Siddle, Starc power Australia to first home summer success – Cricket News Roundup – Part 1 – December 18, 2012
Impressive bowling efforts from Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc bagged Australia their first victory of the current home summer, where they beat Sri Lanka by a comprehensive 137-run margin at Hobart.
After being set a target of 393, the Lankans resumed the final day from 65 for 2, intent on grinding out the final three sessions of play. However, they faced a spirited Aussie attack, who despite the absence of Ben Hilfenhaus, put in a praiseworthy performance.
Siddle remained the pick early on where he got rid of Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene, before breaking the resilience of Kumar Sangakkara (63) and Thilan Samaraweera (49) to end the game with nine scalps. Mitchell Starc then took over the responsibility to clean up the tail, finishing with an impressive six-wicket haul.
South African selectors have called up Justin Ontong into the T20 squad which takes on New Zealand following AB de Villiers decision to pull out of the shortest format.
De Villiers said that missing the three-match series will allow him added rest before the team takes on the Kiwis in the longer version. The management had earlier named Faf du Plessis as the skipper of the side in order to manage de Villiers’ workload, which had considerably increased following the retirement of Mark Boucher.
"It's been an exhausting few months and I feel that I need some extra rest before the Test series," De Villiers said. "It's for this reason that I have put in the request and I'm grateful to the team management for supporting this decision."
Indian legend, Sunil Gavaskar, feels that Virat Kohli is ready to take the Test captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni after watching him notch up a patient ton in the drawn clash against England.
The draw piled more pressure on Dhoni after it allowed the English contingent to take the four-match series 2-1, following their successive triumphs in Mumbai and Kolkata.
Kohli, who was the team’s leading scorer at Nagpur after grinding out the best part of a day to amass 103, is widely considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Gavaskar therefore, feels that the management must think on giving the youngster added responsibility.
"He is ready to take on the mantle of Test cricket [captain]. That needs to be looked at in a positive manner by everyone concerned, as that is where the future lies."
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