The big news: England play careless cricket

England were struggling at end of day one of the third Test in Mohali finishing on 268/8 at stumps. India took three wickets in the last session. Jonny Bairstow was the top scorer for England as the rest of the team continued to stumble around him.

The Indian bowlers chipped in with crucial wickets with Ravindra Jadeja being the pick of the bowlers taking 2/56. Umesh Yadav and Jayant Yadav also picked two wickets each as England lost their way towards the end of the innings.

Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin took one wicket apiece as England lost eight wickets at the end of day’s play. India will look to dominate day two as well, looking to bowl out the opposition before they cross the 300-run mark.

Other top stories

  1. New Zealand were in the driver’s set as day two ended at Hamilton on Saturday. New Zealand were bowled out for 271 with Sohail Khan taking 4/99. Pakistan had a horrendous start losing three wickets for 12 runs. They ended the day struggling on 76/5 trailing by 195 runs.        
  2. Australian dominated proceedings on day three as their innings ended on 383. South Africa struggled to get runs on the board as they ended the day on 194/6 managing a lead of just 70 runs. Nathan Lyon was the chief destructor picking 3/48. 
  3. The Indian cricket officials might meet the Pakistani officials on December 17 to discuss suspended bilateral cricket ties. A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said the meeting will be held during the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Colombo. 
  4. Underdogs Zimbabwe will look for another upset as they take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-series tournament. After being West Indies in a virtual semi-final, they will look to knock Sri Lanka out as well for their first tri-series win at home. 
  5. Tamil Nadu player Dinesh Karthik was disappointed that a hairline fracture to his little finger on his right hand coincided with India’s hunt for a wicketkeeper to replace the injured Wriddhiman Saha in Mohali. Parthiv Patel was chosen to replace Saha as they third Test began on Saturday. 
  6. The knockout matches of the Ranji Trophy have been rescheduled owing to the two league fixtures in Delhi which were postponed due to pollution and smog, reported ESPNcricinfo. The quarter-finals that were scheduled to begin on December 17, will now be held from December 24 to 28. The semi-finals were moved from December 27 to January 3. The final, which was set to be played from January 7, will now take place from January 12 to 16. The BCCI also announced that the Irani Cup, to be played between the Ranji winners and Rest of India, will be held from January 22 to 26. 
  7. Former South Africa all-rounder Trevor Goddard died on Friday. He was 85-years-old and had been in poor health for some time. Goddard’s career spanned 41 Tests between 1955 and 1970 scoring 2516 runs and taking 123 wickets.
  8. Indian opener KL Rahul was on Saturday ruled out of the third Test due to a forearm injury sustained during the ongoing Mohali Test. “KL Rahul sustained a blow to his left forearm while fielding in Vizag. Injury got aggravated in the nets. He feels uncomfortable while batting. BCCI medical team advised him rest to fully recover,” the official statement from the team stated. Shikhar Dhawan is expected to take his place for the next Test match in Mumbai in case Rahul doesn’t get fit in time.