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Tamil Nadus Tactics Pay Off After Early Debacle Against Himachal Pradesh

Tamil Nadu’s tactics pay off after early debacle against Himachal Pradesh

Tamil Nadu recovered after an early debacle in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Final on Sunday, 26 December. Batting first on a cold morning in Jaipur, Tamil Nadu openers were sent back to the pavilion cheaply by the Himachal pacers.

With slight assistance from the deck on a nippy deck, the south India stalwarts found themselves in a precarious position down by four wickets inside the first 15 overs.

However, TN played a masterclass after the dismissal of the first wicket by sending in lower order batsman R Sai Kishore in an attempt to shield the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Shahrukh Khan. The strategy seemed to be working out fairly well, but Karthik and Baba Indrajith building up a 104-run partnership, scoring at a brisk rate.

At the time of writing, TN were batting at 144/4 in 34 overs having not lost a wicket since the 15th over. They still have the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar in their ranks who could light up the final 15 overs to put on a big total.

At the time of writing, Karthik was batting at 64 off 76 balls alongside Indrajith at 34 off 49 balls.

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Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22

Ray Illingworth passes away at 89

Former England skipper Ray Illingworth passed away on Saturday (December 25, 2021) at the age of 89. "We are deeply saddened to learn that Ray Illingworth has passed away," wrote Yorkshire County Cricket Club on Twitter. "Our thoughts are with Ray's family and the wider Yorkshire family who held Ray so dear to their hearts." Illingworth played 61 Tests where he picked up 122 wickets at an economy rate of 1.91. In three ODIs that Illingworth featured in, he had four scalps to his name. Talking about Illingworth’s batting, he notched up over 1800 Test runs including a couple of tons during the course. Illingworth was a part of 787 FC matches, where he scored 24134 runs including 22 centuries and 105 fifties and also picked up 2072 wickets. In a 32-year long career, he achieved the feat of double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets six times and also led Yorkshire to three County Championship titles. He had revealed that he was receiving treatment for esophageal cancer in November 2021.

The Ashes | MCG Test, Day 1 - Buttler plays outrageous shot; England 6 down at Tea

Tourists England are once again staring at a dreadful Test outing on Boxing Day after losing 6 wickets in the first two sessions of the game. The home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground had a day out with Australia feasting upon some poor show of batting from the visitors as none barring Joe Root were able to cross the 30-run mark. After failing to negotiate the tough morning session, England’s middle order succumbed to their shot selection later in the day. Both Ben Stokes (25 off 60) and Jos Buttler (3 off 11) got out to avoidable shots that put England in a compromising position in Day 1. At the time of writing England were batting at 128/6 with only Jonny Bairstow remaining as the last recognised batter left in the team. Australian bowlers have feasted on the English and everyone has scalped at least one wicket barring Scott Boland whose figures read 10-2-33-0.

Himachal Pradesh strike early; TN bring in lower order batsman to shield DK & SRK

Himachal Pradesh had a flying start in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Final picking up two wickets in the first 10 overs. The opening duo of Siddharth Sharma and Vinay Galetiya were on fire from ball one making life incredibly difficult for the favourites to win the final. With the Jaipur wicket offering enough nip in the winter morning, Himachal piled up the pressure on the batting side. TN opening combination of Narayan Jagadeesan and Baba Aparajith were found out in the early part of the innings with both stalwarts of the domestic circuit returning back to the pavilion inside 7 overs. The south Indian powerhouse went on to a state of panic and promoted lower order batsmen R Sai Kishore and Murugan Ashwin to shield the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Shahrukh Khan. The move did not work as planned as Sai Kishore was dismissed in the final ball of the 12th over. At the time of writing, TN were in a precarious position having lost three wickets in 13 overs, putting up just 35 runs.

The Ashes | Boxing Day Test - England score 50 ducks in 2021 Test calendar

England’s woeful form continued in the third Test match of the Ashes series. They were in the statistics books this time albeit due to the unfortunate form of their batters, a condition that has been bothering them throughout the season. England have tried multiple combinations throughout the year in their top and lower-middle order, but nothing has come to pass. Even on Boxing Day, Sunday, 26 December, the new look opening combination of Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed folded early failing to see off the first spell of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. The first wicket to fall was Haseeb Hameed who left the crease without troubling the scorers with a 10-ball duck. In doing so, England scored 50 ducks in a Test calendar of 2021. They have scored more than 50 only once, in the 1998 season.