Australian stars return to Big Bash amid Covid -19 crisis

The Ashes | 5th Test, Day 2 - England have another good morning session, bundle Australia for 303

England bowlers had yet another good morning session as they wrapped up rest of the Australian side for 60-odd runs inside two hours. Starting at 241/6 overnight, Australia added some quick runs owing to Nathan Lyon’s 31 off 27 balls. Alex Carey, who would have liked to put on some runs in the series was only able to add 24 runs to his tally before getting out. All three English pacers that bowled on the day were among wickets. Mark Wood picked up two in the morning while Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad had one each to their name. When England came out to bat, their usual woes with the opening order continued as Rory Burns once again left without opening his account. He was lucky to be not called out on an outside edge but then was run out while trying to complete a sharp single. At the time of writing England were 3/1 in 2.2 overs.

The Ashes | 5th Test - England’s hopes get snatched away as Australia dominate Day 1

England failed to capitalise on their excellent start in the morning session of the final Test match in Hobart on Friday, 14 January. Having picked up three wickets in the first hour of lay, England let the opportunity slip by bowling wayward lines after the first spell and provided space for an Australian counter-attack. The duo of Marnus Labuschange and Travis Head took up the opening gleefully and dominated the English bowlers with exuberant drives through the off side. At a point, Labuschange felt so comfortable in his crease that he stepped down against English pacers and started chipping them through the leg side. Just when it seemed that Labuschange was in for a big one in the pink ball Test, his quirkiness got the better of him and he got bowled in a bizarre manner to end his entertaining innings at 44 off 53 balls. However, his star of the day partner wasn’t in the mood to let England capitalise and along with Cameron Green kept punishing everything that was offered to him. Travis Head completed his second century of the series, another one in a dominating fashion, but got out in the very next ball after completing the three-figure mark. The excitement of the competition died from there on as Australia went onto post a fairly big score at the end of day one before the rain took over and forced play to stop rather prematurely. For England, they were dealt a double blow as all-rounder Ben Stokes suffered a side strain and was declared unfit to bowl for the rest of the day. Australia will be starting at 241/6 on Day 2 in a lively pitch at Hobart and will possibly look to pile on some quick runs before dinner to make the most of the pink ball under lights.

SA vs IND | 3rd Test: Who said what on Twitter after South Africa clinch series

South Africa defeated India 2-1 in the three-match Test series after clinching a win in the deciding encounter by 7 wickets in Cape Town. The Proteas were handed a target of 212 runs in the second innings and they went over the line in the second session of the penultimate day. While Keegan Petersen scored 82, Rassie van der Dussen remained unbeaten at 41. Apart from these two Temba Bavuma also returned not out for 32. Petersen later talked about his knock. “It hasn't sunk in yet. It's a mixed bag to be honest. Happy, emotional. I was trying to be positive and then build on that. It's been difficult conditions all around and was just sticking to my guns. It's been a long journey, can't tell the whole story now, won't be over till tomorrow morning. It's been challenging surfaces, challenging bowling attacks,” he said in the post-match presentation. The two teams will now battle it out in the three-match ODI series.

Auckland Aces vs Otago Volts | Match 23 Preview, Predictions, Fantasy XI

These two teams have already met each other in the 16th match of the competition, where Auckland came on top and won the match by 8 wickets in a low scoring affair.