Hyderabad proud of Mohammed Siraj’s brilliant India debut

Chandimal, de Silva put Lanka in top position against lacklustre Proteas

Senior Pro Dinesh Chandimal took upon the resp[onsibility to build the innings as Sri Lanka managed to finish strongly on the first day of the First Test at the Supersport Park, Centurion against the hosts South Africa. The Lankan Tigers courtesy fifties from 31-year-old Chandimal and 29-year-old Dhananjaya de Silva reached 340-6 at the Stumps with all-rounder Dasun Shanka on 25 not out, supported ably by paceman Kasun Rajitha who was not out on 7, having faced 27 balls and the partnership between the two a total of 20 runs. The early breakthroughs Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first on a lively Centurion first day track. The Islanders tried countering the pace of Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje through aggressive shots, but one shot too many led to the fall of the top three wickets in the form of Karunaratne, Kusla Parerea, and Kusal Medis on the score of 54 in only 11 overs. While Nortje got the better of Mendis, Karunaratne chopped on a rising Ngidi delivery. Wiaan Mulder who made a comeback into the South African side for the first time after playing his first test against Sri Lanka in 2019, took out Parera for 16. Chandimal-de Silva counterattack After the early breakthroughs, the pair of Chandimal and de Silva took it upon themselves to pull the team out of the miserable situation. The pair played some exquisite drives and while de Silva went on the aggressive, Chandimal mixed caution with delightful strokeplay to reach his 19th Test fifty. The Colombo born de Silva was fluently moving towards what would have been his seventh Test hundred before an untoward injury forced him to retire hurt on 79. Chandimal then put on a 99 run stand with wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella before getting an unplayable delivery from Mulder which rose up from the good length to take the fine edge of his gloves and right into the hands of Faf du Plessis at first slip. He made 85. The tail wags in style If the Proteas would have thought that the fall of Chandimal’s wicket would open the floodgates and tail would be crumbled upon, they were in for a surprise as after Chandimal’s dismissal at the score of 284, the Lankan tail has wagged and quite nicely at that, having added 55 runs so far with four wickets remaining. Mulder remained the bright light for de Kock’s team. He picked up there out of the total six wickets to fall on the day. Along with him, Nortje too has been impressive while Lutho Simapla really needs to put in the hard yards tomorrow morning to add to the lone wicket he has had so far in the game.

Sixers vs Stars: Captain Daniel Hughes shines as Sixers win last ball thriller

Daniel Hughes probably played the innings of his lifetime, ably supported by luck as Sydney Sixers beat the arch-rivals Melbourne Stars in what was a repeat of last year’s big bash league finals. Hughes, coming in at number four played the captain’s knock as he scored 96 off 51 balls with the help of seven sixes and six boundaries. He nearly took the team, which was chasing a total of 194 and required 20 from the last over, on a somewhat two-paced track, home, before getting out with four runs still required with two balls remaining. Maxwell then darted in a yorker to number 10 Steve O’Keefe, which hit him on the legs and deflected past the wicketkeeper Ben Dunk for a four to the third man boundary. Liam Hatcher and the brilliant 19th over The match was well and truly in the grasp of Melbourne by the end of the 16th over when the Sixers required 52 runs off the last four and a new man in Carlos Brathwaite was in with Hughes having lost the early shine and wasn’t able to connect the shots too well. However, a nine over off Zahir Khan, followed by a 20 run over off Zampa meant that Sixers were within touching distance of getting to the win, with a well and truly set Brathwaittte sizing up an inexperienced Hatcher in the nineteenth over with 23 required from two. However, it was Hatcher who was on top of the game as he pulled out a rabbit from the hat to bowl one of the best 19th overs in the BBL so far under pressure, giving away just three runs and picking two crucial wickets of Brathwaite and Ben Dwarshus. However, that could not be of any good as Nathan Coulter Nile’s injury meant that Maxwell, the skipper took it upon himself to defend 20 off teh last over. Critics will point out that he could have gone for the all-rounder Hilton Cartwright or the more established bowler Zahir Khan who had one over left, but in the end, a decision was made and was backed by Maxwell, although it didn’t go in his favour. Misfields proved too costly for the Stars The stars were not at their usual best as their ground fielding was probably the worst today, missing four boundaries, which could have been easily curtailed to single or a double. Initially, it was Nicholas Pooran, Nick Larkin as a substitute with the mistakes, in the finals, over going for a catch, hatcher conceded a costly boundary as well. In hindsight, it proved a lot problematic for the visitors. The Big Show of Pooran and Maxwell Earlier in the day, Stars had started their innings on a really slow note, losing opener Andre Fletcher in the first over itself. The innings was slow that even after the end of teh 8th over, the Maxwell led side were at 49-4. But it was only after this that the team’s fortunes took a 360-degree turn with the skipper and Pooran combining to give the spectators a splendid sight to witness with the ball flying all across the Carrara Oval in Brisbane. Their 125 run stand in just 58 balls meant that Stars got to a total of 193-5, which never looked possible. Pooran got out at the end of the 18th over having scored 65 off 26 balls with the help of two fours and eight sixes at a strike rate of 250. Maxwell, on the other hand, remained not out on 71 of 47 balls, but could only score 10 in the last over, a bit of disappointment after the fireworks ahead of it.

India walk redemption path after Adelaide debacle; Batsmen not looking too far ahead

When Indian pacers were extracting the good amount of help from the first-day pitch at the MCG, experts on air were constantly arguing if India did not start on a disadvantageous note by not batting first, and that ‘it was a good toss to lose.’ In the hindsight, it might have been true as well as India got time away from the filed with the bat in hand after the debacle on the third day morning in Adelaide, and instead got the opportunity to put the pressure on Australian bowling line up. A lot of speculations were made about the captaincy style of Ajinkya Rahane, who for the first time in his career, is set to lead the side for three consecutive matches. It was believed that Rahane was not risk-averse and that when presented with a situation of a dilemma on whether to take the aggressive or defensive route out of a problem, he has the habit of taking the bull by its horns. He was showing the heart for a fight against an Australian side who was jumping in joy by dismissing them to their lowest score in Tests in the last match, by playing five bowlers-- a move that showed he was willing to move on from the Adelaide collapse which Virat Kohli had labelled as the ‘worst collapse ever seen.’ But, the real test was waiting for Rahane the captain while on the filed on the first day. Jasprit Bumrah got India off to a brilliant start while Umesh Yadav too did not bowl badly in his initials spell. Surprisingly in a move, that sent many experts into a frenzy, Rahane brought Ashwin when the ball was relatively new, instead of debutant Mohammed Siraj. The decision looked out of place, but for Rahane, it did not lack vision. Ashwin heard the clarion call and dismissed Mathew Wade and the big fish Steve Smith to vindicate his captain’s move. Rahane proved he could see what others were missing in that plot and that it was not purely an instinctive decision but a rational one looking at the moisture present on the pitch. “When we were bowling in the morning there was some moisture on the wicket, so you saw Ashwin and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got some spin. Because we wanted to make the most of the moisture, we were trying to use them, he (Ashwin) was getting good bounce,” Jasprit Bumrah said in the virtual press conference after the end of first day’s play. While the pitch was offering a fair bit of assistance for the bowlers and the real challenge was in and around off stump for the batsmen, Indians were able to scalp out to big bulls of the Australian batting line up-- Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. Smith was brilliantly lured by Ashwin by a delivery that was pitched on the off stump while Labuschagne too was lured by delivery on the straighter line by Siraj. The wicket of Labuschange could be attributed to a false shot by the batsman, but Bumrah refuted to accept that the wicket was not a result of the plan B that the team adopted after batting got better in the middle session. “There were constant discussions going on between bowlers and the captain. The wicket changed after the first session. It got better to bat on in the second session and moisture went away. We were just trying to communicate what kind of lines we wanted to bowl so that we can set the field accordingly. When there was less help, we tried to change the line accordingly,” Bumrah added on why India had fielder in the leg slip/gully position where Labuschagne was caught by debutant Shubman Gill handing another debutant Mohammed Siraj his maiden Test wicket. Siraj got Labuschagne at the start of his second spell and was bowling well for a bowler playing his first match and for the most part of the first day, he outbowled the senior pacer in the group-- Umesh Yadav. He was incisive and bowled with good control. The over he set up Cameron Green showed he belonged to the level of Test cricket and his excellent first day on the filed was not lost on his senior and most important member of the bowling line up. “He has worked really hard and come up the ranks. He was eager to bowl in the first session itself. There wasn’t a lot happening after lunch and he (Siraj) bowled with a lot of control,” Bumrah said. “Suddenly he started getting some movement and wanted to make the best of it. Playing his first Test match, he bowled really well and had the confidence of using all his skills. It’s a heartening sign for us and hopefully, he will continue doing that,” Bumrah spoke highly of Siraj. After dismissing the home side on 195, India had to bat a total of eight overs towards the end of the play, and the opener Mayank Agarwal and the debutant Gill had their task cut out against the likes of Cummins and Starc with the new ball. Unfortunately for India, Agarwal could not handle te fiery first over off Starc and was found late on a ball that moved back towards stumps from the stump line. Ironically, India finished the day on 36-- a score that would haunt them till the time the team reach another historic low, but the story was quite different this time around as India have their nose ahead in the game with Gill looking composed and not batting under pressure by the looks of it and Pujara looking to hold one end. The batting line up would be under some pressure to avoid another Adelaide like debacle with the bat, after being in such a leading position in the game, but Bumrah said that the team would not be mentally constrained for the failures they had in the first Test. He reaffirmed the stance that Virat Kohli had taken after the loss in Adelaide, but said that the team is not looking too far ahead but they will not lag in confidence while facing the pace trio of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood on the day two of the Boxing Day Test. “We don’t want to be conservative in our mindset and be positive. Control the controllables. Not being reckless but playing with confidence will be the motive going forward. We are trying to focus on things that are in our hands. The focus will be on the first session tomorrow,” Bumrah stated. The batting unit should put the failure behind them and remind themselves that if they can play sessions by sessions and as per their potential, they can leave the hosts way behind in the game on the second day itself, but a collapse of any sort can bring the hosts back in the game, and for that, they will have to be watchful as well.

Match Preview: Distraught Heat face in-form Hurricanes in must-win game

Brisbane Heat have lost all their matches so far in the 10th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). The situation is likely to get tougher as they now will face the team which is sitting pretty close to the top of the standings currently - Hobart Hurricanes. What would make the match even tougher for the Brisbane side is the challenge of getting over the hearbreak they suffered in their last match - against Adelaide Strikers - where, after a splendid comeback from a hopeless situation, they ended up losing by just two runs. But that ins't all! Heat suffered another major setback in the lead up to the last game when their captain Chriss Lynn ended up hurting his hamstring. He had to miss that match and isn't likely to come back any time soon. The clash of these two teams - at the opposing ends of the points table - promises to be an exciting contest, despite the big discrepancy in their performances so far. Heat Looking to Get Off the Mark Brisbane Heat is lying at the bottom of the table as of now. If they have to keep their chances of qualifying for the playoffs alive, they have to start winning. However, as of now, they have several issues to sort out. Their batting is not firing and their best player in this department - captian Chris Lynn - is out as well. New captain Jimmy Peirson played an astonishing innings in the last match but he would need support from the top order. Nobody except Lynn and Peirson has got a good score under their belt this season. This has to change if Heat want to move up the ladder. Interestingly, Brisbane's bowling is looking good. Xavier Bartlett and Jack Wildermuth have both bowled reasonably well. Mark Steketee also hasn't been bad. Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, who shone with the bat in the last game, is their trump card and could make the difference with the ball. Hurricanes Seek Perfection Despite being very close to the top of the table, Hobart Hurricanes have room for improvement. To begin with, their bowling is looking over-reliant on James Faulkner and Scott Boland. In fact, Boland has also discovered his form in the last two games. Nathan Ellis, who made a big impression last year hasn't shone in this season, so far, while Riley Meredith is also yet to have a good, decent set of figures under his belt in the current edition. South Africa's former international Johan Botha is in the squad but whether he plays or not depends on the conditions. However, with there not being much contribution from Ellis or Meredith, he might be picked ahead of them. West Indian Keemo Paul hasn't had a good start to the season. But having invested in him, the team is likely to persist with the pacer. The batting department gets a huge boost with the arrival of Dawid Malan - the best batsman in world T20I cricket presently, according to the rankings. With Colin Ingram, D'Arcy Short, and Ben McDermott already in good form, Malan's entry would make the batting even more strengthened. Hurricanes vs Heat: Match Details Venue: Gabba, Brisbane Date and Time: December 27, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Broadcasters: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report Brisbane is traditionally a venue providing assistance to pacers. However, in its first match of the season, both Danny Briggs and Rashid Khan looked deadly. This may suggest that either the surface is dry or slow. Johan Botha may be brought into the team by Hurricanes. Weather and Toss The skies are expected to be clear but with the occassional cloud making its way across. The temperatures would be around 22 degrees, making the evening comfortable for players. Toss would not be that important and won't be affected by weather. Probable XIs Brisbane Heat: Sam Heazlett, Max Bryant, Simon Milenko, Dan Lawrence, Jimmy Peirson (C and Wk), Tom Cooper, Jack Wildermuth, Mark Steketee, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Laughlin Hobart Hurricanes: D'Arcy Short, Will Jacks, Ben McDermott (Wk), Dawid Malan, Peter Handscomb (C), Colin Ingram, Tim David, James Faulkner, Johan Botha, Keemo Paul, Scott Boland