Related items

• Dylan Carter anticipates great 2023 after early 2024 Olympic qualification

  Dylan Carter is anticipating a good year ahead as he can swim free knowing that he no longer has to worry about meeting the 2024 Olympic qualification standards.

  On March 2, the 27-year-old Carter swam 48.28 to win the 100m freestyle race at the TYR Pro Series Meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is below the Olympic qualifying standard of 48.34. In winning, he held off the challenge of Matthew Richards (48.48) and Hunter Armstrong (48.95).

  The time was a new national record for the twin-island republic and made Carter the first male 100m freestyler in the world to qualify for the Olympics in the event.

   “It’s all very exciting and I am very happy with that,” he told Sportsmax.TV.

  Coming off the success at the World Short Course Championships in Australia in December 2022, where he won a bronze medal the 50m freestyle, Carter took some time to rest and prepare for Olympic qualification.

  “Between World Short Course in December and now, I took a couple weeks’ break and went to Tobago for New Year’s and was coming back slowly in January, building up my fitness,” he said.

  “I wasn’t really sure where I would be in March but I was focusing on my speed, strength and power through January and February.”

  He believes the work he did building his strength helped him achieve the personal best time and a spot at the Olympic Games.

  “I think that little extra bit of strength paid off. Also, racing the weekend before at the Jalisco Cup in Mexico was at 5500 feet altitude so competing all weekend racing very hard at altitude and then coming down the next week to race 100, I was really, really good at sea level. That might have played a part in it but I am really happy.

  “It is a small personal best for me which at 27 years of age you can’t complain about that in March and it sets me up really well for the rest of the year and I don’t have to worry about qualification or time.”

   

• 'I don't know about catch of the century!' – Steve Smith pulls off a cracker as Australia trample India

  Steve Smith brushed off the personal plaudits and hailed the efforts of Mitchell Starc and Australia's openers after a 10-wicket trouncing of India on Sunday.

  The tourists dominated in Visakhapatnam to level their three-match ODI series at 1-1, bowling out India for 117 in 26 overs before taking just 11 overs to pick off their target.

  Victory at YS Raja Reddy Cricket Stadium sets up a decider in Chennai on Wednesday, with India's nine-match winning run in home ODIs having been brought to a halt.

  Australia pace spearhead Starc took 5-53 in a dazzling display, before Mitchell Marsh (66 not out) and Travis Head (51 not out) made it a rout.

  Smith made a stunning catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya midway through India's innings, diving away to his right at first slip to give Sean Abbott (3-23) a wicket.

  That prompted Smith to be asked about whether it could be considered a "catch of the century", but he appeared slightly bemused by the suggestion.

  "I don't know about catch of the century," he said at the post-match presentation. "It was nice I held on today.

  "I had a couple of opportunities in the last game that were quite similar and they were just out of reach. I couldn't get my hand quite around it, but I was fortunate I was able to do that today.

  "It was a big wicket, Hardik's an unbelievable player, so it was nice to hang on to it."

  This match rapidly got away from India, who had won the series opener by five wickets.

  "It was a quick one – 37 overs for the game, you don't see that too often," Smith said. "I thought our bowlers were outstanding this afternoon. Mitchell Starc in particular with that new ball swinging it back down the line and putting them under early pressure.

  "He complemented really well with the rest of our bowling group and it was a nice start to the day. It was one of those days when every time they nicked it, it went to hand. Fortunately we were on the right side of it."

  The batting went well too.

  "The way that Heady and Mitch went out and went after against the bowlers, put them under pressure early. When you're chasing 118 you can break the back of it pretty quickly," Smith said. "It was a really good day, and I'm really proud we managed to bounce back after the last game."

  India captain Rohit Sharma said his team let themselves down.

  "We always knew that was not enough runs on the board," Rohit said. "Obviously it was not a 117 pitch at all. By no means. We just didn't apply ourselves and kept losing wickets. That didn't allow us to get the runs we wanted."

• Starc stars as Head and Marsh guide Australia to 10-wicket rout of India

  Australia hammered India by 10 wickets with 39 overs to spare in Visakhapatnam to level their three-match ODI series at 1-1.

  The Baggy Greens lost badly in the opening match, being bowled all out for 188 runs, but they cruised to victory at YS Raja Reddy Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

  India were bowled out for just 117 runs off 26 balls after being sent out to bat first, with Mitchell Starc (5-53) claiming a five-wicket haul in a truly dominant display from the tourists.

  Australia's opening batters Mitchell Marsh (66 not out) and Travis Head (51 not out) remained unbeaten to confirm victory inside four hours.

  The sides will reconvene in Chennai on Wednesday for the deciding match.

  India had lost only one of their nine ODIs at this venue prior to Sunday, but Shubman Gill was sent packing for a duck off the third ball to set the tone for what was to come.

  Returning skipper Rohit Sharma (13) started well with a couple of boundaries, but he did not last much longer and India never found any real rhythm.

  Only four players reached double figures, with Virat Kohli (31), Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Axar Patel (29 not out) struggling to cause Australia any real problems.

  Starc starred with the ball, responsible for the wickets of Mohammed Siraj (0), KL Rahul (9), Suryakumar Yadav (0), Shubman Gill (0) and Rohit.

  India's target of 118 for victory was never going to trouble Australia, and so it proved as the explosive pair of Head and Marsh made light work of the hosts' bowlers.

  Head smashed Siraj for four successive boundaries in a 50-run stand with Marsh for the first wicket, with the Aussies sealing an emphatic win in just 11 overs.

  
  Marsh and Head blitz completes the job

  The best India could hope for after a rather embarrassing batting effort was prolonging this second ODI for as long as possible for the paying spectators.

  Marsh and Head clearly had other ideas as they put up an unbeaten partnership of 121 from 66 balls.

  That strike rate of 183.33 is the highest for any opening stand in an ODI in India from a minimum of 10 balls.

  Sensational Starc leads the way

  Take nothing away from Marsh and Head, but the foundations for this incredible victory were laid by Starc, who got five wickets in an ODI for the ninth time.

  The defeat was India's first in 10 ODI matches on home soil, ending what was the second-longest active winning streak of any nation in the format.