South Africa clawed back into the Test match in Gqeberha with a productive opening session on the third day that saw them pick five wickets. By lunch, Sri Lanka still trail by 40 runs with only two wickets in hand. After a couple of maiden overs to begin with, Kamindu Mendis got Sri Lanka going with a boundary. Apart from that, South Africa managed to keep things fairly tight. With just four overs remaining for the second new ball, Sri Lanka would have loved to have both Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis batting out in the middle but the veteran was surprised by a delivery that bounced a bit extra and gloved one behind to depart for a fighting 44. If that wicket didn't hurt the visitors enough, Marco Jansen struck again, this time with the brand new cherry. It took the left-arm pacer just three balls to strike after the hosts took the new ball as extra bounce accounted for the big wicket of Mendis. With both overnight batters gone in the first hour, Sri Lanka had a massive task ahead of them. Kusal Mendis looked very jittery and was even handed a reprieve by Aiden Markram in the slip cordon. But Sri Lanka managed to add a little partnership to edge towards the 300-run mark which is when a single over from Dane Paterson turned the game around completely. The 35-year-old, playing just his sixth Test match, produced a terrific three-wicket over to stun the visitors. Dhananjaya de Silva poked one to get caught at second slip and Kusal Mendis then left a nip-backer that saw his stumps get shattered. Bagging the wickets of the last two recongnised batters, Paterson went one step ahead and picked a third wicket in the over when Lahiru Kumara found Jansen at gully. Prabath Jayasuriya did hit back-to-back boundaries as Sri Lanka went past 300 but South Africa would back themselves to fetch a slender first-innings lead. 318/8 (Pathum Nissanka 89, Kamindu Mendis 48; Dane Paterson 4/66, Marco Jansen 2/100) trail 358 by

Less than five months into his Test career, Gus Atkinson has a Test hundred, a ten-wicket haul and now also a hat-trick. On the second day in Wellington, Atkinson became the 14th player for England to pick a hat-trick, a feat that saw England tighten their grip on the second Test against New Zealand. Reflecting on the achievement, the 25-year-old said he felt "greedy" and motivated to do "more" for England after the bright start to his career. "It was great. It's not something as a bowler you think about. You think about five-fors and ten-fors, those sorts of things, but there's not many chances when you're on two wickets from two balls," Atkinson said. "Obviously it's been a great year for me personally and hopefully I can get a few more milestones and help the team. "You always want to get more and be greedy. You want to take as many as you can and that's something I want to try and do in the future." While picking three wickets off three balls, Atkinson had Nathan Smith leaving the ball onto his stumps, Matt Henry bounced out and Tim Southee pinged plumb in front. It was interesting how he got Southee's wicket, with men placed in the deep for the bouncer. "I fully went for the bluff," Atkinson said. "I was just thinking about bowling a yorker, getting it full and straight, go for the stumps. There was no discussion over what ball I was bowling. It was just, 'be greedy, try and get the hat-trick' basically." Atkinson said he had a hunch about picking a hat-trick when he was running in to bowl to Southee. "I felt pretty confident as I was running in for that third ball that I had a good chance of getting it," he said. It's been a great start to Atkinson's career in Test cricket, starting with 12 wickets at Lord's on his debut that symbolically came in James Anderson's last Test. He then returned to Lord's to score his maiden Test hundred against Sri Lanka and now has a hat-trick to boast about. Out of all these, what remains the favourite achievement of his short career so far? "The hundred, definitely," he answers grinning.

Travis Head proved to be a thorn in India's flesh yet again as he smashed a 141-ball 140 that gave Australia a first innings lead of 157. And to further wrest control, their pacers bagged five wickets under the lights as India slipped up ending the day trailing by 29. As Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc made the pink ball hoop around and rip through India's top order for the second time in the game, they only underlined Australia's dominance right through which had been led by Head through the day. By the time Mohammad Siraj bowled Head off the second new ball, the left-hander had done more than enough to dent India's confidence. The second session saw Head press the accelerator against a tiring attack with an older ball. The time was ripe to cash in and Head did so with elan, smashing Harshit Rana threw the offside before registering a hundred off only 111 balls - the quickest-ever in a day-night Test as he powered Australia's lead at a rapid pace. Even against the second new ball which was India's biggest weapon, he started off whipping and clipping Bumrah and Siraj as they missed their lines for crucial boundaries. India had a brief injury scare during this period when Bumrah was down clutching his groin but went on to bowl again. But the wicket finally came to Siraj who yorked Head and followed it up with an exchange of words with the batter. It brought an end to a frustrating period of play for India where they were made to toil for every wicket. R Ashwin who had been their best bowler through that period despite being hit for a couple of sixes by Head had got Mitchell Marsh caught behind and saw Head being put down on 76 by Siraj. But it was amid Head stepping it up in the company of Alex Carey (15) where they put on 74 off just 80 balls before the latter was out caught behind. The lead swelled past 150 before Siraj wrapped up the tail early into the third session leaving India with the toughest conditions to bat in a day-night Test. KL Rahul was the first to go being surprised by a short ball from Cummins and pulling it to the 'keeper. Yashasvi Jaiswal started confidently until he nicked behind the first ball from Boland, who proceeded to nick off Virat Kohli too soon after. Starc added salt to the wounds getting a ripping incoming delivery to flatten Gill's middle stump. Rohit Sharma had a torrid stay in the middle being hit on the helmet first ball and surviving an LBW call as Starc overstepped. But even as he stuck on amidst Rishabh Pant's adventurous strokeplay at the other end, Cummins got one to sneak around his defence to hit the top of off. At 105/5, Australia's control over the game was as comprehensive as could be and ensured that the hard work done in a testing first session was not undone. Then, Marnus Labuschagne put away some indifferent form to fight his way to a half-century on a ground where he averages over 70. His partnership worth 65 with Travis Head for the fourth wicket helped them offset two early strikes by Burmah. India's morning session was given a boost when Bumrah had Nathan McSweeney caught behind with a ball nipping away and soon after also had Steven Smith caught down the legside, putting Australia in a spot of bother at 103/3. Head was tested early with the round-the-wicket angle by both Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but managed to see it through. Along with Labuschagne, he saw through that spell to cash in later. Harshit Rana was hit for four fours in an over as Australia cruised ahead after seeing past the initial threat. But against the run of play, Labuschagne ended up cutting a delivery from Nitish Reddy to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. But his departure on 68 did not dent Australia much as Head marched on, getting to his fifth Test fifty against India and second on the trot in the series. It also ensured that Australia took the lead in the first session. India had a close LBW call against Mitchell Marsh turned down on review with the third umpire controversially deeming that there was no conclusive evidence if Ashwin's ball had struck the pad or bat first. More replays shown by the broadcaster were indicative of the ball striking pad first but India ended up losing the review, capping off a frustrating morning session which was only exacerbated subsequently through the day. : India 180 (Nitish Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6-48) & 128/5 (Rishabh Pant 28*; Pat Cummins 2-33) trail Australia 337 (Travis Head 140, Marnus Labuschagne 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4-59, Mohammad Siraj 4-98) by 29 runs

South Africa bagged another session in the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka to regain control. A productive morning session that saw them pick five wickets helped South Africa claw back into the contest. And then they followed that up with another solid session that has stretched their lead beyond 100. The session kickstarted with Prabath Jayasuriya adding to his boundary collection in streaky fashion. However, it was at the other end where South Africa made a breakthrough as 35-year-old Dane Paterson managed to pick up his first-ever five-fer in Test cricket, with Vishwa Fernando poking one behind. On expected lines, South Africa got the job done pretty quickly with Keshav Maharaj dismissing Jayasuriya in the following over to eke out a 30-run lead. The home side then made a positive start in their second essay with Aiden Markram kickstarting things with a boundary in the second over. Runs were flowing quite freely for South Africa against the new ball as they raced to 26 in just five overs. After surviving the first spell against the new ball, the South African openers continued in the same vein post the drinks break as well. Tony de Zorzi glanced one down to fine leg off Asitha Fernando whereas Markram punched the same bowler down the ground for another boundary that brought up the half-century opening stand. There was some respite finally for Sri Lanka as Jayasuriya got one delivery to spin in sharply to beat de Zorzi's defence and crash into the stumps. Ryan Rickelton then got off to a decent start with a couple of boundaries before the Tea break and with the hosts still having nine wickets in hand, Sri Lanka need a massive final session in their favour to pull things back again. 358 & 76/1 (Aiden Markram 39*) lead 328 (Pathum Nissanka 89; Dane Paterson 5-71) by

Australia retained firm control of the second Test with a solid batting performance at the start of the second day in Adelaide. Marnus Labuschagne put away some indifferent form to fight his way to a half-century on a ground where he averages over 70. His partnership worth 65 with Travis Head for the fourth wicket helped them offset two early strikes by Jasprit Burmah. India's morning session was given a boost when Bumrah had Nathan McSweeney caught behind with a ball nipping away and soon after also had Steven Smith caught down the legside, putting Australia in a spot of bother at 103/3. Head was tested early with the round-the-wicket angle by both Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but managed to see it through. Along with Labuschagne, he saw through that spell to cash in later. Harshit Rana was hit for four fours in an over as Australia cruised ahead after seeing past the initial threat. But against the run of play, Labuschagne ended up cutting a delivery from Nitish Reddy to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. But his departure on 68 did not dent Australia much as Head marched on, getting to his fifth Test fifty against India and second on the trot in the series. It also ensured that Australia took the lead in the first session. India had a close LBW call against Mitchell Marsh turned down on review with the third umpire controversially deeming that there was no conclusive evidence if Ashwin's ball had struck the pad or bat first. More replays shown by the broadcaster were indicative of the ball striking pad first but India ended up losing the review, capping off a frustrating morning session. : India 180 (Nitish Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6-48) trail Australia 191/4 (Marnus Labuschagne 64, Travis Head 53*; Jasprit Bumrah 3-23) by 11 runs

Mohammed Shami is unlikely to fly to Australia anytime soon. Indications are that he has not yet received fitness clearance, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still undecided when he can be sent to Australia. Precisely, the exact dilemma is whether rather than when. It is evident that Shami's fitness is under scrutiny. The Sports Science wing of the BCCI's Bengaluru-based Centre of Excellence is yet to submit an all-clear report to the BCCI. As reported on December 1, a team from the NCA went to Rajkot where he was playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) to monitor his progress. Among those on the Shami duty were a national selector (SS Das), the head of BCCI's Sports Science wing (Nitin Patel) and a Strength and Conditioning trainer (Nishanta Bardule). Shami represented Bengal in the National T20 competition, finishing with an impressive tally of eight wickets in seven games. More crucially, the 34-year-old pacer, returning after a year-long injury hiatus, is said to have made a strong impression with his bowling performances. But more than his bowling, the assessment was whether he would be able to withstand the gruelling workload of a Test match. Sources reveal that Shami is unlikely to fly to Australia immediately, despite his absence being felt in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. The veteran pacer might be there for the final Test in Sydney, with the best-case scenario being his availability for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, starting on December 26. However, sources caution that this is an overly optimistic expectation, and it would not be surprising if he is not sent to Australia at all. Bengal have reached the knockout stage of the SMAT and they are up against Chandigarh in the pre-quarterfinals which will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on November 9. Shami continues to be with the Bengal team and he is expected to feature in the knockouts of the SMAT. Shami was recently bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 10 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Should he regain full fitness, he will take part in the IPL after one year - he had missed the whole 2024 IPL season because of an ankle injury for which he had to undergo surgery.

Travis Head proved to be a thorn in India's flesh yet again as he smashed a 141-ball 140 that pulled the game firmly in Australia's favour. By the time Mohammad Siraj bowled him off the second new ball, Head had done more than enough to dent India's confidence. The second session saw him press the accelerator against a tiring attack with an older ball. The time was ripe to cash in and Head did so with elan, smashing Harshit Rana threw the offside before registering a hundred off only 111 balls - the quickest-ever in a day-night Test as he powered Australia's lead at a rapid pace. Even against the second new ball which was India's biggest weapon, he started off whipping and clipping Bumrah and Siraj as they missed their lines for crucial boundaries. India had a brief injury scare during this period when Bumrah was down clutching his groin but went on to bowl again. But the wicket finally came to Siraj who yorked Head and followed it up with an exchange of words with the batter. It brought an end to a frustrating period of play for India where they were made to toil for every wicket. R Ashwin who had been their best bowler through that period despite being hit for a couple of sixes by Head had got Mitchell Marsh caught behind but Head stepped up in the company of Alex Carey (15) where they put on 74 off just 80 balls before the latter was out caught behind. The lead swelled past 150 by the time the Tea interval came around when Pat Cummins was bowled by Bumrah. The session was perfect for the hosts after having had to grind it out earlier in the morning. Marnus Labuschagne put away some indifferent form to fight his way to a half-century on a ground where he averages over 70. His partnership worth 65 with Travis Head for the fourth wicket helped them offset two early strikes by Burmah. India's morning session was given a boost when Bumrah had Nathan McSweeney caught behind with a ball nipping away and soon after also had Steven Smith caught down the legside, putting Australia in a spot of bother at 103/3. Head was tested early with the round-the-wicket angle by both Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, but managed to see it through. Along with Labuschagne, he saw through that spell to cash in later. Harshit Rana was hit for four fours in an over as Australia cruised ahead after seeing past the initial threat. But against the run of play, Labuschagne ended up cutting a delivery from Nitish Reddy to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. But his departure on 68 did not dent Australia much as Head marched on, getting to his fifth Test fifty against India and second on the trot in the series. It also ensured that Australia took the lead in the first session. India had a close LBW call against Mitchell Marsh turned down on review with the third umpire controversially deeming that there was no conclusive evidence if Ashwin's ball had struck the pad or bat first. More replays shown by the broadcaster were indicative of the ball striking pad first but India ended up losing the review, capping off a frustrating morning session which was only exacerbated in the next. : India 180 (Nitish Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6-48) trail Australia 332/8 (Travis Head 140, Marnus Labuschagne 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4-59) by 152 runs

Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell hit 90s and added an entertaining partnership while Joe Root scored his 65th Test fifty to put England on a pedestal in Wellington on Day 2. Gus Atkinson rocked New Zealand early with a hattrick before the batters proceeded to bury the hosts under a mountain of runs. At stumps, England walked off with a gargantuan lead of 533 runs. New Zealand began the day with an overnight score of 86/5 and lasted less than 10 overs before being bundled out for just 125. Brydon Carse picked the first wicket of the morning with an exceptional delivery to square up and clean up Tom Blundell. It was similar to the ball he bowled to Kane Williamson on Day 1, albeit overstepping on that occasion and nullifying the dismissal. Blundell didn't have such luck though. In the same over, Carse bowled one full and fast to the nightwatmatch William O'Rourke to trap him leg before for a 26-ball duck. Glenn Phillips and Nathan Smith swung their bats around to drag the team past the 100-run mark but Atkinson put a swift end to the innings. Smith inside edged a ball onto the stumps; Matt Henry tried and failed to move out of the way of a short ball first up and edged the ball to Duckett at gully; A full, skiddy delivery hit Southee on the front pad while having him pinned to his crease. The veteran became Atkinson's third dismissal in the hattrick. England went into their second dig with a 155-run first-innings lead in tow. Zak Crawley started it with two successive fours but Henry had him caught at mid-wicket in just the second over - dismissing him for the fourth time this series. From here began the second-wicket alliance between Bethell and Duckett that had a crushing effect on New Zealand's spirits. They started on top gear, matching each other in finding fours and sixes at will. Duckett got a reprieve when Tom Latham put down a tough chance down the leg side. Southee burned a review on an LBW appeal against Bethell. The two hit breezy fifties and were galloping towards their respective hundreds when Southee took them both out. The fast bowler got Bethell to nick behind to Latham and Duckett played one onto the stumps. The wickets and the Tea break weren't quite the respite New Zealand needed in the game as Root and Brook got together in the final session to extend the home side's misery. Another partnership blossomed, swelling England's lead past 400. New Zealand were bereft of ideas, and lost another review trying to get Root out off a caught behind. Brook was free-flowing once more, pulling short balls and punishing overpitched deliveries through covers. Glenn Phillips came on for a long spell during which he took the first-innings centurion out as Brook mistimed his loft down the ground and hit straight to O'Rourke at long-off. Shortly after, Root brought up his 65th Test fifty - also his 100th 50-plus total (one more than Rahul Dravid). England were nearing a lead of 500 when Henry dismissed Ollie Pope. But declaration wasn't on Ben Stokes's mind. He instead walked out to frustrate New Zealand further by tonking his way to an unbeaten 36 off 26 till stumps. Root ended on 73*, setting himself up for his 36th Test hundred on Day 3. England 280 & 378/5 (Jacob Bethell 96, Ben Duckett 92, Joe Root 73*, Harry Brook 55; Tim Southee 2-72, Matt Henry 2-76) lead New Zealand 125 (Kane Williamson 37; Gus Atkinson 4-31, Brydon Carse 4-46) by 533 runs

A collective batting effort, led by Pathum Nissanka's 89, steered Sri Lanka to a good position in the second Test, at the end of second day's play at St George's Park. The visitors went to Stumps on Friday (December 6) at 242 for 3 after earlier bundling out South Africa for 358 despite Kyle Verreynne's century. Having reduced the hosts to 269 for 7 on the opening day, Sri Lanka struck early on the second morning through VIshwa Fernando, having Keshav Maharaj caught at slip for a duck. However, a counter-attacking 66-run stand for the ninth-wicket between Verreynne and Kagiso Rabada proved extremely handy as the hosts managed to put up a reasonably strong total. Sri Lankan pacers attempted to tempt the duo with a short-ball ploy, and it backfired. Both Rabada and Verreynne went for their shots and picked up useful boundaries. Rabada was eventually undone when he was hoping for a short-ball to come his way and remained rooted at the crease. Asitha Fernando, however, broke through his defence with a length delivery and cleaned him up. With just the No. 11 to give company, Verreynne went for his shots, and in a space of five balls, smoked three sixes and brought up his century. Dane Paterson also added a couple of boundaries before getting a thick edge to a swipe and getting out caught. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, made a reasonable cautious start. They were aided by the erratic direction of bowling early on, picking up 12 runs in byes before heading for the Lunch break. South Africa struck early in the second session with Dimuth Karunaratne edging a cut off Rabada to the 'keeper. But a cautious Nissanka and an attacking Dinesh Chandimal ensured that the momentum didn't shift in favour of the hosts. Nissanka, especially, had his moments of luck with a couple of close legbefore appeals and a dropped chance. The duo added 109 runs for the second wicket which firmly shifted the control in Sri Lanka's favour. Nissanka got going with a couple of cracking boundaries right after Tea and soon, brought up his seventh Test fifty. He even slogswept Maharaj for a six as Chandimal had by then resorted to a more dour approach. After being kept quiet for a while, the senior batter was looking a bit desperate and eventually edged Paterson to the 'keeper to fall on 44. Sri Lanka slowed down for a while, largely rotating the strike, before Angelo Mathews picked up a flurry of boundaries to bring back pace to the innings. And just when it seemed they were again taking control, Nissanka missed an attempted slowgsweep off Maharaj and was clean bowled. At 199 for 3, Sri Lanka slowed down in the last hour of the day. Nonetheless, an undefeated 43-run stand, with starts to both Mathews and Kamindu Mendis has left them in good stead heading into the third day's play. They now trail South Africa by 116 runs. South Africa 358 (Kyle Verreynne 105*, Ryan Rickelton 101; Lahiru Kumara 4-79, Asitha Fernando 3-102) lead Sri Lanka 242/3 (Pathum Nissanka 89, Dinesh Chandimal 44; Kagiso Rabada 1-40) by 116 runs.

Wicketkeepers are weird. Some, like Jack Russell, paint pictures. Others, like David Richardson, start out as lawyers and end up running the ICC. Few retire without gnarled fingers, creaking backs and wobbly knees. One, Kiren More, reduced the great Javed Miandad to a shrieking, leaping caricature. That happened because no wicketkeeper knows how to shut the hell up. Like Kyle Verreynne, who bellowed his bellicosity in the general direction of the dressingroom at St George's Park on Friday. It was a fearsome, primal noise, which you hear - and feel - when jets fly low at an air show. The sound Verreynne made was forced out of him by happiness, satisfaction and relief. It was a huge release. Still in the throes of it, he took a bow. Fair enough. He had found a way to fashion a century from the embers of the innings. And was it ever fun to watch. The last lusty jolts of his unbeaten 105, especially. After stumps, by then becalmed Verreynne told a press conference: "I didn't expect I'd be close to getting a hundred. I thought maybe if I can get 70 and the other guys can contribute 20 or 30 it would be quite a good morning." Verreynne had fussed over his first 50 for 95 deliveries, and not out of choice. Having come to the crease at 186/5 on Thursday, in the wake of the loss of Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham in the space of 39 deliveries, discipline was needed. By stumps, Ryan Rickelton and Marco Jansen had also gone. What had looked like a dominant day for South Africa while Bavuma and Rickelton shared 133 for the fourth wicket had softened to a meh 269/7. The total was unmoved when Keshav Maharaj tried to leave the 10th ball of Friday's play, bowled to him by Vishwa Fernando, and was caught behind. At 269/8, whether the South Africans would reach 300 was more pressing than whether Verreynne would score his third century. But Kagiso Rabada, who invariably looks competent at the crease, had one of his better batting displays. His 23 was only the 21st time in his 102 innings that he made it to 20, and it helped realise 56 for the ninth wicket. Verreynne faced five balls after Maharaj's dismissal to make it to 50, or when South Africa needed 25 to reach 300. That done, Verreynne and Rabada forged 25 more runs ahead before Asitha Fernando pierced the left-hander's guard with an inswinger and bowled him. During that stand, Verreynne had hit Vishwa for two fours in an over and Asitha for four fours in another. But he was 19 runs away from three figures when Dane Paterson walked to the middle with the studied indifference that lurks within all proper No. 11s. Paterson had faced 10 or more balls just twice in his previous eight Test innings, although he wasn't dismissed in three of them. In 203 first-class innings, he had reached 50 once and suffered 35 ducks. He had been not out 61 times. Did he have what it would take to help Verreynne reach a hundred? The immediate evidence was encouraging: Paterson exhumed Asitha's attempted yorker, and the over was up to leave Verreynne on strike. "Being nine-down, you're not sure how long the innings is going to carry on," Verreynne said. "Nothing against Patto, but I didn't think that I'd get close to a hundred. Fortunately he stuck around with me long enough and we managed to have quite a valuable partnership." Verreynne was taking no chances. He hammered Prabath Jayasuriya for six over cover in the next over. Five balls later he put Asitha over the midwicket fence five balls later, and would have been run out for 96 had the throw from mid-on not missed the stumps. Verreynne rose from his dive, dusted himself off, and smote Asitha's next effort, which was pitched short, for a steepling six over backward square leg. It was less a cricket stroke than barely bridled belligerence made palpable. Cue the ripping off of his helmet, a giddy rush towards the boundary, and that fearsome, primal noise. Verreynne's first century, an undefeated 136 in Christchurch in February 2022, was central to one of Test cricket's greatest comebacks. It helped South Africa prevail by 198 runs mere days after New Zealand had won the first Test by an innings and 276. In October this year, Verreynne's 114 in the utterly foreign conditions of Mirpur - his first Test in Asia - helped South Africa claim success by seven wickets. Those innings were forged in challenging circumstances and so was this; namely that the number of reliable partners dwindled. But, then as now, Verreynne overcame the difficulty in some style to take his team to a total of 358. Of the 17-ball last-wicket partnership of 33, he scored 24 off seven. A wicket felt likely with every ball of the six overs that Rabada and Jansen bowled to Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne before lunch, and in the first four overs of the second session bowled before Paterson replaced Rabada. Paterson kept the pressure on without threatening as much as the new-ball pair. But the Lankan openers stood firm until the 10th over after lunch, when Karunaratne leapt at the fourth ball of Rabada's second spell, misread the bounce and was caught behind. Nissanka persevered to share 109 with Dinesh Chandimal and 49 with Angelo Mathews before Maharaj bowled him for 88. After the morning's and the early afternoon's feverish events, the day's play reverted to type for attritional Test cricket. The wind still blew from the west, and while it was but a whisper in the morning, it grew to gusts of 66 kilometres an hour by the time the sun was sinking over the old grandstand. By then, it had become apparent that the Duckpond End of the pitch offered more bounce than the Park Drive End. But bowling towards that end also meant toiling into the wind. It was also apparent that this match would go somewhere slowly for at least the next day's play before hurtling to a finish, as St George's Park Tests tend to do. What wasn't apparent, as Sri Lanka reached stumps with seven wickets standing, a deficit of 116, and 13 overs away from the prospect of having to face a new ball, was Verreynne's own weirdness as a wicketkeeper. Asked what it might be, he said: "I'm quite a normal guy; nothing too interesting. The only thing is the [red] hair. Other than that, I'm quite bland and simple." Yeah, right. Tell that to those who saw him bellowing his bellicosity like a low-flying jet at an air show.

India's Assistant Coach Ryan ten Doeschate believes that the visitors can get back into the contest in Adelaide on the second day 'with a few tweaks'. India had a disappointing opening day in the Day-Night Test match as Australia went into stumps trailing by only 94 runs with nine wickets in hand, after bowling India out for 180. India, in particular, would have been disappointed with the lack of wickets in the final session under the lights, a period when bowling sides are renowned to make inroads. However, Ten Doeschate feels that things can change on the second day. "I know that the scores look like there is a big gap between the two teams but we still feel we are in the game and with a few tweaks tomorrow, we can get back in the game," he said. The former Dutch international also reserved praise for young allrounder Nitish Reddy and revealed that his solid contribution with the bat in the opening Test gave India the confidence to move him to No.7 and accommodate R Ashwin for the Adelaide Test. "We're so chuffed with him," he remarked. "I think getting us to 150 in that first game was amazing. Just the way he went about his work. He is obviously playing his first pink-ball game. There's a little bit of work to do. He's very raw... He's done everything a young player could do in a very short space of time and we think he's got a very high ceiling. "I guess going into the last Test, we wanted to strengthen the batting and given what we saw of Nitish in the first Test, we kind of thought we could go with what we perceived to be the guys bowling the best spin at the moment, and we feel Ash (Ashwin) is more likely to get wickets on these conditions," he said on Ashwin replacing Washington Sundar in the XI. Meanwhile, Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was pleased with the efforts of Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne in the final session. Both batters had come into this Test match under a bit of pressure and despite having to face the music under lights against the pink ball, they managed to blunt the Indian attack to add 62 off 133 deliveries by stumps. "It's a good way to finish the day," Starc said. "A good day all out. But inarguably, the hardest time to bat is that third session with the brand new pink ball. So, to finish the day one down, particularly from Marn and McSweeney, to fight through sustained pressure from a quality bowling attack and to come out the other end. We have a chance to go on tomorrow, it was fantastic from them. Obviously, a fair bit of outside noise. Very pleased for them." However, it was Starc who set up Australia's near-perfect day with a fantastic display with the ball. The left-arm pacer picked up his first five-wicket haul in the format against India. He was on the money right from the word go as he managed to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal off the very first delivery of the Test. "He (Jaiswal) had a good Test match last week. So, yeah, nice to get him early. And then we'll have to work on him in the second innings," Starc said. "That's been my role for a while: to attack the stumps and try and make early inroads. Pleased to sneak one past today. We know how important it is to make early inroads into this batting lineup. It's always a nice way to start. It is a big Test match, it's a big series."

Kyle Verreynne's unbeaten 105 helped South Africa to 358 even as the Sri Lankan pacers kept chipping in with wickets from the other end. The visitors then safely headed to Lunch at 19 for no loss on the second day St George's Park. With movement on offer, Sri Lanka struck early on Friday. In the third over of the morning, Vishwa Fernando induced an edge off Keshav Maharaj's bat as he was caught at first slip. Amidst a few play-and-misses, Rabada also crunched a few boundaries. As he picked pace and Verreynne cleverly worked the ball around gaps to pick singles and twos, South Africa maintained a healthy scoring-rate in the morning session. Soon, Verreynne also joined Rabada in the boundary-fest, taking on the short balls by Vishwa, pulling and cutting the pacer for boundaries on either side of the wicket. As Sri Lanka persisted with the short-ball ploy, it only backfired with Verreynne then putting Asitha away for boundaries thrice in an over, soon after they crossed the 300-run mark. Rabada also meted out similar treatment to Lahiru Kumara when he was tested with short-pitched deliveries. But soon after when he was expecting a short ball from Asitha, he stayed planted on the backfoot and was undone by a length delivery that went through his bat and pad to clean him up. Nonetheless, the 56-run alliance proved extremely handy for the hosts. With only the last batter for company, Verreynne shifted to fifth gear, and right after smacking Prabath Jayasuriya for a six over extra cover, he smoked two sixes and a boundary off Asitha. Dane Paterson too picked up a couple of boundaries before getting a thick edge to a cross-batted heave to get caught. Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne braced through the dying minutes of the morning session to head to the break unbeaten. They were aided by three byes, all of which raced away for boundaries. 358 (Kyle Verreynne 105*, Ryan Rickelton 101; Lahiru Kumara 4-79, Asitha Fernando 3-102) vs 19 for no loss

Mitchell Starc got his fourth five-wicket haul in D/N Tests and his 15th overall in Test cricket as Australia bowled India out for 180 on the first day in Adelaide. Australia continued to boss proceedings with the bat, albeit defensively as they erased 85 from the deficit. With the first ball of the match, Starc had Yashasvi Jaiswal, the centurion from the first Test, playing around a full ball and being trapped LBW. It gave an underfire Australia the perfect start on their comeback trail and ought to have sowed doubts in India's mind about batting first. KL Rahul, got a reprieve, when he was adjudged caught behind off Scott Boland's first ball but was asked to come back because the pacer had overstepped. Usman Khawaja also put him down in the same over at first slip. With those reprieves, and a fluent Shubman Gill at the other end, India managed to pull their way back into the game. Gill, playing his first Test of the series, showed little signs of any rustiness as he cashed in on Starc's attacking lengths to pick up some eye-catching boundaries. After getting off the mark only off he 24th ball he faced, Rahul too began to get his eye in. The duo put India in a position of relative comfort with a 69-run stand. But against the run of play, Australia regained control in the last half hour of the opening session. All of Australia's pacers had stamped their presence with Cummins being the most miserly. But it was Starc, coming back for his second spell, that did the damage again. He had Rahul caught low at gully by Nathan McSweeney and a tentative Virat Kohli poking out and edging to second slip. But the cherry on top was Boland, who got the better of Gill. The batter had countered Boland's off-stump channel probes with a different trigger movement that allowed him to cover his offstump more and leave well. But it also exposed him to the full ball, which Boland finally deployed toward the end of the session and trapped Gill leg before. Losing three wickets in the space of fifteen balls left India down in the doldrums at the interval and kept going downhill thereafter. Skipper Rohit Sharma, now coming in at No. 6, was done in by a sharp incoming delivery from Boland while Cummins got a solid-looking Rishabh Pant with a snorter of a short ball. Starc came back to claim his five-fer yorking both R Ashwin and Harshit Rana in the same over. With the tail for company, Nitish Reddy picked out a few shots from the T20 playbook including an audacious reverse-scooped six off Boland. He was the last man dismissed for an innings-topping 42, trying to hit out against Starc, who finished with career-best figures of 6/48. Australia came out to bat under tricky conditions with the light just taking effect, and typically a good time for seamers. Although India managed appreciably more movement in the first ten overs as compared to Australia, it however did not result in wickets. Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney, who was more watchful, ground the opening spell out particularly against the Jasprit Bumrah threat largely. However, a change in angle to round the wicket finally got the better of Khawaja who ended up nicking to first slip. Bumrah could have had McSweeney too in similar fashion earlier, if not for Pant diving and dropping a catch that appeared to be heading to first slip. Nevertheless, the opener was joined by a dogged Marnus Labuschagne, who took 18 balls to get off the mark. The duo stuck to their guns to see the day through, earning Australia the first day's honours. India 180 all out (Nitish Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6-48) lead Australia 86/1 (Nathan McSweeney 38*) by 94 runs

Harry Brook rated his knock in the first innings of the second Test against New Zealand as his "favourite hundred", as his counter-attacking 123 off 115 balls, followed by a good show from the bowlers, put England in a strong position at the end of Day 2 at Basin Reserve. England had slipped to 26/3 and later to 43/4 after being asked to bat before Brook led the fightback with his eighth Test hundred, which was also his second successive ton, and his fourth this year. Brook was supported well by Ollie Pope (66 off 78) in a 174-run fifth wicket stand that came off only 159 balls as England finished with 280 and then reduced New Zealand to 86/5 at Stumps. Speaking about his innings, which he rated higher than his career-best 317 against Pakistan in Multan, Brook said: "I think that might be my favourite hundred so far. I enjoyed that a lot. It was just the circumstances really, it was 26 for 3 when I came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging and I'm just glad I put my attacking mode on and really took it to them and put them under pressure. "Obviously that pitch (Multan) was extremely flat. You could just lean on it and the outfield was so rapid it would go for four. Here in the situation of the game, the pitch, and the way I played...I felt like I was really putting them under a lot of pressure. It's a pretty special feeling. Most of the balls came out of the middle of the bat. It feels good to be batting like that." Brook has now amassed seven overseas hundreds in only 10 Tests, with all of them scored in Pakistan (4) and New Zealand (3). Out of his total 2225 runs, an impressive 1464 have come in away conditions, where he boasts a remarkable average of 91.5. "I've only played in two countries - if I go to another it might change," Brook said. "The pitches in Pakistan are usually very nice to bat on. Here you get nice-paced pitches, quick and bouncy and I feel I can play a different array of shots." Nathan Smith, playing in his second Test, was the highest wicket-taker for New Zealand with a four-wicket haul but proved expensive as he conceded 86 runs in 11.4 overs at an economy of 7.40. "He showed today that we were bowling quite well and he tried to hit us off our lengths using his feet. He played some ridiculous shots, so full credit to him," said Smith on Brook's knock. Further praising Brook, who is currently the No.2 ranked Test batter, Smith said: "He's a crop of that new, young cricketers - those world-class ones; him, Rachin, the guy from India [Yashasvi Jaiswal]. You put those guys in the same category. He's world class, right up there."

Pathum Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal's unbeaten 62-run stand for the second wicket has helped Sri Lanka to 103 for 1 at Tea on Day 2 of the second Test in St George's Park. The visitors now trail South Africa by 255 runs. Sri Lanka lost only a solitary wicket in the post-Lunch session with Dimuth Karunaratne edging Kagiso Rabada to the 'keeper while attempting to cut a widish delivery. Karunaratne had made a solid start in the post-Lunch session, cracking a couple of boundaries off Marco Jansen. But his innings was cut short on 20. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka ensured that they didn't lose the momentum. There were a couple of close calls for legbefore against Nissanka, but nothing strong enough for South Africa to even review. However, Rabada got one delivery to rise sharply and take an edge off Nissanka's bat but it was put down by David Bedingham at slips While Nissanka was largely cautious, Chandimal cut loose early. He took advantage of Rabada's error in lines to hit back-to-back boundaries. A few overs later, he again meted out the same treatment to the pacer. However, that was the last of the offense for the session, as they resorted to a more controlled approach in the last few minutes before Tea. Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka had struck early, with Keshav Maharaj out edging to slips. Nonetheless, Rabada and Kyle Verreynne's attacking batting ensured that the hosts scored at a brisk pace in the morning. The duo took on the short-ball attack by the Sri Lankan pacers and were quick to dispatch it to boundaries. Waiting for another short delivery, Rabada remained rooted at his crease and was cleaned up by a length delivery from Asitha Fernando. Verreynne then shifted to fifth gear and in a space of five deliveries, clubbed three sixes, the last of which helped him bring up his century. Dane Paterson picked up a couple of boundaries but another hard swipe led to a top-edge and he was caught to bring an end to South Africa's innings. 358 (Kyle Verreynne 105*, Ryan Rickelton 101; Lahiru Kumara 4-79, Asitha Fernando 3-102) vs 103/1 (Pathum Nissanka 41*) by 255 runs