1. Vijay, Pujara Shine After India Get England All Out For 400 Runs
India made a strong reply with the bat after the home side bowled England out for 400 runs on day two of the fourth Test in Mumbai on Friday. The hosts reached 146 for 1 at the end of day’s play.
After Ashwin took two more wickets on day two to return with innings figures of 6/112, Murali Vijay (70*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (47*) strung an unbeaten partnership of 107 runs.
India, who are 2-0 up in the five-match Test series, now trail England by 254 runs with nine first innings wickets in hand.
Read more here.
2. Warner Scores a Century as Australia Win ODI Series 3-0 vs NZ
Opener David Warner smashed his seventh one-day international century of the year to fire Australia to a resounding 117-run win and a 3-0 series sweep against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
The pugnacious left-hander's majestic 156 from 128 balls rescued the home side after they stumbled to 73-4 before recovering to a total of 264 for eight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc took 3-34 as New Zealand's batsmen were skittled for 146 in 36.1 overs.
Having already scored the most ODI tons in a year by an Australian, Warner drew level with the seven tallied by India's Sourav Ganguly in 2000.
Sachin Tendulkar, who scored nine hundreds in 1998, is the only player to have scored more.
(Source: Reuters)
3. Atletico de Kolkata-Mumbai City FC Semi-Final Today
Former champions Atletico de Kolkata will start as underdogs when they clash against table toppers Mumbai City FC in the first of the Indian Super League football 2016 semifinals at Rabindra Sarobar Stadium at Kolkata on Saturday.
The inaugural edition champions have been the most consistent franchise since the league kick-started in 2014, making the semifinals in all the three editions, while this would be Mumbai's maiden last-four appearance.
But the Kolkata franchise's home form this time around has been unflattering and of their two losses, one has come at home and against the same Mumbai team who scored through a Diego Forlan 79th minute strike.
A 'sweet revenge' will be on mind for Jose Molina's wards who will look to make the home advantage count and seek to get into an advantageous position going into their second leg semifinals in Mumbai on 13 December.
(Source: PTI)
4. More Than 1,000 Russian Athletes in 'Institutionalised' Doping
More than 1,000 Russian athletes in about 30 sports took part in an "institutional conspiracy" to use banned drugs at the Sochi and London Olympics and other global events, doping investigator Richard Mclaren said on Friday.
International sport had been "hijacked" by the Russians, according to the Canadian lawyer who has previously accused Russia of "state-sponsored" cheating.
He said in his new report for the World Anti-Doping Agency that he had confirmed the switching of samples at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and that salt and coffee was used to manipulate samples when checked by international experts.
More than 1,000 athletes in the summer and winter Olympics and Paralympics "can be identified as being involved in or benefiting from manipulations to conceal positive testing", the report said.
(Source: PTI)
5. Quality of Indian Bowlers Far Better, Says Parthiv
Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel on Friday insisted that the quality of India's bowling is "far better" than that of the England cricket team as the home team bowlers are not dependent on pitch conditions alone.
Leading 2-0 in the five match series, India made a strong reply with the bat to be well placed at 146 for one after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up yet another five-wicket haul on day two of the fourth Test at Mumbai.
More than the surface, the quality of (our) bowlers is far better, our bowlers definitely have more revolution on the ball than what their spinners are doing and obviously we vary pace very well. We deceive a lot of players in the air, rather than just get help from the wicket. There is a definite difference between the quality for sure.Parthiv Patel
(Source: PTI)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)