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KP, Collingwood rescue England
Dravid’s inclusion will be a bonus: Ganguly
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Yousuf grabs top spot
in Test ranking
Ultimate goal is WC, CWG: Sandeep
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KP, Collingwood rescue England
Cardiff, July 8 Kevin Pietersen gave his innings away for 69 and Peter Siddle took a vital brace with the second new ball after Matt Prior and Andrew Flintoff had launched a stirring sixth-wicket partnership as the home side ended the first day on 336 for 7. Earlier, England were 194 for three at tea after losing their top three batsmen before lunch. Pietersen settled down after a skittish start, in which he twice threatened to run himself out, to reach 52 with three fours while Collingwood was on 50 with four boundaries. Australia captain Ricky Ponting left inviting gaps in the field against off-spinner Nathan Hauritz but Pietersen resisted the temptation to go for the big shot and the pair gathered their runs with a steady stream of singles. Nineteen overs of spin from Hauritz and Michael Clarke yielded 61 runs with no wicket and honours were even after two sessions. England captain Andrew Strauss showed what he thought of the pitch by including both spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in the final XI and electing to bat. After three quiet opening overs from Johnson, Siddle was introduced into the attack and began immediately to extract life and lift. Alastair Cook was acrobatically caught at gully by Michael Hussey off Ben Hilfenhaus and Johnson returned to dismiss Strauss caught off his glove by a ball which rose viciously at his throat.
— Reuters
Scoreboard England 1st innings Strauss c Clarke b Johnson 30 Cook c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 10 Bopara c Hughes b Johnson 35 Pietersen c Katich b Hauritz 69 Collingwood c Haddin b Hilfenhaus 64 Prior b Siddle 56 Flintoff b Siddle 37 Anderson batting 2 Broad batting 4 Extras (b 9, lb 7, w 2, nb 11) 29 Total: (7 wickets; 90 overs) 336 Fall of wickets:1-21, 2-67, 3-90, 4-228, 5-241, 6-327,7-329. Bowling: Johnson 18-2-68-2, Hilfenhaus 23-5-61-2, Siddle 23-3-93-2, Hauritz 19-1-67-1, Clarke 5-0-20-0, Katich 2-0-11-0.
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Dravid’s inclusion will be a bonus: Ganguly
The BCCI selection committee included Dravid in the 30-member probables list for the Champions Trophy to start from September 24, paving way for the former captain’s return to the ODI team since October, 2007. “He’s (Dravid) so good in all forms. His inclusion will be a bonus for India. I’m sure he would do well. It’s the right decision (by the selectors to recall him). He himself would not have expected it,” Ganguly said after attending the Cricket Board’s Technical Committee meeting here on his 37th birthday. Apart from Dravid, left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra, who impressed in the Indian Premier League in South Africa as well as the just-concluded ODI series in West Indies, was also included in the list of probables for the biennial event. Ganguly also advised out-of-favour left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan to draw inspiration from Dravid and Nehra’s comeback and earn his place back into the national team. “Irfan should look at the example of Rahul Dravid and Ashish Nehra. If you keep performing well you are bound to bounce back. He’s young and talented, he knows he has to do better,” said the Bengal stalwart. Ganguly also said too much should not be made out of the India team’s early departure from Twenty 20 World Cup in England. “India have done well in all forms of the game. We had a poor outing in T20 World Cup but not too much should be read into it. We have some superb players,” he said.
— PTI |
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Yousuf grabs top spot
in Test ranking
The numero uno status, which Yousuf attained toppling his skipper Younus Khan, gives Pakistan a 1-2 position in the table for the first time since the rankings were introduced in June 1987. Yousuf was second when he was removed from the rankings table early in 2009 as Pakistan had not played a Test match since before the qualification date for the rankings. Even though Yousuf shone with the bat, Pakistan made a mess of things on the fourth day of the Test when it lost eight wickets for 46 runs to lose by 50 runs while chasing a modest 168-run target. Younus, who scored 25 and 3 in the Test, paid the price for his failures as he not only dropped to second position but also conceded 30 valuable points. His Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 9 and 14, also faced the brunt of a poor Test, after being dropped two places to fifth position.
— PTI |
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Ultimate goal is WC, CWG: Sandeep
“You have to understand that these are preparatory tours. The bigger aim is ahead of us next year; the World Cup and Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi. That will be our big test and we are making the most of all opportunities provided to us in order to be ready for these two big tournaments,” Sandeep said while talking to The Tribune. Also talking about Jose Brasa’s impact on the team and the ongoing camp in Pune, Sandeep sounded very optimistic. “He has had a positive impact on the players. There is good understanding between the coaching staff and the players. I feel his inputs, which are at times different to what we have done in the past, will help broaden our perspective of the game.” It has been a dizzying ride for the skipper and he knows what it is like to grow up, on the field and off it too. The added responsibility of the skippper’s arm-band have made him more aware of the game and its changing dynamics. “I think captaincy has worked positively for me. I have been able lift my game up and I read the game better now. We all analyse our game all the time and the constant effort has been to keep improving upon your strengths and curbing your weaknesses. After all being satisfied is the shortest route to doom for any sportsperson,” says Sandeep, signing off with flair, typical to his game too. |
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Lance takes his chance
It was stealthy for the first few stages, but in yesterday’s team time-trial, Lance Armstrong's return to power in the Tour became a full-scale charge as he dashes in on the leader’s jersey for the 84th time in his career.
The Texan’s Astana squad finished 40 seconds ahead of the race leader Fabian Cancellara's Saxo Bank team, more than enough to earn Armstrong his first visit to the winner's podium since 2005 to celebrate their collective victory. However, whilst tied on time with Armstrong, Cancellara remained in yellow thanks to taking just a fraction of a second less n a quarter of a pedal stroke? A tenth? n in Saturday's opening race against the clock. Armstrong has never come so agonisingly close to leading the Tour, but he was anything but downcast about it. "I have plenty of yellow jerseys back home," he said. For Armstrong, Astana's success does more than enable the Texan to move from third to within a whisker of leading the Tour. Inside Astana, while overwhelming Tour favourite Alberto Contador theoretically remains team leader, the balance of power has once again shifted noticeably in favour of Armstrong. The 37-year-old American seemed more than content to be treated as if he were the squad's top rider after Astana's victory. While Contador disappeared quickly from sight, Armstrong took his time to shake hands, one by one, with all the local dignitaries on the podium. He was then the only Astana rider to hold a press conference. Compared with Saturday's opening stage when he delivered platitudes about how he was “just glad to be here”, Armstrong’s overall ambitions appear to have risen radically in the past four days. He stopped short, though, of actually saying he wanted to win the
Tour. — By arrangement with The Independent |
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