India’s MCG Surrender, Bumrah’s Nomination And SL Collapse – December 30 Cricket Highlights
Indian cricket team [Source: @BCCI/X.com]
Indian batters once again capitulated in front of Australian pace cartel, this time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to go 1-2 down in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series. Sri Lanka suffered yet another batting collapse at the Bay Oval against New Zealand, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled its nominees for Test Cricketer of the Year award.
Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest news that emerged out of Monday, December 30.
Cummins, Boland Topple Rohit Sharma’s Struggling India In Day 5 Thriller
India’s famed batting line-up once again came up short against rampaging Australian pacemen Pat Cummins and Scott Boland. In pursuit of 340, the visitors chased towards a draw, with young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal batting out 208 deliveries to top-score with 84. Rishabh Pant also washed up over 100 deliveries to make 30 before an atrocious shot off Travis Head accounted for his downfall.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma collectively scored just 14 runs before they were dismissed by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins earlier in the day. Cummins also trapped KL Rahul for a duck, and removed well-set Jaiswal while Scott Boland ran through India’s lower-order after picking up the prized-scalp of Ravindra Jadeja. Nathan Lyon toppled Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mohammed Siraj to envelop the Indian innings for just 155 towards the closing stages of the day. With Australia securing a 184-run win at the MCG, Pat Cummins and co. went 2-1 up in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series.
David Warner-Inspired Thunder Edge Out Renegades
Hosts Sydney Thunder eclipsed Melbourne Renegades by eight runs in match number 16 of the BBL 2024-25 season at the Sydney Showground Stadium. Thunder captain and Australian veteran David Warner punched out an unbeaten 86 off 57 balls with 10 boundaries and two sixes to top-score in his team’s 156-4.
In response, the Renegades accrued just 148-8 from their 20 overs. Wes Agar picked up four Renegades wickets in his four-over spell, including that of Tim Seifert and captain Will Sutherland to claim figures of 4-32. Daniel Sams also chipped in with two key wickets in the middle overs of the Renegades run-chase.
Mitchell Hay And Jacob Duffy Take New Zealand 2-0 Up
Sri Lanka suffered its second successive batting collapse at the Bay Oval in a run-chase against New Zealand, this time falling 45 runs behind to concede a 0-2 lead to the hosts in the three-match T20I series. Batting first, New Zealand hauled 186-5 courtesy of Mitchell Hay’s whirlwind 19-ball 41*. Tim Robinson and Mark Chapman also chipped in with attacking 40s before getting toppled by Wanindu Hasarnaga (2-28).
In response, Sri Lanka folded up for 141 in 19.1 overs, losing its final seven wickets for just 14 runs after racing to 127-3 at one stage of their run-chase. Kusal Perera (48 off 35) and Pathum Nissanka (37 off 28) top scored in the innings before the two well-set cricketers became Jacob Duffy’s first two victims of the innings. The New Zealand speedster also topped Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana to claim match-winning figures of 4-15 from his four overs. Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner additionally picked up two wickets apiece to steer the ‘Black Caps’ to a comfortable series victory.
Zimbabwe Bat Out Day 5 Session To Finish High-Scoring Draw
Afghanistan batted another 41 overs on Day 5 to extend its total to 699 all out, their highest ever score in Test cricket. Resuming the innings at 515-3, overnight batter and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi notched up his second double century to top-score with 246. Afsar Zazai also cracked his maiden Test century before Brian Bennett mopped up the Afghanistan tail with five quick wickets to seal career-best figures of 5-95.
Facing a 113-run deficit, Zimbabwe batted out the remaining 34 overs of the day to reach 142-4 before stumps. The match turned out to be a high-scoring draw at Bulawayo’s Queens Sports Club, rendering the impending second Test a series-decider for both sides.
Jasprit Bumrah Makes A Cut Into ICC Test Nominations
The International Cricket Council (ICC) listed out their four nominations for ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award for the year 2024. Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah made a cut into the nominations, alongside Sri Lanka’s rising star Kamindu Mendis.
English veteran Joe Root and serial ‘BazBaller’ Harry Brook rounded up the category for their prolific run-scoring spree in the past 12 months.