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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2015
Stokes and Root lift England after horror start … Stokes out for 92, Root 98 By Ed Osmond LONDON, England (Reuters) - Ben Stokes provided the gloss and Joe Root the glue as England recovered from a terrible start to reach 354 for seven at the close on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s yesterday. England collapsed to 30 for four in the morning after being sent in to bat but Stokes and Root shared a fluent fifth-wicket partnership of 161 to lift the gloom at a sun-kissed home of cricket. Stokes was out for a sparkling 92, including a six and 15 fours, and Root fell for 98 in the final session after another innings of great maturity and class. Jos Buttler (67) was out lbw from the final ball of the day but Moeen Ali remained unbeaten on 49. The first hour had belonged to New Zealand as England, reeling from weeks of controversy off the pitch, failed to cope with a rampant Kiwi pace attack. Adam Lyth, on his debut, nicked Tim Southee to wicketkeeper BJ Watling for seven, Gary Ballance (1) edged Trent Boult to third slip, captain Alastair Cook was caught by Watling, hooking at Matt Henry, for 16 and Ian Bell (1) was bowled by debutant Henry. Thoughts around the ground may have turned to discarded batsman Kevin Pietersen, who was told last week he would not be selected by England this summer despite scoring a career-best 355 not out for Surrey. The mercurial right-hander was attending golf’s PGA Championship at Wentworth as the top order
melted away but the efforts of Stokes and Root at least provided breathing space for beleaguered new England cricket director Andrew Strauss. Stokes, promoted up the order after Moeen was unable to get ready in time following a net session, and Root continued the momentum in the afternoon
Scoreboard
Ben Stokes and Joe Root put on 161 for the fifth wicket on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s. with a purposeful stand studded with crisp boundaries. Root reached his fifty off 53 balls and Stokes got to his half-century off 55 before cutting loose, launching Henry over square leg for six but, closing in on his sec-
Hawks lose Game One, Carroll to knee injury
(REUTERS) - CLEVELAND Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Cleveland won 97-89.
bench with 28 points, including eight three-pointers, and LeBron James tallied 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Cavaliers grabbed the lead in the best-of-seven series. “I was just trying to take good shots. I got into a rhythm early and stayed ag-
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks during the fourth quarter of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. Cleveland won 97-89. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports The Atlanta Hawks suffered a double blow on Wednesday when they were beaten 97-89 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One of the Eastern Conference finals and lost DeMarre Carroll to what looked like a serious knee injury. J.R. Smith caught fire off the
ond Test century, opted to leave a ball from off-spinner Mark Craig and was bowled. Root, 24, looked odds-on to complete his seventh Test century but tickled a wide ball from Henry through to stand-in keeper Tom Latham. After Buttler reached another fluent 50 Southee dropped a difficult chance from Moeen as a tired New Zealand toiled in the face of England’s attacking batting. With the final ball of the day, however, Boult rapped Buttler on the pads to erase some of the gloss from England’s recovery.
gressive,” Smith told reporters. Smith, who has seen his reputation tainted by sour exits at previous teams, has thrived since being acquired by the Cavaliers in a mid-season trade. “I’m just trying to be myself,” he said. “They seem to accept that more
here.” Adding injury to the insult of dropping Game One on their home floor, the Hawks lost leading playoff scorer Carroll in the fourth quarter when he planted his foot and fell on a non-contact play. Carroll was carried off and was due to undergo an MRI to reveal the extent of the damage yesterday. “At this point I think the doctors are saying it’s a knee sprain, we’ll know more …,” said Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer. “He’s a big player who has impacted on both ends of the floor; other people will have opportunities.” Jeff Teague had a team-high 27 points for the Hawks, while Al Horford added 16. Atlanta battled to a 51-51 tie at halftime but lost control in the third quarter where the Cavs took a seven-point edge at the end of the period. Smith drained a trio of early three-pointers in the fourth to provide an 85-67 advantage that held up down the stretch. The top-seeded Hawks, who have excelled due to tight teamwork all season, were pounded by Cleveland inside and outrebounded 49-37. The Cavaliers got double-doubles from Timofey Mozgov (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Tristan Thompson (14 points, 10 rebounds). Game Two is today in Atlanta.
ENGLAND 1st innings A. Lyth c Watling b Southee 7 A. Cook c Watling b Henry 16 G. Ballance c Southee b Boult 1 I. Bell b Henry 1 J. Root c Latham b Henry 98 B. Stokes b Craig 92 J. Buttler lbw b Boult 67 M. Ali not out 49
Extras: (b-12, lb-6, nb-3, w-2) 23 Total: (for 7 wickets, 90 overs) 354 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-25, 3-25, 4-30, 5-191, 6-251, 7-354. To bat: M. Wood, S. Broad, J. Anderson Bowling: T. Boult 24-5-70-2, T. Southee 19-1-82-1 (nb-3, w-1) M. Henry 24-3-93-3 (w-1), M. Craig 182-77-1, C. Anderson 5-1-14-0.
Pakistan cricket chief calls for more Asian support (REUTERS) - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan hopes that Zimbabwe’s tour of the country will be a proving ground for others and has called on their Asian rivals to lead the way. Zimbabwe are the first Test-playing nation to tour Pakistan since a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore left the driver dead and several players injured. The African side will play two Twenty20 internationals, starting today, and three one-day internationals, all in the same city as that gun attack six years ago. Khan said the tour would prove Pakistan could protect touring teams, even if he did suggest they were still learning about how to attain the safest measures for visiting sides. “There is a lot of anticipation for this series, as we are hopeful it would open doors for more tours in the future,” the PCB chief told reporters yesterday. “More importantly, it will also allow us and the government and security agencies to practically assess what more can be done to make touring sides more secure.” Having already sent invitations to regional rivals India and Bangladesh, Khan said it was now time for sub-continental teams to follow Zimbabwe’s lead. “India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all need to give us more support to help us bring back regular international cricket to Pakistan,” he said. Khan gave an indication of the tight security that will be in place on match day, which includes a lockdown of the area around the Gaddafi Stadium. “The law enforcement agencies are using jammers and fans will have to pass through three layers of security, including metal detectors,” he said, adding shops and restaurants close to the venue had been told to shut while the tour was going on. He also took the unusual step of asking Pakistan fans to get behind their opponents as a show of gratitude to the tourists. “Zimbabwe has given us a lot of support by undertaking this tour despite pressure on them, so we also urge the public to cheer their team along with our team as well.”