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England crush New Zealand to claim series despite Blundell defiance
Fighting hundred only delays inevitable as visitors end long wait for victory in New Zealand
Alan Gardner
07-Dec-2024
England 280 (Brook 123, Pope 66, Smith 4-86) and 427 for 6 dec (Root 106, Bethell 96, Duckett 92, Brook 55) beat New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) and 259 (Blundell 115, Stokes 3-5) by 323 runs
The winds came howling into Wellington off the Cook Strait but they were only blowing one way. England rolled through New Zealand inside three days at Basin Reserve to secure their first Test series win in the country since 2007-08. They were buffeted by a blistering hundred from Tom Blundell but could not be knocked off course.
New Zealand had two notional targets: score 583 to win or survive almost nine sessions for a draw. Neither was a hot ticket, especially after they had shipped four wickets inside the first 14 overs of their innings. The card was given some respectability by Blundell's counterattack, although it didn't make much of a dent in the margin of victory. New Zealand's next-highest score was the 42 contributed by Nathan Smith at No. 8.
Full postAustralia scorch India after Head ton and Boland-Cummins spells
Head's innings of 140 was scored at a strike-rate of 99.29 and flattened India by the time they came out to bat in the final session
Deivarayan Muthu
07-Dec-2024
India 180 and 128 for 5 (Pant 28*, Cummins 2-33, Boland 2-39) trail Australia 337 (Head 140, Labuschagne 64, Bumrah 4-61, Siraj 4-98) by 29 runs
A whirlwind century from hometown hero Travis Head blew India's attack away and thrilled the Adelaide crowd on day two of the pink-ball Test. Head's 140 off 141 balls swelled Australia's first-innings lead to 157, leaving India facing a challenging final two hours under the floodlights. The visitors fell further behind when they lost half their side during that period when the pink ball was at its most potent. At stumps, India were 128 for 5, still 29 runs behind.
Head had walked out to generous applause from his home crowd and into a bit of trouble in the middle after Jasprit Bumrah had taken out both Nathan McSweeney and Steven Smith in a space of 13 balls. While McSweeney nicked a Bumrah special behind to Rishabh Pant, after managing to add just one to his overnight tally of 38, Steven Smith was caught down the leg side for 2.
Full postFraser-McGurk fireworks, McAndrew strikes put SA on top
McAndrew and Scott picked up two wickets each as Tasmania slumped to 96 for 4, after Fraser-McGurk smashed 43 off 37 to help SA declare at 398 for 6 on a rain affected day
AAP
07-Dec-2024
Tasmania 96 for 4 (Radhakrishnan 43, Scott 2-19) trail South Australia 398 for 6 dec (Sangha 151, Hunt 136, Meredith 4-95) by 302 runs
South Australia have overcome a frustratingly long rain delay to strike four late daggers on day two of their Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania at Bellerive Oval.
SA opener Henry Hunt was all class on Friday when he made an unbeaten 136 to guide the Redbacks to 329 for 3 by stumps in Hobart.
Full postKonstas helps Blues survive after wet day at SCG
Teen prodigy Sam Konstas has a chance to score his third century of the summer, after helping NSW navigate a wet day at the SCG
AAP
07-Dec-2024
New South Wales 137 for 1 (Konstas 80*) trail Western Australia 211 (Inglis 41, Edwards 5-41, Bird 3-48) by 74 runs
Sam Konstas has helped New South Wales survive a tricky 20-over session, taking the Blues to 137 for 1 at stumps on a wet day two of the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia.
After rain washed out the opening five hours of day two at the SCG, NSW were asked to contend with an 80-minute period before stumps on Saturday.
Full postPaterson, Bavuma and Stubbs put SA in driver's seat
Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 67 runs and face a 221-run deficit, which threatens to get out of hand
Firdose Moonda
07-Dec-2024
Stumps South Africa 358 and 191 for 3 (Markram 55, Bavuma 48*, Stubbs 36*, Jayasuriya 2-75) lead Sri Lanka 328 (Nissanka 89, Kamindu 48, Mathews 44, Chandimal 44, Paterson 5-71, Maharaj 2-65, Jansen 2-100) by 221 runs
Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs shared an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 82 and South Africa pulled away from Sri Lanka on the third day at St George's Park. They extended their lead to 221 after taking a slim 30-run advantage from the first innings, having bowling Sri Lanka out for 328 earlier in the day.
South Africa's strong performance came on the back of Dane Paterson's first Test five-for and Aiden Markram half-century, which set up their second innings. Bavuma is two runs away from a fourth successive fifty-plus score in the series, in which he has already collected more than 300 runs. Despite not playing any competitive cricket for two months before this series as he recovered from an elbow injury, Bavuma is seeing the ball better than anyone else and has added a more aggressive style to his strokeplay.
Full postPeirson, Bartlett put Queensland's first Shield win in sight
Peirson made 82 and Steketee added 48 not out after Bartlett took 5 for 32 as Victoria crumbled with the bat
AAP
07-Dec-2024
Queensland 172 & 195 for 8 (Peirson 82, Steketee 48*, O'Neill 3-21, Elliott 3-48) lead Victoria 123 (Harris 41, Bartlett 5-32) by 244 runs
Jimmy Peirson has batted Queensland towards hope of their first Sheffield Shield victory of the summer against Victoria, after a helter-skelter day two at the MCG.
On a day where 15 wickets fell in the first two sessions, Queensland went to stumps at 195 for 8 in their second innings and leading by 244.
Full postAtkinson hat-trick, Bethell 96 highlight England's day of dominance
New Zealand facing record fourth-innings chase as tourists pile on the pain
Alan Gardner
06-Dec-2024
England 280 and 378 for 5 (Root 73*, Stokes 35*) lead New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) by 533 runs
England have not won a Test series in New Zealand since 2007-08 but they are surely within sight of breaking that drought after a day of utter dominance at Basin Reserve. It was littered with landmarks and milestones: Gus Atkinson's hat-trick, Jacob Bethell's highest first-class score, Joe Root reaching 50 in a Test innings for the 100th time. With three days left in the game, New Zealand already face being set a record fourth-innings chase.
Having wrestled their way into the ascendency on a topsy-turvy opening day, they pinned New Zealand to the canvas from the outset. Atkinson and Brydon Carse utilised what juice remained in the pitch to blow through the last five New Zealand wickets, securing a 155-run lead on first innings. Bethell and Ben Duckett then thrashed 187 runs in partnership to put England in a seemingly impregnable position just five sessions into the Test.
Full postSuryavanshi fifty drives India to U-19 Asia Cup final
India will face Bangladesh in the final in Dubai on Sunday
PTI
06-Dec-2024
India 175 for 3 (Suryavanshi 67) beat Sri Lanka 173 (Abeysinghe 69, Shanmuganathan 42, Chetan 3-34) by seven wickets
Vaibhav Suryavanshi starred with a second successive half-century as India stormed into the Under-19 Asia Cup final with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Friday.
The 13-year-old, who became the youngest cricketer ever to be bought at an IPL auction last month, smashed five sixes and six fours for his 36-ball 67 as India chased down a target of 174 with as many as 170 balls to spare.
Full postMcSweeney, Labuschagne blunt India after Starc sizzles on Australia's day
Starc's career-best figures of 6 for 48 saw India fold for 180 before the batters kept Bumrah and Co at bay
Deivarayan Muthu
06-Dec-2024
Australia 86 for 1 (McSweeney 38*, Labuschagne 20*, Bumrah1-13) trail India 180 (Reddy 42, Rahul 37 Starc 6-48, Cummins 2-41) by 94 runs
Mitchell Starc's sizzling spell with the pink ball headlined the opening day of the day-night Test in Adelaide as Australia responded to their 295-run drubbing in Perth by dismissing India for 180.
Jasprit Bumrah then got rid of Usman Khawaja in the twilight but the under-pressure Marnus Labuschagne and rookie opener Nathan McSweeney navigated a tricky passage of play to guide Australia to stumps without any further damage. Their unbroken 62-run partnership helped Australia cut their deficit to under 100 and ensured that the first day belonged to them.
Full postNissanka 89 cuts down SL deficit after Verreynne 105*
Afternoon and evening sessions belonged to Sri Lanka with their top four producing best collective effort
Andrew Fidel Fernando
06-Dec-2024
Sri Lanka 242 for 3 (Nissanka 89, Mathews 40*) trail South Africa 358 (Verreynne 105*, Rickelton 101, Bavuma 78, Kumara 4-79) by 116 runs
Kyle Verreynne's manic sprint to a third Test century lit up the second morning and sent South Africa speeding to a total of 358. But the afternoon and evening sessions belonged to Sri Lanka. Their top four produced their best collective effort in the series so far, with Pathum Nissanka hitting 89 off 157 balls, forging a 109-run second wicket stand with Dinesh Chandimal.
With Angelo Mathews not out on 40 at stumps, and Kamindu Mendis unbeaten on 30, Sri Lanka have seven wickets in hand, and are well-placed to take a lead in the first innings. They have for the first time in the series, put serious pressure on a South Africa attack that seemed short of options on a flattening Gqeberha deck.
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