Cricket news round-up – January 7: Australia claim series 3-0, Taylor surpasses Fleming in Test

Australia completed whitewash against New Zealand. Dom Sibley helped England set a mammoth target for South Africa. Ross Taylor became the highest run-getter for New Zealand in Test.

Australia win series 3-0

Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash as they beat New Zealand by a massive 279 runs on a near-perfect fourth day at SCG. David Warner scored his 24^th Test century before Australia declared on 217/2 around the middle of the second session. They set a huge target of 416 runs and it was expected to be a difficult task for the New Zealand batsmen.

However, an early blast from Mitchell Starc pushed New Zealand on the backfoot straight away and they never recovered as the Australian bowlers managed to bowl them out within 48 overs for just 136 runs. Starc finished with 3/25 and Nathan Lyon ran through the lower order to get his second 5-wicket haul of the match and finished with 5/50. His match figure read 10/118. For New Zealand, only Colin de Grandhomme provided some resistance with his 52 but did not get much support from others.

Marnus Labuschagne, who had a magical summer, topped it off with both the ‘Man-of-the-Match’ and ‘Man-of-the-Series’ awards.

England set a massive target at Capetown

England started day four on 218/4 and added 173 runs in 32 overs. Ben Stokes’s strokeful 47-ball 72 with seven fours and three sixes pushed them in their journey to get quick runs. He was supported by Dom Sibley who became the latest Test centurion for England. The declaration finally came on 391/8 with a lead of 437 runs as Sibley remained not out for 133. For South Africa, Anrich Nortje finished with 3/61 whereas Kagiso Rabada (2/69) and Keshav Maharaj (2/160) scalped a couple of wickets each.

South Africa started steadily in their chase and England had to wait for almost a session to get the first break through. Thanks to Joe Denly’s off-spin as Dean Elgar was dismissed for 34. Pieter Malan and Zubayr Hamza added 52 runs for the second wicket. South Africa would have been more comfortable if the duo could end the day unbeaten but James Anderson, playing his 151^st test match, provided a late blow to dismiss Hamza. South Africa eventually ended the day on 126/2 with Pieter Malan unbeaten on 63, still 312 runs required for a dramatic win on day five.

Taylor goes past Fleming

Ross Taylor became the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in the longest format on the fourth day at SCG Test. After breaking the record in a Nathan Lyon delivery Nathan Lyon He received a standing ovation from the crowd and was congratulated by the Australian players. In the process, he surpassed Stephen Fleming’s tally of 7172 runs.

New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum stands at third place in the elite list with 6453 runs followed by current skipper Kane Williamson (6379) and Martin Crowe (5444). Taylor will be soon playing his 100^th Test for the Kiwis in the upcoming series against India. In February 2019 Taylor had broken Fleming’s record to achieve the same kind of record in the 50-over format. Now Ross Taylor is the highest run-getter for New Zealand in both ODI and Test.