Watch | Mitchell Starc bowls the ‘Mother of All Wild Balls’

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc bowled on the wildest deliveries seen in recent memory against Sri Lanka in the third T20I game against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, 15 February.

Bowling his final over - the 18th over of the first innings, Starc’s fifth delivery slipped out of his hands and went metres over the batsman’s head beating keeper Matthew Wade in the process. It was an attempted slower ball that did not stick in his hand and ended up lobbing up as a beamer.

Commentators in the game speculated if they have ever seen a ball go that wide in world cricket and comparisons were drawn to Steve Harmison’s Ashes delivery as well.

You can watch the video for reference below:

Thankfully the delivery did not do a lot of damage to Australia’s position in the game, as they had cramped up Sri Lanka fairly well throughout the first innings. They managed to choke out the opposition for just 121 runs in the first innings and then returned to chase it down with more than three overs remaining.

With the win, Australia has extended themselves to an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series and are continuing their domination in the shortest format of the game in the run-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Discover more

Minimum of 9 players required for continuation of Ranji Trophy matches

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come up with a special pointer keeping the Covid-19 situation in mind and one of those is continuing the match even if there is an unavailability of 11 players in a side. Apart from this, one point will be rewarded to each side if a first-innings result is not completed because of the Covid-19 situation. "First innings result not achieved for any reason (Weather interference, COVID Outbreak within team or any other unforeseen circumstances): One Point each (sic)," says the BCCI circular. "Due to COVID outbreak within a team AFTER THE START OF THE MATCH, if the team has minimum nine players available to take the field (after utilising all the Covid replacements) then the match will continue (sic)," the BCCI note said. But the board also clarified that if a team is not able to field at least nine players, there would be a different way of determining the result. "Due to COVID outbreak within a team AFTER THE START OF THE MATCH, if the team is unable to field minimum nine players (after utilising all the Covid replacements) and this situation remains till the conclusion of the match then result of the match will be determined as follows - A. In the league stage, points will be awarded to the teams based on points table above. B. During knock out games which team will qualify for next round will be determined by higher run quotient or spin of the coin (sic)." The BCCI has further said that if a player is injured during the play then he would need to be fit to participate in the match within four minutes. "If a player is seriously injured or any kind of injury (batsman/bowler/fielder) happens on the field of play and requires medical attention, The maximum time allowed for that player to recover from the injury and to be ready to participate in the match is Four minutes. The player has to leave the field if he needs more time to recover." POINTS SYSTEM 1 Outright Win: Six Points 2 Innings Win/Win by 10 Wickets One Bonus Point 3 First Innings Lead but no outright win Three Points 4 Loss on first innings One Point 5 Tie on first innings without outright result One Point each 6 Tie on both innings Three Points each 7 Outright Loss Zero Points 8 First innings result not achieved for any reason One Point each (Weather interference, COVID Outbreak within team or any other unforeseen circumstances).

Delhi Capitals make intriguing waves least amount of purse at IPL Auction 2022

Ever since their rebranding, Delhi Capitals have looked like a completely different unit altogether. The franchise has been one of the most consistent teams in the past few seasons. Everything seems to be on the right track for the Capitals.

IND vs SL | BCCI announces revised schedule; Bangalore confirmed to host D/N Test

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the revised schedule for the men’s national team series against Sri Lanka. After much back and forth, the BCCI has confirmed that Bengaluru will host the Day and Night Test match but instead of being the first long format game, it will be the concluding one for the entire series. The T20Is will be played first, starting 24 February. The first one will be hosted in Lucknow and the next two in Dharamshala on 26 and 27. The tour will then move on to Mohali where India will play their first Test match between March 4-8. This will incidentally be Virat Kohli’s 100th Test match if he chooses to play the game. The tour will end with a Pink Ball Test match in Bangalore between March 12-16.

ICC announces Women's World Cup winner's prize money

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken a decision to double the prize money of the winners of the Women's World Cup. The winner will now receive a sum of $1.32 million and has also increased the overall prize money pot by 75%. The eight teams will get a share of $3.5 million. The team that will end as the runners-up will get $600,000 while the teams who will bow out in the semis will receive $300,000 each. Apart from this, the four other teams will get a sum of $70,000. The teams will also be rewarded $25,000 per win in the group stage. "This marks an increase in the prize money during the Women's Cricket World Cup for consecutive editions. The prize money between the 2013 and the 2017 edition witnessed a tenfold increase, going up from $200,000 to $2 million," an ICC statement said. The tournament will be played in a round-robin format with 28 games to be played and the four teams which will have the most points will advance ahead. "The matches will be played across six venues with the tournament opener taking place between hosts New Zealand and West Indies at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The final will be played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on April 3," the statement added.