India docked one WTC points, players fined 20% match fees for slow over rate in Centurion Test

NZ vs BAN | 1st Test, Day 1: Devon Conway's Test juggernaut leads Blackcaps to commanding position

There’s little that a gap of 47 days from international cricket did to the Test match form of Devon Conway and he brought up yet another century to make it New Zealand’s day on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui. He missed the tour of India after breaking his thumb while punching his bat after a soft dismissal against England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup and Conway batted like a man on a mission and hit another century in the format. He now has one double century, one century and two double centuries in his four-game long Test career. On the day when the Blackcaps were without their regular skipper and potent number three in Kane Williamson and found themselves in trouble after the departure of Tom Latham, he went on to establish his supremacy and command at the top of the order. Left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam heard the big call from his skipper Mominul Haque, who won the toss and elected to bowl first in seaming condition and produced a big wicket in the form of Latham. Latham was drawn into driving a fullish delivery and the inside edge was snaffled up one-handed by Liton Das diving to his left. Following his departure, the next in line after Conway on the list of emerging New Zealand players, Will Young made the best use of the opportunity. He was extremely patient against the new ball but flourished once Bangladesh lost their patience and accuracy. Conway carried on his merry way and brought his century in partnerships with Young and Ross Taylor, who has already announced retirement after the series against Bangladesh. Conway stitched a 138-run partnership with Young and followed it up with another 50-run partnership with Taylor to take New Zealand into a dominant position. However, Bangladesh were never out of the reckoning and their bowlers kept chipping at wickets. Shoriful returned with a big wicket of Taylor to keep things in control for the tourists. Ebadot Hossain got the important wicket of Tom Blundell towards the end of the day to make it an impressive outing for the tourists. New Zealand have gone ahead through the century of Conway and half-century from Young but Bangladesh would not be disappointed having taken five wickets by the end of the first day.

Chief Selector vindicates Ganguly, reiterates concerns on Kohli's decision to quit T20I captaincy

There is no end in sight of the controversy surrounding the captaincy saga of Virat Kohli as the chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma has come forward to reiterate the point made by Sourav Ganguly that all stakeholders of the BCCI had asked him to reconsider his decision of stepping down as T20I captain. Moreover, Mr Sharma went a step further and described Kohli’s decision as a “shock” for the selection committee, who was of the view that his announcement right before the T20 World Cup would impact the performance of players and hence the issue should have been dealt with after the conclusion of the world cup. "When the meeting started, it was a surprise for everybody," Chetan Sharma said in a virtual press interaction after announcing the squad for the tour of South Africa. "Because the World Cup is upon you and you hear this news, what will be the reaction of a normal person? Everyone who was present in the meeting asked him to reconsider, to rethink; 'we can talk about this after the World Cup'. All the selectors felt this could affect the performance in the World Cup. It was told to Virat for the sake of Indian cricket to please continue as captain. "It was told to him by everybody available in the meeting. All convenors were there, board officials were there. Everybody said that. Who will not say that when you hear such a news? You will be in shock. What will be your instant reaction? It was a matter of the World Cup. We thought let's talk after the World Cup. We told Virat the World Cup is upon us, and everybody requested let's talk after the World Cup. "But he has his plans. We have to respect his decision. If someone has taken a decision, and he said in the media also, that he was thinking [along these lines] from the time of WTC, but at that time everybody told him to think about it." Notably, the BCCI President Ganguly had raked a controversy by saying that he had personally asked Kohli to reconsider his decision and was subsequently told that otherwise his ODI captaincy will also be taken away. Later, after Ganguly’s assertion, Kohli came out in public and refuted all the claims made by saying he wasn’t told anything of that sort and rather he claimed that all “office bearers” took his decision in a good way and commended him for taking a “progressive move.” Kohli should address a press conference on the eve of the second Test match against South Africa starting January 03 and most definitely, he will be confronted with another set of questions pertaining to his decision that ended his captaincy tenure in white-ball formats.

NZ vs BAN | 1st Test | Preview: WTC champions ready to begin the home season, first up are Bangla Tigers

New Zealand, the reigning World Test Champions would begin their first home season after being crowned the world winners and they would be taking on Bangladesh in their first challenge. Having lost to India in a two-match series away from home 0-1, New Zealand would try its level best to win the series 2-0 and keep themselves alive for the WTC 2021-23 cycle. Bangladesh on the other hand would be looking to get themselves on the board in this new World Test Championship cycle as they have so far lost two out of two at home to Pakistan. However, the conditions are not at all suitable for the hosts and as it would be chilly and the ball will move around all too well of their liking. Thus it is in this backdrop that the first Test of the two-match series between New Zealand and Bangladesh would begin. New Zealand vs Bangladesh: Match Details Match Number- 01 Date and Time: 01 January 2022, 03:30 am IST Venue: Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui Live Stream in India: Amazon Prime Video Pitch Report The pitch at Mount Maunganui is supposed to help the fast bowlers and Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee would be licking their lips to start the new year afresh. However, New Zealand has surprisingly produced the best for Bangladesh in terms of batting as the highest Test partnership of 359 runs for the Tigers between Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim came in the Kiwi nation only. Hence they would look to seek inspiration from there. Weather Forecast The weather for the first day of the Test is predicted to be mostly sunny. For the first four days actually, it would be pleasant summer weather at Bay Oval and a full game of Test without interruption is expected. Hence if New Zealand wins the toss, they would look to bat first, but Bangladesh might decide in reverse given that they wouldn’t want to face the red cherry early on. Team News New Zealand The Kiwi team would be without the services of their usual skipper Kane Williamson and Tom Latham would be in charge of the team in his absence. However, the docs in both the Tests would be on Ross Taylor who is playing his last Test series as a Balackcaps member. Also, Devon Conway and Trent boult who missed out on the India series would be making a comeback in this series as well. Probable XI Tom Latham (captain), Will Young, Devon Conway, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Rachin Ravindra/Daryl Mitchell, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult Bangladesh The Tigers would be without the experience of Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Tamim Iqbal and hence the onus would fall upon the next most senior men in Mushfiqur Rahim, skipper Mominul Haque and Liton Das to anchor the batting while Mehediy Hasan and Taijul Islam, the two spinners would have to come good with the ball. Probable XI Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Shorfiul Islam, Abu Jayed/Ebadot Hossain. CE XI Fantasy team Tom Latham, Will Young, Devon Conway, Ross Taylor, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Taskin Ahmed Captain- Devon Conway Vice-Captain- Mushfiqur Rahim

BBL 11 | Jason Sangha’s brilliant showing with bat takes Thunder past Strikers

It was a phenomenal display of batting from Jason Sangha at the Adelaide Oval as he struck a match-winning 91* to lead his team Sydney Thunder to a victory over hosts Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League 2021. A match which was played under the fear of Covid-19 and chances of whose happening were very unreal at the start of the day came alive from the batting of the former Australia Under-19 star. Courtesy of Snagha’s brilliant innings in which he hit six fours and six sixes, the Thunder were able to post a huge score of 187-3 in their 20 overs. Apart from Sangha, Ben Cutting, Matthew Gilkes and Sam Billings scored 13, 37 and 18 respectively while Oliver Davies reined unbeaten on 26 off just 12 balls and built an 89 run partnership with Sangha which came off just 40 balls. The Strikers bowlers did not have any clue in the death overs as Sangha and Davies took them apart. The spinners Fawad Ahmed and Rashid Khan were quite economical though, ending their four spells at 0-22 and 1-23 respectively. Chasing the target was always going to be tough for the South Australian side even though they were batting at their home ground and bove that, they lost their first wicket in the fourth over itself. However, even after the fall of Matthew Short’s wicket, Matt Renshaw and Jake Weatherald built a 69 run stand in just 48 balls and just when it seemed like the chase was on, Saqib Mahmood struck and got rid of Renshaw. In the very next over, Daniel Sams removed Weatherlad and the story was back to nought for the Strikers. Jonathan Wells tried his best with his 48 off 26 balls, but it wasn’t enough as his team could make only 165-7 in their 20 overs. In total, Sams took four wickets. With this, the Thunder registered a healthy win by 22 runs and consolidated their fourth position on the points table.