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Topsy-turvy day sees Australia fetch first-innings lead
Significant contributions from Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy gave Australia the first-innings lead in the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval. On what turned out to be a topsy-turvy day of cricket, the pendulum swung both days with the visitors eventually getting bowled out for 295 at the stroke of stumps, thus fetching a slender 12-run lead.
The day began on a cautious note as both sides gave away nothing in the first hour of play. James Anderson posed some questions to Usman Khawaja and Mark Wood kept things quiet as both overnight batters were content to bat out time. Stuart Broad was the only bowler who came close to bagging a wicket before the drinks break as he went past Marnus Labuschagne’s outside edge a few times. In the first 14 overs, Australia managed to score only 21 runs before England finally made a breakthrough as Joe Root took a stunning catch at slip to send Labuschagne back.
Only 54 runs came in that morning session for the loss of one wicket but it was post lunch, the game really quickened. England stormed back in style by picking wickets at regular intervals. Smith batted through at one end but at the other, it was pretty much a procession. Broad landed a couple of early blows in the session by first trapping Khawaja leg-before-wicket before finding the outside edge of Travis Head.
Mitchell Marsh briefly threatened with a couple of boundaries but he inside-edged one onto his stumps off James Anderson. Alex Carey ended up departing in a tame manner as he chipped one straight to short cover having just smashed the previous delivery for a six off Joe Root. England capped off a fine session with the wicket of Mitchell Starc and at this stage, Australia were still trailing by 93 runs.
However, Smith and Cummins dragged the visitors back into the contest post the Tea break. Very early in the session, Smith survived a run-out appeal that initially appeared to go in favour of England and then helped himself to a fifty after smashing back-to-back boundaries off Broad.
Cummins also survived a call for lbw and managed to overturn the on-field umpire’s call in his favour while managing to collect valuable runs. The two batters slowly managed to bring down the deficit below 50 before Smith finally caved in by mistiming Chris Woakes that resulted in a miscue.
England’s hopes of fetching a decent first-innings lead crumbled pretty quickly when Murphy came out all guns blazing. The lower order batter took on three short balls from Wood across two overs and hammered them all over long leg to fetch three sixes that stunned the home crowd.
With Cummins also battling hard at the other end, another frustrating wicketless spell was in store for England and it also proved to be costly as Australia managed to erase the deficit and go into the lead. Eventually, the lead was kept to a negligible number as the teams are now set for a second innings shootout with three days left.
Brief scores:
Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman has been fined 10% of his match fee and docked one demerit point after he was found guilty of breaching level 1 of the ICC code of conduct during the tri series final against Sri Lanka on November 29.
Fakhar was found to have breached article 2.8 of the code of conduct, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match.” He admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee, so there was no need for a formal hearing, said an ICC release.
The incident occurred in the 19th over of the final when Fakhar back-peddled from short-third, dived and seemed to have taken a stunning catch off Dasun Shanaka’s leading edge. The third umpire was called to check for the catch, and he deemed that the ball brushed the ground when Fakhar dived, and ruled it not out. Both Fakhar and the bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi weren’t happy with the decision and made it known to the on-field umpires.
The very next ball, Shanaka swiped across the line and was clean bowled. Fakhar looked at the umpire and sarcastically appealed for the decision. Pakistan eventually won the final by six wickets as batting first, Sri Lanka collapsed in a heap, losing 9 for 30 to be bowled out for 114. Babar Azam shepherded the chase with an unbeaten 37, taking Pakistan over the line in 18.4 overs.
This was Fakhar’s first offence in a 24-month period. Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
[Cricinfo]
The situation report issued by the Disaster Management Centre at 1800hrs today (5th December) confirms that 607 persons have died due to the adverse weather conditions while the number of missing persons has reduced to 214.
The number of persons affected topped the 2 million mark (2,082,195).
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) formally took delivery of the EX- United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC DECISIVE, provided by the United States to SLN, at a ceremony held at the United
States Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore on 02 Dec 25. The event was also attended by the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda.
The ship formally joined the SLN fleet on 02 December under the pennant number P 628 and the main mast of the ship will fly the National Flag effective from that date.
Aiming to strengthen and develop partnerships to overcome common challenges in the maritime domain, the U.S. Coast Guard has previously provided 03 ships to SLN and they are currently patrolling island waters under the names of ‘Samudura’ (P 621), ‘Gajabahu’(P 626), and ‘Vijayabahu’ (P 627).
As an extension of partnership ties that bring value to each other’s services, Ex-USCGC DECISIVE was transferred as the fourth ship to be handed to SLN.
Ex-USCGC DECISIVE, a ‘B-Type Reliance Class 210-foot Cutter’, measures 64m in length, and having endurance of 6000 NM at cruising speed. Further, she has been designed for a
crew of 100 and is equipped with weapons and machinery.
The ship which was used by the U.S. Coast Guard has rendered exceptional service during her tenure by curbing illegal activities, including smuggling of narcotics in U.S. waters.
Sri Lanka inherits an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that is seven times larger than the landmass. In such a backdrop, the Navy is determined to deploy this vessel in wide-ranging
operations that include the conservation of marine resources in the region and the search and rescue of naval and fishing communities in distress. Thereby, the Navy will be able to utilize
this vessel efficiently in the future to achieve the national aspiration, while ensuring safe and secure seas for all economic affairs.
The formal handing over – taking over ceremony was also distinguished by the presence of the Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer and Director of Domain & Integration Services U.S. Coast
Guard, James L. Knight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for South and Southeast Asia, Dr. Andrew Byers, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Commanding Officer designate of P 628, Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya as well as a group of officials from the Embassy of Sri Lanka in United States and the State Department
of the United State
Fakhar Zaman fined 10% of match fee for showing dissent at umpire’s decision
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