BBL10 | Match Preview: Hurricanes look to stop Scorchers’ winnning momentum at Perth

The Hobart Hurricanes, after a rest of more than five days, and having nursed two back to back defeats would be ready to have a go at the in form and on a roll Perth Scorchers at the latter’s home ground at the Perth Stadium to try and stop the momentum of the Orange Army. The clash is going to be for the entry into the top four of the BBL 10 Points Table which looks evenly poised at the moment, although the two Sydney sides seem to be running away with the top two slots. If Scorchers manage to win the game, they would be replacing the Hurricanes in the top four.

Malan- Handscomb need to raise their hands

For Hobart to succeed going further in the tournament, their big guns in the batting department. Especially experienced guys like World number one T20I batsman Dawid Malan and their captain Peter Handscomb along with senior members like Colin Ingram and Tim David need to take the responsibility of finishing teh games. In the last two games, it has been seen that Hurricanes, even after getting into good positions, haven’t really been able to close in at the crucial moments which is leading to their downfall.

For instance, in the last game against Thunder, they were 91-2 in 11 overs with two set batsmen in, but then from there onwards, they just let it go, and teh match slipped from their hands very easily. It is these situations where the senior members need to utilize their expertise and guide talented youngsters like Ben McDermott and D’Arcy Short along.

Scorchers would like to let it roll

The Ashton Turner led side seemed to have got back their mojo having landed at home in Perth. They have won their last four games courtesy of some brilliant bowling by their speedsters which had been the strength of the Scorchers over the years. But even among the youngest of the bowlers, Jhye Richardson has been wrecker-in-chief with 10 wickets in the last four games.

The batters have imp[roved considerably as well, piling up huge amounts of runs on a regular basis in the last three games. In their last three games, they have scored in excess of 180 batting first and the best part is it is not one batsman that has done all the scoring in all games but someone or the other has raised his hand in every game, be it Colin Munro, Mitchell Marsh, Josh English or Jason Roy.

All this is reason enough to believe in the fact that Perth is now a side that is tough to beat at home and might become tough away as well. So Hurricanes have to put their best foot forward apart from putting the best XI in the game against a very hostile Scorcher side. It will also be a battle between the highest run-getter of the tournament so far, Mcdermott, and the highest wicket-taker Richardson.

Scorchers vs Hurricanes: Match Details

Match Number- 37

Date and Time- Jan 12, 2021, 1:45:00 PM IST, 04.15 PM Local, 08.30 AM GMT

Venue- Optus Stadium, Perth

Broadcast and Live Stream- Sony Six, Sony LIV

Pitch Report

As such the Perth pitch has not thrown any surprise to anybody. The two low scores achieved by Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades have been courtesy of some very poor shot selection. The pitch much like any ground in Western Australia offers the bounce, the ball comes to the bat nicely and if you can ride the bounce as a batsman, a lot of running scoring opportunities are there as shown by the Scorchers so far.

Therefore there is no reason to believe why this time around the pitch would be any different.

Weather and Bat Flip

The weather has been predicted to remain sunny throughout the game and temperatures would also remain in the late 20s. In such a scenario, winning the toss and batting the first night would not be a bad choice if you are a scorcher. But Hurricanes on the other hand would be more likely to trust their batting and hence chasing would be on their cards, although they have lost two games chasing.

Scorchers Strongest XI

Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Josh Inglis (wk), Colin Munro, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner (c), Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed

Hurricanes Strongest XI

Ben McDermott (wk), D'Arcy Short, Dawid Malan, Colin Ingram, Tim David, Peter Handscomb (c), Macalister Wright, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Winter

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Social media showers love as Virat and Anushka welcome their first child

Apart from India’s Test draw against Australia at Sydney, which according to most Indian fans was no less than a victory given teh circumstances, the fans were given another reason for joy as India captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma became proud parents of a baby girl. Kohli himself tweeted the news and as excepted good wishes and congratulatory messages started to pour for the Indian couple from their friends and in Bollywood and Cricket fraternity, the general public was elated as usual. Among the congratulatory messages, there was one from today's hero and Indian spin all-rounder Ravi Ashwin as well. Apart from him, God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar and many more cricketers congratulated the power couple. Apart from cricketers, Bollywood also showered love to the newborn and congratulated Anushka and Virat. Even as the congratulatory messages kept on coming, the couple has decided not to expose any pictures or information of any sort to the public or media regarding the newborn.

BBL10 | Match Report: Vintage Wells, Rashid Khan and Agar take Strikers past Stars

Jonathan Wells for the first time in this entire BBL10 looked like himself as he steered the Adelaide Strikers’ ship, which at times looked like spilling over, to a victory against a hard-fought Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval. With the help of his 27 balls 36 at a very crucial stage in the game, the Alex Carey side achieved teh 150 run target set by the Stars to go to the top four in the league’s points table. Gibson-Wells partnership At one p[oint of time after having lost the Bash Boost point and subsequently the wicket of skipper Carey, the Strikers couldn’t get the required momentum in their chase and by the time Jake Weatherald looked like upping the ante, he was dismissed by Adam Zampa resulting in a precarious situation where the Adelaide team required 53 from 33 and a new man Ryan Gibson on the crease. However, post the Weatherald wicket the complexion of the game changed as Wells started to shift his gears and after getting only six runs from the first power surge over, he and Gibson hit 14 in the next over to make the surge reasonably useful getting 20 from two overs. But the real change came in the 18th over as having scored a meager four runs from the 17th over, the pressure had mounted on the Strikers and they now needed thirty from three overs. It was at this moment that Wells, 32, showed his class, hitting the most dangerous bowler Rauf for 14 runs in three balls before finally getting out attempting another big hit. But by the time his wicket fell, the Strikers were in the touching distance with just 16 required off 13 balls. And the 37 run partnership between Gibson and Wells had done the trick for the team. Bash Boost and the Stars' domination Right from the time that Nic Madddinson hit two sixes in the last over to take Stra to respectable and fighting 149, from a pretty hopeless situation, there was a spark among the men in green on the field. They started well bowling tighter lines and not giving away much room for the Strikers to strike. In fact, most of the runs in the first half of the Strikers’ innings came from thick edges that either did not carry or were good enough to pass the fielder. In fact, teh bowling had been so tight and accurate that Strikers weren’t even able to get the Bash Boost point and their skipper Carey got out trying to get the Boost as they needed seven from the 10th over, but Zampa had restricted them to just four of the five deliveries and three was required off the last ball to get first points of the game. Trying to hit a four, Carey reverse swept and it was caught brilliantly by Maddinson at short third man. At the end of the 10th over the Men in Blue were 65/3 needing some real sensible batting, which fortunately came from Wells. Agar- Rashid shine with the ball Appearing in his last BBL game of the season, teh 22-year-old Afghan Rashid Khan made sure that it was memorable for him, not only by being there to see his team through with the bat but most importantly by doing what he is known for- picking wickets at the right time. tODAY, Danny Briggs, usually the most economical bowler in the Strikers lineup was taken for the cleaners and thus Khan decided to turn out his best as he knocked out Nick Larkin and Glenn Maxwell, two big fishes in two consecutive deliveries to jolt an already weak looking Stars lineup. Rashid ended his spell with 2/29 in four and was cheered by the loving Oval crowd after every ball. Another bowler that made sure that Stars never got going was Wes Agar, now the joint highest wicket-taker with Jhye Richardson with 17 wickets in the BBL10 so far. He bowled exceptionally as well, picking up the wickets of Spiceman Andre Fletcher and the dangerous Marchus Stoinis just when he was looking to let loose in his start-stop innings. Agar finished with the figures of 2/19 from his four Stars' batsmen lacked application of skills There was nobody in the Stars line up apart from Maddisnson who tried to apply himself and sticker the crease, (Larkin did stick but his stay was miserable, to say the least). From a soft dismissal of Fletcher to a nothing shot by Stoinis, to Maxwell being Maxwell. Nobody was able to make amends with the situation and had it not been for Maddinson’s 34 balls 48 not out which included two sixes and three fours, teh match would have been over pretty soon. Stars seriously need to get rid of Fletcher the batsman and bring back Nicholas Pooran in if they want to have a crack at entering the Playoffs. What's Next? These two teams clash once again at the same venue in three days' time on 15th January, where Stars would try hard to avenge this loss and get their points table going.

Proud Rahane commends India's display of character for 'as good as a win' draw in Sydney

The critics and even fans of the Indian team had given the team only one chance in the four-match Test series, but that Test turned out to be a debacle for the tourists. More than that, their chances going ahead in the series were diminished with Mohammed Shami fracturing his arm out the series along with the returning Virat Kohli for his paternity leave. Indian stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was under enormous pressure due to lack of runs and then due to the added responsibility of leading an Indian side that was without the best players in Kohli, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami. But now, after the completion of the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Rahane has presided over two ‘special’ performances from his team, in the form of a win at the MCG, followed by a draw that he himself referred to ‘as good as a victory.’ "This was as good as winning a Test match. When you come abroad and play a match like this, it is really special. As I said, it was as good as a victory. I think Melbourne was really special for us as a team, coming from the Adelaide loss, the way we bounced back and the way we showed our attitude and character on the field was really good,” a proud Rahane said at the post-match press conference. However, Rahane admitted that India were behind the hosts for most [part of the game and only the display of the best character and grit from the players on the fifth day could save the day for his side. He outlined that the team was not looking too far ahead while batting in the last innings, and their approach was to target one session at a time. "But coming here in Sydney, we were slightly behind the game initially and today we knew we had to chase 407 runs. But the talk was all about fighting till the end. We had to keep our game really simple, not to think about the outcome, result anything... just play one session at a time. The good thing about the team is everyone actually chipped in at the right time, everyone contributed well, as bowlers, batsmen... that's what you want. This game was really special and really proud,” Rahane added on the SCG draw. Hanuma Vihari has not been scoring runs throughout the series and may well get ruled out of the series due to the hamstring injury he picked up while batting on the fifth day of the Test. He was run out after a slow inning in the first innings and was under pressure when India needed him to put his head down and bat for time to save the Test. R Rahane heaped praise on Vihari for hanging out there showcasing all of his motivation and hunger to succeed. He rated Vihari’s 161 ball long defiant innings of Vihari as more valuable and special than the hundreds he has scored in his career. "Vihari was batting really well in the last three Test matches. Unfortunately, he couldn't get those big scores but today we all saw that special knock. I thought this knock was more special than the hundred. The way he batted especially after he got injured - to show that motivation, to show that hunger, to hang in there for the team was very good. And that's what we really want from each and every player, to show that character on the field because it's all about what the team wants. Credit to him - the way he handled himself. There was pressure, but the way he managed his batting and his injury, it was very special to see,” Rahane said of Vihari. The unbeaten partnership between Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin lasted for a long period of time (more than three hours) as both of them batted for 256 balls and stitched a partnership of 62 runs that did ot allow Australia any chance to penetrate into the lower order batsmen. While Vihari got injured in the middle, Ashwin was carrying a rough back to the batting crease, and the barrage of short balls aimed at his throat only made matters worse for the off-spinner who rose to the occasion with the bat. Although the team was sure of Ashwin’s credentials as a batsman, the nervousness of the moment had got to the team’s dressing room as both Vihari and Ashwin brought India on the verge of a hard-earned draw at the SCG. Rahane said that the message from the dressing room was all but clear to the two batsmen and they had suggested nothing different but to take one ball, one over at a time without looking too far ahead on the outcome of their hard work. "Last five, six overs especially we were counting down. Apart from that I think we all were sure about Ashwin's ability as a batsman and how good he is as a batsman. And Vihari he was batting really well throughout the series but couldn't actually get those big scores. Today he showed that he can bat really well. Our message during Tea was just hang in there, just play one ball at a time, one over at a time, let's not think far too ahead. But yes in the last five, six overs we were counting each and every delivery,” Rahane said of the mood in the dressing room during the partnership between Vihari and Ashwin. The injury to Jadeja and a possibly due to lack of runs from Vihari in the last five innings of the Test series, the team management pushed Rishabh Pant up the order at the number five position. Rahane said that the decision was taken in view of creating a left-right combination in the middle to put the Australians off their line of attack. Pant took a long time to get going as the first thirty balls he faced did not fetch big runs but all of a sudden he waged an onslaught against the off-spin of Nathan Lyon, which was deemed to be the biggest threat for the Indian batsmen on a day five pitch at the SCG. The sheer audacity with which Pant started taking on Lyon put Tim Paine under a lot of pressure as many as five fielders were sent to patrol the boundary lines. However, Pant could not quite resist for a long time and missed out on what could have been a century for ages. Rahane was very fond of Pant and said that the left-hander is improving every day as a cricketer and it can be only beneficial for both him and the team going ahead. Yes, we had that strategy and I thought it paid off. But credit to him actually. As a captain and as team management you can make strategies but in the end it is actually up to that individual to go out there and to deliver for your team. And Rishabh did that for us. Credit to him for the way he counterattacked and the way he managed his innings throughout was really great to watch. See we know that he can win the game for us from any situation. We have that belief in him and he is improving day by day as a cricketer which is a very good sign for us,” Rahane spoke highly of Pant’s explosive batting in Sydney. The Indian team has been marred by injuries even before the tour had begun and the situation has only gotten worse for the team management with the likes of Jadeja, Vihari, Pant and shwin adding to the list. Rahane said that the injuries are part of the sport and that they are an uncontrollable aspect of the game. However, he took pride in the immense character the team displayed on the final day of the Test. "I'm really proud as a captain, of each and every individual. I mean you don't want your players to get injured but injuries are a thing you cannot control. Our talk in the middle, talk in the dressing room was if the team needs you to bat, and guys were ready for it. I think credit to Hanuma Vihari, Ashwin was struggling. Jadeja was padded up and he had shown character to go out there and bat. I'm really proud that the guys are showing character, showing that courage for the team, if the team needs them to bat, they'll go and bat. It's a very good sign and I'm really proud of the team,” a proud Rahane said. Jadeja was seen padded up to bat if the Aussies could breach the defence of Vihari and Ashwin. Thankfully for India, Jadeja kept waiting in the dressing room as the tourists have earned a great escape in the Sydney Test and indeed it was as good as a win with the hindsight of all the injuries and match situations.

8 Indian players unavailable heading into final Test vs Australia

India managed to end the third Test against Australia in a draw after some brilliant performance from the batting line up while India skipper Virat Kohli and wife Anushka Sharma have been blessed with a baby girl. Here are the latest news from the cricketing world. Pant heroics, Vihari’s defence help India draw 3rd Test The Indian batting line up helped India draw the third Test against Australia in Sydney on Monday. The visitors were handed a target of 407 runs in the second innings. India lost captain Ajinkya Rahane early on Day 5 but Rishabh Pant’s aggressive 97 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 77 steadied the ship for the side. Later, Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin held the fort and made sure that India didn’t lose any more wickets. Vihari scored 23* off 161 while Ashwin remained unbeaten at 39 off 128. The fourth and final match is slated to take pace in Brisbane. Hanuma Vihari out of last Test India’s Hanuma Vihari is out of the final Test against Australia. “The extent of Vihari’s tear can only be ascertained after the scan reports come through. But even if it’s a grade 1 tear, he is out for at least four weeks and then will need some rehabilitation time. So it’s not only Brisbane Test but also, he won’t be a part of England Tests at home,” a senior source revealed on Monday. Steve Smith gathers controversy once again Former Australia captain Steve Smith was seen scuffing Rishabh Pant’s batting guard. The cameras caught the act and Smith faced a lot of criticism on the social media. BBL matches re-scheduled Seven matches of the BBL have been re-located due to the impact of the COVID-19 on state border restrictions.The Adelaide Oval will be host three matches and the fixtures include Adelaide Strikers taking on Brisbane Heat on January 21 at 6:45pm followed by Sydney Thunder against Sydney Sixers on January 22 at 6:45 pm and Adelaide Strikers locking horns with Sydney Thunder at 6:45 pm on January 25 respectively. The MCG will host the encounter between Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes on January 24 at 7:15 pm while the venue for the clash between Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers is ye to be announced. They are slated to play on January 26. Virat Kohli, Anuska Sharma blessed with baby girl India skipper Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma have been blessed with a baby girl on Monday. Kohli had returned home after playing the first Test match in Adelaide to be with his wife.