The big news: Khawaja leads Australia’s resurgence

It came late in the day for Australia, who seem to have taken a liking to pink-ball cricket. Faf du Plessis’s decision to declare at 259/9 backfired as Usman Khawaja, who has been in and out of the side for the past year, scored a fighting unbeaten 138 on day two to hand Australia a 48-run lead after finished at 307/6.

Australia were in complete control of proceedings at Adelaide as the South African bowlers barring Kyle Abbott were taken to the cleaners. Skipper Steve Smith could have also got to a three-figure score had Khawaja been a little more vocal with his communication while running between the wickets. It did not affect the hosts as Peter Handscomb sparkled on his debut with a breezy 54.

South Africa had a mini-resurgence in the final session of the day’s play but a 100-run lead would put the Aussies on course of a win, given the manner in which they have approached this contest so far.

Other top stories:

  1. Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 76 along with Tendai Chisoro’s all-round show helped Zimbabwe pull off a five-run win against West Indies at Bulawayo through Duckworth/Lewis method and enter the tri-nation final. 
  2. Javed Afridi, the owner of Pakistan Super League franchise Peshawar Zalmi, met Anurag Thakur on Friday to get the go-ahead for contests between PSL teams and Indian Premier League teams.
  3. A peeved Pakistan Cricket Board sought legal recourse against BCCI after the Indian women’s team didn’t play their matches against Pakistan in September. It was during the ICC Women’s Champions League at the United Arab Emirates.
  4. England and India face off at Mohali, Chandigarh for the third Test with the hosts armed with a 1-0 lead in the series. The English team management confirmed that explosive limited-overs batsman Jos Buttler would be coming in place of Ben Duckett. Injured Zafar Ansari and Stuart Broad will be making way for Gareth Batty and Chris Woakes respectively. India, who ran out comprehensive victors in the last game, are expected to name an unchanged side.
  5. The pollution and smog in Delhi has played havoc with the dates of the Ranji Trophy knockout games. The quarter-finals, which was initially scheduled on December 17th, will now be held from December 24th to 28th, reported ESPNCricinfo.
  6. The International Cricket Council is mulling over reducing the number of Test matches in a calendar year. ICC chief executive Dave Richardson stated that the board toyed with the idea of a conference style structure between the top nations. Richardson said the idea was floated around when the ICC discussed fixture congestion during a board meeting.