Afghanistan team departs for Qatar to play three-match ODI series against Netherlands

SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 1: KL Rahul departs to leave India in danger of poor 1st innings score

India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul and Hanuma Vihari resurrected the innings after twin strikes from Duanne Olivier right before lunch on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg. The duo batted with superb control and patience around off stump to lead India’s fightback in the afternoon session on the first day. However, the partnership could not trouble South Africa significantly as Kagiso Rabada found an awkward bounce and got the splice of Vihari’s bat. Rassie van der Dussen, who has had to go through many close moments in the first session plucked the catch with one hand to dent India’s recovery. The next man in, Rishabh Pant, started off his innings on the typical note and punished Rabada through the off side. Rahul carried on his merry way and brought up yet another fifty to lead from the front. However, he could not stretch his innings to a three-figure mark like in the first Test and perished in the process of attempting to hook a short ball of Marco Jansen through another spectacular catch by Rabada at the fine leg boundary. India had won the toss and elected to bat first and the pair of Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin carried them to 146/5 at the tea interval. Ashwin is unbeaten on 21 runs while Pant has been watchful for his 32-ball 13.

BBL 2021-22: Despite a few hiccups, Melbourne Renegades etch 5-wicket win over Stars

Melbourne Renegades etched a five-wicket win over Melbourne Stars in Melbourne on Monday. Chasing a target of 127 runs in 20 overs, the Renegades went over the line by 5 wickets and with a couple of overs to spare. They lost Sam Harper early in the chase after he was sent back in the hut for 7 by Qais Ahmed in the second over but Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh joined hands to stitch a partnership of 63 runs for the second wicket. While Finch struck a fifty, Marsh scored 21 off 17 during the course. But the Renegades then lost a few wickets in quick succession and were reduced to 91/5 in the 13th over when Mackenzie Harvey and James Seymour came in for the side’s rescue. The two batters steadied the ship for the team and also made sure that there were no further fall of wickets. Harvey remained unbeaten at 23 off 25 while Seymour scored a 14-ball 17*. Tom O Connell scalped two wickets for 11 runs in two overs for his side. Earlier, the Stars lost an early wicket in the form of Justin Avendano. Opener Travis Dean along with Charlie Wakim then put up a 30-run stand for the second wicket but Wakim’s departure in the seventh over certainly broke the shackles as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be left tottering at 99/7 before getting bundled out for 126. Cartwright top-scored with 41 off 29. Topley and Kane Richardson picked up three wickets each for the Renegades. Richardson later talked about the win in the post-match presentation. “It is a bitter-sweet feeling, I'm feeling for the boys who are not there tonight. Thoughts are with the boys, we know the game has to go on but it doesn't feel right. I did not even know if I was playing tonight, just turn up and get on with the show and play the game seems to be the way now,” he said.

The Ashes | Stuart Broad's limited role in the Ashes surprises Steve Smith

As Stuart Broad did not feature in the first and third Test match of the ongoing Ashes, fans and cricket pundits were left to ponder about England's selection decision.

The Ashes | Both the energy and mood in England camp is low, says Stuart Broad

England fast bowler Stuart Broad admitted that the mood in the English camp is quite low after the side lost all the three games in the Ashes series so far. The right-arm bowler further added that this Australian side is a good team but “not the best” that they have played. “Part of the reason things feel so down within our camp is that while Australia are a good cricket team, they are not the best we have faced here and I still feel that, without Covid, an opportunity existed to do something special,” Broad wrote in a column for The Daily Mail. “Both the energy and the mood in the camp is low,” Broad wrote. Mentioning about his future, Broad wrote that he isn’t someone who would take decisions emotionally and added that he is pretty fit. “There is a long time between now and the tour of the Caribbean in March and I have never been one to make emotional decisions. So I’m not going to make any spur-of-the-moment calls on my future. I feel fit, I’ve come back from the calf injury feeling strong and I’m taking wickets in the nets. That’s all I can do given the lack of tour games and the tight schedule,” he wrote. Australia have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series while the penultimate clash is scheduled to take place in Sydney from January 5, 2022.