The big news: Australia win big against New Zealand

David Warner’s splendid century powered Australia to a 116-run win over New Zealand in the second One-Day International at Canberra. He was partnered well with captain Steven Smith (72) to take Australia to 378/5 in their allotted 50 overs. Travis Head (57) and Mitchell Marsh, who smashed an unbeaten 76, took Australia past the 350 mark.

New Zealand were bowled out for 262 with Pat Cummins taking 4/41 and with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner bagging two wickets apiece to complete the rout. Captain Kane Williamson top scored for his side with a brilliant 82 and was the only bright spot in the scoreboard. New Zealand face Australia in the third and final ODI in Melbourne on December 9.

Other top stories:

  1. Parthiv Patel will be India’s wicketkeeper in the fourth Test against England, which begins on Thursday in Mumbai. Wriddhiman Saha, who strained his left thigh during the second Test, is still recovering from the injury. 
  2. The India Cricket Board revoked its decision to reschedule Bengal’s cancelled November 7-10 Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, after objection from the Mumbai Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The game now stands cancelled with each team being awarded a point each. CAB president Sourav Ganguly said that he will take up the issue with BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke.      
  3. The BCCI will decide whether to move the fifth and final Test between India and England from December 16 out of Chennai following the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday. Ajay Shirke, the secretary, said the board was seeking inputs from Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. However, as of now, the Test match is on. 
  4. The International Cricket Council has set December 19 as the hearing date for South African skipper Faf du Plessis’ appeal against his guilty verdict for ball-tampering. Du Plessis was charged with ball-tampering during the second Test at Hobart. 
  5. BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke have written to the Supreme Court that the Lodha Committee does not have the “expertise” to administer cricket in the country, reported ESPNcricinfo. Thakur said in his affidavit, “The Lodha Committee has not complied with the directions of this Hon’ble Court and its inaction has had a crippling effect on the BCCI and has hurt India cricket and the BCCI tremendously. The present status report also underscores the fact that the Lodha Committee does not want to interact with the BCCI or its office bearers in order to understand the complexities of Indian cricket administration. The said status report in fact acknowledges that the Committee does not have the expertise to administer Indian cricket.”
  6. Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah will miss the warm up game against an Australian third division team after he hurt his back during a training session on Tuesday. Pakistan will play a three-day tour game against a Cricket Australia XI from December 8. The three-Test series starts on December 15 in Brisbane.