SA vs IND | 1st ODI: India dominate, reduce Proteas to 70-3 in first 18 overs

The Indian team started the ODI series on a very promising note as it removed the first three batters of the home side, South Africa, on the low and slow wicket of Boland Park in Paarl. In fact, the Indian bowling has been so tight that by the end of the 18th over, South Africa were 70-3 having lost three of their best ODI batters in Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram.

While Markram was the last man to go, getting bogged down by the dot ball pressure, trying to get a single and in effect getting run out from a direct hit by debutant Venkatesh Iyer, who was stationed at mid-off and hit the stumps like a bullseye and Markram was found well short of his crease.

Markram, who was out for 4 off 11 balls, had come to the crease after the fall of well-settled de Kock who was bowled by an arm ball from Ashwin which he completely missed. At the time when he got out, the former Proteas skipper was batting on 27 off 41 balls.

The other wicket to fall, Malan went early as he nicked an outswinger from Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth over of the innings. He made 7 off 10 balls. At the time of publishing this copy, Temba Bavuma, who came to bat number three was still hanging in at 27 off 49 while Rassie van der Dussen, the new man was at 6 off 10 balls with South Africa at 80-3 at the end of 20 overs.

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SA vs IND | 1st ODI: Venkatesh Iyer, Marco Jansen make ODI debuts

Both the Indian and the South African team introduced debutant players in the first match of the three-match ODI series. While India gave the ODI cap to all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer who has already made his T20I debut for the country and Marco Jansen, who has so far played three Tests for the Proteas was also rewarded with the ODI cap. The first game is taking place at Boland Park, Paarl and Indians are being captained by KL Rahul, who is standing in for regular white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma. Temba Bavuma returned as skipper for the South African side who were captained by Dean Elgar in the Tests. India has gone with Iyer in place of Suryakumar Yadav who has not been picked in the playing xi. Shreyas Iyer has been preferred ahead of him. Ravichandran Ashwin also returns to the ODI set-up for the first time in five years. He last played an ODI for India in 2018.

BBL 2021-22: Melbourne Renegades' Cameron Boyce picks four wickets on the trot vs Sydney Thunder

Melbourne Renegades Cameron Boyce etched his name in record books after picking up four wickets on the trot against Sydney Thunder in Melbourne on Wednesday. The spinner first removed a dangerous looking Alex Hales for 44 off 22 on the final ball of his first over after the right-handed batsman was caught by Unmukt Chand who took a good running catch around the long off region. Boyce then returned for his second over of the innings and got the wicket of Jason Sangha on the very first delivery who was stumped out for 2 off 5 and followed it with Alex Ross’ dismissal. Ross tried to reverse sweep this hat trick delivery that was pitched touch fuller around the middle and leg stump channel but missed his stroke completely. The Renegades team appealed for an LBW and the on-field umpire raised his finger. The batsman wasn’t really happy with the decision but Boyce had completed his hat trick. The right-arm bowler didn’t stop here as he also got rid of Daniel Sams after trapping him in front of the stumps to send him packing for a golden duck on the third ball of this over to pick his fourth consecutive wicket. The leg-spinner continued his brilliant bowling show with another dismissal on the first ball of his third over. Matthew Gikes who had come in at number six drove a length delivery, pitched outside off straight into the hands of Lalor in the cover region to give Boyce his fifth scalp of the match. At the time of writing, the Thunder were 101/5 in 11 overs.

BBL 2021-22: Sydney Sixers register comfortable win against Brisbane Heat

Sydney Sixers registered a comfortable 27-run win over Brisbane Heat in Brisbane on Wednesday. Chasing 179 in 20 overs, were off to a struggling start as they lost some early wickets to get reduced to 43/4 in the 9th over. But opener Max Bryant and Jimmy Peirson then tried to provide some resistance to the side with a partnership of 84 runs for the fifth wicket but Peirson’s dismissal at 42 off 23 which was followed by Bryant’s wicket pushed the Brisbane side on back foot. Bryant notched up a 55-ball 56 but his efforts went in vain as the side was eventually restricted to 151/8 in 20 overs. Hayden Kerr returned with figures of 3/23 in 4 overs. Earlier, in the day, Sydney Sixers rode on some aggressive batting from the unit to put 178/6 in 20 overs on the board. Daniel Hughes top-scored with 59 off 45 while Henriques and opener Jack Edwards made some important contributions. While Henriques struck 28 off 18, Edwards scored 25 off 14. Neser had three scalps to his name at the cost of 39 runs in 4 overs for his side. "I thought 180 was a good score, but our bowlers did a good job with the ball in the back end. Nice and calm, stay in the present and we did that really well today. He (Henriques) is a great person and a great leader, looks after everyone and instills confidence. It's just another game of cricket and just stay really calm is the mantra," said Daniel Hughes.

Chappell-Hadlee series postponed indefinitely due to New Zealand quarantine issues

The Chappell-Hadlee ODI series and a T20 match between Australia and New Zealand have been postponed indefinitely due to New Zealand’s border controls and quarantine requirements. The two sides were slated to lock horns in three ODIs on January 30, February 2 and 5 respectively while the T20I was scheduled to take place on February 8. But the fixtures had now been postponed. "As we now know, the advent of Omicron prompted a change of heart from the NZ Government, resulting in a hard 10-day mandatory isolation period being imposed on all incoming travellers,” NZC chief executive David White said. “NZC and CA had explored a proposal to expand the tour and to push out the date on which the squad might return to New Zealand in the hope that might be more achievable for the Government.” "Unfortunately, we received advice this morning that they could not provide certainty over this,” he added. CA chief executive Nick Hockley expressed disappointment on the postponement of the matches but added that the two boards would look for the rescheduling. "We are extremely disappointed that we won’t be able to play the scheduled matches against New Zealand as planned, however we will continue to work with New Zealand Cricket to reschedule the series,” he said. “We thank NZC, who made every effort to make the series happen, however because they were unable to get certainty over return quarantine arrangements, it is simply just not possible at this time,” he added.