perth Test in recent years, and the answer varies from summer to summer. Some years there are hints of the old WACA, other years it is one of the country’s most docile surfaces. Western Australia coach Justin Langer says the past few Sheffield Shield games at the WACA have been played on flat pitches, but curator Matt Page is confident the surface will be quicker than last year. The forecast for Perth is hot, though with a chance of rain on days four and five.

England have named an unchanged XI but Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow have swapped places in the order. Australia will not name their XI until the morning of the match, but if the pitch looks remotely flat, it is expected that Mitchell Marsh will replace Peter Handscomb to provide a fifth bowling option.

India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI Highlights – Dec 13, 2017

            Toss: Sri Lanka won and elected to field first.

India team/playing XI
RG Sharma (c), S Dhawan, SS Iyer, MS Dhoni †, HH Pandya, KD Karthik, MK Pandey, B Kumar, Washington Sundar, JJ Bumrah, YS Chahal.

Sri Lanka team/playing XI
MD Gunathilaka, WU Tharanga, HDRL Thirimanne, AD Mathews, N Dickwella †, DAS Gunaratne, NLTC Perera (c), SS Pathirana, A Dananjaya, RAS Lakmal, ANPR Fernando.

Mohali seldom plays true to what is now an outdated reputation for pace and bounce, but it is still the north Indian winter, with maximum temperatures in the high teens or low twenties, and there has been some rain about in the lead-up to the match, so fast bowlers can expect a certain amount of help. Last year, the seamers took eight out of 13 wickets in an ODI against New Zealand in which an unbeaten 154 from Virat Kohli and an 80 from Dhoni helped India chase down 286.

Sri Lanka tour of India 2nd ODI (D/N) Highlights

Umpires – Nandan, Paul Reiffel
TV Umpires – Simon Fry
Match Referee – Jeff Crowe
Reserve Umpire – Nitin Menon
Match number – ODI no. 3941

Report
Rohit Sharma’s template in ODIs isn’t complicated: watchful in the first 10 overs, accumulation in the next 30 overs, and a belligerent assault in the last 10. Sri Lanka knew all about it, having conceded 264 to him in Kolkata three years ago, but he reminded them again in terrific batting conditions in Mohali. He razed his way to his third double-century in ODIs to launch India to 392 for 4, helping India level the series with a 141-run drubbing. Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer gave Rohit able company with rapid half-centuries, as India posted their 100th 300-plus total in ODIs. Angelo Mathews led Sri Lanka’s losing battle with a fighting hundred, his second in ODIs, but just like AB de Villiers’ 114 against India in Gwalior in 2010, it didn’t take much away from a stunning double-hundred.

Given Mohali’s large boundaries, Sri Lanka’s response to Rohit was to take pace off the ball and try bowling short. It didn’t work. Sri Lanka’s end-overs specialists Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep then tried firing in wide yorkers. It didn’t work. Straight yorkers? Nope. Low full-tosses resulted in sixes over midwicket and square leg. As the level of intimidation went up, Sri Lanka grew increasingly helpless. So frenetic was the pace of the final third of Rohit’s innings that he scored more than half of his unbeaten 208 in the last 10 overs. He had nudged his way to his 16th ODI century by the end of the 40th and then went on to thump 107 more off his final 37 balls. He scored 144, close to 70% of his runs, square on either side of the wicket. India scored 147 in the last 10 overs. Nuwan Pradeep came close to Mick Lewis’ record of most runs conceded in an ODI, but finished seven runs short, ending at 10-0-106-0.

Confidence is arguably the most influential factor in sport. Any team is bound to be tentative after slumping to 29 for 7 in their previous game. So when India were put in to bat in hazy conditions, Rohit and Dhawan put away their attacking instincts, allowing Sri Lanka’s in-form seamers to win the first Powerplay: they scored just 33 in the first 10 overs. Apart from their ability to steal singles with soft hands in the Powerplay, Rohit and Dhawan are also proficient because they prefer different lengths. Dhawan sits back and waits for bowlers to err on the short side, and Rohit favours the fuller length when they compensate. For 10 overs, Sri Lanka found the perfect length in-between. As fatigue crept in and new bowlers took time to settle, they erred too often. India’s run-rate rose from a little over three to above five in a few overs thereafter. Dhawan was particularly productive square on either side of the wicket, hitting nine fours before shovelling a flick to midwicket off Sachith Pathirana.

After cruising to fifty, Rohit chose only the errant deliveries to attack. But India’s run-rate remained lofty due to Iyer’s belligerence. After moving quietly to 11 off 15, he chipped down the track off Pathirana and hit him over mid-on despite not getting to the pitch of the ball. Sri Lanka changed their length, and Iyer pounced on width. Iyer led the charge after Rohit’s ton. He displayed the strong bottom-handed power that has almost become a requisite in modern ODI batting. He also showed off his touch, guiding and scything balls either side of the point. He eventually holed out for 88 off 70 balls, an innings that featured nine fours and two sixes, in the 46th over, but the damage had been done.

The chase fizzled out early, as Sri Lanka labored their way to 41 for 2 in the first 10 overs. Upul Tharanga slapped a catch to cover and Danushka Gunathilaka was strangled down the leg side. Lahiru Thirimanne’s horror form continued, managing just 21 runs off 34 balls before attempting a premeditated reverse-sweep off debutant Washington Sundar, who struck off his ninth ball in ODIs. Sri Lanka’s middle order, led by Mathews, batted with intent and aggression. Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne contributed brisk cameos but were dismissed trying to keep up with an asking rate that soared past 10 runs per over with more than half the innings remaining. When he could, Mathews stepped out to hit over the infield. When he couldn’t, he used his wrists and bottom hand to wriggle out runs on the leg side. He hit 72 of his unbeaten 111 on the leg side, accounting for 65% of his runs.

Australia vs England 2nd Test Day 5 Highlights – Dec 6, 2017

England tour of Australia and New Zealand 2nd Test (D/N) Highlights

Umpires – Aleem Dar, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpires – Marais Erasmus
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Sam Nogajski
Match number – Test no. 2285

Momentum is a curious, intangible beast, impossible to measure but easy to see. There are players who claim that it doesn’t exist, yet what else but momentum can explain the fact that England are even remotely back in this Test match? England, who were thrashed by 10 wickets in Brisbane. England, who here sent Australia in, saw them bat into six sessions and declare at 8 for 442. England, who batted so poorly that they gave Australia the chance to enforce the follow-on. And therein lies the crux of this momentum shift. Steven Smith did not make England bat again, preferring to give his bowlers a rest. In doing so, he made his own men bat under lights on the third evening, when England’s bowlers hooped the ball around and gained confidence. On the fourth day, Australia were knocked over for 138, and James Anderson claimed the first five-wicket haul he had ever managed in 15 Tests in Australia. The previously anosmic England had the trace of a sniff.

By stumps, England had doggedly worked their way to 4 for 176, with their captain Joe Root the key man, unbeaten on 67, alongside Chris Woakes on 5. The momentum had threatened to swing back to Australia late in the evening when Pat Cummins rattled the top of Dawid Malan’s off stump, and might have done so had Woakes not jammed down on a sizzling Cummins yorker from the penultimate ball of the day. In the end, England went to stumps needing a further 178 runs with six wickets in hand. Yet if Australia’s position was much the stronger, England might have felt that they won the day, for they ended it with more chance of victory than when they had started. In the final session, it was the Australians who looked nervy, Smith losing both of his side’s reviews in the space of three balls as he sought a fourth wicket.

Objectively, this made little sense. To win, England would need to rewrite history. Never before have England chased down a target as high as the 354 they were set here. For nearly 90 years, their record chase has been 332, achieved by a team that boasted Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe and Wally Hammond in their top four. To triumph at Adelaide Oval would not only break England’s record, it would be one of the top 10 chases in all of Test history. Australia’s mood was not helped by an incident in the fourth over when Josh Hazlewood rapped Alastair Cook on the pads from around the wicket. The lbw appeal was turned down by umpire Chris Gaffaney, presumably feeling the ball was sliding down leg. Neither Hazlewood nor wicketkeeper Tim Paine seemed desperate to convince Smith to review, and Australia left it alone. Ball-tracking would have given them the wicket, the ball smashing into leg stump.

Perhaps that played a role in Smith’s eagerness to review later, first when Pat Cummins thought he had Root caught behind and then when Hazlewood struck Malan on the flap of the pad in the next over. No Snicko, no Hot Spot, no “umpire’s call”, just lost reviews that would not be refreshed. At least in the meantime, Smith had made one good review, when Nathan Lyon straightened one to trap Cook lbw for 16. Cook and Mark Stoneman had given England just the solid start they required, but on 53 their partnership was broken by Cook’s departure, and Stoneman fell with only one more run added to the score. Having scored at a run a ball for his first 28, he had been stifled for some time when on 36 he tried to glide Mitchell Starc away to the off side and succeeded only in sending a catch to Usman Khawaja at gully.

James Vince did little for his Test reputation by driving breezily at Starc and edging to first slip for 15, which left England wobbling at 3 for 91. But Root and Malan worked hard through the tricky evening period for a 78-run stand. Root, in particular, was excellent, seeking not just to survive but to score – though he had a nervous moment when given out lbw playing no shot to Lyon, a decision that was overturned on review. If Smith’s hundred was the defining innings at the Gabba, Root could yet make the difference here. The day had started with Australia on 4 for 53, leading by 268 runs with six wickets in hand. It was a powerful position by any standards, yet England had gained confidence on the third evening and they did not let Australia slip away too much on the fourth day.

Anderson finished with 5 for 43 and a torn pair of trousers sustained while diving in vain for a return catch. He began by removing the nightwatchman Lyon, who chipped a catch to mid-off for 14, and followed by having Peter Handscomb caught at third slip for 12. Handscomb is the only Australian who might be considered in danger of losing his place anytime soon and did little in this innings to show his form as anything but scratchy. Paine made 11 before he was brilliantly caught by Craig Overton, running in from fine leg and diving to collect the top-edged hook off Woakes, who then grabbed his fourth wicket by bowling Shaun Marsh for 19. Starc made 20, the equal top score in the innings (along with Khawaja) before he skied a catch off Anderson to give the fast bowler his fifth wicket. The innings was wrapped up when Hazlewood sent a catch to gully off Overton, leaving Cummins not out on 11. It meant that Australia’s 138 was the highest total in Test history in which no batsman had scored more than 20. That was one record broken. Now England hopes that another will follow.

Australia vs England 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights – Dec 2, 2017

Eng v Aus The Ashes highlights today – Second test day one from Adelaide Oval (England) Saturday 2nd December 2017




England won the toss and elected to field.
Australia team/playing XI
CT Bancroft, DA Warner, 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, C Overton, JM Anderson.

England tour of Australia and New Zealand 2nd Test (D/N) Highlights

A similar pitch to that which was used against South Africa last year was the intention for Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough, but extreme weather in the lead-up has added to the challenge. He is hopeful of a surface that will offer a good mix of pace, bounce and spin. There could be some rain around on the first day, but the forecast for the remainder of the Test is good, with temperatures in the low 20s. England have hedged their bets slightly with a 12-man squad, with Craig Overton entering the equation to challenge Jake Ball for a seam-bowling berth. There’s no room for the legspinner, Mason Crane, despite concerns over Moeen Ali’s spinning finger. Moeen will play, even if his bowling load is reduced, with Root also able to contribute some of his part-time off-spin. Australia have confirmed an unchanged XI, with Chadd Sayers missing out on a home Test debut.

Umpires – Aleem Dar, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpires – Marais Erasmus
Match Referee – Sir Richie Richardson
Reserve Umpire – Sam Nogajski
Match number – Test no. 2285

India vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test Day 1 Highlights – Dec 2, 2017

Ind v SL highlights today – Third test day one from Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi (India) Saturday 2nd December 2017.




India won the toss and elected to bat.
India team/playing XI
M Vijay, S Dhawan, CA Pujara, V Kohli (c), AM Rahane, RG Sharma, R Ashwin, WP Saha †, RA Jadeja, I Sharma, Mohammed Shami.

Sri Lanka team/playing XI
S Samarawickrama, FDM Karunaratne, ARS Silva, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal (c), N Dickwella †, DM de Silva, PADLR Sandakan, MDK Perera, RAS Lakmal, PLS Gamage.

Sri Lanka tour of India 3rd Test Highlights

The pitch looks green but Chandimal said it was closer to Nagpur than Kolkata. Nothing extraordinary about it. Weather is clear but light could fade early and be a factor. Batting failures in both innings on a more-or-less traditional subcontinent pitch in Nagpur suggests Sri Lanka need to consider adding Dhananjaya de Silva and perhaps even the uncapped Roshen Silva in their XI. India’s combination remains a mystery. Among the openers, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul were involved in slip-fielding practice and M Vijay came out for the press conference. And would they really drop Rohit Sharma soon after he had scored a cathartic Test century?

Umpires – Nigel Llong, Joel Wilson
TV Umpires – Richard Kettleborough
Match Referee – David Boon
Reserve Umpire – Nandan
Match number – Test no. 2286