India beat Australia in Hard-Fought 50-over ODI Match – By Michael Roberts Source : thuppahis India 191 for 5 in 39.5 overs (Rahul 75*, Jadeja 45*, Starc 3-49) beat Australia 188 (Marsh 81, Shami 3-17, Siraj 3-29) by five wickets KL Rahul might have had trouble in Test cricket of late, but he once again proved his worth as an ace No. 5 batter in ODIs with a high-quality half-century in tough batting conditions to give India the series lead in Mumbai. Chasing 189 on a seamer-friendly surface at the Wankhede Stadium, India were reduced to 16 for 3 and then 39 for 4 during a near-unplayable spell of fast, swing bowling from Mitchell Starc. It soon became 83 for 5, before Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja soaked up the pressure during their unbroken stand of 108 to finish the chase in the 40th over. Rahul was unbeaten on 75 off 91, and Jadeja 45 off 69, as India ...

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Pace power trio may be pared down to solo act in Sri Lanka – By Daniel Brettig Source:theage.com.au Power trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are braced for the possibility of becoming a solo act in Sri Lanka, for two Test matches at famously spin-friendly Galle. On Australia’s last Test visit in 2016, Sri Lanka won by 229 runs in just three days at the seaside venue, and bowled a grand total of five overs of pace in the match. While Mitchell Starc was in the middle of the most destructive series of his career, Hazlewood and the allrounder Mitchell Marsh were far from penetrative. It’s those memories – and the success of Australia in adapting to Pakistani conditions earlier this year – that have Hazlewood and company prepared for a scenario whereby captain Cummins and all-rounder Cam Green are the only fast bowling options selected. “It’s probably ...

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Australia beats Sri Lanka by six wickets in fourth T20 international at MCG Source:abc.net.au Josh Inglis has continued an impressive start to his international career, powering Australia to a fourth-straight Twenty20 victory over Sri Lanka The West Australian has looked at ease since debuting at the start of the five-match series and Friday night’s six-wicket win was no exception. Chasing Sri Lanka’s mediocre total of 8-139, Inglis and Maxwell (48 not out) put on a match-winning 71-run stand for the fourth-wicket after Australia’s top-three failed to fire. Maxwell brought up the winning runs with 11 balls to spare, with Australia now eyeing a clean-sweep in Sunday’s series finale. Inglis was in sight of his maiden international 50, but was out for 40 after edging to Dinesh Chandimal behind the stumps.   A recognised wicketkeeper, Inglis has come into Australia’s team as a batter only with veteran Matthew Wade hanging onto the ...

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Sri Lanka face uphill task against smarting Aussies – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE   Sri Lanka’s mission to the Southern hemisphere appears to be on a tragic course if the results in New Zealand are any indication.  They left empty handed after a winless tour in all formats and life for them appears bleaker as they take on an Australian team smarting from a historic whitewash at home at the hands of the high riding Indians.   While Sri Lanka’s aspirations are more in hope of improvement due to the immaturity in the current squad, the Kiwis and Aussies are proud defenders at home and are uncompromising against all-comers in battle.  The Sri Lankans feature in their first Pink ball Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on February 24 before travelling to Manuka Oval in Canberra for their final encounter which is incidentally the first Test in the Australian ...

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NEWS FROM THE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET BOARD – FULL LIST OF CONTRACTED PLAYERS FOR 2018/19   Player State Age Ashton Agar WA 24 Alex Carey SA 26 Pat Cummins NSW 24 Aaron Finch VIC 31 Peter Handscomb VIC 26 Josh Hazlewood NSW 27 Travis Head SA 24 Usman Khawaja QLD 31 Nathan Lyon NSW 30 Glenn Maxwell VIC 29 Shaun Marsh WA 34 Mitchell Marsh WA 26 Tim Paine TAS 33 Matthew Renshaw QLD 22 Jhye Richardson WA 21 Kane Richardson SA 27 Billy Stanlake QLD 23 Mitchell Starc NSW 28 Marcus Stoinis WA 28 Andrew Tye WA 31 Well balanced list to represent Australia across all 3 formats ...

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SHAME, SHAME, SHAME, AUSTRALIA – By Trevine Rodrigo (Melbourne)   Australian Cricket hit new depths with the ball tampering scandal in South Africa and any excuse to cover up the happenings in the African sub-continent will only worsen the way the ‘gentleman’s game’ will be looked at from now on after their unsavory instigation that dragged the sport to its lowest ebb.  By Stephen Smith’s and Cameron Bancroft’s own admission to using desperate and extreme measures to change the course of the game, there is now a storm enveloping one of the most popular sport in the world putting the ICC under the pump to deal with it with the full force of its power to ensure that it will never be tolerated in the future.  The Australian ploy to gain unfair advantage over the South Africans is unforgivable as much as it will be a stain on Cricket for ...

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