Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara made brilliant centuries as India continued their dominance of the first Test against Bangladesh on day three.

Gill (110) scored his maiden Test hundred and Pujara (102 not out) made his first for almost four years, with the tourists declaring on 258-2 in their second innings.

India had earlier bowled out the Tigers for 150 to take a first-innings lead of 254 runs.

Set an improbable victory target of 513 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Bangladesh were 41 without loss at stumps on Friday.

Kuldeep Yadav (5-40) completed a five-wicket haul as India wrapped up the Tigers' first innings in the morning session after they resumed on 133-8 in Chattogram.

Gill and KL Rahul then put on 70 for the first India wicket before Khaled Ahmed had the captain caught by Taijul Islam for 23.

The excellent Gill and Pujara then combined for a stand of 113 to extend the lead, raising the run rate with Ebadot Hossain off the field and Shakib Al Hasan not bowling due to a rib issue.

Gill took a bow after reaching three figures in the longest format for the first time, before he fell to Mehidy Hasan, and Rahul declared after Pujara brought up an elusive hundred.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan looked assured as they saw Bangladesh through to the close, but they will head to the middle on Saturday with much work to do,

Gill grasps his chance, wait over for Pujara

The absence of injured captain Rohit Sharma opened the door for Gill to come in at the top of the order.

Gill has taken his chance, making his maiden hundred in his 12th Test. He hit three sixes and found the rope 10 times in a 152-ball knock.

Pujara had not reached three figures in the longest format since January 2019, but he followed up his 90 in the first innings by scoring a 19th Test century.

Kuldeep shines on his return

Spinner Kuldeep has bowled beautifully in his first Test since February 2021, claiming a third five-wicket Test haul.

After taking four wickets on the second day, he had Ebadot caught behind before Mehidy was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the bowling of Axar Patel to end Bangladesh's first innings.

Rehan Ahmed will become the youngest man to play a Test for England when the teenager makes his debut in the final match of the series against Pakistan.

Ahmed will be aged 18 years and 126 days when he makes his Test bow at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

The leg-spinning all-rounder will break a long-standing record held by Brian Close since back in 1949.

Ahmed and Ben Foakes come into the side as replacements for Will Jacks and James Anderson.

Nottingham-born Ahmed earned a call-up with some impressive performances for Leicestershire in the County Championship.

While Ahmed will be making his first Test appearance, Pakistan batter Azhar Ali has announced he will retire from the longest format after playing in Karachi.

England have already won the series and will be looking to pull off a first whitewash in Pakistan.

Pakistan batter Azhar Ali will retire from Test cricket after the final match of the series against England.

The 37-year-old has announced the 97th match of his career in the longest format at the National Stadium in Karachi, which starts on Saturday, will be his last.

Azhar is Pakistan's fifth-highest Test-run scorer with 7,097 at an average of 42.49, making an outstanding 19 hundreds and 35 half-centuries after making his debut in 2010.

The classy right-hander, whose highest score was a magnificent 302 not out against West Indies in 2016, captained his country in nine Tests during two tenures.

Azhar said: "It has been a great honour and privilege for me to represent my country at the highest level. Deciding on when to call it a day is always tough, but, after contemplating deeply, I realised that this is the right time for me to retire from Test cricket.

"There are many people who I am grateful to in this strenuous, yet beautiful journey. I want to make a special mention of my family without whose sacrifices; I would not have been where I am today. My parents, wife, siblings, and children have been my strength throughout.

"I have been blessed to share a dressing room with some of the most outstanding cricketers with whom I share a strong bond. I feel much richer by calling these people my friends. I am also blessed to have played under some wonderful coaches to whom I will always remain grateful. 

"I retire from international cricket as a fulfilled cricketer who ticked most of the goals he had set for himself. Not many cricketers go on to lead their countries, and that I was able to captain Pakistan is a matter of great pride for me.

"From being a kid who started as a leg-spinner to becoming a mainstay in the Test batting line-up, I had the loveliest moments of my life that I will cherish forever."

Captain Pat Cummins will make his return for Australia's first Test against South Africa at the Gabba.

The paceman was absent for Australia's series-sealing second-Test win over the West Indies last week, a match that saw Steve Smith stand in as skipper, due to a quad injury.

Cummins is ready to face Dean Elgar's men, though, and will replace Michael Neser in the only change to the XI.

With Josh Hazlewood still out with an ongoing side strain, Cummins will form part of a bowling attack that includes Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc, all-rounder Cameron Green, and spinner Nathan Lyon.

Speaking on Friday, Cummins said about a Gabba pitch that looks favourable for pace bowling: "A couple of the boys said it's similar to what they've seen here in the past. It looks like there's a bit of grass. So, we'll see how it looks tomorrow.

"They'll give it a final cut. It always looks pretty green here a couple of days out, then on the morning of day one it looks a bit different."

The series is the first time South Africa have played Test cricket in Australia since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, which led to bans for Aussie trio Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

The first Test starts on Saturday, with two more contests scheduled to begin at the MCG and SCG on December 26 and January 4 respectively.

Teenager Rehan Ahmed is in line to become England's youngest men's Test debutant as the tourists prepare for their third and final red-ball clash with Pakistan.

The 18-year-old, who was added to the senior squad after impressing in an Abu Dhabi camp ahead of the team flying out, was passed over for the first two matches.

With Liam Livingstone having suffered a tour-ending injury in the opener, however, Ahmed is the only recognised wrist-spinner England have ahead of their last match in Karachi.

Having favoured the additional slow options of Joe Root and Will Jacks on flat pitches so far, captain Ben Stokes has revealed Ahmed could well figure as the tourists look to complete a clean sweep. 

"We've been thinking about it," he said. "We can't go into too much detail until me and Baz [head coach Brendon McCullum] have had a look at the wicket.

"When we spoke about having Rehan into the squad, it was more than just bringing him in and integrating him into the squad. We did speak about us having no issues with selecting him if we felt it was the right option.

"I don't think this is a case of, if he was to play, of giving caps away. We picked him in the squad not just because of his talent, but because we thought it would be a good opportunity to play if we thought it was necessary."

Ahmed was not originally in the squad named for the tour, but a maiden cap would round out a breakthrough year that saw him impress in the Under-19 World Cup and earn a spot with Southern Brave in the Hundred.

"Having a wrist-spinner is always exciting, especially for England," Stokes added.

"But [we are] not getting too carried away with the potential that he has, because he is only young, and you've still got to nurture talent, even how exciting it is."

If Ahmed were to play, he would be 18 years and 126 days - surpassing legendary captain Brian Close who was 18 years and 149 days when making his debut in 1949.

The youngest ever England Test debutant was Holly Colvin, who was 15 years and 336 days when playing for England women against Australia in 2005.

England seamer Ollie Robinson feared he would have to bring his career to an early end due to injury,

The 29-year-old has played a big part in England's first Test series win in Pakistan, taking five wickets in Rawalpindi and three in Multan.

Robinson had suffered a series of injury setbacks and came in for criticism for his lack of fitness during the Ashes series hammering in Australia at the start of this year.

Back issues badly hampered Robinson and he was concerned that his playing days could be over.

"I kept coming back to full fitness, then getting an injury or illness, then another injury," he told BBC Sport.

"There were points when I didn't think I was going to play for England again, or play cricket again.

"I thought 'I might have to look at what else I can do here, I don't think I'm going to be able to carry on playing cricket'."

England will attempt to secure a whitewash of Pakistan in a third and final Test that starts at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

Robinson is savouring a special tour following such a challenging period.

"It's probably the toughest 12 months I've had as a professional cricketer," said Sussex's Robinson.

"It's a really proud tour for me, in the fact my body has got through it, I've bowled well and I've proved to the world I can do it in any conditions.

"It's been tough and there have been some dark days, but series wins like this make it all worthwhile."

Akeal Hosein and Andre Russell played key roles in the Melbourne Renegades opening its Big Bash League season with a 22-run win over Brisbane Heat at Cairns on Thursday.

Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj did the damage as India dominated day two of the first Test against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

The tourists put on 111 for the last three wickets to post 404 all out in Chattogram and Bangladesh were in trouble on 133-8 at stumps in reply after losing six wickets in the final session on Thursday, trailing by 271 runs.

India were 293-7 when Shreyas Iyer was bowled by Ebadot Hossain for 86, but Ravichandran Ashwin made 58 and Kuldeep 40 to get them up to an imposing total.

Taijul Islam (4-133) and Mehidy Hasan (4-112) took four wickets apiece For the Tigers, with Iyer dropped three times and getting another life on day one when an Ebadot delivery struck his off stump, but the bails stayed on.

Siraj had Najmul Hossain Shanto caught behind with the first ball of Bangladesh's innings and Umesh Yadav got in on the act by bowling Yasir Ali, reducing Bangladesh to 5-2.

The wickets continued to tumble as Kuldeep and Siraj tore through the Tigers, with Zakir Hasan, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim getting starts but falling to go on.

Kuldeep took 4-33 and Siraj was superb with the new ball, claiming 3-14 as India took command. Mehidy and Ebadot prevented further damage being done by combining for an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 31.

Kuldeep delivers late birthday presents

Tweaker Kuldeep celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday and celebrated a day later by making an impact with bat and ball.

Playing his first Test since February 2021, he struck four boundaries in a 114-ball knock, proving excellent support for Ashwin in an eighth-wicket stand of 92.

Kuldeep was also on the money with ball in hand, captain Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur among his victims.

Siraj the spearhead

The Bangladesh batters had no answer to seamer Siraj, who set the tone by striking with his first delivery.

He also had Zakir Hasan caught behind by Rishabh Pant and got one to nip in and clean up Das.

Australian duo Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc insist the side has moved on from the 2018 sandpaper scandal that rocked the team last time they met South Africa in a Test series.

Australia and the Proteas will lock horns for the first time since the fateful 2018 tour of South Africa in a three-game Test series starting on Saturday at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The 2018 scandal rocked Australian cricket, leading to Steve Smith and David Warner's 12-month bans, along with the loss of their leadership positions. Head coach Darren Lehmann stepped aside, with Justin Langer instilled in the aftermath to restore the team's reputation.

Khawaja was part of the side for the third Test in Cape Town in 2018 when the ball tampering saga emerged but said those ghosts had been banished.

"It honestly hasn't been and I'm being genuine," Khawaja told reporters on Thursday when asked if the sandpaper scandal had been discussed internally. "It's because time heals all wounds.

"The guys have come so far from there, both as individual players, but also as a team.

"Everyone's got so many different things going on in their life from where they were four years ago. That actually gave guys a lot of perspective.

"Australian cricket, both as a whole and as individual as players, we were probably at rock bottom right there."

Starc was also part of that Australian side in Cape Town, but echoed Khawaja's sentiments.

"I think both teams have probably evolved since," Starc said. "It's been an evolution of our group across the formats.

"We're very happy, chilled, relaxed, [in an] enjoyable environment and hopefully it's going to show in our cricket and result in a positive performance in these three Tests."

Faf du Plessis, who was the South Africa captain during the 2018 series, fueled the flames ahead of the series with an extract in his newly released book, accusing Smith of "milking" physical contact with Kagiso Rabada in the first Test of that tour.

The 2018 series was full of intensity, with the Smith-Rabada clash one of many heated incidents leading up to the fateful sandpaper scandal.

"This episode has almost been forgotten against the backdrop of what the series still had up its sleeve, or more accurately, down its trousers," Du Plessis wrote.

"They brushed shoulders during one of KG’s overs but Smith milked it like a football player. We knew that KG was one demerit point away from a suspension."

West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews bagged a three-for but could not prevent 16 run loss to England who took an overall 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20 series on Wednesday.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England Women put up an average 141 for 6 in their stint at the crease.  The team was led by an enterprising 43 runs from 43 deliveries from opener Sophia Dunkley, who gave England a solid start with partner Danni Wyatt.

Dunkley and Wyatt put 36 on the board before Afy Fletcher broke the partnership, after bowling Wyatt for 20.  Following the dismissal of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Heather Knight became the first of Matthew’s wickets.  She was caught by Karishma Ramharack on 4. 

Matthews then also accounted for Dunkley, who was stumped by Knight.  A new-look England line-up then struggled to put together solid partnerships after that managing just 31 off the last five overs.

In pursuit of the target, the West Indies started out at 21 without loss but Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean were then introduced to the attack with great success. 

Davies got the breakthrough when she removed Aaliyah Alleyne, who made 16 from 14. Dean then the important wicket of Matthews to leave the team struggling at 23 for 2 after the first 4 over.  The Windies never recovered and eventually fell short at 125 for 8.  Dean ended with figures of 3 for 22, while Bell claimed 2 for 21.

Another match, another hundred for St Lucia’s Theo Edward, who also took two wickets as his side defeated St Vincent by 201 runs in the WINLOTT WICB U15 Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.

Following knocks of 198 and 101 against Dominica and Grenada, respectively, the 15-year-old Edward scored a game-high 137 as St Lucia racked up 310-9 from their 50 overs. The young allrounder hit 16 fours and six sixes and featured in partnerships of 102 with Johnathan Daniel, who made 33 and 100 with Leon Alexander who scored an even 50.

Dexter Baynes was the best of the bowlers with 3-44 while Jorden Charles took 2-48.

Staring at a mountain of a score, St Vincent crumbled for 109 in the face of incisive bowling from Alexander, who took 5-17 for another five-wicket haul following up on his five-fer against Grenada. Edward was also among the wickets with 2-17.

Only Damali Phillips with 30 and Charles, who scored 24, offered any real resistance to the St Lucia bowling attack.

St Vincent will have another crack at the unbeaten St Lucia on Friday with the winner taking home all the marbles.

A whirlwind knock of 47 from Fabian Allen and Carlos Brathwaite’s four-wicket haul steered Kandy Falcons to a 10-run win over Jaffna Kings in their Lanka Premier League match-up in Pallekele on Wednesday.

Allen smashed three fours and four sixes to rally Kandy Falcons to 160-8 after they had slumped to 79-6 in the 14^th over despite 35 from Andre Fletcher and 24 from Ashan Bandara, who was dismissed in the 17^th over with the score at 119.

Allen raced to his 47 in just 23 balls before he was dismissed mid-way the final over when the score was 151. Chamika Karunaratne, who was not out on 18 at the end, pushed the score to 160-8.

Dunith Wellalage was the best of the Jaffna Kings bowlers taking 2-7 while James Fuller took 2-28.

Jaffna Kings made a good go of the chase for 161 thanks in large part to the efforts of Avishka Fernando who made 33 from 20 balls before he was bowled by Allen and Sadeera Samarawickrama, whose steady 48 from 41 balls held the innings together.

He was eventually dismissed by Hasaranga de Silva (2-21), who also took the key wicket of Shoaib Malik for eight, which exposed Jaffna Kings’ lower middle order to Brathwaite, who scythed through the line up with the wickets of Thisara Perera (2), Dunith Wellalage (1) and Fuller for 16, to take swing the match heavily in favour of his side.

The giant Barbadian had earlier taken the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva (0) to finish with figures of 4-18 as Jaffna Kings’ innings closed on 150-9.

Arjun Tendulkar, son of India great Sachin Tendulkar, emulated his father with a maiden century on his first-class debut after posting 120 for Goa against Rajasthan.

The 23-year-old, who mostly plays as a fast bowler, brought up three-figures on the second day of his side's game at Goa Cricket Association Academy Ground.

His efforts came as part of a 221-run partnership with Suyash Prabhudessai, who hit 212 for his own milestone, a maiden double-century.

Their combination helped fire Goa to 493-8 at the close of play on the second day of their clash with Rajasthan.

It sees Arjun echo the senior Tendulkar, who famously scored 100 not out for Bombay as a 15-year-old in 1988, in his first-class debut.

That first century was the prelude to a stunning career that saw the India batter establish himself as one of the sport's all-time greats, with exactly 100 international tons upon his retirement.

Arjun, who was Goa's leading wicket taker during the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season with a 32.37 average, is also a member of the Mumbai Indians' IPL squad, though he is yet to feature for them.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer steered India to an opening-day recovery against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chattogram.

The tourists won the toss at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and opted to bat first, with opener KL Rahul deputising as captain in place of the injured Rohit Sharma.

Impressive knocks from Pujara (90) and Iyer (82 not out) helped them steadily build a total they hope will offer a defence against their hosts, ending the day on 278-6.

But sturdy figures from Taijul Islam (3-84) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (2-71) helped Bangladesh keep their opponents on something of a leash.

The early momentum appeared to favour them, with a three-wicket flurry taking Shubman Gill, Rahul and Virat Kohli - the latter for a solitary single - at the cost of just seven runs as India were swiftly reduced to 48-3.

A hard-hitting cameo from Rishabh Pant, with 46 off 45 balls and eight boundaries to boot, saw India wrestle back control.

When he fell to make it 112-4, Iyer - in just his sixth Test match - joined Pujara at the crease to mount a controlled partnership, putting together 149 for the fifth wicket.

It was Bangladesh who served up the final sting of the game however, following the latter's dismissal, with Axar Patel trapped lbw off the final ball of the day to keep this encounter hanging in the balance.

Iyer showcases middle-order strength

Having nabbed a century on debut against New Zealand last year, the India batter has posted another four half-centuries since at the Test crease for his country.

His latest however was an assured knock - that included 10 fours - to bring some needed momentum back to the tourists, and will return to the crease in a bid to reach three figures and push India beyond 300 on Thursday.

Seamers struggle for Bangladesh

Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed led the hosts' bowling attack out of the gates in Chattogram, but both failed to really cause problems the longer the first day wound on.

With just one wicket between them - that of Rahul, early on - they looked lacking in threat compared to the rest of their team-mates, with few full balls between them.

Marnus Labuschagne is ready to use every trick in the book to get the better of South Africa as Australia prepare for the first Test.

The top-order batsman is set to face the country of his birth for the first time in red-ball cricket, having been born in Klerksdorp before moving to Brisbane as a child.

Though he scored an ODI century in South Africa in 2020, the chance to face off against the Proteas at The Gabba is an opportunity Labuschagne is relishing.

Dean Elgar revealed the Australian spoke to him in Afrikaans in a bid to throw him off during an English county match in 2019, and the Queensland man would not rule out doing so again on the biggest stage.

"We'll have to wait and see," he said. "I've got no doubt that they're going to throw some curveballs and hopefully the responses can be either funny or none at all.

"I certainly think it's always exciting what this Test holds because it is a little bit closer to my heart, because it's the country where I grew up and where I spent 10 years of my life."

With 927 runs in 16 innings this year, Labuschagne has only been outscored in Test cricket by three other men – team-mate Usman Khawaja and the England pair of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

His form sees him ranked as the top Test batsman by the ICC, and he credits his achievements to his drive to keep bettering himself.

"I am who I am because I am obsessed, and I am obsessive," he added. "I love to try and get better each time and each day.

"I think that part, hopefully it never stops for me because I think that's what makes me who I am."