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Jayasuriya 5-129 leaves Sri Lanka needing 348 to level series
Sri Lanka took seven wickets for 126 on day three, but are now faced with making 348 for victory. This would not only be a ground record, but a record in South Africa, beating the 340 the hosts made against Australia in Durban, in 2002.
Prabath Jayasuriya was Sri Lanka’s primary weapon, completing a 10th career five-wicket haul, and his first overseas, before lunch. He bowled yet another long spell into the rough that has developed outside the right-hander’s leg stump. Through the course of his 14 overs on day four, he dismissed Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, and Marco Jansen, and finished with figures of 5 for 129.
Though Sri Lanka made serious strides in the first session, taking five wickets to work their way back into a Test that had been at risk of slipping away, they lost some momentum against the tail. Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, and Dane Paterson collectively crashed two sixes and five fours after lunch. The four overs they faced after lunch brought South Africa 35 runs in all.
The seamers toiled on a slowing surface for large parts of the morning, while Jayasuriya struck, but each of them picked up a wicket during the day. Vishwa, who had also had Aiden Markram nicking behind on the third evening, finished with the best figures among them, taking 2 for 47 from his 19 overs.
Of all the dismissals South Africa will rue Tristan Stubbs’ run out the most. He and overnight partner Bavuma had begun the day brightly, and had extended their fourth-wicket stand to 103, when Bavuma clubbed a Lahiru Kumara ball to deep midwicket, and took off for a tight two. Stubbs hesitated upon turning for the second, however, and attempted to turn Bavuma back, but the ball-watching earlier meant it was too late. The pair were caught mid-pitch for long enough that Kumara could get back to the non-striker’s stumps and run Stubbs out with ease. He was out for 47.
Bavuma, who early in the day completed his fourth half-century of the series (one of these is a hundred), then put on a 41-run stand with Bedingham, whom Sri Lanka tested with the short ball with a stacked leg-side field (he had been dropped twice trying to pull in the first innings). They got through that period, but Bavuma could not defy Jayasuriya forever. He was bowled trying to sweep the spinner, the ball leaping out of the rough. With this 66, Bavuma has 327 runs for the series.
Bedingham batted with much more caution than he had displayed in the first innings for his 35, but edged Jayasuriya to slip, the ball once again kicking off the surface to take the outside edge. Vishwa Fernando then zipped one off the surface in the channel to have Kyle Verreynne caught behind for nine. Jansen had attempted to hit out against Jayasuriya, and was caught on the deep-midwicket boundary.
The tail came out of the lunch break swinging. Rabada clobbered two fours in the first over of the session, and was also struck in the helmet by a Kumara short ball. Paterson too, wore a Kumara bouncer on the helmet. But Paterson and Maharaj smashed sixes off Jayasuriya, and more boundaries came off the seamers before an Asitha yorker to Paterson finally ended the innings.
Brief scores:
South Africa 358 and 318 (Temba 66, Markram 55; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-129) lead Sri Lanka 328 by 347 runs
(Cricinfo)
Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.
With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.
But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.
“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.
“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”
Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.
It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.
One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.
Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.
“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”
CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.
“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”
All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.
Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.
With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.
England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.
“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.
That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”
The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.
[Cricinfo]
Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a global journalist union.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the region accounted for 74 deaths last year – more than half of the 128 journalists and media workers killed – in a new report released on Wednesday.
The Middle East was followed by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), according to the report. The vast majority of those killed were men, but the list included 10 women.
“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic; it is a global crisis. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.
Palestinian journalists were the biggest cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals were killed in 2025. Yemen followed, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, according to the IFJ.
The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine last year covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside several colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
The attack also killed Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, Al Jazeera camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance camera operator Momen Aliwa and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
IFJ also cited an Israeli strike in early September on a Yemeni newspaper office as “one of the worst-ever attacks on a media office”. Thirteen journalists and media workers at the Houthi-affiliated “26 September” newspaper were killed, along with more than 20 other people.
Another nine deaths were ruled as accidents, while others – including two journalists in Syria and two in Iran – were “targeted and killed” because of their work, IFJ said.
While the Middle East was the deadliest region for the third year in a row in 2025, the Asia Pacific accounted for the largest number of journalists and media workers behind bars. Most cases in 2025 were in China and Hong Kong, which together accounted for 143 journalists, followed by 49 in Myanmar and 37 in Vietnam.
Europe was another detention hotspot last year, accounting for 149 imprisoned journalists. IFJ attributed the figure, up 40 percent from a year earlier, to “intensified repression in Azerbaijan and Russia”.
[Aljazeera]
United States President Donald Trump has said that he will delay the implementation of tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for one year, amid growing concerns over cost-of-living issues.
Trump signed an order on Wednesday night, during the New Year’s Eve holiday, pausing a planned 50 percent tariff on cabinets and vanities and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.
But the order maintained the 25 percent tariff he put in place for those products in September.
The US president had previously described the furniture tariffs as a step to “bolster American industry and protect national security”.
Polls indicate that rising prices and the cost of living are major concerns for people in the US as the country approaches its 2026 midterm elections, scheduled for November.
Voters hold President Trump’s policies, and tariffs in particular, at least partly responsible for their economic woes. A Politico poll released in December found that 30 percent of respondents cited tariffs as the primary reason prices were high, and 32 percent said that Trump bears “full responsibility” for the state of the economy.
A majority of respondents cited the cost of living as a top issue facing the country, while 32 percent cited the state of the economy. Democratic politicians have sought to hammer Trump and his Republican Party on affordability concerns, which Trump has waved away as a “hoax” perpetuated by his political rivals.
The Italian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the US had also agreed to slash proposed import duties on pasta products from 13 companies.
Previously, the Trump administration had threatened the pasta companies with additional tariffs of 92 percent, in addition to import taxes on European Union products.
Italy’s foreign ministry said that the US Commerce Department had agreed to bring that rate down to 2.26 percent for La Molisana and 13.98 percent for Garofalo, two Italian food companies the administration had accused of undercutting other pasta producers through unfairly low prices.
The other companies will face a rate of 9.09 percent.
“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that US authorities recognise our companies’ constructive willingness to cooperate,” the foreign ministry said.
[Aljazeera]
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