Root, Malan lead England to spirited comeback
England staged a much-improved batting performance in their second innings on Day 3, courtesy an unbroken 159 between Joe Root (86*) and Dawid Malan (80*), as they reached 220/2 at stumps. They are still 58 behind Australia, who were all out for 425 in the first innings.
England were reduced to 61/2 after Pat Cummins got Rory Burns and Mitchell Starc got Haseeb Hameed. Malan and Root then held the fort and ensured no further damage in the last 49 overs of the day.
Western Australia-South Australia fixtures postponed due to border restrictions
On Friday, Cricket Australia confirmed that two fixtures of the Women's National Cricket League 2021/22 between Western Australia and South Australia, initially scheduled for 17 and 19 December, have been postponed due to border restrictions between the two states. The matches will now be played on 1 and 3 March at the WACA Ground.
In addition to this, numerous fixtures between the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria and New South Wales have been rescheduled after a player in an ACT high performance program tested Covid-19 positive.
Stars beat Thunder by 4 runs
Andre Russell struggled with the ball on his BBL return, but still ended up on the winning side as Melbourne Stars beat his former club Sydney Thunder by four runs in Match 7 at the MCG.
Russell scored an unbeaten nine-ball 17 after Hilton Cartwright’s 30-ball 42 and Nick Larkin’s 43-ball 52 not out to take the Stars to 165/4 after they were asked to bat. However, in the second half, he returned 0-40 to become the most expensive Stars bowler.
He also had an interesting match, where he was barred from touching any cricketer, and had to use even separate gates and dugouts.
Adam Zampa (1-31) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (2-27) starred with ball, as the former defended 11 off the final over. Matt Gilkes top-scored for the Thunder, with 49-ball 56, while Sam Billings made 31-ball 43.
Galle-Dambulla match abandoned due to rain
Match 8 of the Lanka Premier League 2021, between Dambulla Giants and Galle Gladiators, was called off due to torrential rain. Galle Gladiators were batting on 18/0 in 1.2 overs after Dambulla Giants' 159/7 when the rain arrived and did not allow any further play. As a result, both sides shared a point from the game.