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India take control after day of batting dominance

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There were four half-centurions for India on Day 2 of the Wankhede Test (BCCI)

India produced a classic Test match batting performance on the second day of the one-off Test against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday (December 22) to move into complete control. At Stumps, half-centuries from four batters and two century stands either side of a second-session stutter propelled them to 376/6, leading by 157 runs.

When India began proceedings on Thursday, little would they have envisioned that they’d go on to have an even better day of Test cricket than they did on Wednesday after losing the toss, against the best team on the circuit. They’d wiped out 98 runs off Australia’s total but further success depended on how they navigated the opening session today.

To that regard they enjoyed the perfect hour, or 55 minutes with Smriti Mandhana moving serenely to her third half-century in Test cricket. Even though Ashleigh Gardner, Australia’s best by a distance, routinely troubled both Mandhana and Sneh Rana, a breakthrough proved elusive. India also caught the visitors at their benevolent best and Tahlia McGrath’s twin misfields off successive deliveries both went for boundaries and allowed the hosts to take large chunks out of the deficit.

Fittingly, it was Gardner that struck the first blow for Australia when she had Rana play inside the line to a delivery and had her stumps rattled. India then opened a door for Australia to fight back courtesy a miscommunication between Richa Ghosh and Mandhana, which resulted in the latter’s run-out for 74.

Played up the order on her debut, Ghosh then forged an alliance with Jemimah Rodrigues and the pair set about rebuilding India’s innings. India went to Lunch without any further casualty having come to within 57 runs off their opposition’s first-innings total of 219.

The partnership flourished post the lunch interval with the pair’s astute running between the wickets and their decision to sweep the spinners off the stumps being notable highlights. Both batters got to their half-centuries and India had comfortably moved into the lead when Australia brought forth their famed bounce-back-ability.

Kim Garth ended the 113-run stand when her short-ball ploy bore fruit and elicited a miscued pull from Ghosh. Three balls later captain Harmanpreet Kaur was trapped LBW by a Gardner grubber. The offspinner also trapped Yastika Bhatia LBW and had the well-set Rodrigues hit a floaty delivery to the hands of cover to fall for 73. India lost 4 for 14 inside nine overs with the lead barely over 50.

If that period post drinks interval and before Tea was reason for Australian optimism that India could be rolled over for a lead under 100 and then put pressure on in the fourth innings, that was dispelled rather spectacularly by Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar. The pair batted cautiously in the first part of the final session and as the bowlers tired and the ball got softer, the shots began to flow.

Deepti, with a half-century to her name in each of her last three Tests, made it four from four and moved to 70 while Vastrakar was resolute in defence and ensured a wicketless final session for the hosts. The pair added 102 runs going into Stumps and on a pitch expected to deteriorate over the next two days, left Australia buried under a mountain of runs.

Brief scores:
India Women 376/7 (Smriti Mandhana 74, Jemimah Rodrigues 73, Deepti Sharma 70*; Ashleigh Gardner 4-100) lead Australia Women 219 by 157 runs.



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Unyielding Dinusha, spirited tail hold off India to save Colombo Test

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Dinusha hit his second century of the Test to wear out India [SLC]
Sonal Dinusha put up an impressive resistance to keep the Indian bowlers at bay on the final day, helping Sri Lanka save the second Test in Colombo after they were asked to follow-on. In a seven-hour vigil, Dinusha remained unbeaten on 133 and, with handy lower order support, ensured that India didn’t bat a second time in the Test. This was the first time in nine occasions that India failed to secure a victory after enforcing a follow-on against Sri Lanka.

Needing only four wickets on the final day in order to begin the chase, the Indian bowlers had to toil hard on a surface which offered a bit of turn, but largely predictable pace and bounce. Overnight batters Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha kept the Indians all through the morning session even though the new ball was taken within the first half an hour of play.

The seventh-wicket stand stretched to 88 runs, consuming more than 40 overs, which also ensured Sri Lanka cleared the first innings deficit. The first strike of the day came soon after the lunch break when Manav Suthar got a delivery to spin in sharply and took the outside edge of Nuwantha’s bat to the second slip.

Prabath Jayasuriya continued to remain defiant, resisting for 28 balls before his attempted drive off Ravindra Jadeja took the outside edge to Dhruv Jurel at second slip. Even as the lead swelled past the 150-run mark with only two wickets remaining and nearly a session and a half to play, the Indians had enough incentive to go for the kill.

However, Lahiru Kumara provided much-needed support to Dinusha as the duo put an end to India’s hopes. The southpaw used the sweep to good effect to counter the turn. The duo chewed up 169 deliveries for 47 runs in a period of attritional batting, during which Dinusha brought up his century. Kumara did provide India a chance when he attempted a slog sweep which fell in front of Jurel at deep mid wicket soon after Dinusha reached his century. But that was a rare opportunity.

Kumara eventually departed on 12 when an inside edge was pouched at short leg by Yashasvi Jaiswal. Nonetheless, which the number of overs reducing, Dinusha took Sri Lanka till the end of day without any further trouble and helped avoid a whitewash.

Brief scores:
India 503/9 decl (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Dhruv Jurel 115; Asitha Fernando 4-106, Prabath Jayasuriya 2-132) drew with  Sri Lanka 290 (Sonal Dinusha 103, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 80; Prasidh Krishna 3-52, Manav Suthar 3-85) and  429/9 f/o (Sonal Dinusha 133*, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 92; Ravindra Jadeja 3-94, Manav Suthar 3-121)

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US golfer Gogel gets six-month ban for betting

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Matt Gogel is 20th in the PGA Tour Champions' season-long Charles Schwab Cup points race [BBC]

American golfer Matt Gogel has been suspended for six months for betting on golf tournaments, the PGA Tour has said.

The 55-year-old competes on the PGA Tour Champions circuit which is reserved for professional golfers aged 50 and older.

Gogel did not bet on events in which he was participating but admitted to unknowingly violating PGA Tour policy by placing “small recreational wagers” in 2024 and 2025.

“I would never knowingly violate the integrity of the game of golf,” Gogel said in a statement.

“I made an honest mistake and I look forward to playing in 2027 on the PGA Tour Champions.”

He had two top-10 finishes across 18 PGA Tour Champions events in 2026 and was most recently in action during the Rogers Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta where he finished tied 30th last week.

Gogel, who has earned more than $760,000 (£559,000) in prize money from Champions events, won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2002 – his only victory in 179 starts on the PGA Tour.

His suspension came into effect on 23 August and lasts until 22 February.

[BBC Sports]

 

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UAE’s Asif Khan handed 15-month ban for using a banned substance

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Asif Khan turned out in 94 internationals for UAE [Cricinfo]

Asif Khan the UAE batter, has been banned for 15 months after admitting to having tested positive for a banned substance – “a metabolite of mesterolone” – in an out-of-competition test conducted in September 2025, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement said that Asif, 36, “had admitted the violation” of Article 2.1 of the ICC’s anti-doping code and accepted the period of ineligibility “pursuant to a case resolution agreement entered into with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the ICC”, which means there is no right to appeal on the part of the player.

The sanction is effective from September 8, 2025 and will run until December 7, 2026.

“Asif may return to training with a team or use the facilities of a club or other ICC Member organisation from 8 October 2026 but will only be eligible to play from 8 December,” the statement added. “The player’s individual results from 8 September 2025 until his provisional suspension on 29 December 2025 have been disqualified, along with all resulting consequences, including the loss of any medals, points, prize money or prizes.”

Asif, a former Pakistan Under-19 cricketer, made his UAE debut in March 2022 in an ODI against Oman in the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2. He turned out in 38 ODIs and 56 T20Is between then and September 2025.

The last three of those T20Is, against India, Oman and Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup in 2025, came after September 8, and will be removed from his record.

[Cricinfo]

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