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Williams’ unbeaten 145 leads Zimbabwe’s domination against Afghanistan on Boxing Day
With his family and well-wishers watching along from the Queens Sports Club balcony, Zimbabwe’s veteran batter Sean Williams celebrated his fifth Test ton in Bulawayo to give the hosts the upper hand in the Boxing Day Test against Afghanistan, as they finished on 363 for 4.
Williams not only negated Afghanistan’s spin challenge comfortably but also dominated the other bowlers to finish unbeaten on 145. His control percentage of 90 on a surface that offered decent turn right from the start of play displayed just that, with the inexperienced Afghanistan bowling attack – the visitors were missing Rashid Khan for the Test owing to personal reasons – looking both deflated and bruised by the end of it.
Walking in at the start of the second session to face his first ball with Zimbabwe at 92 for 2, Williams relied on his footwork to get on top of the bowling. Usually a frequent sweeper, Williams, on this occasion, took to the cuts, drives and pulls to shepherd the Zimbabwe innings. With Afghanistan not offering anything too full knowing Williams’ love for the sweep, he countered the bowlers’ lengths by rocking back or going on to the front foot with equal ease.
When Williams charged down the track, he lifted sixes over long-on and long-off. When he hung back, he created the time to slap boundaries through the off side. Williams’ enterprising batting earned him a half-century off 58 balls, and a century off 115.
But Williams’ innings wasn’t the only one to help Zimbabwe finish the day on a high. Opener Ben Curran, one of three Zimbabwe debutants and one of six across the two XIs, set the tone early with 68 off 74 balls. He welcomed fellow debutant Azmatullah Omarzai into Test cricket with a boundary off the allrounder’s first ball in the format, before unleashing ten more boundaries.
Curran was the majority contributor in a 43-run opening partnership with Joylord Gumbie (9), and a 49-run second-wicket stand with Takudzwanashe Kaitano (46), but fell to teen debutant AM Ghanzafar in the last over before lunch after a wrong’un sneaked through his defence to knock his stumps back.
Kaitano and Dion Myers (27), batting at No. 5, could not make full use of their starts, but their time in the middle ensured Zimbabwe lost just one wicket apiece in the two sessions after lunch. With Williams, Kaitano added 78 for the third wicket, while Myers put on 50 for the fourth.
Myers’ dismissal in the 56th over, caught and bowled by Ghazanfar for his second strike, brought in Zimbabwe’s captain Craig Ervine at No. 6, and he made certain that Afghanistan finished the day with way more questions than answers. With Williams showing how to score freely, Ervine dug in and quietly brought up his sixth Test fifty with a leg-side dominant innings.
Ervine’s knock was chanceless, unlike Williams, who, when on 124, needed the aid of a no-ball from Zahir Khan to continue batting. However, Ervine’s 56 in an unbeaten partnership of 143 for the sixth wicket was equally crucial for Zimbabwe to stamp their dominance on the day.
Play was called off five overs before the scheduled stumps owing to bad light, with Zimbabwe ending the day with a run rate of 4.27.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 363 for 4 in 85 overs (Sean Williams 145*, Ben Curran 68, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 46, Craig Ervine 56*; AM Ghazanfar 2-83) vs Afghanistan
[Cricinfo]
The Asian Youth Games gold medallist who has run sub four minutes previously returned a time of 3:55.97 seconds to become the first athlete in his age category at these championships to run the distance under four minutes.
Achintha who has a personal best of 3:53.05 from last year was representing Prince College Ratnapura today.
In another impressive 1,500 m feat Tharushi Abhisheka of Lyceum International School, Wattala established a new meet record in the Under-20 Girls’ 1,500m as she returned a time of 4:34.59 seconds to win.
By the end of the second day of the meet seven new meet records had been established.
D. V. C. de Soysa (of Galewela Central College) Under-16 Boys’ Discus Throw – 55.83m.
D. G. Lahiru Achintha (of Ratnapura Kumara Vidyalaya) Under-18 Boys’ 1,500m – 3:55.97 secs.
W. P. Nethula Induwara (Rahula College, Matara) Under-14 Boys’ 100m – 11.70 seconds
K. V. R. Gayesha (Ira Handa Kotuwa Wewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa) Under-16 Girls’ High Jump – 1.70m
H. M. D. S. Herath (Maris Stella College, Thimbirigaskatuwa) Under-20 Boys’ Long Jump – 7.65m
P. M. Amaya Semindi (Vijitha Central College, Dikwella) Under-14 Girls’ High Jump – 1.58m
A rare pink diamond is going on display in France for the first time since it was stolen almost 100 years ago to the day – the last time it was shown to the public.
The nine-carat, pear-shaped gemstone known as the “Grand Condé” was pilfered in an overnight raid on the Château de Chantilly in October 1926 and concealed in a hollowed-out apple.
The diamond – one of few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution – was recovered a few weeks later when a hungry maid at the hotel in which the thieves were staying took a bite of the apple.
It will once again be on display in the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly until 3 January.
The museum’s director Mathieu Deldicque said that while the apple story may sounds far-fetched, it was widely covered by newspapers at the time.
Deldicque has faced questions about whether the exhibition may be tempting fate, especially given the string of heists on European cultural institutions in the past 12 months, including the daring daylight robbery of jewellery from the Louvre museum in Paris.
While he declined to reveal to CNN how much the diamond was insured for, he noted that extensive academic study into the properties of the diamond had taken place to make it uniquely identifiable.
The results of this analysis, as well as previously unseen archive material about the gem’s history and theft, form part of the exhibition, according to the museum.
Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and often sell for tens of millions of dollars. The highest price ever fetched for one at auction was $71.2m (£53.6m) in 2017, according to Sotheby’s.
The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain a mystery.
It was first mentioned in 1740 in an inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, drawn up following his death, the Château de Chantilly said.
It then became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, the wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and then her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale.
He bequeathed it to the Institut de France, which now owns the Château de Chantilly, 50km (31 miles) north of Paris, along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts which became the Musée Condé collection.
(BBC)
Sri Lanka’s men begin this match having won an international in the past week. This is more significant than it sounds. Their 2026 has been abysmal, with the team losing 22 matches to the 10 they have won. New captain Kusal Mendis had carried his team to that victory with his 87 not out off 48 balls, after Sri Lanka’s seamers had also had an encouraging outing.
But the game was only a dead rubber, Pakistan having sewn up the T20I series already. Pakistan have hardly been lighting up 2026 either, but they have had substantially more success than Sri Lanka. They had won their most recent ODI series, against Australia, 2-1. In that series, Pakistan may even have discovered a bright young all-round talent, left-arm spinner and lower-order batter Arafat Minhas, who claimed the Player of the Series award for his seven wickets at an average of 12.28. He has been in penetrative form in the past 10 days as well, having claimed five wickets across the three T20Is against Sri Lanka. Against Australia, Pakistan had also had excellent performances from Shaheen Afridi and legspinner Abrar Ahmed. It had, in fact, been Pakistan’s bowlers who dominated in a low-scoring series.
The tri-series is important for all three sides because there is now officially less than 12 months before the World Cup, which is set to begin on October 2 next year. Sri Lanka still have plenty to figure out – their white-ball squads having been in serious flux this year, as a new set of selectors searches (often fruitlessly) for a winning combination. Pakistan have players and stratetgies to trial as well.
In the series against Australia, Babar Azam had top-scored for Pakistan, hitting 40, 16, and 69 to average 41.66 across the matches. No one will call it a return to his heyday, but it was an encouraging sign following a modest run in 2025, in which he averaged 34 across 17 innings. Sri Lanka has been one of his favoured opponents over the years, Babar having struck four of his 20 centuries against them, averaging 58.33. The tracks in Rawalpindi at least are expected to be good for batting. Can he build up some form in the one format he now plays?
Lahiru Udara has reason to feel miffed at the selectors, many think. Having hit 188 against West Indies three Tests ago, he was left out of the squad entirely for the forthcoming Test series. But with Pathum Nissanka having been ruled out of the ODIs through an ongoing hamstring problem, Udara has surged into ODI contention on the back of a good T20I innings last week. At age 32, he knows his chances at this level are numbered. With the World Cup on the horizon, there is perhaps no better format to impress in right now than ODIs.
With neither Sahibzada Farhan nor Maaz Sadaqat in the ODI squad, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman may open.
Pakistan (possible): Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Babar Azam, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Ghazi Ghouri (wk), Minhas Arafat, Shaheen Afridi (capt.), Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
Sri Lanka may bring Avishka Fernando straight into the XI, with Kamil Mishara having had a run of modest scores. Sri Lanka also have some decisions to make on the spin-bowling front, although they are likely to favour Maheesh Theekshana over legspinner Sachindu Colombage.
Sri Lanka (possible): Lahiru Udara, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), Kamindu Mendis, Sahan Arachchige/Pavan Rathnayake, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando
(Cricinfo)
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