KL Rahul continued his love affair with Centurion as he hit his second successive Test Century at the venue to take India to a respectable 245 against South Africa on the second day of the Boxing Day Test on Wednesday. KL Rahul became the first visiting batsman to score multiple hundreds in Centurion. He had scored 123 in 2021/22 and today he was the last man to be dismissed for India for 101.

Rahul became the fifth designated Indian wicket-keeper to hit a century outside Asia. Rahul’s century came from 137 balls and he struck 14 fours and 4 sixes, adding 31 runs to his overnight 70 not out. India added 37 runs from 8.4 overs in the morning session. The Indian team faced 67.4 overs in their first innings.

For South Africa Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee took a wicket a each on Wednesday. Kagiso Rabada took a five wicket haul on the opening day on Tuesday. With Team India’s backs against the wall, KL Rahul delivered one of his finest innings of his career. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma all faltered on a tricky pitch as India took on South Africa in the first test of the two match series.

KL Rahul forged little partnerships with lower middle-order batsmen and tailenders and registered his 8th Test century to take the Indian score to a respectable total of 245 runs. India ended day 1 at the score of 208/8 with Rahul leading the scoring charts with a score of 101.

Rahul however, had to play a gutsy knock at the end of the innings, playing some exquisite white ball cricket shots to bring up his century. The wicket keeper-batsman reached the 100 run mark with a stunning six on the bowling of South African pacer Nandre Burger. The entire Indian camp was on its feet as Rahul reached his century.

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Australia cricket team on Tuesday morning thrashed England in the 3rd Test match of the ongoing Ashes series and retained the urn for a second consecutive year. Debutant bowler Scott Boland had a fairytale debut, as he picked 6 wickets for just 7 runs in 4 overs. The Kangaroos defeated the Three Lions by an innings and 14 runs.

In the third test match of the series, this is England’s third consecutive defeat on Australian soil. Joe Root led the English team managed to put just 68 runs on the board in the second innings and lost the match as well as the historical Ashes urn.

England cricket team’s awful run in the Test format continues, first, they lost the test series against New Zealand on their home ground, then one month later, India handed two defeats in the yet to be completed 4-match Test series and now a three consecutive humiliating loss against their arch-rivals Australia. Apart from skipper Root, every England player has struggled in this series. The batting of this English side has been surrounded by just Joe Root, who is also the highest run-getter in 2021.

After winning the toss, Australia invited England to bat first in the first innings. Skipper Cummins and Nathan Lyon led from the front and dismissed the England team on 185 in the first innings. The Three Lions skipper Joe Root was the lone warrior for the English team and scored 50.

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While Australia in their first innings posted 267 runs on the board and took the crucial lead of 82 runs. Veteran pacer James Anderson took 4 wickets for the England team. However, the lead was not so big, and the Root-led team had a chance to come back in the match. But once again the English batting order crumbled against the fierce attack of Aussies. Scott Boland, who played his debut match, rattled the England batters and scalped 6 wickets by just giving away 7 runs in 4 overs.

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After a massive loss in the first Test at the Adelaide, India managed to turned the tables under leadership of stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and beat the Aussies by eight wickets in the boxing day Test on Tuesday. With this victory, India have also levelled the series 1-1. Team India bowled Australia out on 200 by lunch and chased the total of 70 runs in only 15.5 overs. Shubman Gill (35 not out) and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane (27 not out) guided the team to the massive victory.

Earlier, Indian bowlers produced a brilliant spell to bowl out Australia for 200 runs. Debutant Mohammed Siraj took three wickets, while Ashwin and Jadeja got two wickets each. Bumrah sent one batsman back to pavilion. Chasing the target of 70, India lost Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara early. However, Rahane and Gill kept calm and led the team to victory. In the first innings, India had bundled out Australia for 195 runs and took a lead of 130 runs by scoring 326 runs.

Rahane who took over the captaincy from Virat Kohli after he returned to India for birth of his first child led from the front impressed everyone with his captaincy and batting skills in the match. He was elected Man of the Match for his ton in the first innings of the match. Rahane also bettered his captaincy record as India have won all three Tests under his leadership. He is the second captain after MS Dhoni to register three Test victories in his first three matches as captain.

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In the most match presentation, the Indian skipper appreciated efforts made by debutants Sirajj and Gill for showing a positive attitude after a crushing defeat in Adelaide. India will now be heading to Sydney for the third Test which begins on January 7 and try to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

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After a massive loss in the first Test, India will look for a turnaround under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane when they take on hosts Australia in the Boxing Day Test on Saturday at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Kangaroos are currently leading the series by 1-0 by virtue of an eight-wicket win in the previous match. The hosts will be high on confidence as they bundled out India for their lowest Test score of 36 in the previous match. Virat Kohli’s absence in the game will only add to the woes of team India already struggling due to injuries to its pacers, an unsettled opening pair and a stand-in captain for the rest of the matches.

Australia, on the other hand, will be without opener David Warner once again. In Warner’s absence, Joe Burns and Matthew Wade will be opening the innings for The Aussies. The hosts are unlikely to fiddle with the winning line up. Indians will have to be wary of Steve Smith who usually manages to put runs on the board aginst the indian team if they do not want to go 0-2 down in the Test series.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah will be lone senior pacer in the team in the absence of Mohammed Sahmai and Ishant Sharma. All the eyes will be on Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj to see if they manage to support Bumrah from the other end.

Match details

Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Time: 5 AM IST

Take a look at the squads:

India: Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.

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Australia: Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (wk/C), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Moises Henriques, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Mitchell Swepson, Will Pucovski.

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