Rohit Sharma to fly to Melbourne, third Test likely to be shifted from Sydney

Gritty resistance by skipper Rizwan and Faheem saves Pakistan from follow-on

Pakistan was able to avoid the follow-on on day 3 of their first Test against New Zealand taking place at Mount Maunganui. But that would hardly compensate for the terrible collapse their batting order suffered in the morning session. At the start of play, hopes were high from Abid Ali and other batsmen of a fightback. But the New Zealand bowling attack showed why they have been so good in the last few years. On the same pitch where Pakistan's bowlers couldn't dislodge the masterful Kane Williamson and later, the gritty BJ Watling, the Kiwi pace attack ran riot. First, Kyle Jamieson ended Abid Ali's promising innings with a delivery that jagged back in and hit the stumps. The extra bounce generated by the tall bowler prevented Abid from coming forward and the ball went through his defences. Mohammad Abbas, the night-watchman, went soon after, edging a delivery from Trent Boult. Then, Tim Southee, on the brink of 300 Test wickets, got into the act. Azhar Ali, the mainstay of Pakistan's batting, was done in by a wonderful delivery that swung away just a little bit to take the edge of Ali's bat. Southee got his 298th scalp soon after when Haris Sohail sliced a delivery to gully. Pakistan were now tottering at 5/52. The new captain Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam got together and showed some resistance. They put together 28 runs but then, Neil Wagner made an impact in his usual way. A short delivery got Fawad to attempt a pull. He only managed a faint top edge that was gleefully accepted by the wicketkeeper BJ Watling. At 80/6, Pakistan seemed set to follow on. But then Rizwan showed the same determined batting that has led him to the captaincy position. He teamed up with Faheem Ashraf who batted with such authority that he could easily have been mistaken for a top-order batsman. Ashraf was especially impressive with his pull shots, which were played in a most clinical manner. Rizwan, at the other end, also showed a solid technique and composure to keep his team from further harm. The conditions had become easier for batting and now, the New Zealand bowlers seemed much less menacing. There were a couple of chances. An aerial drive by Faheem was dropped at short cover, a difficult chance. An edge of Rizwan's bat went through the gap between slips and gully. Rizwan reached his fifty in 106 balls. Faheem also got to the milestone, in 87 balls. The two batsmen batted with much more application than was expected of them. They even dealt with the second new ball well. Eventually, what ended this brilliant partnership was some fielding brilliance. An attempted second run ended in disaster for the Pakistan captain as Mitchell Santner, who hardly bowled, sent a slingy, low arm throw from the deep that hit the stumps at non-striker end as Rizwan dived to make it to the crease, but was found short. The skipper departed for a well-made and fighting 71. This opened the door for New Zealand to wrap up Pakistan's innings before they could avoid the follow-on. Boult got a ball to swing back into right-hander Yasir Shah and smash the stumps. Shaheen Afridi parried an awkward bouncer to short-leg fielder Tom Latham. Meanwhile, Faheem saw an opportunity to get to his hundred. He had managed to take Pakistan past the follow-on mark. The lower order batsman seemed intent on getting his hundred before the close of the day's play. In the final over, he hit a boundary to move to 91, but Jamieson got a delivery outside off stump to just climb a little and take the edge. It was taken by Watling to end Pakistan's innings at 239, trailing the hosts by 192 runs. Jamieson finished with 3/35 off 23.2 overs in another impressive performance. Boult, Wagner, and Southee picked up two wickets each.

BBL10 | Strikers vs Scorchers: All-rounder Rashid Khan shines as Adelaide humble Perth

Rashid Khan would be on cloud nine today as apart from getting the T20i player of the decade award from the International Cricket Council, he also led his BBL side Adelaide Strikers to a huge 71 run win over the Perth Scorchers at the Adelaide Oval. The spin twin strike hard Although the last two wickets were picked up by pacers Peter Siddle and Daniel Worral, it was the spinners that did all the damage before that, rendering Scorchers helpless in the middle. Between leg spinner Rashid Khan and left-arm orthodox Danny Briggs, the strikers had four important scalps of the Scorchers lineup. While Briggs, 29, picked up dangerous Mitchell Marsh and lower-order hitter Jhye Richardson very cheaply, the man from Afghanistan was instrumental in dismissing overseas star Colin Munro and all-rounder Aaron Hardie. The two of them gave away just 26 runs in six overs to account for the four wickets. Briggs, the man from England was simply unplayable as he conceded just eight runs in his three-over spell. Perth and the art of failing miserably In the three matches so far this season, the Scorchers have always given up the game before it was over. Even in this game, after doing well in the bowling department to being 40-1 in four overs, the Scorchers just let it go, and that was the biggest mistake with no batsman hanging around or trying to build a partnership. From 40-1 in four overs while chasing 166 on a decent wicket to getting all out for 94 tells that the issue at hand is deeper and requires a transformative change to be dealt with. Rashid Khan the basher with the bat Earlier in the day, Scorchers after winning the toss had sent in Strikers to bat first. The opening pair of Jake Weatherald and Phil Salt made good use of the short of length bowling by the Scorchers at the start. But soon, the introduction of Mitchell Marsh changed things a bit for the team. The all-rounder started bowling a bit fuller and thereby forcing batsmen to commit mistakes. As a result, he got the wicket of Weatherald. Inspired by him, the others too started bowling a little fuller of the short of a length. From 57 for none, the Strikers were reduced to 95-4 and then to 110-5. It was at this moment that Rashid Khan, full of excitement after him being announced the T20I cricketer of the decade, started teeing off the ball, scoring a quickfire 13 ball 29 with the help of three sixes, taking the team total past the 160 mark. Phil Salt was the only other batsman that looked solid as the opener scored 51 off 31 balls. Rashid’s knock involved three sixes and just one four. Khan,22, was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round abilities. What's next? A repeat of this encounter will be witnessed on 31st December where the Scorchers would like to get a win to start their campaign in a true sense as well as to avenge this humiliating loss. Strikers on the other hand would be looking to consolidate their position in the top half of the table.

Maxwell's Stars up against dangerous-looking Thunder

Melbourne Stars have to get over their heart-breaking loss to Sydney Sixers in their last game before taking on the other side from that city - Sydney Thunder. The latter team is on a high, having bowled out their opponents, Melbourne's other team - Renegades - for just 80. Both sides have produced some compelling performances this season. However, its the Sydney team which is currently ahead with three wins from four matches while Stars have two victories from an equal number of games. This will be the second meeting between the two sides in this tournament after their earlier clash on December 12. In this match, Stars had emerged victorious by a comfortable margin of 22 runs. Stars Look to Iron Out Flaws It's not been a terrible season for the Stars and things would have been looking very rosy had it not been the last-minute slip-up against Sixers. But there is still room for improvement. For instance, opener Andre Fletcher hasn't fired despite playing some lusty shots. His partner Marcus Stoinis has looked better. If they have to go far in this tournament, the Melbourne-based side have to find a working partnership for the opening wicket. Perhaps Fletcher will get another chance. Captain Glenn Maxwell is in terrific form, as was Nicholas Pooran. Hilton Cartwright is going about his work rather well. The lower order is a bit of a problem with neither Nick Larkin nor wicketkeepr Ben Dunk having had a good score so far. The bowling deapartment looks better. Nathan Coulter-Nile and Billy Stanlake form a really good fast bowling duo. They are well complimented by Adam Zampa whose form in limted-overs cricket has been phenomenal. Zahir Khan and Liam Hatcher can also be useful. The only issue is Glenn Maxwell's bowling. He backs himself but hasn't produced any results, so far. Thunder Down Under Lying currently at no. 2 in the points table, behind their city rivals, the Sixers, Thunder would like to solidify their position at the top. They have the resources for it also. Usman Khawaja and Alex Hales are very capable batsmen but have failed to convert good starts into bigger scores. Captain Callum Ferguson has got a fifty under his belt while Daniel Sams played a blinder of an innings to earn a promotion in the batting order. He failed in the first go at the no. 5 position but may get another chance. The bowling of the team looks very exciting due to the presence of two exciting players. Adam Milne has added high pace to the arsenal of this team while Tanveer Sangha has developed into a brilliant spinner. Players like Sams and McAndrew have to provide adequate support to these two, if not a great performance on their own. Stars vs Thunder: Match Details Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra Date and Time: December 29, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network Pitch Report The pitch at Canberra has provided good help to the spinners. The short boundaries tempt the batsmen to go for big hits, which makes spinners all the more effective. But if a batsman gets set, there are good chances for him to score big also. Weather and Toss Some clouds will hover in the sky but chances of rain are negligible. The evening will be cool, thereby providing some relief to the bowlers. Toss isn't likely to play that big a factor. Probable XIs Thunder: Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (C), Oliver Davies, Daniel Sams, Ben Cutting, Chris Green, Baxter Holt (Wk), Nathan McAndrew, Adam Milne, Tanveer Sangha Stars: Marcus Stoinis, Andre Fletcher, Glenn Maxwell (C), Hilton Cartwright, Nicholas Pooran, Ben Dunk (Wk), Nick Larkin, Billy Stanlake, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Liam Hatcher

Inside out | Always rising as bowler, Bumrah now blossoming as leader of the attack

It's the 19th over of Australia's second innings, but for a change from the first innings, Mohammed Siraj has already bowled 21 balls in his first spell. This opportunity too, of bowling with a relatively new ball too arrived through an injury to his senior partner Umesh Yadav who could not bowl a longish spell with the new ball due to a calf injury. Siraj is working a nice rhythm while Ravichandran Ashwin was playing tricks with the ball to keep Marnus Labuschagne what was to happen on every next ball and eventually dismissing him with one that kept going on with the arm. For the hosts, Matthew Wade was looking in no mood to give his wicket away like in the first innings and batting vigilantly against Ashwin, until one delivery off Siraj moved off the pitch to hit him on his pad. Siraj showed all his exuberance and pleaded hard enough to the skipper Ajinkya Rahane to go for the review albeit very reluctantly. The ball-tracking showed the ball had pitched way outside the leg stump and it was evident in the Rahane’s reluctance in going for the review. On the face of it, the decision of going for the review looked awful, Siraj’s adamant demand for it looked ever so ridiculous. Siraj would be forgiven for his passion on his Test debut, but Rahane got sucked into that pleading from Siraj and India lost that review. The display of the ball tracker on the big screen would have been seen by all including Siraj and it must not have been a great spectacle for his cricketing acumen while he was calling on his captain to call for the review. It could have stuck in his mind, and he could have felt the heat of a bad error in judgment, but the only pacer who was left for the tourists on the pitch and their talisman with the ball—Jasprit Bumrah patted Siraj’s back more than once as the young man was walking towards the end of his bowling mark with his head down in guilt of wasting a review and disappointment of not getting a wicket he thought he had in his pocket. In Siraj’s spell, Bumrah was fielding at the mid-off position, where players standing play an important role as bowlers go through long spells where they set a batsman up. At the same venue, Bumrah was at the receiving end of wise words from Rohit Sharma standing at mid-off which led to him bowling a slower ball on the last before the lunch interval that had left Shaun Marsh to look like a student who saw a question from part of syllabus he did not even touch before appearing for the examination. It was critical for Siraj to come good on the third day as the pitch was only getting better to bat with the sun coming out and India were also without one of their three seamers. Ashwin was bowling with superb control but he could not bowl for forever while Bumrah had finished his first spell and there the seamer who has grown more rapidly than the number of his playing days in Test cricket though the inputs from id off will be critical. In his short playing career, Bumrah has shown all the qualities of being a thinking cricketer, but on the third day of the MCG Test, he understood that Siraj needed a bit of comfort that he belonged to this level to ease up and bowl according to his strengths. It was not the first time Siraj got the back of Bumrah, as the current spearhead of the Indian pace bowling had also spoken very highly of his performance in the first innings and especially the confidence is shown by Siraj in trying to execute all his plans on his debut Test received special mention in Bumrah’s word of appreciation. “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. 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 had said at the end of the first day’s play. Bumrah’s move of comforting Siraj paid off as he moved on from that horrible review call and the focus to bowl in the channel outside off stump was regained by the time he return with his second spell after the fall of Steve Smith at the hands of Bumrah and Wade through a faster spinner off Jadeja. Siraj was brought back into the attack and on cue, his first delivery was shaping away from Travis Head after pitching around the off stump line and lured the left-hander into pushing away from the body. The outside edge was found and so was the transformation of Siraj from a situation of putting his head down with disappointment and a bit of embarrassment to a certain delight of eliminating yet another hurdle in the path of his country’s character-defining win at the MCG. It must not have been easy for Bumrah to lead such a raw bowling attack where he with a 15-match long career is the most trusted pacer in the lineup but if the first two Tests of the ongoing series are any sort of evidence to go by on the maturity of Jasprit Bumrah, it can be fairly said that the gap the retirement of Zaheer Khan or the absence of Ishant Sharma has left in terms of guiding the younger players in the line up to prosper, has been started to be filled by the new talisman in the form of Bumrah.