STEVE SMITH NAMED CAPTAIN OF AUSTRALIA SIDE FOR TWO-MATCH TEST SERIES AGAINST SRI LANKA

Nathan McSweeney who was dropped from the Australian squad in the middle of the series against India has been recalled

Australian cricketer Steven Smith

Australia has announced their squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Full-time skipper Pat Cummins is out of the tour due to the birth of his second child and also an ankle injury. Steven Smith will lead the side for the two games.

“Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with. This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match,” chief selector George Bailey was quoted as saying.

We are excited about the opportunity ahead for the squad members who are at the start of their Test careers to continue to grow their games in subcontinent conditions where we have a number of important tours in coming years,” he added.

In the absence of Pat Cummins the squad has three front-line pace bowlers Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Sean Abbott. The spin department will be taken care of by off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm spinner Matt Kuhneman.

Australia SQUAD: Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Nathan McSweeney, Beau Webster, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Cooper Connolly, Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhneman, Sean Abbott, Scott Boland

No WTC relevance

The series in terms of the World Test Championship final is irrelevant as Australia and South Africa have reached the final and play at Lords in June later this year.

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad has hinted that the Proteas are looking for an opponent to play a Test match in England before their World Test Championship (WTC) final face-off against Australia at Lord’s on June 11.

South Africa does not have any five-day matches scheduled before the WTC final.

“We’re going to try and get a Test match, possibly in the UK, against Ireland or Afghanistan, whoever is free,” coach Shukri Conrad said on SuperSport.

- The IndianExpress, Sports Desk

AUSTRALIA SECURES SERIES WIN LEAD AGAINST INDIA WITH 'ONE OF THE BEST' TEST WIN

Australia beat India by 184 runs in the fourth Test to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match Border-Gavaskar series.

Australia have taken seven wickets after tea on the final day of the fourth Test to win a classic against India by 184 runs and snatch a 2-1 series lead heading into the final match in Sydney.

India were coasting on the back of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant’s partnership through the entire middle session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday but lost 7-34 after being bowled out for 155 in front of a mammoth crowd of 74,362.

Australia captain Pat Cummins and fellow pacer Scott Boland finished with three wickets apiece, and spinner Nathan Lyon chipped in two on a dramatic final day that was tinged with controversy over the use of the Decision Review System (DRS).

“It was an amazing Test match. I reckon that’s one of the best to be part of,” said Cummins, named Player of the Match after scoring 100 tail-end runs and taking six wickets in total.

“All week, the crowd’s been ridiculous, and the cricket’s been just as good. Pretty happy at the moment, happy to contribute.”

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The big fifth-day crowd brought the total attendance in Melbourne to 373,691, a record for a Test match in Australia, who had been frustrated by rain in the third Test.

India were 112 for three when they resumed after tea with Jaiswal and Pant well set, looking to bat the tourists to safety if not take a record 340 runs for victory.

However, after showing unusual restraint early on, Pant threw away his wicket with a hard pull at part-time spinner Travis Head and was caught for 30 by a sprinting Mitchell Marsh in the deep.

The wicket ended an 88-run partnership and turned the match.

Boland had number six Ravindra Jadeja caught behind for two with a steepening delivery before Steve Smith lunged for a brilliant catch at slip to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy, who nicked Lyon to be out for one.

Controversy erupted when Jaiswal pulled at a short Cummins ball, prompting a big appeal for caught-behind, and the Australia skipper reviewed immediately when it was turned down.

Replays showed a clear deviation high off the bat but no evidence of a nick on the “Ultra Edge” technology. The TV umpire decided the deviation was enough, though, and overturned the decision.

Jaiswal, out for 84, remonstrated with the on-field umpires and sections of the crowd chanted, “Cheater! Cheater!”

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India ‘put up a fight’

Akash Deep was then dismissed for seven, again on review, caught by Head off the bowling of Boland with a thin edge pinging off his pads. Australia referred the not-out decision, and this time “Ultra Edge” showed a healthy nick.

That left tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to try to hold Australia out with about 40 minutes to stumps. Both fell for ducks with Lyon sealing the win by trapping Siraj LBW.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” said India captain Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for nine on Monday after managing only three in the first innings.

“If you look at the overall Test match, we had our opportunities. We had our chances. We just didn’t take them.”

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India will rue their failure to clean up Australia’s tail late on Day 4 with Lyon and Boland finishing with a 61-run partnership for the final wicket.

Bumrah bowled Lyon for 41 on the final morning to wrap up Australia’s second innings for 234. He finished with 5-57 for the innings and nine wickets for the match.

Cummins had taken flak from some fans and pundits for not declaring on Day 4 to give his bowlers a chance for quick wickets after tea.

But he silenced the critics by striking twice in the same over before lunch on Monday, dismissing Rohit and KL Rahul for a duck.

Rohit now has 31 runs at an average of 6.20 for his three matches, the worst-performing specialist batter in the series.

Virat Kohli was unable to save India, falling for five to Mitchell Starc with another nick behind when driving outside off-stump.

The result left India’s hopes of making the World Test Championship final on a knife-edge while boosting Australia’s chances.

India need to draw the series with victory in Sydney and then hope other results fall their way to reach the WTC decider.

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AUSTRALIA RESTRICTS INDIA TO 240 ALL OUT IN CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL AS KOHLI MAKES 54

AP Photo 

AHMEDEBAD, India (AP) — Australia appeared in command of the Cricket World Cup final on Sunday after restricting India to 240 all out, with a disciplined bowling performance by the five-time champions quietening the heavily pro-Indian crowd inside the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium.

Pat Cummins took 2-34 in 10 overs, stunning the crowd into silence by dismissing Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Mitchell Starc finished with 3-55 in 10 overs.

Kohli (54) and Lokesh Rahul (66) struck half-centuries for India after the tournament host was put into bat in a bold decision by Australia captain Cummins. Both sides were unchanged from the semifinals.

A slow wicket, some reverse swing and the falling of early wickets — India was reduced to 81-3 in the 11th over — made for tough batting conditions, so Australia still had work to do to earn a record-extending sixth 50-over world title.

WORLD CUP TO BEGIN OCT. 5 | AHMEDABAD HOSTS FINAL

Reuters 

The Cricket World Cup will begin on Oct. 5 with England facing New Zealand in Ahmedabad and the same venue hosting the final on Nov. 19, organisers said on Tuesday, with the schedule for the showpiece in India also confirming Pakistan's participation.

The fixtures were revealed by the International Cricket Council during an event in Mumbai, less than four months before the start of the 50-overs tournament, with the delay partly due to sour political relations between India and Pakistan.

India's refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in August-September triggered the latest dispute between the bitter neighbours, who play each other only in multi-team events.

Pakistan responded by threatening to boycott the World Cup if they were not allowed to stage at least some matches of the Asia Cup on home soil.

The stalemate was finally resolved this month when Pakistan agreed to split matches with Sri Lanka, where India will play their Asia Cup matches.

South Asia's arch-rivals meet in the tournament's most anticipated match on Oct. 15 in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium - the biggest cricket venue in the world by capacity.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) added a caveat saying they would still need government clearance for any tour to India, including World Cup match venues.

"We are liaising with our government for guidance," PCB Communications Director Sami Ul Hasan said in a statement.

"This position is consistent to what we had told the ICC a couple of weeks ago when they shared with us the draft schedule and sought our feedback."

India begin their campaign on Oct. 8 against five-times champions Australia in Chennai.

England's opener against New Zealand is a rematch of the 2019 final in which England prevailed via a now-scrapped boundary count rule.

Among other key fixtures, 1992 champions Pakistan meet Australia in Bengaluru on Oct. 20, while England take on South Africa the following day in Mumbai.

Australia captain Pat Cummins said he was looking forward to the atmosphere at the match with India in Chennai.

"You know there's going to be big crowds, but no bigger than playing India at home in a World Cup game, so that's going to be exciting for us," he said.

"It will be a huge challenge, they're a top-class team but if you want to win a World Cup you're going to have to be better than everyone else, so why not take on India straight up?"

The first semi-final will take place on Nov. 15 in Mumbai with Kolkata hosting the second the following day. Both games, as well as the final, will be day-night fixtures.

There will be a total of 10 venues for the 10-team tournament - Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Apart from hosts India, the teams that have qualified include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.

Two more sides will join them following a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe, which will conclude on July 9.

Twice winners West Indies have appeared at every tournament since it was first staged in 1975 but defeat by the Netherlands in the qualifying event on Monday leaves their chances hanging by a thread.

- Reuters