In the third ODI match against South Africa, Team India skipper KL Rahul has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Team India has made one change, in which Washington Sundar has made way for Tilak Varma. For Proteas, Tony de Zorzi and Nandre Burger have picked up injuries, which in turn have provided opportunities to Ryan Rickelton and Ottneil Baartman, respectively. After winning the toss, the hosts' skipper Rahul said, "We're looking to bowl first; the dew doesn't seem to be a major factor here. We trained here last night, and the conditions appear to be good. We're happy with how we played in the last game; there were many positives to take away. We're making one change - Tilak Varma comes in for Washington Sundar". On the other hand, South Africa's captain, Temba Bavuma, said that the side was planning to bowl first, but having put to bat, the opening batsmen would look to set things up for the middle order. "We were planning to bowl first; assessing conditions early is key. The pitch doesn't look easy, so we'll start well and set things up for the middle order. We've made two changes: Ryan Rickelton and Ottniel Baartman come in. Injuries to Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi give others a chance to step up," he said. Considering that the three-match ODI series between the "Men in Blue" and the Proteas stands at 1-1, the third clash will serve pure entertainment and intense moments. The fans will expect Team India stalwart Virat Kohli to yet again showcase his elegance and classical strokes, whereas Ruturaj Gaikwad, who smashed his maiden century in the format in the previous game, will be riding high on confidence. IND vs SA 3rd ODI: Confirmed Playing XI India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna. South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.
06 December,2025 01:35 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentGeneral Education Academy (GEA) and Dyandeep Seva Mandal (DSM) played out a draw on Day 2 of their Dreams Sports MSSA Harris Shield Super 8 tie at Parsee Gymkhana. After GEA were bowled out for 288 on Day 1, DSM were all out for 223 with Himanshu Sharma (61) and Chirag Luchach unbeaten on 60. GEA’s Aarush Kolhe took (3-56). In their second innings, GEA reached 137-3 three in 27 overs with Aarush scoring an unbeaten 46.
06 December,2025 09:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamFormer India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged the Indian team management to provide Washington Sundar with “proper” role clarity, warning that the bowling all-rounder could otherwise be left “searching for who he is.” Ashwin stressed that Washington must be treated as a frontline bowling all-rounder and given a full quota of overs to build confidence with the bat as well. The 26-year-old has bowled only seven overs across the first two ODIs against South Africa and is yet to take a wicket. “Once you have decided to play Washington Sundar, you’ve to treat him as a bowler who can bat. You’ve to bowl out his overs,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.“Only if he keeps bowling, he’ll have the mindset of a bowler who can bat. Otherwise, if he just bats and bowls a few overs, he’ll keep searching for who he is. So don’t leave him in the searching space. Instead, the team should arrive at giving him the proper role clarity,” he added. India failed to defend 358 in the second ODI as South Africa levelled the three-match series with a four-wicket win. They had scrapped through in the opening ODI after scoring 348. Ashwin felt the hosts lacked a finishing option in the absence of Hardik Pandya and questioned whether a like-for-like replacement was overlooked. “India also didn’t finish well with the bat in both ODIs. Especially when you don’t have a finisher like Hardik Pandya, why didn’t a similarly powerful Nitish Kumar Reddy play?” said Ashwin. He suggested the inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI instead of Washington. “I am not sure if they are looking at Rishabh Pant as a finisher or not. India are not able to provide that finishing punch. So should an extra fast-bowling all-rounder play instead of a spinning allrounder?” he added. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:08 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIA New Zealand team with a crowded medical ward met stiff resistance and was unable to finish off the West Indies on the fourth day of the first Test Friday after setting the tourists 531 to win. Shai Hope led the resistance with his fourth Test century in an unbroken partnership of 140 with Justin Greaves (55 not out) which began when NZ captured four wickets quickly in the second session. At stumps, Hope was 116 not out and WI were 212-4, trailing NZ by 319 runs. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 09:03 AM IST | Christchurch | AP | PTIFormer India captain and batting stalwart-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar has been unable to make it to Vizag for the series-deciding third ODI between India and South Africa due to the ongoing issue with flight cancellations at Mumbai airport. India’s largest airline Indigo cancelled all departures from Mumbai on Friday, further escalating its ongoing operational disruption as it continues to struggle to cope with the new pilot rest rules which in turn is leading to a staff shortage issue. It is learnt that Gavaskar’s Mumbai to Vizag flight got cancelled on Friday which is why he was unable to travel. He will now be part of the Hindi commentary team for the crucial ODI encounter and will operate from a Mumbai studio.
06 December,2025 08:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Debasish DattaJoe Root said England were “well and truly” still in the day-night second Ashes Test despite Australia seizing a 44-run lead on Day Two Friday in Brisbane. England scored 334 in their first innings on the back of Root’s epic 138 not out, his first century on Australian soil. But some wayward bowling and dropped catches helped the hosts back into the contest, with Australia ending on 378-6 to give themselves the opportunity to build a healthy lead on a deteriorating pitch. “It’s clear we weren’t at our best... but we took those wickets in a cluster, which shows the nature of this game,” Root told TNT Sports, referring to Brydon Carse removing Cameron Green and Steve Smith within four deliveries. “More work to do but we’re well and truly in this game. It is different fielding to a pink ball, we practise really hard, just one of those days when things didn’t stick to hand,” he added. “We’ll keep backing ourselves. We need to take four wickets. It’s a simple game. Energy and positivity. We know our best cricket can turn a game very quickly. If we are anywhere near our best this game can turn in our favour.” Root also reflected on his breakthrough ton, his 40th overall, glad to get the monkey off his back. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 08:53 AM IST | Brisbane | AFPMarnus Labuschagne praised Jake Weatherald and Travis Head for their quickfire start to Australia’s run chase in the day-night second Ashes Test on Friday, with himself and Steve Smith able to “piggyback” off them. The opening pair put on an aggressive 77 to get the ball rolling as they zeroed in on England’s first-innings 334 at the Gabba. Head was eventually out for 33 and Weatherald for 72, with Labuschagne cracking an assured 65 and Smith 61 in their wake. Labuschagne said upping the tempo was not talked about before the run chase, with Head and Weatherald playing their natural games. “With Heady and Weathers at the top they sort of just grabbed the momentum and I feel like the rest of us sort of just piggybacked off the back of that,” he said. “That sort of kept going and I think everyone that came in had that good intent and we were able to keep scoring through that whole day.” Marnus Labuschagne By stumps Australia had reeled in England and were 44 runs clear with four wickets left, ending day two on 378-6 with a threatening Alex Carey not-out 46. “That was a crucial last hour there for us. To get to the end of play six down gives us a bit of time in the morning in that day session and then obviously pushes our bowling innings later into the night,” said Labuschagne. “So that was crucial there and obviously the boys played well. We probably let them in a little bit there through that middle session but it’s a nice day.” While praising Head and Weatherald for the fast start, Labuschagne said he was disappointed with how he got out, edging Ben Stokes to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. “Very frustrating to get out like that, especially at the change of the conditions there where it just quickened up a little bit,” he said, referring to the fading daylight. Brief scoresEngland 334 (J Root 138*, Z Crawley 76, J Archer 38, H Brook 31; M Starc 6-75) vs Australia 378-6 (J Weatherald 72, M Labuschagne 65, S Smith 61, A Carey 46*; B Carse 3-113, B Stokes 2-93) This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 08:48 AM IST | Brisbane | AFPAssistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate on Friday said a below-par performance in the preceding Test series has put a certain amount of “desperation” in the Indian team to win the ongoing ODI series against South Africa.' India lost the two-match Test rubber 0-2 to the Proteas recently, and the ODI series is now levelled at 1-1. “We always want to win, but yeah certainly, when a few losses do start stacking up, and performances have been below what we expect from ourselves, I think it’s a slight desperation from the series point of view,” Ten Doeschate said here on the eve of the series-deciding third ODI. But Ten Doeschate was quick to add that the team members have been quite used to tackling such pressure situations. “I don’t think pressure ever goes away for this team. You know, bilateral series, when the series is on the line, there is an element of pressure there in itself. We try to focus on the process. We try and assess what’s going to be a good score and then the batting unit has to go about getting it,” the former Dutch all-rounder added. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 08:43 AM IST | Visakhapatnam | PTISouth Africa batter Matthew Breetzke understands that India will come hard at them in the series-deciding third ODI here, but is banking on their balanced batting side to overcome the challenge. The three-match series is levelled at 1-1, and India will require a win on Saturday to avoid a second successive series defeat against the Proteas after succumbing 0-2 in the preceding Tests. “We’re going to have to play good cricket against a really good side. We know that they’re going to be really hungry to win. It’s a must-win game, so it’s going to be a really good contest,” said Breetzke on the eve of the third ODI. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 December,2025 08:39 AM IST | Visakhapatnam | PTIThere is no more consummate driver of the cricket ball than Virat Kohli. To watch him get his left foot to the pitch of the ball, bring the bat down with a flourish and break his wrists to keep the cherry down despite his hard hands is a sight for sore eyes, an event that has played itself on loop over the last few days.But strap Kohli into a car and toss him the keys, and not even he will be able to drive with any comfort on the roads of Visakhapatnam. The otherwise clean and beautiful port city can be a nightmare for first-time drivers. Not because the roads are little strips of asphalt around potholes, like in Bengaluru, but because they are in impeccable condition, thereby facilitating ease of negotiation. Vehicles of all hues pour in from all directions, necessitating one to be on their mental toes every second of the way. The search for a less offensive term to describe the Visakhapatnam traffic ends with ‘mayhem’. Theme of this series is mayhem Mayhem has been the theme of this ODI series, so perhaps it is in the fitness of things that, with the showdown all square at 1-1, the ACA-VDCA Stadium will stage the decider on Saturday. India and South Africa have gone hammer at tongs, racking up the highest aggregate in an ODI involving these sides in Ranchi on Sunday and topping that in Raipur three nights later. The ball has travelled far and wide, India barely managing to defend 349 in the first game before a combination of dew, South Africa’s middle-order firepower and shoddy fielding, catching and bowling ensured 358 wasn’t enough, not by a long way. Kohli has been India’s shining light in this series with back-to-back hundreds for the 11th time in his storied career. Only once before, against West Indies in October 2018, has Kohli conjured a hat-trick of ODI tons (Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Pune). Given how switched on he appears in his new avatar as a one-format international only, don’t rule out a three-peat. SA’s strong batting line-up South Africa’s quest to hunt down massive totals on absolute shirtfronts has been commendable, with a strong middle group complementing the class of openers Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock, yet to hit his straps. Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch lend muscle all the way through the order, though South Africa will be the first to admit that they have had the better of the batting conditions. Dew was a massive factor in Raipur, especially. Visakhapatnam might not be as dewy, though it might help if KL Rahul, standing in for the injured Shubman Gill, hits it lucky with the coin. India have lost an astonishing 20 ODI tosses in a row, and while how the coin drops shouldn’t decide outcomes, it often does. Maybe there is a compelling case for matches at this time of the year in India to start earlier than 1.30 pm to negate the impact of the dew. For now, a series is on the line. South Africa eye a rare double after their 2-0 Test series sweep, India will believe it’s payback time. Let the mayhem begin. ThreeNo. of ODI centuries Virat Kohli has scored in seven outings at Vizag 97.83Kohli’s ODI average in Vizag, having scored 587 runs in seven matches
06 December,2025 08:37 AM IST | Visakhapatnam | R KaushikGeneral Education Academy (Chembur) posted a competitive 288 all out as middle-order batters Arnav Patil and Aarush Kolhe excelled against Dnyandeep Seva Mandal (Panvel) in the Dream Sports Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school Harris Shield Super 8 match at Parsee Gymkhana on Thursday. Faced with a disciplined Dnyandeep bowling attack on a tricky pitch, Arnav showcased a blend of control and aggression to craft a 77-ball 83 (12 fours, three sixes), while Aarush compiled 53 off 62 balls (12 fours) to help the Chembur outfit post 288 all out in 67.2 overs on Day One of the two-day encounter. For the Panvel school, left-arm spinner Golu Pal picked up 6-71 in 24.2 overs. He was aided by fellow left-arm tweaker Virat Yadav (2-98 in 22 overs). Dnyandeep then ended the day at 47-1 in 15 overs with Himanshu Sharma (26*) batting alongside Shriyash Chavan (2*).
05 December,2025 07:32 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamADVERTISEMENT
