10:47 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff R Ashwin has found a place in India’s 13-member squad for the New Year’s Test at the SCG despite his captain Virat Kohli saying the offspinner hadn’t yet recovered fully from the side strain that had kept him out of the second and third Tests of the series. The BCCI announcement of the squad, on the eve of the Test, came with this caveat: “A…
Marcus Stoinis produced an impressive all-round display © Getty Images Melbourne Stars 3 for 151 (Stoinis 78*, Boyce 2-23) beat Melbourne Renegades 9 for 148 (Christian 32, Bravo 3-27) by seven wickets Melbourne Stars took the honours in the derby clash against Melbourne Renegades at the MCG, comfortably chasing down 149. Marcus Stoinis produced a superb all-round display, capped by his unbeaten 78 to ensure the Stars had a few…
A fan flies the Afghanistan flag © Getty Images Only 18 months since their promotion to Full Membership, Afghanistan have secured a direct place in the main group stage of the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia by virtue of being in the top eight of teams the ICC rankings at the 2018 cut-off date. Afghanistan’s progression up the T20I rankings corresponds with a slip down the order for Sri…
All the talking points from the third day of the penultimate round of the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy © Getty Images Gill continues to knock on the door Punjab are refusing to give up, and for that they have their young core group to thank for a special effort. They trounced Kerala by 10 wickets to secure seven full points to jump to third in Group B. With top five from…
3:43 AM ET Sidharth Monga in Sydney On a day when Australia went through an optional training session and India gave it a complete miss, one man resumed his race against time to make it to the Sydney Test. India would have given training a miss on the first day of the year, irrespective of the happy scoreline of 2-1, but they might have a happier headache if R Ashwin,…
3:00 AM ET Sydney Sixers 5 for 165 (Henriques 57, Lalor 2-32) beat Brisbane Heat 7 for 164 (Lynn 84, Curran 3-25) by five wickets Moises Henriques and Jordan Silk have delivered the Sydney Sixers the perfect start to the New Year executing a brilliantly timed chase to ensure Brisbane Heat remain winless. The pair came together with the Sixers needing 84 from 51 balls. Henriques made an outstanding 57…
2:16 AM ET Australia’s in-form fast man Pat Cummins admits the home side’s pace trio has spent time in discussion over why they have not been able to match India’s old-ball success so far in a series due to resume at the SCG on Thursday, but denied that reverse swing played a disproportionate part in last summer’s Ashes bout. Statistics revealed by ESPNcricinfo have shown that the Australians are struggling…
3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Canterbury seamer Kyle Jamieson took 6 for 7 in the side’s Super Smash T20 match against Auckland to claim the joint third-best innings haul by a bowler in all T20s. Jamieson equaled Lasith Malinga’s figures of 6 for 7 in the BBL in 2012 and had it not been for the two wides Jamieson bowled, he would have equaled Arul Suppiah’s record figures of 6…
12:10 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff An “average” pitch rating by the ICC for the recently concluded Boxing Day Test between Australia and India has eased some pressure off the MCG and its ground staff, in the wake of last year’s “poor” rating. Given the dull draw played out last year between Australia and England, there was a sharp focus on the quality of the drop-in pitch in the lead-up to…