The Ashes 2025-26 series has reached a gripping climax at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), providing a masterclass in Test match theatre. England, despite already conceding the urn, arrived in Sydney with a point to prove after their dramatic Boxing Day victory in Melbourne. The match has been an oscillating battle of wills: England’s first innings of 384 was overtaken by Australia’s massive 567, but the visitors found a second wind on Day 4. Powered by Jacob Bethell’s resilient 142, England fought back to 302/8 at stumps, carving out a slim but psychologically significant lead of 119 runs. With only two wickets remaining and the pitch beginning to show the characteristic wear of a fifth-day SCG deck, the stage is set for a final-day shootout where momentum could shift with a single wicket.

Ashes 2025-26: Alastair Cook sets England’s defensive target to defeat Australia on Day 5 of Sydney Test

Following the conclusion of Day 4, former England captain Sir Alastair Cook sat down with TNT Sports to analyze the narrow path to victory for Ben Stokes’ men. Cook dismissed the possibility of a draw, noting that the rapid nature of the game and the deteriorating state of the surface have made a result almost certain. He argued that on a fifth-day pitch, a rarity in modern Test cricket where games often end earlier, even a modest target could prove insurmountable if England strikes early.

“I don’t think a draw is possible as there is too much cricket to go. However, one thing you can say about the 4th innings on a 5th day, which we don’t get very often—normally the pitch in a Test match with 3 or 4 days of cricket is pretty good. We might see this pitch deteriorate a lot more so suddenly 160 or 220, they obviously got 2 wickets left, if they got 6 wickets left they might get 220. So 160 is possible to defend. It is possible if you get early Australian wickets.” Cook said.

Cook’s analysis highlighted that the pressure of a fifth-day chase in Australia is uniquely difficult. He suggested that if England’s tail can wag just enough to push the lead past 150, the outside chance” becomes a very real threat to the Australian batting lineup.

Also WATCH: Ashes 2025-26: Jamie Smith’s brain fade ends in a farcical run-out by Jake Weatherald on Day 4 at the SCG

Ashes 2025-26: Cook identifies the specific wickets England must claim to trigger an Australian collapse

In the final segment of his analysis, Cook identified the specific wickets England must claim to trigger an Australian collapse. He pinpointed Travis Head as the ultimate prize, noting that his aggressive style is the engine of Australia’s “flying starts.” Without Head to take the game away, Cook believes the English bowlers can induce a sense of panic that has been missing for much of the series.

“England in particular have to get Travis Head out. They get Travis Head out, Australia won’t get the flying start, they can suddenly be 30/3. One or two suddenly explode, you get Steve Smith caught in the gully that he can’t play, then suddenly you can believe. We have seen so many matches in the past actually here in Australia where it is hard to chase the score. England haven’t got the specialist spinner which they would love, but it is an outside chance. They have given themselves an outside chance, so you never know.” Cook concluded.

Cook concluded by acknowledging that while England is disadvantaged by the lack of a frontline spinner to exploit the SCG cracks, the psychological weight of the Ashes means that belief is often more potent than technical advantage. If England can find a way to dismiss Smith and Head cheaply, the SCG might just witness one of the great final-day escapes in Ashes history.

Also READ: Fans celebrate in jubilation as Jacob Bethell brings up his maiden century in the SCG Test

Mumbai: Back on the election campaign trail for the fifth time, former mayor Vishakha Raut is keenly aware of the high stakes involved. In ward 191, which covers Dadar’s Shivaji Park, Sena’s home turf, it has boiled down to a battle for prestige between just two contenders: Raut from Sena (UBT) and Sena’s Priya Sarvankar, daughter of former MLA Sada Sarvankar.Asked how she feels fighting Sena itself for the seat, Raut quips, “All’s fair in love and war,” adding that this is a battle she believes she must win. Recalling her first poll campaign in 1992, Raut says she was pregnant at that time. “My son was born after I was elected,” she says, smiling. “So, I became an elected representative before I became a mother.” TOI accompanied Raut on Tuesday as she began her campaign for the day with a visit to the statue of Meenatai Thackeray, wife of the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Tuesday marked her birth anniversary and Raut joined party chief Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi Thackeray in paying respects. From there, Raut began door-to-door campaigning, starting with the seven-decade-old residential buildings Matruchhaya and Pitruchhaya. While Raut found it difficult to climb up the four-storey buildings, once up, she was welcomed with curd and sugar, a traditional offering before any auspicious beginning. At one home, a resident told her she was relieved that Sena (UBT) and MNS had reunited. At another, a woman, Bina Churry, introduced herself as Raut’s cousin. “My mother was a Churry. So, I have a number of relatives and well-wishers in this colony,” she said. Laxman Bhosale, local shakha pramukh, who accompanied Raut, said this was perhaps the only ward where there was no competition within Sena (UBT)’s cadre on who was to be given the candidature. “Everyone wanted Vishakhatai to contest.” There was visible support from the party’s ally for the BMC polls, MNS, too—its workers joined her on the campaign trail. When the morning session of the campaign wrapped up around 2pm, Raut ensured her supporters were taken care of and arranged for snacks. The workers returned in the evening to resume the campaign. Raut, a former MLA, carries a lesser known legacy. In 1982, she was a teacher at Sharadashram Vidyamandir, where two of her students were former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli.

Greater Noida: Star boxers, including Nikhat Zareen and Minakshi Hooda, lived up to their top billing with easy wins but the spotlight once again fell on questionable refereeing as the National Boxing Championships were marred by fresh controversy and a disrupted bout here on Wednesday. Controversy dominated the men’s competition as one bout was abandoned after disruption while another one saw a boxer bite his opponent. Railways Sports Control Board boxer Ishmeet accused All India Police’s (AIP) Mohit of “biting” him during their middleweight (75kg) bout. After receiving a standing count in the opening round, Mohit allegedly bit Ishmeet on the shoulder multiple times in the second round, prompting the Railways boxer to complain to the referee and show visible bite marks. Despite the protest, the referee allowed the bout to continue. “We have opposed the decision. The referee should have stopped the bout immediately instead he let the bout go on,” a Railways coach told PTI. Biting in boxing is a severe foul that results in penalties up to immediate disqualification. After the bout, the medical officer took pictures of the alleged bite marks for inclusion in the Technical Delegate’s report. The Bantamweight (55kg) contest between Service’s Pawan Bartwal and Lalit was ruled in favour of the former after the second round following a mid-bout protest by AIP’s contingent. Pawan was leading 3-2 after the first two rounds when several AIP coaches and staff entered the field of play and the ring to question the decision, halting proceedings. The officials eventually rules that the Lalit had abandoned the bout as he failed to report to the centre even after the time warning. “Both rounds were 3-2 in favour of Pawan but the second round should have been 5-0 in our favour. The TD then created a ruckus and claimed that our boxer wasn’t ready to box in the third round and ruled the bout as abandoned,” an AIP coach said. The AIP said it would lodge an official protest. The Services camp countered the claims, stating that Lalit was tired and that the Police coaches staying inside the ring even after the time warning was a strategy to buy extra time for recovery. “In the Bantamweight (50-55 kg) bout between Pawan (SSCB) and Lalit (AIP), the boxer from the Police contingent was officially declared Abandoned in accordance with the competition rules after he did not turn up for the third round of the bout,” the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) said in a statement. BFI Technical Director Rajan Sharma said a detailed report on both incidents would be submitted to the federation. The latest controversies come just days after Olympian Ashish Chaudhary was disqualified in contentious circumstances from his opening-round bout, further raising concerns over officiating standards at the championships. In the other bouts of the day, Nikhat (51kg) needed less than two minutes to force a referee-stopped contest win against Ladakh’s Kulsooma Bano in the pre-quarterfinals, while Minakshi (48kg) secured a unanimous decision victory over Jharkhand’s Annu to advance to the last eight. World champion Jaismine Lamboria conceded a walkover in the 57kg category due to a shoulder injury. Amit Panghal (55kg) continued his campaign with a hard-fought 4-1 win over Krrishpal of Chandigarh, while Abhinash Jamwal (65kg), Jadumani Singh (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Hitesh Gulia (70kg) also progressed to the quarterfinals with dominant performances. PTI

US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday said the United States has a “three-fold process” planned for Venezuela following the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, outlining steps focused on stabilisation, recovery and political transition.“We have a three-fold process in Venezuela,” Rubio told reporters after briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He said the first phase would focus on stabilising the country to prevent chaos.“Step 1 is the stabilisation of the country; we don’t want it descending into chaos. Part of that stabilisation, and the reason why we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible is our quarantine. Two more ships were seized today. We are in the midst right now and about to execute on a deal to take all the oil – they have oil that is stuck in Venezuela. They can’t move it because of our quarantine and because it’s sanctioned,” he said.Rubio said the US is preparing to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that remains stranded due to sanctions.“We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. We are going to sell it in the market place at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed ” he said, further adding that the proceeds would be managed in a way “that benefits the Venezuelan people.”The second phase, Rubio said, would focus on economic recovery and reconciliation ensuring fair access for American, Western and other companies to Venezuela’s market sector.“The second phase will be a phase of what we call recovery – ensuring that American, western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market oil that is fair, also at the same time, we begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela so that the Opposition forces can be released from prisons or brought back to the country, and we begin to rebuild civil society,” he said.“The third phase will be one of transition,” Rubio added, noting “some of these will overlap, I have described this to them in great detail. We will have more detail in the days to follow but we feel like we are moving forward here in a very positive way.”Further on the Greenland crisis, Rubio said he plans to meet Danish officials next week, amid renewed assertions by the Trump administration that the US intends to acquire the strategic Arctic island. “I will be meeting them (Government of Denmark) next week,” he said, adding, “I am not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention… We will have those conversations with them then.”Rubio said the administration’s preference was to eventually purchase Greenland rather than use force. He also told reporters that Trump has spoken about acquiring Greenland since his first term. “That’s always been the president’s intent from the very beginning,” he said, adding that Trump was “not the first US president that has examined or looked at how we could acquire Greenland.”

Russia on Wednesday strongly condemned the seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker by US military forces, asserting that Washington had no legal right to use force against a vessel lawfully registered under another country’s jurisdiction on the high seas.In a statement issued on Telegram, Russia’s ministry of transport said the tanker Marinera, formerly known as Bella 1, had been granted a temporary permit to sail under the Russian flag on December 24, 2025, in accordance with Russian and international law. As per news agency ANI, the ministry said the vessel was boarded by US naval forces outside the territorial waters of any state, after which contact with the ship was lost.“On December 24, 2025, the Marinera received a temporary permit to sail under the Russian Federation flag, issued in accordance with Russian law and international law. Today, at approximately 3:00 pm Moscow time, the vessel was boarded by US Navy forces in the high seas outside the territorial waters of any state, and contact with the vessel was lost,” the statement read.Quoting the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the ministry stressed that freedom of navigation applies in international waters. “In accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, freedom of navigation applies in high seas waters, and no state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states,” the statement added.The Russian statement came shortly after the US European Command announced that it had seized the Russian-flagged oil tanker M/V Bella 1 in the North Atlantic Ocean. According to a post on X by the command, the vessel was seized under a warrant issued by a US federal court for violations of US sanctions, after being tracked for weeks by the US Coast Guard cutter Munro.US authorities said the tanker had evaded a US blockade of sanctioned oil vessels near Venezuela for over a fortnight. The operation was carried out by the department of homeland security with support from the department of war, reflecting what officials described as a “whole-of-government approach” to protecting US national security.According to AP, the ship had been sanctioned by the US in 2024 and was later renamed Marinera and reflagged to Russia. The seizure has added to tensions between Washington and Moscow, with reports indicating that Russia had also deployed naval assets to escort the tanker amid the standoff.

Mumbai: At the Bhablipada chawl in Dahisar East, a bunch of sari-clad women with saffron scarves made the rounds of narrow bylanes on Tuesday evening. In the centre of the group was former corporator Tejasvee Ghosalkar, who recently moved from Shiv Sena (UBT) to the BJP and is contesting the municipal election from Ward 2 (comprising parts of Borivli and Dahisar). As door curtains slid and residents peeked out of their homes, Ghosalkar folded her hands to the chants of ‘”kamal hamara lucky hai, jeet hamari pakki hai'” from her supporters.For Bhablipada, stalled redevelopment has been a key issue, due to building height restrictions imposed by high-frequency radar installations operated by Airport Authorities of India. “Kai builder aaye aur gaye… hum intezaar kar rahe hai,” said an elderly resident. Last month, the state govt decided to relocate the radar stations which will unlock acres for affordable housing and redevelopment projects. Ghosalkar, 38, promised to permanently resolve radar-related issues if elected.“People know the work I did as a corporator in Ward Number 1 in the past,” Ghosalkar said. “My late husband, former corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar, and I had a close connect with the Catholic community in Ward Number 1 and I will have a similar connect with Maharashtrian and Gujarati communities in Ward Number 2. Marathi voters are happy to know that the BJP has fielded a Marathi candidate here,” she added.As Ghosalkar continued her campaign in housing societies off New Link Road, she was hugged by an elderly woman. “I have always received love and support from you all. Ensure the next mayor comes from BJP,” she said on a mic, as party workers led by former BJP corporator Jagdish Ojha, waved flags and shouted slogans in her support.Less than a kilometre away, Sena UBT’s candidate for Ward 2, Dhanashree Kolge, was going door-to-door at Dahisar’s Anand Nagar and Sambhaji Nagar, urging residents to vote for the party. A Yuva Sena member, this would be 34-year-old Kolge’s first time contesting an election.“I have worked for 12 years on the ground with Yuva Sena and being a local resident, I understand civic issues faced here better than anyone else,” Kolge, a graduate in home science and nutrition, said. At Jay Gokul society in Anand Nagar, residents pointed to choked gutters, bad roads and water-logging. Kolge suggested solutions like underground water holding tanks— which UBT leader Aditya Thackeray conceptualised in Hindmata—could be replicated in low-lying areas of Dahisar.Youngsters, including Yuva Sena members, friends and family, were a prominent part of her campaign. “We are confident of a good lead for UBT,” a Yuva Sena member said. Besides Ghosalkar and Kolge, Congress’s Menaka Singh and Independent Sunita Bhatia will contest from the ward.

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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has sought information from IndiGo and aviation regulator DGCA to assess whether the country’s largest airline indulged in unfair business practices following widespread flight cancellations last month, PTI reported citing sources.In early December, IndiGo, which commands over 63% share of the domestic aviation market, faced major operational disruptions that led to the cancellation of thousands of flights before services stabilised. In response, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) curtailed the airline’s winter schedule by 10%.

Sources said the anti-trust regulator has sent a set of queries to IndiGo as part of its preliminary examination of the airline’s conduct. The CCI has also sought information from the DGCA, including data on airfares, to gain a broader understanding of market conditions before deciding its next course of action.The Competition Commission is currently assessing whether there is prima facie evidence that IndiGo violated competition norms by abusing its dominant position in the market. As part of its process, the watchdog first undertakes an initial assessment before ordering a detailed investigation by its Director General (DG), if required.On December 18, the CCI said it had taken cognisance of information filed against IndiGo in connection with the recent flight disruptions across multiple routes. “Based on the initial assessment, the Commission has decided to proceed further in the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002,” it said in a release.A day later, CCI Chairperson Ravneet Kaur told PTI that the regulator had decided to examine the matter further based on the information available. “We have information which has come to us, and based on that information, the matter was placed before the commission. The commission has taken a view that in the initial assessment, it looks like we can go into further detail,” she said.The DGCA has already completed its probe into the operational disruptions, while the CCI continues to evaluate whether IndiGo’s conduct warrants a full-fledged investigation under competition law.