Very grateful to Kane: Centurion Daryl Mitchell thanks captain for not declaring early

Drama over Fortune oil: Comapany says Ganguly shall remain Brand Ambassador

The famous Rice Bran cooking oil product Fortune has been trending in the country since its brand ambassador and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had been admitted into a hospital with a heart ailment. The cooking oil claimed to be the best for cholesterol control while it's brand ambassador’s artery got blocked. This did not go down with people and as a result, the product was badly trolled and as a precautionary measure, Adani Wilmar, the company that manufactures Fortune Rice Bran oil decided to discontinue the tv commercials on an immediate basis. People speculated that it means an end of Ganguly’s association with Fortune Oil. However, now the Deputy CEO of teh company has confirmed that Ganguly has not been removed from teh ad. “Rice Bran is one of the healthiest oils in the entire world. It contains natural antioxidants. The Gamma Oryzonal present in the oil reduces cholesterol and improves the lipid profile. Sourav is our Brand Ambassador for this product. However it is no medicine but just a cooking oil and it should be kept in mind,” Mallick was quoted as saying by Times of India. “There are several factors that contribute to heart issues including dietary and hereditary problems. Sourav is our brand ambassador and he shall continue to be so. We have taken a temporary break with our TV commercials and we will sit with Sourav once again and decide on how to go about things forward,” teh CEO added pacifying fans of the 48-year-old former India skipper. The Woodlands hospital, where Ganguly had been admitted, said that Dada would be soon discharged and his condition would be monitored at home for a short span.

South Africa complete clean sweep of depleted Sri Lanka

As Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar went past the tiny total of 67 set up by a second strung Sri Lankan side, the South African team got a much-needed win, that too by 10 wickets. They claimed teh series victory, that too a clean sweep, which they had been seeking for, especially after the humiliation in the Tests by England last winter. It might not have been the best Sri Lankan side due to injury to their first-choice players ( five players in total), but that does not take away the hard work put in by the Proteas to deserve the phenomenal clean sweep. They had defeated Lankans by an innings and 45 runs in teh first Test of teh series played at SuperSport Park Centurion. In this game at the Wanderers Stadium, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 157 in their first innings courtesy of some scintillating display of pace bowling by Anrich Nortje who returned with figures of 6/56. Wiaan Mulder too got three scalps. In reply, Dean Elgar hit a brilliant century(127 runs), making up for the one which he missed out in Centurion after getting out on 95. Courtesy that century, South Africa got a handy 145 runs first-innings lead. Elgar for his match-winning performance was adjudged Man of the Match while his 258 runs in the entire series at an average of 129 got him the Man of the Series award as well. In the second innings for the Sri Lankan team, skipper Karunaratne showed some fight by scoring a 128 ball 103 in a very quick time. But he couldn’t hold on for long, neither could his men, bundling out for just 211 and giving a nothing target of 67 for the team from the Rainbow nation to chase. This time around, Lungi Ngidi and Lutho Sipamla were pick of the bowlers, picking four and three wickets respectively. Nortje got two while Mulder had a solitary wicket as well. With this win, South Africa moved to the fifth position in teh ICC World Test Championship points table, earning full 120 points and getting to a percentage point of 40. Although it would hardly make a difference as the four teams competing for the World Test Championship in any form are Australia, New Zealand, India, and England. However, this confidence can surely make a strong case for the team in the upcoming Test series against Australia in February.

Day 3: Record Williamson-Nicholls partnership crushes Pakistan's confidence

Pakistan endured another miserable day on their tour of New Zealand with Kane Williamson completing another double century, his second of the season, and Daryl Mitchell reaching three figures for the first time in his career, on day 3 of the second Test going on at Christchurch. The day started with both Williamson, not out on 129 overnight, and Henry Nicholls, unbeaten on 89, resuming the grounding down of opposition. It didn’t take much time for New Zealand to reach 300 from their overnight score of 286, and for Nicholls to complete his second hundred of the season. However, keeping with the trend of missed chances yesterday, Nicholls was dropped twice again today, first, at the score of 92, then, after he had reached his 100. Williamson too, was dropped once in the morning. The two batsmen continued to pile on the agony for the visitors as the Pakistani bowlers looked deflated. The partnership swelled to epic proportions, becoming the highest for any wicket in Pakistan vs New Zealand matches. The 369-run stand is also the third-biggest for any wicket by a New Zealand batting pair. Nicholls managed to reach his 150 while an unrelenting Kiwi captain completed his second double hundred of the season. But before Williamson’s milestone, Pakistan finally got a breakthrough when Nicholls got a top edge to a rare bouncer from Mohammad Abbas. He scored 157. BJ Watling missed out on the fun when he was dismissed cheaply by Shaheen Shah Afridi, for just seven. But Daryl Mitchell, in the team due to Neil Wagner’s injury, made full use of this opportunity. He and Williamson went on the offensive and started to smash the Pakistan bowlers to all round the ground. Williamson’s innings finally ended when he attempted an upper cut which landed in the hands of the third man fielder. This shot and the way the two batsmen were batting was a clear sign that the Kiwis wanted to declare soon. It was now a race against the time for Mitchell to get to his maiden Test hundred. Williamson was poised for declaration after tea but gave enough time to the all-rounder to complete his ton. The New Zealand innings ended at 659/6, a lead of 362 runs. When Pakistan came out to bat, the two openers – Shan Masood and Abid Ali – showed great restraint, not scoring a run for the first few overs. Then, the in-form bowler Kyle Jamieson came into the attack and made an impact immediately, getting Masood to edge a delivery to slip on the second ball of his first over. He was out for a 25-ball duck. Abid Ali also seemed to have succumbed to Jamieson when the umpire gave him out lbw. But he survived thanks to a nick that even he wasn’t aware of. Eventually, Pakistan ended day 3 on 8/1, trailing by 354. An innings defeat looms large on the horizon for Pakistan. Unless, someone plays a really special knock.

There is no end to Renegades' misery as Finch and Co. lose seven in a row

Melbourne Renegades’ miserable BBL 10 campaign continued on its distraught path as Aaron Finch and Co. lost yet another match which they should have won. The Renegades were beaten comprehensively by a huge margin of 60 runs by the Adelaide Strikers, even while chasing a par total of 172 runs at the Adelaide Oval. The match was over in the 10th over Although the scorecard will show that Renegades got out of the reach of the match probably after the power surge, however the match for the Red Machine was lost in the 10th over itself when they needed four runs to get from that over to get the Bash Boost point, but instead of going for those runs, Mohammad Nabi decided to play three balls and got only one run, even as Sam Harper had got out playing a rash short just before him. With one ball in hand, young Mackenzy Harvey needed to score three runs, but of course, he could not as Danny Briggs bowled a brilliant over to defend the four runs, giving away just a solitary single. 'Gades can't seem to get out of the hole The Renegades team got into a hole after that and much like every match, in this game too there was no coming out of it. Even after losing Aaron Finch off the first ball, the ‘Gades had an impressive start courtesy of some cracking shots from two youngsters in Harper and Harvey. They put on 67 runs off 55 balls but most importantly set up a platform for the likes of Nabi, Beau Webster, and Jake Fraser-McGurk to get on with it. But that did not happen as Nabi was choked for the flow of runs and even after playing 16 balls, which included four dots in the power surge, could only score seven runs. Similar was the case for Webster and Imad Wasim who couldn’t just get on with the game. McGurk on the other hand came too late to create any difference. Worst Power Surge ever This was the worst power surge in the history of the BBL as Renegades could only score five runs of the two overs and lost two wickets in the process as well. Firstly Nabi was served four yorkers by Wes Agar, the fourth one getting his wicket, and then in the second over Peter Siddle worked his magic and got rid of Imad Wasim by conceding just three runs. Danny Briggs the game changer The England Pro Briggs was once again at his best throwing in yorkers at will and not letting the run rate. He bowled four overs and gave away just 17 runs for two wickets. At one stage the Sussex man had figures of 1/8 in just three overs. It was he who stopped the flow of runs as Rashid Khan the premium spinner of the Strikers wasn’t at his best today. The Weatherald-Gibson Earlier in the day, Strikers after winning the toss had decided to bat first. But the decision really didn’t go their way as they lost Phil Salt early at the score of 14 runs in the fourth over. After that skipper, Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw built a slow but steady partnership of 54 runs before spinners in Nabi and Imad pulled on their tricks and from 68/1 the Strikers were soon 72/4. But after that Jake Weatherald and Ryan Gibson built a 53 ball 98 run partnership during which they hit Josh Lalor for 23 runs in one over and got a total of 67 runs from their last five, taking the total to 171, which at one point of the time looked impossible. What's Next? Strikers with this victory have now moved on to the fourth position and will take on Renegades in a reverse leg game on 8th January. Renegades on the other hand seemed to have lost any confidence that they might have had coming into this game and would look to play for pride from now onwards.