Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test Day 4 LIVE Score Updates: Australia will be hoping that rain does not play spoilsport once again as they aim to bowl out Sri Lanka in their first innings on Day 4 of the first Test in Galle. Despite Australia restricting Sri Lanka to 136/5 and enjoying a 518-run lead, only 27 overs of play was possible on Day 3, as rain washed out the second and the third sessions entirely. Sri Lanka will be pinning their hopes on veteran batter Dinesh Chandimal, who is unbeaten on 63. Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc and left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann have taken two wickets each for Australia. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has donated three exclusive bats signed by India stars Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin to Cricket Australia’s social impact partner Taverners for auction with the proceeds being used to support cricketers with disability. Australia captain Pat Cummins, star batter Steve Smith and Lyon himself also signed on the three bats. The signatures were taken during the intensely-fought five-match Test series for the Border-Gavasakar Trophy, which India lost 1-3 earlier this month.

“Ahead of the 2025 National Cricket Inclusion Championships, National Inclusion Ambassador for Cricketers with a Disability, Nathan Lyon, has donated three exclusive signed bats to Cricket Australia social impact partner Taverners Australia,” Cricket Australia (CA) said on its social media handle.

“Each of these bats feature a Braille sticker in the centre reading ‘a sport for all’ and are signed by an Australian and Indian Test player. Taverners Australia are auctioning these bats, with proceeds going towards supporting pathways and programs for cricketers with a disability.” Lyon posted the pictures of the three signed bats on his ‘X’ handle.

Lyon is the brand ambassador for the National Cricket Inclusion Championships (NCIC) and he has been at the forefront of promoting inclusivity and providing a platform for athletes with disabilities.

The Cricket Australia National Cricket Inclusion Championships (NCIC) begins in Queensland on Sunday.

The Championships brings together Australia’s most talented cricketers with a disability to compete for national titles, with over 300 players representing their states and territories across five divisions, in T20 matches.

Australia ripped out seven Indian wickets in the final session of the fourth Test in Melbourne on Monday to win by 184 runs and go 2-1 up in the five-match series. India collapsed to 155 all out with just 12.5 overs left in the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will need to win the final Test starting in Sydney on Friday to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia captain Pat Cummins, who took 3-28, removed top-scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal for 84 as India’s last seven wickets fell for 34 runs from 20.3 overs. 

Set an unlikely 340 runs to win, India looked well placed to save it when Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant batted through the entire second session to be 112-3 at tea.

However, the departure of Pant for 30, caught in the deep from a wild shot off part-time spinner Travis Head, sparked their collapse.

Ravindra Jadeja and first-innings centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy came and went quickly before Cummins ended Jaiswal’s gritty 208-ball knock in controversial fashion.

The 23-year-old was given not out to a caught-behind appeal from an attempted hook.

But the decision was overturned by the TV umpire on visual evidence that the ball had changed direction, even though no noise was picked up by technology.

Akash Deep was caught at short leg off Scott Boland (3-39) before Jasprit Bumrah scored his second duck of the match and Mohammed Siraj was the last man out, trapped lbw by Nathan Lyon, who finished with 2-37.

A tenacious Washington Sundar was left not out five after facing 45 balls.

India’s hopes were rocked in the first session when veteran batsmen Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli all departed for single figure scores.

Cummins completed an inspirational Test, taking 3-38 and six wickets in all adding to scoring 90 runs, the best batting match tally of his career.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja‘s ability to play spinners after he got out to Australia’s Nathan Lyon on Day 3 of the 4th Test on Saturday. Jadeja was trapped lbw by Lyon on 13, misreading a delivery which didn’t turn at all. During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar admitted that while Jadeja looked more than comfortable against the pacers, his struggles were evident once Lyon was brought into the attack by captain Pat Cummins.

“He played the fast bowlers a lot and played them very well. He didn’t make even a slight mistake against the fast bowlers. However, once Nathan Lyon came, he was expecting off-spin, that the ball would turn. His bat came for the off-spin and the ball was not turning at all. So he played with that mindset,” Manjrekar said.

Manjrekar suggested Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spinners.

“It seems like Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spin because he is looking absolutely comfortable against seam. He used to play very well against spin earlier but it happens that when you play overseas, you start playing fast bowling well and your focus is slightly removed from spin. If only fast bowlers had been there, Jadeja would have played a big knock,” he added.

Manjrekar’s sentiments were echoed by former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta, who explained that Jadeja failed to read Lyon throughout his innings.

“I felt he was playing for turn from the start but Nathan Lyon read the conditions very well, that there wasn’t that much turn there. Nathan Lyon will get two things here – one is bounce and the second is drift. You should see from where he released the ball and where it finished. He released it from wide of the crease, the pitching was just outside the off-stump, and it pitched and came in. From Nathan Lyon’s first ball, when Jadeja was defending, it was hitting the inside edge of the bat. It tells you that Jadeja’s thinking was opposite to what Nathan Lyon was doing, and that is why Nathan Lyon trapped him,” Dasgupta explained.

For the record, Lyon has dismissed seven times out of 16 innings in Test cricket.

Indian cricket team fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was left distraught as a no-ball provided Australia with a major lifeline on Day 4 of the fourth Test match in Melbourne on Sunday. The incident happened on the final over of the day when Bumrah dismissed Nathan Lyon but was left disappointed as the umpire signalled a no-ball. With India needing one wicket to bowl out Australia, Lyon edged the delivery from Bumrah straight to KL Rahul in the slips. However, the joy was short-lived as the no-ball denied him a five-wicket haul and his disappointing reaction said it all.

Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah unleashed more destructive bowling but Australia stubbornly battled back to reach 228-9 on Sunday, leading by 333 runs in an absorbing fourth Test.

Bumrah scythed through the middle order on day four in Melbourne to record figures of 4-56 off 24 overs and hand India an outside chance of victory in a match the home side have mostly dominated.

Jasprit Bumrah gets Lyon on no ball, He has been phenomenal in this BGT.

– Feel for Jasprit Bumrah..!!!!pic.twitter.com/tpvRKaxtnc

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) December 29, 2024

However, India’s hopes were diminished by a stubborn, unbeaten final-wicket stand of 55 from 17.5 overs.

Nathan Lyon was at the crease on 41 while number 11 Scott Boland had seen off 65 balls to be 10 not out at the close.

Up by 105 runs on the first innings, Australia were rocked by losing four wickets for 11 midway through the second session to slump to 91-6.

Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins responded with a vital partnership of 57, taking the steam out of Bumrah’s assault.

A charmed Labuschagne scored 70, to back up his first-innings 72, while Cummins produced a captain’s knock of 41 — giving him a career-high combined 90 runs for the Test.

Both teams are seeking to go 2-1 up in the series heading into the fifth and final Test in Sydney.

(With AFP inputs)

A funny conversation between former Australia cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Kerry O’Keefe is going viral on social media. The two ex-stars were in the commentarty during the India vs Australia 4th Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when the hilarious incident took place. Gilchrist heard the word “bald eagle” on the stump mic and he didn’t waste time to poke fun at his fellow commentator O’Keefe. “Sure, it’s Nathan Lyon, they’re referring to and not you Kerry O’Keefe,” said Gilchrist.

While responding to the funny statement, O’Keefe said, “In Hindi, it’s Taklu, because I posted my joke from a cricket show, and the Indians on Twitter responded with ‘Who is the taklu?’ on the end, and I thought a picture of this shocking word about me. I looked it up in Hindi, It’s a bald man. So Nathan Lyon is a taklu.”

“Nathan Lyon is a taklu”

Kerry O’Keefe pic.twitter.com/hkCmzA8aW2

— Himanshu (@HIMANSHU_333333) December 28, 2024

The interaction between Gilchrist and O’Keefe sent everyone in splits.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, with the team in dire straits against Australia on the third day of the fourth Test in Melbourne, turned out to be India’s saviour with a gritty century at the No. 8 position on Saturday.

During the course of the innings, Reddy achieved a mega first in Indian cricket. His tally of sixes against Australia in this series is 8. He is the first Indian to hit eight sixes in a single series in Australia. Now, he is also the holder of the record joint-most sixes by a visiting batter in a series in Australia. Before him, Michael Vaughan (2002-03 Ashes) and Chris Gayle (2009-10) hit eight sixes in a single series.  

Nitish went on to complete his maiden international ton in 171 balls. This was the first century by any Indian No. 8 batter in Australia. At 21 years 216 days, Nitish Kumar Reddy is the third youngest at the time of maiden Test century for India in Australia.

Indian cricket team stars Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli had a terrible mix-up on Day 2 of the ongoing 4th Test against Australia, resulting in the former’s unfortunate run out dismissal. Jaiswal, who was batting on 82, tried to steal a quick single off Scott Boland but Kohli didn’t responding on time, leaving the youngster stranded, ending a dangerous 102-run stand. Jaiswal was visibly frustrated at the incident while Kohli’s concentration was impacted as he once again ended up edging a delivery outside the off-stump straight to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Jaiswal guided the ball towards mid-wicket and was more than halfway off of his popping crease when he realised that Kohli had refused for the single. Australia captain Pat Cummins threw the ball towards Carey, who did the rest.

Fans and experts have been divided over the incident as it sparked an Indian middle-order collapse. While some blamed Kohli for not responding to his partner’s call, others felt Jaiswal shouldn’t have pushed for the risky single in that situation.

However, Australia spinner Nathan Lyon described the mix-up as a “barbecue”.

“It was probably one of the best barbecues I’ve seen. It came out of the blue. They were doing it pretty easy out there. I know pressure does funny things, and we were able to build that little bit of pressure – that’s what it felt like, anyway. Silly run-outs are coach killers, aren’t they?” Lyon told ABC Sport.

In the next over, Kohli too walked back after edging a delivery outside off. He had left almost every other delivery in that region before the mix-up with Jaiswal.

The visitors were 164-5 at the close on day two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, still 310 runs adrift after Australia was out for 474 soon after lunch, buoyed by Steve Smith’s stylish 140.

(With AFP Inputs)