Advantage India on Day 2 as Ravichandran Ashwin, pacers keep Aussies on tight leash

Agencies
December 7, 2018

Dec 7: India had the slight edge in a sedately-paced battle of attrition after senior off-spinner R Ashwin cleaned up the Australian top-order and a meticulous pace effort kept the home team's scoring in check on the second day of the opening Test.

Travis Head (61 batting) and Pat Cummins (10) kept Australia in the game with a 50-run partnership in the last session but India walked away with the advantage after the latter fell towards the end of day's play.

At stumps, Australia were 191/7 in 88 overs with Ashwin being their primary tormentor, securing figures of 3/50 in 33 overs. He was aided well by the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah (2/34) and Ishant Sharma (2/31).

Mitchell Starc (8 batting) was giving Head company at close of play with Australia trailing by 59 runs against India's first innings effort of 250 all out, the highlight of which was Cheteshwar Pujara's fighting hundred.

Post tea, the hosts lost two wickets for 10 runs in a passage of play spanning eight overs. It was credit to Indian bowling that it kept the runs in check and regular inroads into the Australian line-up meant that they were never really out of pressure.

Peter Handscomb (34) had been living dangerously and he was the first to fall. He tried to play the late cut against Bumrah but only managed to edge behind.

Shortly after, Ishant came up with an unplayable length delivery and Australian captain Tim Paine (5) had no choice but to play at it, only to edge to the keeper.

Australia were struggling at 127-6, when things turned their way thanks to the eighth-wicket partnership between Head and Cummins.

Head started to play more shots as soon as the tail-ender came to the crease, and in doing so, reached his second Test half-century off 103 balls.

It was the only passage of play where India's bowling lost a little colour, but it was partly due to the fact that Murali Vijay (0-10) bowled four overs before the second new ball was taken.

Cummins faced 44 balls until then but it didn't matter as Bumrah trapped him LBW. However, the Indian pacers were unable to make further inroads into the Australian lower-order as Head and Starc batted out the remaining overs before stumps.

Earlier, Ashwin bowled with control as Australia were restricted to 117-4 at tea.

The senior off-spinner bowled an incisive spell that tied down the Australian batsmen.

First up, Shaun Marsh (2) gifted his wicket immediately after the break. In the very first over, he went for a wild slash against Ashwin, but ended up playing on as Australia were reduced to 59-3.

Usman Khawaja (28) and Handscomb then added 28 runs for the fourth wicket. The latter played some loose strokes at the start of his innings, but got some streaky boundaries off Mohammed Shami (0-51) to help the scoring rate move along.

The big moment came in the 40th over, when Ashwin got Khawaja's wicket. The left-hander had been tied down and was content eating up deliveries. However, he pushed one forward against Ashwin and gloved it to keeper Rishabh Pant.

India appealed, and then opted for DRS review with hotspot showing a faint tickle on Khawaja's glove as Australia were suddenly reduced to 87-4.

Head then joined Handscomb and defied the Indian bowling, which didn't allow any easy runs but also couldn't find another breakthrough before the tea break.

Handscomb struck five boundaries, while Head hit a four as well, as the duo put on 30 runs for the fifth wicket, taking Australia past 100 in the 48th over.

In the morning, Australia were placed at 57-2 at lunch after India were bowled out for 250 (88 overs) on the very first ball of the morning session.

Mohammed Shami (6) showed no patience at all and went after a short delivery from Josh Hazlewood (3-52) only to be caught behind down leg side, as India's innings came to a quick end.

Mitchell Starc (2-63), Pat Cummins (2-49) and Nathan Lyon (2-83) finished with a brace each.

Thereafter, Australia didn't have the best of starts as Ishant bowled Aaron Finch (0) with a fuller, inswinging delivery on only the third ball of their innings.

It was a hectic start to the day's play, but Khawaja and debutant opener Marcus Harris (26) settled down to provide a solid start for the hosts.

The duo batted out 20.4 overs and put on 45 runs for the second wicket, already higher than any partnership for the top-four Indian wickets.

The Indian pacers bowled with fiery pace with Bumrah even breaching the 150kmph mark at one point.

However, they bowled short of good length on most occasions and didn't make the Australian batsmen play too many deliveries.

On their part, both Harris and Khawaja were content leaving as many deliveries as possible, and struck only four boundaries between them.

Ashwin was introduced into the attack in the 12th over of the innings, and immediately hit up an interesting duel with Harris. The cover drive came out against the spinner, expectedly as a few more runs started flowing.

Ashwin first struck before lunch. Harris played on to his pads and was caught at silly point in the 22nd over, as the spinner got dividends for blocking all scoring opportunities.

Australia's 50 came up in the 27th over thereafter.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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News Network
March 30,2020

Lausanne, Mar 30: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday announced that the Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be 'celebrated' from July 23 to August 8 next year while the Paralympics Games will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
"The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Government of Japan today agreed on new dates for the games of the XXXII Olympiad, in 2021. The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be celebrated from 23 July to 8 August 2021. They also agreed on new dates for the Paralympic Games, which will be celebrated from 24 August until 5 September 2021," the IOC said in a statement.
Earlier, the Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9, while the Paralympic Games were scheduled to be held from August 25 to September 6. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of the event.
IOC said the new dates are 'exactly one year' after those originally planned, giving the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the games maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape caused by the coronavirus.
"These new dates give the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement read.
"The new dates, exactly one year after those originally planned for 2020 (Olympic Games: 24 July to 9 August 2020 and Paralympic Games: 25 August to 6 September 2020), also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the IFs. Additionally, they will provide sufficient time to finish the qualification process. The same heat mitigation measures as planned for 2020 will be implemented," it added.
The IOC president Thomas Bach thanked all the International Federations (IF) for their support.
"I want to thank the International Federations for their unanimous support and the Continental Associations of National Olympic Committees for the great partnership and their support in the consultation process over the last few days. I would also like to thank the IOC Athletes' Commission, with whom we have been in constant contact," Bach said in a statement.
"With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese Government, and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel," he added.
IPC president Andrew Parsons said the new dates will provide certainty to the athletes.
"It is fantastic news that we could find new dates so quickly for the Tokyo 2020 Games. The new dates provide certainty for the athletes, reassurance for the stakeholders and something to look forward to for the whole world. When the Paralympic Games do take place in Tokyo next year, they will be an extra-special display of humanity uniting as one, a global celebration of human resilience and a sensational showcase of sport," Parsons said.
"With the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games 512 days away, the priority for all those involved in the Paralympic Movement must be to focus on staying safe with their friends and family during this unprecedented and difficult time," he added.

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