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Josh Hazlewood out of Adelaide Test with injury
Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the second Test – a pink-ball, day-night fixture – against India in Adelaide from December 6, due to a ‘low grade left side injury’, Cricket Australia said. This will be Hazlewood’s first absence from a home Test against India. With this, for the first time since the Sydney Test of 2015, Australia will be without one of the four stalwarts – Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon – in a home BGT match. The quartet featured together in nine successive home Tests vs India.
Uncapped pacers Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett have been added to the home team’s squad. Australia though, are likely to fill the Hazlewood void with the inclusion of Scott Boland, who was part of the original squad picked. Boland will be in action during the two-day warm-up game for the Prime Ministers XI, starting on November 30. His last Test appearance came in the Ashes Test in Leeds in 2023.
Hazlewood will be a significant miss for the hosts who are trailing the five-match series 0-1. The pacer bowled a devastating spell against India the last time they played in Adelaide in December 2021, which was also a pink-ball, day-night game. In India’s abysmal 36 for 9, he walked away with figures of 5 for 8 in 5 overs, including three maidens. Hazlewood also made a good start to the current series in Perth, picking 4 for 29 in the first innings where India were bundled out for 150. In the second too, where India piled on the runs, he gave away just 28 runs in 21 overs.
Both Abbott and Doggett arrive on the back of impressive performances in the Sheffield Shield. Abbott, who has been on the fringes of the Test squad for a while, picked 4 for 71 in 16 overs against Tasmania at the SCG in the last round of the Sheffield Shield, and comes with 261 first-class wickets to his name. Doggett meanwhile, bagged a five-fer against Western Australia recently, to take his tally of wickets up to 11 in three Shield fixtures. He also turned heads with his career-best returns of 6 for 15 in the A game against India A in McKay in the lead-up to this Test series.
Both the uncapped pacers were previously picked in the Test squad without getting a game – Doggett during the series against Pakistan in UAE in 2018, and Abbott during the 2020-21 home series against India, while also being in the squad as a reserve in last year’s Ashes.
Australia squad for second Test:
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland, Beau Webster.
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IPL 2025: Kohli, Patidar and Krunal star as Royal Challengers Bengaluru end ten-year Wankhede jinx
In what is turning out to be a year of breaking jinxes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time in ten years after they did the same in the corresponding fixture against Chennai Super Kings for the first time in 17 years at the Chepauk stadium.
Even though RCB scored 221, the win didn’t come without a massive scare from Hardik Pandya and Tilak Verma, who added 89 in 34 balls from 99 for 4 in 12 overs. With 123 off eight overs reduced to 41 off the last three, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazelwood and Krunal Pandya put on a defensive masterclass to deny MI.
Rajat Patidar and Virat Kohli scored quick fifties before a finishing kick from Jitesh Sharma took them to 221 despite Jasprit Bumrah’s return and three excellent overs from Hardik. It was Kohli’s fastest T20 fifty since 2019, and his first in under 30 balls in the IPL since 2018. His intent allowed Patidar to get off to a watchful start before he took apart Hardik, who had stifled the other batters.
By no means was the target beyond MI’s reach, but Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma bowled their first five overs for just 21 runs to leave MI with just a 2.25% chance of winning on the ESPNcricinfo forecaster at the end of the 12th over. Hardik’s sensational 42 off 15 and Tilak’s 29-ball 56 turned it into an even contest, but Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood nailed enough yorkers in the 18th and 19th overs to give Krunal 18 to defend in the last over. He consigned his brother’s team to a second straight defeat by 12 runs.
For the 31st time in the IPL, Trent Boult struck in the first over of an innings, but Devdutt Padikkal hit his first ball for a four. The intent never stopped as RCB reached 73 after the powerplay. Kohli took 36 off 19, Padikkal 32 off 15. Kohli usually drops anchor but he took on the spinners with slog sweeps in the seventh and the ninth over to get to fifty in 29 balls.
Vignesh Puthur’s left-arm wristspin got the wicket of Padikkal for 37 off 22, but it was Hardik’s wide lines that suffocated RCB in the middle. Kohli still kept attempting big hits, allowing Patidar to be watchful for a start of 8 off 10.
Patidar then managed to move across and take Hardik for runs and rearranged Mitchell Santner’s figures with 20 off his last over. It was here that Hardik’s wide lines brought him the wickets of Kohli and Liam Livingstone in the same over to make it 144 for 5 with 33 balls to go.
Two of the remaining five overs were going to be bowled by Bumrah, making his comeback from a back injury that has kept him out since the first week of January. So RCB needed to score heavily at the other end. Patidar did so off Hardik, taking 33 off 12 to ruin his figures to 4-0-45-2. Jitesh took 24 off eight off Boult to consign him to his costliest T20 analysis of 4-0-57-2. Bumrah went for only 14 in the 18th and 20th overs, but RCB believed they had done enough damage.
That belief was only reinforced when Hazlewood’s impeccable lengths and Suyash’s unusual action troubled the MI top order. Hazlewood took Ryan Rickleton out thanks to an inspired DRS review from Jitesh before conceding just two in the final over of the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav was the one caught in the spotlight. He was 8 off 13 after this over and one from Suyash. To make matters for MI, Suryakumar was dropped twice as he and Will Jacks added just 41 in six overs. When they finally caught Suryakumar at the end of the 12th over, MI needed what would have been the second-highest successful target achieved in the last eight overs of an IPL match.
Tilak, who was retired out in MI’s last game, kept Hardik off strike for seven balls, but in these seven balls he took 17 off Suyash’s last over, much like Patidar took the last overs of Santner and Hardik for a plenty. When Hardik finally got strike, he hit the coldest and sweetest of boundaries to turn the game around in just seven balls. These seven balls featured two sixes and two fours off Hazlewood, and two sixes off brother Krunal.
With Hardik 32 off 7, the ask was now 71 off 33. A bit of gamesmanship followed to try to break Hardik’s rhythm, but MI kept going strong. Bhuvneshwar started the next over well, but Tilak hit a six and a four to take 13 off it. Still, only a little over two a ball was required. Yash Dayal managed to escape with some slower balls, but again a late six kept MI in it.
Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood now dealt almost exclusively in yorkers. When they missed even slightly, runs came: a Hardik four, a Naman Dhir six first ball and a Santner six off a low full toss from Hazlewood.
Still, MI needed 19 off the last over, and Krunal denied Santner and Deepak Chahar just enough power for them to be caught on the boundary. Krunal’s 4-0-45-4 were his best IPL figures.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 221/5 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 67, Devdutt Padikkal 37, Rajat Patidar 64, Jitesh Sharma 40*; Trent Boult 2-57, Hardik Pandya 2-45, Vignesh Puthur 1-10, Jasprit Bumrah 0-29) beat Mumbai Indians 209/9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 17, Ryan Rickelton 17, Will Jacks 22, Suryakumar Yadav 28, Tilak Varma 56, Hardik Pandya 42, Naman Dhir 11; Bhuveneshwar Kumar 1-48, Yash Dayal 2-46, Josh Hazelwood 2-37, Krunal Pandya 4-45) by 12 runs
[Cricinfo]
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The nearest areas where the sun will be overhead at about 12:12 noon today (08th) are, Nainamadama, Sandalankawa, Kundasale, Mahiyanganaya and Kalmunanai.
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Pucovski announces retirement from cricket due to concussion
IPL 2025: Kohli, Patidar and Krunal star as Royal Challengers Bengaluru end ten-year Wankhede jinx
Sun directly overhead Nainamadama, Sandalankawa, Kundasale, Mahiyanganaya and Kalmunanai at about 12:12 noon today [08]
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