Friday 14th December
Our event of the day is the first day of the second Test between Australia and India at the Perth Stadium in Perth. India shocked their hosts with a dominant first Test display that gave them their first Test win in Australia since 2008. India’s fast bowling has stymied the Australia batting while India’s batting has had less trouble against Australia’s bowling. As the Indian tour of Australia moves to Perth, India will be looking to maintain form while Australia will look to recover theirs. Be sure you don’t miss what is set to be an exciting day of cricket. The first Test of this Indian tour of Australia was one to remember. Cheteshwar Pujara decimated the Australian bowling in the first innings, scoring 123. However, it was his effort that carried the Indian batting as the Australian bowling suffocated the rest of the Indian batting line-up. Pujara scored 49.2% of India’s 250 first innings. The Indian bowling performance was impressive and they restricted their hosts. 72 runs by Travis Head brought Australia close but at the close of the first inning, they were trailing by 15 runs. India’s batters were much more productive across the board in the second innings. The Australian bowlers could not contain India’s batsman, as they finished the second inning with 305 runs. Chasing 323, Australia started the fifth day 104-4. Despite dropping to 187-7, Australia’s Nathan Lyon refused to become the last wicket and began to close the gap. He appeared impervious to the desperate Indian fast bowlers, hitting 38 runs off 47 balls.
However, a miraculous comeback was not to be as Josh Hazelwood was caught by K.L. Rahul after scoring 13. Australia fell short by 31 to give India the win. The Test highlighted a fragility in an Australian team that is suffering from the loss of its top two batsmen. Steve Smith and David Warner were banned from international cricket until March 2019 after a ball-tampering scandal emerged during a Test series against South Africa earlier this year. While immediate thoughts will be on the rest of the Indian tour, some maybe are looking ahead to next year’s cricket World Cup and Ashes, concerned that Australia in their current form may struggle against the world’s best cricketers. However as the tour travels to Perth, Australia will want to fight back and India will look to capitalise on their invigorating win for what will surely be another exciting day of cricket.
Honourable mentions around the globe to the European Rugby Champions Cup. Gloucester host the Exeter Chiefs at Kingsholm. Exeter are faced with a strenuous uphill battle in the Champions Cup. After suffering a hard-fought loss to Gloucester last weekend, they must now face them again, needing to win all their remaining group matches. However, those matches come on the road against 2nd place Gloucester and 1st place Munster. Meanwhile, Gloucester will look to dominante their opponents as they look to win their pool or qualify as one of the three highest second place teams. A lot is riding on this game for both sides so expect a hard-fought and exciting match. Elsewhere, in golf, the Alfred Dunhill Championship continues at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa. The UCI Track Cycling World Cup begins at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers host the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center. In the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks host the Winnipeg Jets at United Center.
Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!
Fixture
Photos by ICC Cricket
Originally published at www.fixturecalendar.com/blog. To see what else is happening in the world of sport use the Fixture Calendar.
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