Let us look at some of the most-discussed cricket stories on the news on 2 September.
Shardul, Bumrah shine at The Oval
England closed Day 1 on 53/3 after they bowled out India for 191 in the fourth Test match, at The Oval.
Earlier, Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson ran through Indian batters to reduce them to 127/7. Shardul Thakur then struck a counterattacking 57 in 36 balls to take them to a respectable position. Thakur brought up his fifty in 31 balls, the fastest on English soil. Virat Kohli also made 50.
Responding to that, Jasprit Bumrah removed both Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed to send England on the back foot. Joe Root and Dawid Malan battled for a little while before the former was bowled by a snorter from Umesh Yadav just before the close of play. The wicket kept the contest in the balance.
Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the 1st ODI
Avishka Fernando and Charith Asalanka starred with bat to hand Sri Lanka a 14-run win over South Africa in the first ODI, at Premadasa. With this, Sri Lanka have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 300/9, thanks to Fernando’s 115-ball 118 and Asalanka’s 62-ball 72. Kagiso Rabada returned 2-66 and Keshav Maharaj 2-30. In reply, Aiden Markram (96 in 90 balls) and Rassie van der Dussen (59 in 59) batted valiantly but it went in vain as South Africa finished on 286/6.
Ireland win series over Zimbabwe
Mark Adair returned 4-23 to help Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 64 runs in the fourth T20I, in Bready. With that, Ireland claimed the series with a 3-1 lead with a match to go.
Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, and Andy Balbirnie chipped in with useful contributions to take Ireland 174/4 after they were put in. Zimbabwe were never really in the chase from the start. They struggled to reach 110/9.
Luke Jongwe and Craig Ervine were the only two batters who scored more than 11 in this total.
Khawaja to lead Sydney Thunder
Usman Khawaja will captain Sydney Thunder in the upcoming BBL. He will replace Callum Ferguson, who was released at the end of last season.
Khawaja has been with the Thunder since last season. He has aggregated 1,718 runs so far in the BBL, the most among all Thunder cricketers.
‘It’s a great privilege to be captain of any team, but for me especially being captain of Sydney Thunder probably means a little more,’ Khawaja said in a release issued by the franchise.