BBL 11 | Marsh-powered Scorchers demolish Hurricanes, gather third victory in a row

Vijay Hazare Trophy | Gaikwad continues to knock selectors' doors, hits fourth ton in 5 matches

Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is in incredible form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. The right-hander, on Tuesday, 14 December, struck yet another hundred, making it his fourth in the competition. Chasing 310 in 50 overs against Chandigarh in Rajkot, Maharashtra had a good start to the chase as Gaikwad and Yash Nahar put 109 runs on the board for the first wicket before Nahar departed for 38 off 49 balls. His wicket broke the shackles and Maharashtra were soon reduced to 131/4. But Gaikwad was then joined by Azim Kazi and the two stitched a stand of 139 for the fifth wicket. While the skipper went on to score a 132-ball 168 which included six maximums and 12 fours. Kazi remained unbeaten at 73 off 19 and anchored the side to a win by 5 wickets in the 49th over. Earlier, Chandigarh rode on Manan Vohra’s 141 and fifties from Arslan Khan and Ankit Kaushik to post 309/7 in 50 overs. Dadhe scalped four wickets for 49 runs in 10 overs for his side.

BBL 11 | Mitchell Marsh hits his maiden Big Bash hundred

The T20 World Cup start for Australia finally struck gold in the Biga Bash League in his fourth match of the season as he scored a scintillating hundred against Hobart Hurricanes at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart. The hundred came on the fifth ball of the 20th over of the Perth Scorchers innings as Marsh took only a single to complete his first century in his 11-year long career as well as the history of the league. It never looked like it was going to be a hundred initially when he came on to bat and the way he was miscuing the shots. Batting at number three and coming on to bat in only the first over itself after the fall of the wicket of last match centurion Colin Munro, Marsh started getting into the groove but kept on losing partners at the other end. In the 13th over, he brought out his fifty off 37 balls when the team score was 97-4. This was after the team has fallen to 75-4 and Marsh has started to build the partnership with Laurie Evans. The partnership went on for 67 runs and it came in just 45 balls. Till that time, Marsh has reached 67 off 50 balls. But it was only after that Marsh exploded and scored 33 off the next 10 balls. Thanks to his hundred, Scorchers, who were once at 74-4, were able to get to 182-5 in the 20 overs. As far as the match is concerned, Hurricanes are 67-2, needing 116 to win from 66 balls.

A BCCI official rubbishes the claims of a "rift" between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane get valuable insights from Vinod Kambli ahead of SA tour

Former India batter Vinod Kambli was seen sharing some batting tips with Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant ahead of the South Africa tour. Kambli took to Twitter and posted, "Was a pleasure to help Ajinkya & Rishabh train for the upcoming South Africa series. Shared some valuable insights with them about the SA conditions. My best wishes to them for SAvIND series. P.S. Christiano got some lessons as well.” India are slated to travel to South Africa for three Tests and as many ODIs. The Test series will begin on December 26 in Centurion. Earlier, the selectors had announced the squad for the fixtures and Rahane was axed from his post of the Test vice-captain. Rohit Sharma who replaced Virat Kohli as the limited-overs captain was also handed over the vice-captaincy in Tests, however as things stand at the moment, Sharma will be missing out on the entire Test series with a hamstring injury. The selectors are yet to take a call on handing over the vice-captaincy after Sharma was ruled out. This would also be Rahul Dravid’s first overseas assignment after taking up the role as the full time coach of the Indian team. Dravid began his stint with the T20I series against New Zealand which was followed by a two-Test series. The hosts clinched a whitewash win in the T20Is while winning the Test series 1-0.