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Australia retained the Ashes with two tests to spare after paceman Mitchell Starc took three of the last four wickets to blunt England's defiant comeback in the third cricket test. Australia started Day 5 needing four wickets to retain the Ashes, with England resuming at 6-207 and still 228 runs away from the victory target of 435 that would have required a world record to achieve. Starc took the only wicket in the morning session Jamie Smith for 60 as England piled on 102 runs. England's rally had narrowed the Ashes equation at lunch on the last day: Australia needed three wickets to clinch the old urn in Adelaide and England needed 126 runs to keep the five-match series alive. With England's lower-order doggedly mounting pressure and Australia's attack missing veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who limped off the field with an injured hamstring, the leading bowler in the series delivered for the hosts. Starc was voted player of the match in Australia's eight-wicket wins in Perth and
Kavem Hodge scored his second Test century and played an anchor role for the West Indies who showed resilience with the bat again on the third day of the third test against New Zealand. Hodge was 109 not out at stumps, Anderson Phillip was 12 and the West Indies were 381-6 Saturday, having avoid the follow on as they replied to New Zealand's 575-8. They achieved that goal, though they were without first test century-maker Shai Hope who has been out of action for the past two days with an unspecified illness. New Zealand leads the three-match series 1-0 after the first test was drawn and the Black Caps won the second by nine wickets. Hodge made 120 against England at Trent Bridge in July 2024 but had been past 50 only once in the 16 innings between that day and his redemptive innings at Bay Oval on Saturday. He batted 3 1-2 hours and stalled a little in the 90s before pulling a ball from Michael Rae to reach a century from 224 balls. I'm grateful to be honest, Hodge said. "We alwa
India on Friday slipped a rung to sixth position on the World Test Championship standings after New Zealand's comprehensive nine-wicket victory against the West Indies in Wellington propelled them to the third place. Runners-up in the first two WTC cycles, India were placed fifth after they were blanked 2-0 by South Africa at home last month with New Zealand occupying the sixth position. However, the table saw a major turnaround after the Kiwis' big win in the second Test at Basin Reverse on Friday. Former champions Australia continue to hold the top position with 100 percentage points (win-loss percentage) with South Africa in second place with 75 percentage points. Sri Lanka (66.67) and Pakistan (50) occupy the fourth and fifth position respectively. New Zealand have so far accumulated 66.67 percentage points, while India have a win-loss percentage of 48.15. India can drop further down to seventh if England stage a comeback against Australia in the Ashes. The Aussies lead the se
Jacob Duffy took 5-38 as New Zealand's weakened attack bowled out the West Indies for 128 on the third day to set up a nine-wicket win in the second test. New Zealand leads the three-match series 1-0 after the first test was drawn. The third test begins on Dec. 18. Duffy claimed his second five-wicket bag of the series as the West Indies were left with an overall lead of only 55 after trailing by 73 runs on the first innings. New Zealand reached 56-1 in only 10 overs, losing Tom Latham (9) along the way. Devon Conway was 28 not out at the end and Kane Williamson was 16, hitting a four off Anderson Phillip for the winning runs minutes before the schedule tea break. Pacer Michael Rae and wicketkeeper-batter Mitch Hay also made major contributions to New Zealand's win after being called up to make their test debuts in an injury-hit team. Hay scored a match-high 61 in as New Zealand made 278 in its first innings in reply to the West Indies's 205. Rae took 3-66 in the first innings and