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Day 3 of the 2nd Test Australia v India 24/25: Sensational finish for this arvo & result by Pat Cummins, Travis Head plus Usman Khawaja & Nathan McSweeney

by Sports Benches

The weekend has finished early now off the back of our winning runs by the Aussie Men’s Test Team – things we love to see!!

There has been a whole more South Australian brilliance in front of Adelaide Oval including our brilliant finish to this 3rd innings shift on the field/ from Captain Pat Cummins whose short ball bowling approach paid off right on time that helped set up an amazing 19-run finish & here they are celebrating just inside those three days following their ten wicket win. 

We just couldn’t get enough of Travis Head as said above who not just scored a Test 100 with Alex Carey by his side but also caught a few courageous catches too while we could’ve seen a possible Test 50 from one of SA’s openers Nathan McSweeney but at least he scored some valiant runs including this afternoon’s easy run chase with still a long way to go.

For India, it seems their selection purely to dominate these conditions with the pink ball didn’t pay off unfortunately. Yes, we saw some brilliant flashes of brilliance like Jasprit Bumrah leading the way with the ball as well as some outrageous batting shot selections that led to some quickfire runs by Rishabh Pant & that quick all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy who top scored 40 in both spells. But again, their poor start coupled with that top-order collapse once again (2nd innings) allowed Australia to fight one back – and the rest is history especially in Adelaide.

Now that the Aussies are back in this fight for the ultimate five-match heavyweight series belt (Border-Gavaskar Trophy), will they keep the same fast bowling squad that made them click in this Test? Hard to tell when you got Josh Hazlewood knocking on our doors again – despite Scott Boland doing extremely well in his place & so does Mitchell Starc even though he made some mistakes with the no balls but can also score some runs.

Plus, what about the batting? Not bad apart from Steve Smith’s continued poor form for yet another straight time at 4 including his fielding work, although Marnus Labuschagne is was at his best again was the other day for 64 at first drop. But I guess the Aussies would want to keep our whole winning XI near changed/unchanged ahead of the 3rd Test starting next Saturday as both teams now head off to The Gabba in Brisbane.

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Day/Night 2 of the 2nd Test Australia v India 24/25: Travis Head the local hero who saved their day with the bat followed up by more Aussie early wickets under the lights

by Sports Benches

One word to describe Day 2’s play of the Day/Night Test at Adelaide Oval: Phenomenal. Yes, that’s right because our Aussie Test side has been smashing it left, right and centre – both bat and ball. 

Yes, most of our top order batters sans Marnus Labuschagne (scored okay on 64) may not have gone far as they would’ve liked at the hands of the always reliable Jasprit Bumrah alongside Mohammed Sirah who later demolished our tail end. 

Although I wouldn’t discount that much on the new opener Nathan McSweeney (current SA player too) following his sound knock for 39. For Steve Smith though, looks like his magic tricks have continued to wane though following a string of his poor scoring record, especially at age 35.

Don’t know what to say but better to give the best Shield batter in place then for this next Test don’t you think? while there’s still more time for McSweeney to prove his worth in the hope of forging a long-term stint there much like his other SA players.

This is where we continue to see the best from No.5’s Travis Head who got away with his Test Match 100, which is things we love to see with fellow SA team-mate & first-choice keeper Alex Carey by his side before we were all out for 337 with 157 run advantage not long after the dinner break.

Fortunately, we continued to follow up with a stunning impact when the Aussies were flying on the field and also with the ball once again thanks to India’s early wicket dismissals – such as the young left-hand opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and of course, Virat Kohli. There’s a still a long way to go ahead of Day 3 tomorrow afternoon with the destructive keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant still in the middle with Nitish Kumar Reddy as getting these two out would be the key towards winning this Test Match.

Gotta say Scott Boland was there at the right place at the right time as wondering if he could keep Josh Hazlewood out for the 3rd Test at The Gabba in Brisbane? Meanwhile, every time Pat Cummins gets a wicket, love seeing celebrate with pride for the Baggy Green. And yes, Mitchell Starc may had a series of no balls over the line tonight but he’s still the best we got with the pink ball while being able to score runs for a bit.

It’s up to the Aussies now to finish off the other half’s job now by going one step closer to go 1-1 all with the bat in this five-match series as India currently on 128/5 and 29 runs behind the run trail.

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Day/Night 1 of the 2nd Test Australia v India 24/25: So far, So good both bat and ball in the hope of building something phenomenal going into Day 2 this afternoon

by Sports Benches

I must say that Day & Night 1 of the 2nd Test of our 2024/25 Test Summer was buzzing not just Adelaide Oval but also from our Aussies as well. 

Likewise from also the opening day of the opening test even though they did lose the toss, they did extremely well with the ball for a start – albeit a slightly higher score (India all out for 180) alongside a slightly altered bowling attack since Josh Hazlewood wasn’t unable to play in this Test. 

Hats off to Mitchell Starc on his six-wicket haul who continues to shine with the pink ball while Scott Boland has no problem filling in Hazlewood’s role as our other starring fast bowler with two wickets on hand.

From India’s end, they decided to change things up with their selection due to their mindset to try and win it in these different conditions, especially with pink ball when playing some at night. Yes, their opening batting shift didn’t go well as expected, although good to see Nitish Kumar Reddy scoring 42 from the lower end at 7 – not bad from a fast-bowling all-rounder there. 

They still have some sort of advantage though as you never know what India could do to cause more damage once they come back refreshed from overnight, having saw that coming when Usman Khawaja got caught out last night by Rohit Sharma at slip off Jasprit Bumrah.

And finally, the Aussies had the final say to close out the opening day’s shift & safe to say it’s so far, so good. There’s still more work to do in order to build a big partnership over the next 1-2 days. 

We got Marnus Labuschagne eventually up and running currently on 20 whereas how good was SA’s own player Nathan McSweeney proving his worth like a true Opening batter (a bit like Dave Warner but with his right hand) in front of his own state turf as he’s on 38. Let’s hope he gets his 50 very soon before he hangs in there long enough to collect his first Test 100 having done so many times for SA before at Sheffield Shield level. 

Watch this space from the Aussies to hopefully eat the 94-run trail, put the pressure back to the Indian bowlers with runs on the board & then convert it into a solid lead when they will resume at the crease this afternoon (Day 2) at 86/1.

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Marnus Labuschagne puts another classy ton while Travis Head went one better in front of his home crowd at Adelaide Oval for Australia on Day 1 of the 2nd Test v West Indies

by Sports Benches

Great start by the Aussies when they batted well throughout the opening day of the 2nd Test v West Indies at Adelaide Oval – thanks to their winning toss that puts them to pad up & bat first, as they will resume on 300-3 going into Day 2 later today at 3pm AEDT.

The Windies got away with an early advantage when David Warner‘s dipped downhill yet again, after he was caught behind by Joshua Da Silva’s gloves at the hands of Alzarri Joseph on 21. Meanwhile, Warner’s other opening partner in Usman Khawaja scored another decent half-knock well into the first half of the day, including after the first 40-minute afternoon break interval. 

Then WI struck back-to-back wickets in quick succession; one was an LBW when Devon Thomas dismissed Khawaja on 62 – even though Khawaja appealed the DRS review promptly & it wasn’t successful via umpire’s call, and another was a duck from Steve Smith after eight balls – thanks to a caught & bowl effort by Jason Holder.

But that doesn’t affect Australia’s batting progress too much when Marnus Labuschagne once again played another classy hundred for the third straight time so far in this series v WI, while Travis Head went one better this time with his 5th Test hundred in front of his hometown crowd, after he was so unlucky to be dismissed on 99 during the 2nd innings spell in Perth last week. Both players put Australia in a secure position just past the 300 mark, as Labuschagne & Head are still standing on 120* & 114* respectively. We’ve gotta say that it was tremendous to see them play at the highest level and stake their claims there, with Marnus locked up at first-drop for a long-time just like Ricky Ponting; And although Travis Head may have some dips in form along the way especially over the last 12 months, but again his class is permanent as his century yesterday shows that he wants to be batting at No.5 over the next few years like Marnus, having both been thrown into the deep end back in late 2018 v Pakistan while Australia were going through a dark period at the time thanks to the sandpaper gate in South Africa that led to the year-long bans of Steve Smith & Dave Warner. Speaking more of sandpaper gate, South Africa will be back playing here for three more Tests v Australia after this Test match concludes in a few days starting next Saturday at the Gabba in Brisbane.

For now, The Aussies has to keep up the good work they’re doing right now & bat for another half day before they declare & bring the bowlers in to start dismantling the WI batting card one-by-one, especially when WI opening & lower-order areas were so good to watch spells last week. So they need to get ready as soon as the opposition comes sometime later today/tonight and get them out ASAP. And WI better get the job done after a rough day out yesterday with the ball. Yes, their batting can be on par with the Aussies but needs support from their bowlers to limit as low as possible before WI can stand up for themselves & put up a good battle of Test Cricket.

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Rashid Khan’s illustrious show with the bat almost crushed Australia after a narrow loss for Afghanistan but Australia’s semi-final hopes rely on Sri Lanka beating England

by Admin

Today, we are describing fantastic news about the post-game match Report between Australia v Afghanistan that will prove very informative. Let’s start reading now! Glenn Maxwell made outstanding efforts in a half-century to reach Australia’s semifinal. However, Afghanistan’s outstanding performance makes Australia’s success hopes to an end. Rashid Khan at Adelaide Oval was afraid to host the team from his magic performance.

Reigning champions Australia must get their rivals to 106 runs or less to surpass England’s net run rate. Before England’s performance, Sri Lanka is in their final team play on Saturday.

The hosts reach 168 for eight from their 20 overs on the behind off Maxwell’s innings. Later, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi got five wickets between them to control their rivals. It appeared challenging for the match.

The Black Caps’ 89-run triumph in their first encounter proved so expensive to Australia’s championship campaign that New Zealand had already secured a spot in the semifinals. Australia was required to defeat Afghanistan by over 185 runs to surpass their NRR. 

Currently, Sri Lanka must defeat England in a shock result for Australia to advance. If England triumphs, they will meet New Zealand in the following round.

While scoring 169, Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran put up a third-wicket partnership of 59 runs. However, Australia regained the initiative with four wickets in nine deliveries, two of which fell to Adam Zampa in his final over. 

Rashid scored an undefeated 48 off 23 balls at the end of the game. As he terrifying the packed house. While cheering his followers at the place he refers to as his “second home.” Still, Australia was capable of staying on and triumphing by four runs.

Controversial call

 A very harsh puzzle occurs as Mitchell Starc declares to away from their line-up. Aaron Finch and Tim David were changed from Cameron Green and Steve Smith less contentiously as both could not recover sufficiently from spasticity problems.

Afghanistan’s opening batsman was at the center of controversy in the first over. 

The bowler Josh Hazlewood struck with his first delivery. He was taking out the batsman with a sharp bouncer that caught him on the head. He was replaced by Pat Cummins and reportedly hurt his shoulder when he collided with Gurbaz in the running after hitting the ball.

Maxwell, Marsh Outstanding Performance

Mitchell Marsh had been on the receiving end of a barrage from Cameron Green and David Warner in the third over. But he was back at the crease in the fourth. He appears to bat with his team trailing by 20 runs and is determined to make a difference.

He starts slowly, carving Gulbadin at slip for four before catches at mid-on by Najibullah Zadran off Gulbadin with 19 runs on board. However, he soon found himself in trouble again. He dismisses Gurbaz with a top-edge straight over his head for a catch by Mujeeb Ur Rahman at cover point.

Afghani wrecking ball touch

With three wickets in four balls, Naveen Chandra’s performance was pivotal in putting a lid on an Australian side needing as big a total as possible to help their troubled title ambitions.  Then, Gurbaz Ahmed’s bright start and Gulbadin Naib’s determined innings before an excellent Maxwell throw from midwicket ran him out.

Afghanistan is within touching distance of the magical 106-run total that would have helped Australia’s NRR comparison with England considerably. When Afghanistan went from 98 for 2 to 99 for 5 and 103 for 6, they were still shy of the mark.

It’s a good week to be a T20I fan. First, the Adelaide Strikers’ Rashid Khan smashed his career-best T20I score, smashing four sixes in two balls off Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Starc over deep midwicket and long-off. It was that kind of T20 Cricket World Cup: explosive, high-scoring, and full of star power. Afghanistan’s bowling attack appears to have been swapped out for another set of explosive attacks.

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Rugby

2022 Rugby Championship: Australia vs South Africa at Adelaide Oval Match Report

by Admin

Coming into the game, both sides were coming off a loss and desperately needed a win to keep their title hopes alive. Australia started quickly with Fraser McReight scoring in the opening minute, conversion slotted by Noah Lolesio.

Lolesio then kicked a penalty just a few minutes later to put the hosts 10-0 into the lead. In the 23rd minute, Handré Pollard kicked a penalty of his own to bring South Africa within 7 points.

In the 30th minute, South Africa looked dangerous attacking the Australian line as Ox Nché barrelled his way over from a short distance just to be held over the line by the Aussie defence.

Just before the half-time whistle blew, Springbok scrum-half Faf De Klerk was controversially yellow carded for striking fellow scrum-half Nic White in the head which reduced the away side to 14 men.

Australia started the second half strong as outside centre Len Ikitau made a darting run into the South African 22 before the ball was spun wide to Marika Koroibete who finishes the beautifully worked try.

In the 56th minute, Australia once again scored following a beautiful break from fly-half Noah Lolesio who popped it on to Fraser McReight who scored his second of the game.

The try was converted once more by Lolesio before slotting a penalty also to take the hosts 25-3 into the lead as we entered the final quarter of the match.

It took the Springboks 74 minutes to score their first try of the match as substitute Kwagga Smith ran one in for the visitors.

Aussie number 8 Rob Valetini was yellow carded in the final minute of the match which led to Kwagga Smith scoring his second try of the match, however, it was too little too late for the visitors who lost the match 25-17.

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Test Cricket News, Chris Woakes & Jos Buttler’s long spells with the bat wasn’t enough to stop Australia from winning the 2nd Ashes Test by 275 runs

by Sports Benches

What a way to wrap the 2nd Test on the fifth & final day in a Day/Night format at Adelaide Oval with Australia won by 275 runs & are one step closer towards retaining the Ashes Series at 2-0 with three matches left beginning on Sunday in Melbourne.

Commiserations for England right now when Chris Woakes scored some handy runs on 44 before he was clean bowled by Jhye Richardson, the same goes to Jos Buttler who might not have scored quickly as Woakes but at least he stuck in there for as long as he can & sadly he‘ll be disappointed not to overplant his back foot into the stumps. There’s only one way now to fight back and that is winning the remaining three tests so expect to see some wholesale changes especially in the opener batting slots.

And hats off to Jhye Richardson who snatched up his first five wicket haul at test level (42-5) when he bowled a couple of good balls that got the England openers out in their 2nd innings spell, Not only he fired off with the early wickets for Australia but he ended the long-running Buttler & Woakes partnership by punishing Woakes through the stumps before he finished off the game in style with Buttler’s hit wicket which is a big highlight towards Australia’s journey towards the finish line.

I also want to point out that he can bat a bit too especially after he whacked a huge six over the rope during both innings where I’d like to see him execute more of these in the Sheffield Shield before he can score a few Test 50s like Pat Cummins in a few years time.

Now there’s going to be a selection headache going into Melbourne this Sunday with Pat Cummins back after a short quarantine period due to some positive COVID contact as well as Josh Hazlewood, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re going to mightily keep a winning team with one or two changes & guide them to another win closer to retaining the Urn once again.

#AUSvENG #Australia #England #JosButtler #ChrisWoakes #JhyeRichardson #TestCricket #Cricket

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Test Cricket News, Australia in the box seat at 82-4 with six wickets left to win after Day 4 in the 2nd Test of 2021-22 Ashes

by Sports Benches

England may have been given a free run at the Australian batting attack with a few wickets earlier in the 3rd innings yesterday, but it doesn’t mean they are back in contention when being way behind as England are required to chase down 468 after Australia declared 230-9 not long before tea. Going into Day 5 & England now 82-4 with 386 runs needed to on the fifth & final day today at Adelaide Oval.

Gotta say that Rory Burns may have batted slightly better this time on 34 but he’s yet to find any decent numbers so far this Ashes tour + his fielding hasn’t helped much either as it’s most likely that he’ll be replaced by Zak Crawley for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, while Joe Root & Dawid Malan did the heavy lifting both as part-time spinners with support from the quicks including Ollie Robinson who picked up two wickets in Australia’s 2nd innings run.

And great to see Jhye Richardson snatch up a six during his short time batting at the tail end as well as pile up two early wickets that would hopefully see Australia reach the finish line first later today, it’s also wonderful to see Marnus Labuschagne & Travis Head secure their 50s while Cameron Green scored a handy 33 runs as the quickie all-rounder that extended Australia’s lead further in this test match.

All eyes now on the England middle-order of Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope & Jos Buttler to turn this unlikely challenge around if they can, the same goes for the Australian bowling attack to finish the job & go 2-0 up in the 2021-22 Ashes series with three more test matches left.

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Test Cricket News, Joe Root & Dawid Malan partnership lifted England earlier on a Day 3 in the 2021-22 Ashes but it’s Australia who rejuvenated afterwards with a healthy lead

by Sports Benches

Nice seeing Joe Root & Dawid Malan pick up the pieces for England where they made up some lost time as this partnership continued to work like the previous test at the Gabba last week during the opening session, however, they weren’t unable to hold on that momentum after the dinner break even though it’s a long way away to chase that run trail down with England lost four wickets for 57 towards tea (197-6) before they were all out for 236 (237 runs behind Australia).

Australia on the other hand fought back after a slow start earlier in the afternoon (140-2 at dinner) as they still maintain a healthy run lead ahead of the change of innings with the option of enforcing the follow-on, but they instead not to do so & batted once again where Australia will resume at 45-1 alongside a 282 run lead on Day 4 tomorrow.

Credit from stand-in skipper Steve Smith, who picked up two catches off the dangerous Root & Malan pair, while Mitchell Starc continued to shine with four wickets on hand after a brilliant quickfire batting spell last night including some support from Cameron Green (2 wickets) & Nathan Lyon made England regret not bringing a dedicated spinner in this test.

With the bat during such a short time tonight, Marcus Harris would be disappointed when he didn’t communicate well that ran David Warner out but he’s fine right now at 21* with more to come & Michael Neser hopes to secure a debut Test 50 having been jettisoned to the crease as the nightwatchman before Australia can declare within 100-150 runs more so their bowlers are rested up to finish the job.

Going to back to England now apart from Root & Malan, it’s great to see Ben Stokes & Chris Woakes pick up handy runs as they can while Stuart Broad added just a few against a tiring Australian bowling attack plus a six off an unlucky mis-catch from Mitchell Starc before he was spot on the field via direct hit to Warner. There’s nothing else to say at this stage when England still need to try and limit Australia’s 2nd innings spell ASAP before going all-in for whatever run total they require with two days left at Adelaide Oval.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Australia #England #TestCricket #Cricket #AdelaideOval

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Test Cricket News, Australia continues their red hot start in Day 2 of the 2nd 2021-22 Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval

by Sports Benches

Australia continued to pile up more runs on Day 2 where they’ve set up a good batting total in the first innings of 473-9 via declaration not long after tea before they finished their hard day’s of work a bit early due to lightning & rain with the ball at 17-2.

Plenty of good moments that began from Marnus Labuschagne who secured his sixth Test 100 after he was fortunate to escape Jos Buttler’s sloppy catch of his gloves & cashed into runs, although Travis Head & Cameron Green were clean bowled for low scores but it doesn’t mean Australia regressed when Steve Smith batted superbly as stand-in skipper even though he was gutted not to escape the nervous 90s on 93 & we also saw Alex Carey score his 50 on his 2nd Test match.

We also cannot forget Michael Neser & Mitchell Starc, who not only scored quick fire spells in the mid 30s run mark, but they also shared two early wickets with the ball that gave another advantage going into Day 3 tomorrow for Australia & make more damage on England’s best remaining batting card as Neser is settling really well at Test level after waiting his debut for a very long time even though he’s 31 now.

England on the other hand may have caught up with a few wickets on hand with great areas around the stumps including an excellent late spell from James Anderson (2 wickets) not long before tea, however, they continued to leak runs when the fielding continued to flop such as Ollie Pope at the back & Jos Buttler with the hit and miss catches behind the keeping gloves.

But the one player who disappointed everyone so far this Ashes series is Rory Burns having miscommunicated that overthrow for four as well as still being vulnerable to the Australian quicks & not delivering these numbers as required at Test level, nothing to say right now as if he continues that poor start later in this game then it’s time to go by the Melbourne Boxing Day Test.

England need Dawid Malan & Joe Root to rekindle that spark tomorrow which worked so well in their 2nd innings run last week as it’s going to take a lot of time.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #MarnusLabuschagne #SteveSmith #AlexCarey #MichaelNeser #MitchellStarc #JamesAnderson #Australia #England

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