SA vs IND | 3rd ODI: Quinton de Kock continues form, notches up ton in Cape Town

Women’s Ashes | 3rd T20I also washed out, Australia take crucial 4-2 lead

The third and final T20I of the Women’s Ashes between hosts Australia and England got washed away leaving both the teams once again with only one point each in their kitty. While the second T20I was washed out after almost five overs of play in the first innings at the Adelaide Oval, in this one, even the Toss could not take place as the rain never stooped pouring down in Adelaide. The first T20I played at the same venue, was won comfortably by the hosts as they chased down a tough total of 170 with much ease courtesy of brilliant innings by Tahlia McGrath who hit unbeaten 91 and built a record 144 run stand with skipper Meg Lanning to chase down the target in only 17 overs. The Ashes would now move to the only Test which would begin from January 27th at Manuka Oval in Canberra. For England, it would be an opportunity to get ahead of the Aussies by winning the Test which contains four points. However, if the Aussies manage to win, they would get an unassailable lead of six points going into the ODI leg of the multi-format series. In case of a draw, the ODIs would gain a lot of importance.

Revised venues for home fixtures against West Indies announced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made some changes in the venues for the upcoming limited-overs fixtures against West Indies at home. The Caribbean side will be touring India for three ODIs and three T20Is. The board has announced that three ODIs will now be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad and three T20Is will be held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. "The BCCI announced a change in venues for the upcoming Paytm West Indies’ Tour of India. The West Indies will arrive here for a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is," a statement read. "The three ODIs will now be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad and three T20Is will be held at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The decision to limit the series to two venues instead of six as originally announced has been done to mitigate biosecurity risks by cutting down on travel and movement of the teams, match officials, broadcasters, and other stakeholders," it added. The ODI series is scheduled to begin on February 6, 2022, in Ahmedabad with the second and third matches to be played on February 9 and 11 respectively. The T20I series is slated to commence on February 16 with the next two games to be played on February 18 and 20 in Kolkata.

SA vs IND | 3rd ODI: India make four changes, inlcude Suryakumar Yadav in playing XI

India skipper KL Rahul once again won the toss and this time around decided to bowl first in the third ODI against South Africa on a bouncy wicket at Newlands, Cape Town. The Indian team has made four changes in the XI that played in the second ODI at Paarl while the hosts have also brought in one change. Suryakuamr Yadav has come in place of Venkatesh Iyer while Prasidh Krishna gets the first chance after his debut against England at the start of 2021. He has been drafted in place of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar while Deepak Chahar and Jayant Yadav have been named as like for like replacements for Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin. As far as the Proteas are concerned, they have chosen to play the tall fast bowler Dwaine Pretorious in place of chinaman Tabraiz Shasmi conjuring the bouncy conditions of the wicket. This game is inconsequential in the sense that South Africa have already won the series with a 2-0 unassailable lead.

U19 World Cup | India record biggest win by runs in U19 history, defeat Uganda by 326 runs

The Indian Under19 even after playing without its original captain and vice-captain in Yash Dhull and Shaik Rashid respectively, recorded its biggest victory by runs in history as it defeated minnows Uganda by whopping 326 runs in the last group stage clash of the Under19 World Cup in Tarouba, Trinidad, West Indies. The only thing that went in Uganda’s favour in the entire game was the toss, but after deciding to bowl first, they wouldn’t have thought about the beating that their bowlers would receive. Raj Angad Bawa and Angkrish Raghuvanshi lodged daddy hundred with the former scoring unbeaten 162, the second-highest individual score by an Indian batter, only 15 behind Ambati Rayudu’s 177 against England U19 in 2022. Raghuvanshi scored 144 off 120 balls. Courtesy of these big hundreds, India reached 405 in its 50 overs and thereby managed to score its second-highest total in U19 World Cup history, remaining 20 short of 425-3 it achieved against Scotland U19 at Dhaka in 2004. With the ball in hand, the Indian colts were on the mark as well and dismissed the African nation on a paltry score of 79 in only the 20th over, thereby registering a win by 326 runs, the biggest ever margin of victory in India’s U19 history. It is also the second-biggest victory margin in the entire world after Australia U19’s 430 runs win over Kenya U19 in 2002. For India, stand-in skipper Nishant Sindhu picked four wickets with his right arm medium-fast. In the other three games of the day, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan registered comprehensive victories against United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe respectively to march to the quarterfinals. With the last day of the league stage over, the quarterfinal lineup has also been decided. In the quarterfinal, it would be a repeat of the 2020 World Cup final when India would face Bangladesh in the last quarterfinal of the Super League. In the other three Super League quarterfinals, South Africa would take on England while Pakistan would face Australia. In another, all Asia affair, Sri Lanka which haven’t dropped a point till now will take on Afghanistan.