India reeling at 33-3 at lunch on Day 5, chasing 340 to win 4th Test against Australia

AP
Published at : 30 December 2024, 11:00 am
India reeling at 33-3 at lunch on Day 5, chasing 340 to win 4th Test against Australia

Requiring 340 to win on the final day of the fourth test against Australia, India made a shaky start to reach 33-3 at lunch Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Mitchell Starc struck in the final over before lunch, capturing the key wicket of Virat Kohli (five) who was caught at first slip. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unbeaten on 14.

India had labored for 25 runs without loss off 16 testing overs before Pat Cummins produced a double-wicket maiden, dismissing Rohit Sharma (9) caught at gully and K.L. Rahul (0) caught at first slip.

A crowd of over 50,000 on Monday’s fifth day of play lifted the attendance figure for the match past the previous record for a Melbourne Test of 350,534, set during the Don Bradman-era 1936-37 Ashes series.

Earlier, Australia was bowled out in its second innings for 234. Jasprit Bumrah (5-57 off 24.4 overs) claimed his 13th five-wicket haul by bowling Nathan Lyon in the second over of the day.

Bumrah, 31, is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 30 victims at an average of 12.83.

The 44-test veteran took match figures of 9-156. Bumrah is the only player in test history with at least 200 wickets and a bowling average under 20 (203 at 19.42).

Bumrah removed Travis Head (1), Mitchell Marsh (0) and Alex Carey (2) cheaply before the home side reached 228-9 at stumps Sunday.

Half-century partnerships between Marnus Labuschagne (70) and Pat Cummins (41) for the seventh wicket and Lyon (41) and Scott Boland (15 not out) for the 10th wicket pushed Australia’s lead out to 339.

Steve Smith top-scored with 140, his 34th test century, in Australia’s first innings of 474. India replied with 369, led by 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy’s maiden century (114).

The five-match series is level at 1-1. The fifth and final Australia-India test is scheduled to start on Jan. 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

 

Mushfiqur to play for Fortune Barishal in BPL 2024

Published at : 24 September 2023, 03:42 pm
Mushfiqur to play for Fortune Barishal in BPL 2024

Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is set to feature for Fortune Barishal in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

 

Mushfiqur had played for Sylhet Strikers in the last edition. His price was fixed at 80 lakhs in the players' draft according to the category. Which means he was in 'A' category.

The top category player will play along with other star players like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed in Fortune Barishal.

Neymar quits PSG to sign for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal

Published at : 20 September 2023, 05:06 pm
Neymar quits PSG to sign for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal

Neymar said he was relishing “new challenges and opportunities in new places” after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal Tuesday, becoming the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

The Brazil forward, 31, ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East.

“I have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times, but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new places,” Neymar said in a statement from the Saudi Pro League.

“I want to write new sporting history, and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the moment,” he added.

Neymar ‘in negotiations’ over Saudi move as Mbappe returns to PSG good books

Published at : 20 September 2023, 05:05 pm
Neymar ‘in negotiations’ over Saudi move as Mbappe returns to PSG good books

Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.

PSG get better of Dortmund in Champions League opener

Published at : 20 September 2023, 05:03 pm
PSG get better of Dortmund in Champions League opener

Paris Saint-Germain got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday as a Kylian Mbappe penalty set them up for a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the Parc des Princes.

The French champions had dominated the first half without overly troubling the Dortmund defence, but they went ahead four minutes after the break when Mbappe scored a spot-kick awarded for a Niklas Suele handball.

Achraf Hakimi added a memorable second, and PSG could have won the Group F encounter by a far more handsome margin in the end.

The result immediately puts them in control of the group, after AC Milan and Newcastle United drew 0-0 earlier, and coach Luis Enrique will hope they can build on this performance when they visit the English side next in a fortnight.

"It was an almost perfect evening," said Luis Enrique.