Alastair Cook makes swansong Test memorable with hundred

Agencies
September 10, 2018

London, Sept 10: Alastair Cook bacame only the fifth batsman in Test cricket history to score hundreds in his first and last matches as England took a commanding 283-run lead in the fifth and final Test against India, on Monday.

Before Cook, Australia's Reggie Duff, Bill Ponsford, Greg Chappell and India’s Mohammad Azharuddin had achieved the rare distinction of scoring hundreds in both debut and swansong Tests.

Cook combined with current skipper Joe Root (92) to keep Indian bowlers at bay in the first session on day four, with the hosts taking lunch at 243 for two.

Cook was unbeaten on 103, his 33rd Test century, while Root (92 batting) also approached his 14th Test hundred as they added 129 runs in the productive morning session after resuming the day at 114 for two.

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma started proceedings but soon went off the field complaining of ankle pain. Word from the team management is that the medical staff is assessing him as the pacer didn’t return for the remainder of the session.

Cook and Root continued to plunder runs at an easy pace as 55 runs came in the first hour of play. In doing so, the duo raised their 100-partnership off 171 balls as Cook started breaking records.

On 76, he went past Kumar Sangakkara as the highest-scoring left-handed batsman in Test cricket history, and will finish as the fifth-highest run-scorer overall, after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Root scored his half-century off 81 balls as England crossed 200 in the 63rd over. He was dropped at slip by Ajinkya Rahane, on 46, off Ravindra Jadeja (1/100) in the 56th over.

The big moment came in the 70th over of this innings as an overthrow from Jasprit Bumrah (0/51) gave Cook his 33rd Test century off 210 balls, surpassing Australia’s Steve Waugh (32).

It was Cook's seventh Test hundred against India, more than any other English batsman, ahead of Kevin Pietersen’s six hundreds. He is now also the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket against India after Ponting (2555 runs).

With 15 hundreds in second innings in Test cricket, he also over took Sangakkara (14 hundreds).

India seemed to have gone off the boil especially with one strike bowler short, as the duo ground them for runs.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Jan 6: Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Dhawan is returning to international cricket after a long gap. During the senior left-handed batsman's absence, Rahul has emerged as one of the top contenders for the opener's slot in limited-overs cricket.

"Runs against SL (Sri Lanka) don't count. If I was chairman of selectors, I won't pick Dhawan in the T20 WC squad. There is no competition between him and Rahul. Only one winner," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.

Before the series, the 34-year-old Dhawan said that he is looking forward to a "new start" in a new year and wants to win the World Cup for India.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: "It is never too late to fight for the right cause," said opening batsman Chris Gayle as he came out in support of former T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy. The debate around racism in sport has kickstarted once again after former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy alleged racism during his stint with SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. Taking note of Sammy's revelation, Gayle tweeted: "It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game".

Earlier, Gayle had also revealed that he too has been a victim of racism, and added that racism is something that has been bothering cricket as well.

On Tuesday, Sammy had released a video specifying that the racial slurs against him were used within the SunRisers camp.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn't know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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