Ricky Ponting marked his 100th Test with a majestic hundred and Adam Gilchrist providentially found his form as Australia fought back to concede a first-innings lead of just 92 in the third Test against South Africa on Wednesday. Skipper Ponting became only the sixth player to score a century in his 100th Test with his 120.
Skipper Ricky Ponting became Australia’s third all-time leading scorer as he spearheaded his team’s fight-back in the third and final Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. Australia were 226 for seven in reply to South Africa’s 451 for nine declared at tea.
Former Australia rugby league captain Steve Rogers was found dead in his Sydney apartment, his club said on Tuesday. Rogers (51) was general manager at National Rugby League club Cronulla Sharks, based in Sydney’s southern outskirts, and father of dual rugby league and rugby union international Mat Rogers.
Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince scored centuries and Shaun Pollock added a rearguard 46 before South Africa declared at 451 for nine on Tuesday in the third Test against Australia. Kallis and Prince shared a 219-run fourth-wicket partnership to lift the tourists from 86-3 to 305-4, before Pollock led the tail-enders in a series of defiant stands.
Australia hit back with three wickets but South Africa’s run grind continued on the second day of the third cricket Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday. Century-maker Ashwell Prince (119) and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher (5) fell to contentious umpiring decisions in the middle session.
Martina Hingis made a successful return to competitive tennis on Monday after a three-year absence, beating Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-2, 6-1 at the Australian women’s hardcourt championships. The 25-year-old Hingis, winner of five Grand Slam singles titles, made a nervous start when both players exchanged service breaks.
Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath gave Australia a strong start in the third Test after making in-roads into the South African batting on the rain-delayed opening day at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday. The match began after lunch as the entire morning session succumbed to rain and skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and batted on a greenish pitch under cloudy skies.
Lisa Raymond and Taylor Dent of the United States beat Serbia and Montenegro’s Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic 7-6 (3), 6-2 in their deciding mixed doubles match on Sunday at the Hopman Cup. At the mixed teams tennis tournament at the Burswood Dome, Ivanovic beat Raymond in women’s singles 6-2, 6-4 and Dent evened the match for the Americans with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Djokovic.
Ricky Ponting starts the new year and his 100th test match on Monday hoping to pick up where he left off in 2005, with another Test century and a win over South Africa. Ponting scored 117 — his 26th test hundred — in the first innings of Australia’s 184-run win over South Africa in the Boxing Day test at Melbourne, finishing 2005 atop the run-scoring standings.
South Africa coach Mickey Arthur expects his line-up to showcase its ”brave” new approach to cricket as it chases victory at all costs in the third Test against Australia. ”If we go home having lost two-nil trying to give ourselves the option of winning, we’re going to he happy with that,” Arthur said on Wednesday.
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/ 31 December 2005
Shane Warne may be pushing the line with his aggressive appealing for wickets, but teammate Justin Langer says his style provides some of cricket’s great theatre. Langer (35) is in line for a return to the Australian team for Monday’s third Sydney Test after missing Friday’s 184-run win over South Africa in Melbourne with a hamstring injury
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/ 31 December 2005
Revellers around the world prepared to ring in 2006 on Saturday with fireworks and fanfare, saying goodbye to a year scarred by violence and natural disasters. Security was tight ahead of New Year’s festivities in major cities worldwide, with events in Sydney due to kick off a night of celebrations from Asia to the Americas.
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/ 30 December 2005
South Africa, needing to win on a spin-friendly Sydney wicket next week to square their three-Test series, must be more ruthless against Australia, captain Graeme Smith said on Friday. The South Africans imploded under the pressure of Ricky Ponting’s team to lose the second Melbourne Test by 184 runs in the over after lunch on the final day, but Smith urged his troops to come back hard in Sydney next week.
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/ 29 December 2005
The early arrival of off-spinner Johan Botha to join the South African cricket tour may lead to a call-up for next week’s final Test against Australia in Sydney. Botha (23) is a member of the Proteas’ squad for next month’s triangular one-day series with Australia and Sri Lanka and has yet to play Test cricket.
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/ 29 December 2005
Andrew Symonds plundered 72 from 54 balls and delivered another crucial bowling burst on Thursday as Australia moved within four wickets of victory over South Africa. On the brink of omission in the second Test, Symonds followed his career-best bowling haul in the first innings with his devastating knock in a 124-run stand with Matt Hayden (137) before Australia declared at 321-7.
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/ 29 December 2005
2006 will be a make-or-break year for airlines with big expansion plans in the Asian region, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation said in its annual outlook report. With an unprecedented number of aircraft ordered by Asian airlines for delivery in 2007, the Sydney-based industry research group said next year represented "the quiet before the storm"..
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/ 29 December 2005
Australia set South Africa a historically-challenging 366 runs to win the second cricket Test after extraordinary batting fireworks by Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday. The two Queenslanders hammered a rapid-fire 124-run partnership in 66 minutes off 93 balls to set up a declaration at 321 for seven 40 minutes before tea on the fourth day.
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/ 28 December 2005
Under-siege all-rounder Andrew Symonds says he must trust his instincts to fight for his Test career after starring with the ball for Australia against South Africa in the second cricket Test on Wednesday. Symonds, whose position in the team is under threat before next week’s final Sydney Test after a woeful run of scores, made his mark with a 16-ball spell of 3-7 with his medium-pacers as South Africa conceded a 44-run innings deficit.
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/ 28 December 2005
Seedings for the Hopman Cup mixed teams tournament which starts in Perth on Friday have been rendered meaningless by the late injury withdrawal of Australian Open champion Marat Safin. Safin, the world number 12 who was due to pair with Svetlana Kuznetsova to form the top-seeded Russian team for the eight-nation event, was forced to withdraw with tendinitis in his right knee.
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/ 28 December 2005
Under-fire all-rounder Andrew Symonds gave Australia a decisive edge over South Africa with three wickets on the third day of the second cricket Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday. Symonds, whose position in the team is under threat after a poor run of scores, hit back with a 16-ball spell of 3-7 with his medium-pacers to have the Proteas trailing by 44 runs in the first innings.
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/ 28 December 2005
The late Australian media mogul Kerry Packer knew he was dying late last week but refused further treatment, newspapers reported on Wednesday. Packer — listed by Forbes magazine this year as the 94th richest man in the world with a -billion fortune — died at his Sydney home on Monday evening at the age of 68.
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/ 27 December 2005
South Africa dug in for a war of attrition after Mike Hussey revived Australia’s chances with a dynamic rearguard century on the second day of the second cricket Test in Melbourne on Tuesday. The South Africans lost both openers, skipper Graeme Smith (22) and AB de Villiers (61), after Australia ended their first innings on 355.
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/ 27 December 2005
Mike Hussey and Glenn McGrath frustrated South Africa in a 107-run rearguard stand on Tuesday before Brett Lee dismissed Graeme Smith to give Australia an edge in the second cricket Test. Hussey punished South Africa for another dropped catch before he was bowled by Makhaya Ntini 11 minutes after lunch.
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/ 26 December 2005
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting thrilled a festive, 71 910-strong Boxing Day crowd in Melbourne and cashed in on an early ”life” to become only the third batsman to amass 1 500 runs in a Test calendar year before Australia collapsed against South Africa in the second Test on Monday.
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/ 26 December 2005
Ricky Ponting and Matt Hayden shared a 152-run stand to nullify South Africa’s early breakthrough on Monday, lifting Australia to 162 for two at tea on day one of the second cricket Test. Ponting won the toss, decided Australia would bat first on a moist pitch and then joined Hayden at the crease in the third over.
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/ 25 December 2005
South African all-rounder Justin Kemp’s shoulder injury has ruled him out of the second cricket Test against Australia beginning on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The world’s top-ranked batsman, Jacques Kallis, will play for South Africa after missing the drawn first Test in Perth last week with an elbow injury.
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/ 24 December 2005
Either somebody didn’t like Santa’s singing, or they’re just a plain old Scrooge. A 1,5m-tall statue of a singing and dancing Santa Claus was found hanging upside-down from an electricity pole in a Melbourne suburb. Concerned residents cut the statue down and turned it in to a local police station.
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/ 21 December 2005
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has condemned spectators who made racist taunts to South African players during the first Test match in Perth. ”There’s no room in sport for racism whatsoever,” Ponting said. ”The players are all very aware of that, the crowd needs to be aware of that and enjoy the game for what it is.”
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/ 21 December 2005
A five-year-old Australian clambered into the family car, released its handbrake and was at the wheel when it ended up in the front room of a neighbour’s house. Nathan Millar survived to tell the tale of how he’d ”just scratched” it, news reports said on Wednesday. The car was actually a write-off.
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/ 21 December 2005
Australian paceman Glenn McGrath on Wednesday defended his captain’s decision to delay declaring in the first Test against South Africa in Perth, saying an unusually flat wicket was to blame for South Africa escaping with a draw. The Australians had the Test by the throat going into the final day on Tuesday.
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/ 20 December 2005
Australians could soon be chucking a piece of "australus" on the barbecue if the new name for a slice of kangaroo makes it more appealing to diners sensitive about eating the national symbol. Australia’s kangaroo-meat industry backed a competition to find a similarly savoury name for cute kangaroos.
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/ 20 December 2005
Jacques Rudolph defied Australia’s attack with an unbeaten century to help South Africa salvage a draw in the opening cricket Test at the Waca ground in Perth on Tuesday. Rudolph batted throughout the day, glueing the Proteas’ second innings together with a masterful 102 not out from 283 balls in 431 minutes.