The Ashes | Final Test, Day 2 - Australian pacers wrap up England for 188

‘What on earth are you doing there?’ Ricky Ponting seethes at Ollie Pope dismissal

Former Australia captain and one of the best batsmen that the continent has produced, Ricky Ponting was heard seething at the Ollie Pope dismissal. Pope was found guilty of fishing outside off stump against Scott Boland. The incident came just a few overs after England had gone through a middle-order collapse that wiped off the visitors best hope to put on a decent total. After Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Dawid Malan one after the other, the onus fell on Pope and the debutant Sam Billings to hold for and get England to safety. However it was not to be and Pope fell prey to Bolan’s outswingers. “What on earth are you doing there?,” questioned Ponting during live commentary. “There was a little bit of outswing earlier in the over, he knows what Boland is trying to do. He’s just fallen for a simple trap.” Calling it an absolute nothing shot Ponting further went onto explain what exactly made him so furious about the incident. “It’s a defensive push to a ball that’s on about sixth stump. You’re not going to score from it, all you’re going to do is to nick it through to Carey, which is what he’s done. Ollie Pope you can shake your head as much as you like, but that’s your mistake young man.”

BBL 11 | Youngster Thornton, experienced Wells combine to down Stars and keep Strikers in hunt

Adelaide Strikers registered third back to back victory as they beat Melbourne Stars by 23 runs to move to the top four in the points table and keep their hope of making it to the Playoffs alive. The Strikers were helped by two players of contrasting experience as a newbie Henry Thornton shone with the ball by picking up a four-wicket haul while with the bat it was the warrior Jonathan Wells who came to the rescue of his side like he has done many times in his long BBL career. Chasing a target of 156, Stars lost the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Joe Clarke, two of its best batters so far in the league at the score of only 31 in the fifth over. Marcus Stoinis, who hasn’t been in great touch in the league so far, faltered once again as he was removed for one by leggie Fawad Ahmed. Beau Webster failed as well and Stars were 37-4 all of a sudden in the seventh over. Joe Burns and Hilton Cartwright built a 42 run stand for the fifth wicket and it seemed like Stars were getting back in it before Peter Siddle got through the defences of Burns. Clint Hinchliffe tried his best to stay on with Cartwright who was trying to keep the green brigade in the context, having built yet another 42 run stand. But with 35 required from 13 balls, Hinchcliffe tried one shot too many and was caught by Thomas Kelly off Harry Conway. In the very next over, Thornton got rid of Cartwright and Sam Rainbird to make it almost impossible for Stars to have any shot at the victory. With just five runs coming in the last over, the Melbourne side could only get to 132 and lost the game by 23 runs. Earlier in the day, after losing the toss and being asked to bat first, Strikers lost Matt Renshaw early on. But Matthew Short’s quickfire 33 off 22, combined with a brilliant 73 off 49 from Wells eventually got Strikers past 150 even as Jake Weatherald and Ian Cockbain took a lot of time to get to just 17 runs each. From the Stars’ viewpoint, it was a relatively good performance with the ball, especially from Rainbird and Hinchliffe who picked two wickets each. With this win, Strikers have now reached fourth place in the points table and have equal points as Hobart Hurricanes at number five but having played an extra game than them.

India escape official charge after Dean Elgar DRS outburst

Despite losing temper over the Dean Elgar DRS decisions where seveDespite losing temper over the Dean Elgar DRS decisions where several India players went on a provocative rant, there have been no official charges filed by the International Cricket Council. ESPNcricinfo reported that the ICC has had a talk with the players but they have refrained from making official charges against any of the players who had an emotional outburst at Newlands in Cape Town. There were two sides to the incident that evening. One where the Indian players went to stump mic and vented their frustration and the other where the players, including umpire Marias Erasmus, was left shocked by the reversal of the LBW decision that looked absolutely plumb to the naked eye. Sides formed in the social media as well, where fans and experts debated the intensity of the rant and for the duration it carried on. While some spoke in favour of Kohli and his co due to the blatant error in the technology, others pointed out that the words spoken from the Indian players had no place in the game. After the incident, India somewhat lost the plot and conceded a lot of runs in a space of few overs, that shifted the momentum towards the home side. Despite Elgar getting out on the final ball of the day, the home side chased down the 211 run target with ease owing to Keegan Petersen's 82 off 113 balls. South Africa still remains to the final frontier for India where they have not won a Test series.ral India players went on a provocative rant, there have been no official charges filed by the International Cricket Council. ESPNcricinfo reported that the ICC has had a talk with the players but they have refrained from making official charges against any of the players who had an emotional outburst at Newlands in Cape Town. There were two sides to the incident that evening. One where the Indian players went to stump mic and vented their frustration and the other where the players, including umpire Marias Erasmus, was left shocked by the reversal of the LBW decision that looked absolutely plumb to the naked eye. Sides formed in the social media as well, where fans and experts debated the intensity of the rant and for the duration it carried on. While some spoke in favour of Kohli and his co due to the blatant error in the technology, others pointed out that the words spoken from the Indian players had no place in the game.

The Ashes | Final Test, Day 2 - Cummins runs through England as visitors lose 5 under 100 runs

England were once again threatened by the pace battery of Australia as they lost three wickets in a space of seven runs in the second session of the fifth Test. Being played in Hobart, a ground that favours fast bowling, England lost Dawid Malan, Joe Root and Ben Stokes in a space of three overs as Australian captain Pat Cummins threatened to trigger another collapse in the series. Malan was the first to get out, clipping a nothing delivery from Cummins to the keeper while trying to run it down to the leg side. Joe Root was trapped in front by Cummins and went back without reviewing the decision. Ben Stokes was the last wicket to fall at the time of writing on a shot that he had absolutely middled. He crunched a backfoot punch against a short delivery from Starc, but a diving effort from Nathan Lyon at point made sure that the English all-rounder was left frustrated while walking back to the pavilion. At the time of writing, Australia were 96/5 with two new batsmen in the crease. Ollie Pope was partnering debutant Sam Billings in hopes to rescue the English innings.