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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday November 14, 2016
Defiant Kohli takes India to safety in opening India test By Sudipto Ganguly RAJKOT, India(Reuters)-India captain Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on a defiant 49 in a tense final session to deny England victory and claim a draw in the opening Test of the fivematch series on Sunday. England captain Alastair Cook notched up his 30th test hundred and declared his team’s second innings on 260 for three in the second session, to set India an improbable target of 310. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who picked up four wickets in the first innings, took another three as the hosts were reduced to 71 for four shortly after tea. With the spinners getting the ball to turn sharply and bounce on the wearing pitch, Cook surrounded India’s batsmen with close-in fielders in an effort to force a victory. Kohli, India’s best batsman, then frustrated the touring side with a fifth-wicket stand of 47 with Ravichan-
Alastair Cook celebrates his sixth century against India in Tests. dran Ashwin, who made 32. But Kohli added another The pair batted out over crucial unbeaten stand of 40 15 overs to take India closer in 10 overs for the seventh to the draw before Ashwin wicket with local boy Ravindrove left-arm spinner Zafar dra Jadeja, who remained Ansari straight to Joe Root in unbeaten on 32, to deny the the covers. tourists. Wicketkeeper WridThe hosts reached 172 for dhiman Saha did not last six when the captains shook long as India were reduced hands for the match to end in to 132 for six with enough a draw. overs still left in the match The result, however, for England to force a win. could have swung in En-
gland’s favour had they managed to hold on to their catches. Vijay, India’s highest scorer in the first innings with 126, was dropped on 13 by Ansari, who failed to hold on to a powerful return catch. The batsman went on to make 31. Ansari was the unlucky bowler again in his next over when Stuart Broad dropped a much easier catch from first-innings centurion Pujara at point with the batsman on 10. Pujara was dismissed on l8, given out leg before off Rashid with replays showing the ball had pitched outside the leg stump and the decision would have been overturned on review. COOK HITS TON Earlier, Cook brought up his sixth hundred against India, with five of them having come while touring the country Resuming on his overnight score of 46, the lefthander looked unperturbed against the turning ball and
was equally comfortable against India’s pacemen, who got the ball to reverse swing. Cook hit 13 boundaries in his knock of 130, which came to an end when he was caught off Ashwin. Mishra broke England’s best opening stand in India with his third ball of the day when the 19-year-old Haseeb Hammed (82) hit a flighted
delivery straight back to the spinner. Mishra also picked up Root (4) in his second over of the morning. England promoted the hard-hitting Stokes up the order to score quick runs and the left-hander hit 29 in as many deliveries in a 68-run stand with Cook for the third wicket.
SCOREBOARD ENGLAND 1st innings 537 (B. Stokes 128, J. Root 124, M. Ali 117) India 1st innings 488 (M. Vijay 126, C. Pujara 124, R. Ashwin 70; A. Rashid 4-114) England 2nd innings (Overnight: 114-0) A. Cook c Jadeja b R. Ashwin 130 H. Hameed c&b Mishra 82 J. Root c Saha b Mishra 4 B. Stokes not out 29 Extras (b-11 lb-3 nb-1) 15 Total (for 3 wickets declared, 75.3 overs) 260 Fall of wickets: 1-180 H. Hameed,2-192 J. Root,3-260 A. Cook Did not bat: B. Duckett, M. Ali, J. Bairstow, C. Woakes, Z. Ansari, A. Rashid, S. Broad Bowling: M. Shami 11 - 1 - 29 – 0, R. Jadeja 15 - 1 - 47 – 0, R. Ashwin 23.3 - 4 - 63 – 1, U. Yadav 13 - 2 - 47 – 0, A. Mishra 13 - 0 - 60 - 2(nb-1). INDIA 2nd innings (Target: 310
runs) M. Vijay c Hameed b Rashid 31 G. Gambhir c Root b Woakes 0 C. Pujara lbw b Rashid 18 V. Kohli not out 49 A. Rahane b Ali 1 R. Ashwin c Root b Ansari 32 W. Saha c&b Rashid 9 R. Jadeja not out 32 Extras 0 Total (for 6 wickets, 52.3 overs) 172 Fall of wickets: 1-0 G. Gambhir,2-47 C. Pujara,3-68 M. Vijay,4-71 A. Rahane,5-118 R. Ashwin,6-132 W. Saha Did not bat: M. Shami, U. Yadav, A. Mishra Bowling: S. Broad 3 - 2 - 8 – 0, C. Woakes 4 - 1 - 6 – 1, Z. Ansari 8 - 1 - 41 – 1, M. Ali 19 - 5 - 47 – 1, A. Rashid 14.3 - 1 - 64 – 3, B. Stokes 2 - 1 - 1 – 0, J. Root 2 - 0 - 5 – 0.
Australia players cannot Steyn out for six months complain about preparation - CA after shoulder surgery
(REUTERS)-Cricket Australia (CA) boss James Sutherland has put the Te s t t e a m ’s s t r u g g l e s firmly at the door of the players and rejected suggestions they were unprepared for the series against South Africa. Australia were thrashed by 177 runs in Perth in the series opener and trail by 86 runs in the second test in Hobart after they were skittled out for 85 on day one on Saturday. Cricket Australia boss Rain washed out the James Sutherland second day’s play, but South Africa for a one-day South Africa can hope to international series. shut the door on Australia But Sutherland said the with a match-winning lead players had no cause for comwhen they resume on 171 plaint. for five at Bellerive Oval “I’ve heard a little bit of yesterday. commentary around prepaMedia pundits have ration and I think it’s inblamed a crammed schedteresting,” Sutherland told ule for Australia’s travails, ABC radio yesterday. with the players having had “I don’t think the prepaonly one domestic Sheffield ration is anything that AusShield match to prepare for tralian cricket can complain red-ball cricket after touring
about because South Africa have had the same schedule. “We have both played each other in one-day matches in October, came through here, had various forms of long-form or other preparatory matches. “If you draw that comparison the team we are playing against hasn’t had any different preparation. “Ideally you might have a different preparation but the fact of the matter is you can’t.” Selectors rested frontline pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood from the tour of South Africa to keep them fresh for the Test series. Australia played their most recent test series in Sri Lanka in July and August, and were white-washed 3-0. Sutherland reiterated his board’s call for less international cricket, not more, calling the current regime of
scheduling “difficult. At ICC (International Cricket Council) level it’s something we’re working very hard on,” he said. “To try and get more structure to refine the way in which international cricket is played and to be honest, ultimately play less international cricket, so that it’s more valuable and there’s not these random series that crop up all the time.” Australia’s selectors have also worn flak for a number of contentious decisions, prompting calls for panel chairman Rod Marsh to step down immediately, rather than wait until after the India tour next year as previously announced. Sutherland, however, said Marsh would not be rushed out the door. “The selection panel clearly have got their job to do and it’s challenging times,” he said.
(REUTERS)-South Africa’s fast bowler Dale Steyn has undergone surgery and will be out for at least six months after breaking a bone in his shoulder in the first Test in Australia earlier this month, Cricket South Africa said yesterday. The 33-year-old Steyn returned home for the operation in Cape Town, which was performed on Thursday, and had a screw inserted in his right shoulder blade. South African team manager Mohammed Moosajee said he will be out for a minimum of six months before he can even attempt to bowl again. “It is crucial to give the injury enough time to heal and to make sure that he is completely pain-free before he starts bowling again. He will begin with his rehabilitation programme once the satisfactory bone healing has taken place. This is expected to be in a few weeks,” he said. “We are positive that he will make a successful return to international cricket.” Steyn, who is just four
wickets shy of Shaun Pollock, South Africa’s most successful test bowler, suffered the fracture while bowling on the second morning of the first test win over Australia in Perth. “I felt this pop or thud in my shoulder and I was in a lot of pain... and went for an MRI and I’ve got a clean fracture in the bone that is inside my shoulder. It’s not pretty,” Steyn told Australia’s Channel Nine the day after suffering the injury. I just felt something go. I did something very similar against England in December in a similar area but it wasn’t as bad. That was a stress reaction which is like a very hairline fracture, a small crack.” Steyn missed almost all of the series defeat against England after injuring himself in the first test in Durban last December. He returned to play in March’s World Twenty20 and took eight wickets in August’s test win over New Zealand. He has 417 test wickets at an average of 22.30.