Super Smash 2021: Northern Brave complete easy win after bowlers rip apart Auckland

Northern Brave rode on a spectacular bowling performance from the unit to thump Auckland on Monday, 20 December. Batting first, Auckland had a dismal start to the proceedings as they lost early wickets and were left tottering at 61/9.

It was Lockie Ferguson and Ben Lister who chipped in with a partnership of 31 runs helping Auckland reach 92 before getting bundled. Anurag Verma and Frederick Walker picked up three wickets each for the side while Ish Sodhi scalped two of them. Sodhi's figures were exceptional considering the help seamers got in the game. At the end of the innings, he registered 4-0-5-2.

With no scoreboard pressure whatsoever, Northern Brave openers Katene Clarke and Tim Seifert started off the chase well as the two put up 65 for the first wicket before Clarke departed for 28 off 32.

Brave then lost three more wickets but that didn’t really cause much of a concern as the side went over the line by 6 wickets in just over 15 overs. Seifert top-scored for his team with an unbeaten 42-ball 38. Sean Solia returned with figures of 2/16 in 3 overs for his team.

The Northern Brave now have 10 points from 4 games while Auckland are tottering at the bottom of the points table, still searching for a win. Brave will now play Canterbury in Mount Maunganui on Thursday while Auckland will be up against Wellington in Wellington on Friday.

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The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 5: Lyon quashes any hope of England's revival with Ben Stokes wicket

Any hopes of an England survival was all but dashed with the exit of their “superhero” Ben Stokes in the first session of the final day of the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. He was trapped LBW by the off-spinner Nathan Lyon and England slipped to be left with just four wickets to save the game and go to Melbourne just 0-1 down. Odds were already stacked against the tourists since Joe Root was dismissed on what turned out to be the last ball of the fourth day bowled by Mitchell Starc but England fans could have hoped for another miraculous escape by Ben Stokes. Before his dismissal, Ollie Pope failed once again and fell victim to Starc’s over the angle. England were set a mammoth target as Australia managed to extend their lead of 273 runs to 468 runs and regular strikes with the new ball helped the hosts have momentum in their favour right from the start.

CSA postpones domestic fixtures due to Covid-19 fear ahead of India series

Cricket South Africa on Sunday said that it has postponed the remaining round of CSA four-day franchise series as a precautionary measure over Covid-19 fears. "The decision to defer the fifth round of matches, which were scheduled to take place between December 16-19 (Division Two) and December 19-22 (Division One), was taken as a safeguarding measure in light of the competition being held outside of a bio-secure environment and amid the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," CSA said in a statement. The fixtures which have been postponed will be rescheduled. The announcement has come a week before the commencement of the Test series between India and South Africa. The Indian team is touring South Africa for three Tests and as many ODIs. The first Test is slated to begin on December 26 in Centurion while the ODI series is scheduled to start on January 19, 2022 in Paarl. The selectors had announced some changes in the leadership group with Rohit Sharma also taking up the ODI captaincy and was named the vice captain of the Test side. But unfortunately, the right-handed batsman will be missing the Test series with a hamstring injury and KL Rahul will be Virat Kohli’s deputy.

Auckland Aces vs Northern Knights | Match Preview, Predictions, Fantasy XI

We are going to Eden Park for the first time in this edition of the Super Smash as Auckland Aces take on Northern Knights in the 10th match of this season's Super Smash.

LPL 2021 Eliminator | Janith Liyanage leads Dambulla Giants past Colombo Stars

It was shrewd batting by Janith Liyanage as he slowly and steadily helped his team Dambulla Giants chase down a relatively low but tricky target of 146 to get past Colombo Stars in the Eliminator of the Lanka Premier League 2021. Liyanage, not a famous name even in Lankan cricketing circuit wore down the bowlers in his innings of unbeaten 56 off just 47 balls as it included only five fours and no sixes, but he hardly played a few dot balls, making sure that no bowler was able to bowl to him constantly and get to his shortcomings. The partnership that the 26-year-old developed with Afghan import Najibullah Zadran also played an instrumental role in achieving the target. When Zadran paired up with Liyanage, the Giants were 68-3 in the 9th over and Phil Salt, their best batter in the tournament so far had just departed. Thus at that stage, the game was wide open and could have gone either way if not for the 61 runs partnership between the Liyanage and Zadran duo. While Zadran was eventually removed for 34, the right-handed Liyanage stayed at the crease and went back only after carrying his team over the line in the 19th over. Prior to his stand with Zadran, Liyanage had also shared a 48 run stand for the third wicket with Salt after Stars were reduced to 20-2 with Niroshan Dickwella and Sandun Weerakkody departing early. Earlier in the afternoon, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota, the Colombo team lacked any sort of planning. Dinesh Chandimal, who was the leading run-scorer of the tournament until the start of this game was sent in at number seven in a logic-defying move. He was sent even after a bowling all-rounder Seekkuge Prasanna. Naturally, Chandimal, who was the leading contributor in all the four wins for the Stars in the league, could only face two balls even by the time the 20th over began and got out on the third ball, trying to up the ante right from the word go. Angelo Mathews top-scored for the Stars with an unbeaten 50 off 34 balls while Pathum Nisannka made 42 off 39 balls. Giants, who won this game, would now face the loser of the first Qualifier match between the Galle Gladiators and Jaffna Kings to get a birth in the final of the league.