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SA vs IND | 1st Test, Day 1: KL Rahul scores another overseas Test ton to lead India's dominance

KL Rahul continued his dream run at the top of the order in the longest format and scored his second century of the year on the first day of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.

He reached the landmark with a push off the bowling of Keshav Maharaj that went to the boundary line. He hit 14 fours and one six off Maharaj to score his seventh century in the longest format.

He batted with remarkable assurance around off-stump which was the feature of his batting in the Test series against England earlier this year and continued with the same discipline and immaculate defence.

He stitched a 117-run partnership for the first wicket with Mayank Agarwal and followed it up with another big partnership of 82 runs with the skipper Virat Kohli to lead India into a commanding position on the first day.

Rahul had gone out of the race for the opening slot in the Indian Test side but made the most of the fortunate opportunity he got after the head injury to Mayank Agarwal right on the eve of the Test series against England.

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Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 | Passionate Himachal Pradesh outrun Tamil Nadu to win maiden title

There was some drama in the middle in the final minutes of play during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22 final between Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh when bad lights eventually stopped play. Chasing a mammoth 315 in 50 overs, Himachal Pradesh were 299/4 in 47.3 overs when the play had to be stopped but the Rishi Dhawan-led side was well ahead of the requirement and they were crowned the CHAMPIONS eventually after winning the finale by 11 runs (VJD Method). Rishi Dhawan was emotional. The Himachal Pradesh players were delighted. Their joy knew no bounds. The hard work had paid off. After all, they had won their first Vijay Hazare Trophy and against a side which is certainly looked up as the giant in domestic circuit. Dhawan expressed delight at lifting the trophy after the game. “It was long pending and we've finally done it. Really happy,” he said. Shubham Arora’s resistance It’s not really for a batter to negotiate a formidable bowling line up when the side is chasing a target of over 300 runs and the wickets had fallen around him but Himachal Pradesh’s Shubham Arora was strong-headed enough to help his team overcome a tricky situation. Himachal had started off well as the openers Arora and Prashant Chopra had put up 60 runs on the board but the latter’s departure certainly broke the shackles and the team began to lose wickets at regular intervals and was 96/3 when Amit Kumar came out to bat. The complexion of the game certainly changed from here on. It seemed as if Arora and Amit had a plan in their minds and the two batters were executing that pretty well. They began the rebuilding process in a cautious manner but never let the asking rate mount and eventually stitched a stand of 148 runs for the fourth wicket. Kumar was eventually undone for 74 off 79 after he was trapped in front of the stumps by Baba Aparajith but his departure didn’t really impact Shubham as he remained unbeaten at a well-compiled 136 off 131 to anchor his side to the victorious triumph. Rishi Dhawan’s aggressive stroke-play Himachal Pradesh captain Rishi Dhawan had been in good form in the tournament but what unleashed on Sunday was a master class from an experienced lad. Dhawan took on the Tamil Nadu spinners and especially Murugan Ashwin and hammered runs all around the park. He struck an unbeaten 42 off 23 deliveries including five fours and a maximum. He in fact discussed his knock after the game. “I was telling Shubham not to take any pressure, just get a single and I'll handle the pressure,” he said during the post-match presentation. Dinesh Karthik & his valuable experience As we talk about Shubham Arora for his performance in this final, the credits can’t really be taken away from Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik who helped his side come out of critical situation and put up a huge total on the scoresheet. In a process of shielding the regular batsmen early in the day, Tamil Nadu certainly experimented with their batting line up where they promoted lower middle order batters like Murugan Ashwin and Sai Kishore up the order. The track and the conditions in Jaipur early in the morning were favouring the bowlers and this was pretty evident when Himachal Pradesh reduced Tamil Nadu to 40/4 before Karthik and Baba Indrajith joined hands and put up a partnership of 202 runs for the fifth wicket. While Indrajith scored 80 off 71, Karthik piled up a ton. The right-hander too took his time to get his eye in first and then accelerated to eventually score 116 in 103 deliveries which involved 7 sixes and eight fours during the course. Later, Shahrukh Khan who is known to score runs at a brisk pace capitalised on the foundation laid by Karthik and Indrajith as he chipped in with 42 off 21 as Tamil Nadu struck 314 in 49.4 overs before getting bowled out. Pankaj Jaiswal eventually picked up four wickets while Rishi Dhawan scalped a three-for. Buttery hands The only thing that two sides will look back and will like to work on is the fielding efforts. Barring the early minutes of the day, the fielding from both the teams was dismal. In fact, Himachal Pradesh dropped Dinesh Karthik twice before he had scored his ton while Tamil Nadu missed out on run out chances and sitters. Later, Karthik showed some sportsman spirit and specially went to congratulate the Himachal Pradesh players.

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The Ashes | 'Not sure' of fitness, Josh Hazlewood is racing against time to play Sydney Test

Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood is still “not sure” of his chances to play the fourth Ashes Test and is racing against time to regain both full fitness and workload preparation for the New Year Test scheduled to be played in Sydney from January 03. He said that he is likely to start bowling from the third day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test and will assess his bowling fitness after loading up a number of deliveries for the first time since the Gabba Test. He had suffered a rib injury during the first Test of the series in Brisbane and has missed both the second and third Tests to recover from the injury. He said that the nature and extent of the injury are completely new to him and he is taking small steps back to return on the field with the ball in hand. “I’m still a little bit away, (this Test) is probably a week early,” Hazlewood told SEN. “We’re still not sure, we’re going to take this week as it comes and likely have a bowl on Day 3 or Day 5, see how that goes and then build up from there. The workloads are still there from the first Test, but obviously, I haven’t had a bowl in 10-12 days and we’ll see how it goes on Day 3.” “It’s probably more on feel this one, it’s a bit of an interesting one, it’s the intercostal in between the ribs, there’s a slight tear. I’ve never had it before, I’ve had the normal oblique side strain, which is the common one, but we’re taking each day as it comes and we’ll make the decisions on basically how I feel.” Australia are already 2-0 up in the series and are also in a great position in the ongoing third series of the series and hence they would not be looking to rush Hazlewood’s return into the Test side.

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BBL 2021-22: Hughes, Christian power Sydney Sixers to easy win over Thunder in rain-curtailed contest

Sydney Sixers produced a match-winning performance against Sydney Thunder in a rain-curtailed match in Sydney. The game was reduced to 16 overs per side after rain played spoilsport and Sixers who batted first posted a good total of 168/4 in 16 overs on the board. Daniel Hughes hammered the opponents all around the park and notched up a 26-ball 50 which included five maximums and a four. Later, Christian chipped in with a brisk and unbeaten knock of 41 runs off 17 deliveries. Chris Green was the pick of the bowlers for his side after he returned with figures of 1/19 in 6 overs while Daniel Sams scalped a couple at the cost of 29 runs in 3 overs. In reply, the Thunder team lost wickets at regular intervals but Jason Sangha held the fort strong at one end before he departed for a 30-ball 47. The Sydney Thunder team couldn’t really get back into the groove despite a 28 off 11 from Sams. His innings consisted of four sixes during the course. Sydney Thunder were eventually bundled out for 142 in 15.1 overs. Hayden Karr bagged a three-wicket haul for his team while Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott and Lloyd Pope had two wickets each. Christian later talked about the bowling attack and how the rain helped the wicket to skid. “I was lukcy it came off tonight, the boys set a really good platform and the rain helped the wicket to skid on particularly towards the end. We bowled really well and everyone chipped in. It was a fantastic team effort. We got good depth and confidence in each other,” he said after the match.