Ashes Test: England nose ahead after Archer heroics

Agencies
September 14, 2019

Oval, Sept 14: Jofra Archer took his second six-wicket haul of the series as Australia were bowled out for 225 despite Steve Smith's record-breaking 80 to hand England a 78-run first innings lead at stumps on Day 2 of the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval on Friday.

At close of play, England were 9/0 in their second innings with Rory Burns (4 batting) surviving a knock to his helmet and a decision review to keep going. At the other end, Joe Denly (1 batting) was dropped by Marcus Harris when he was on a duck.

Archer, who returned figures of 6/45 in the Leeds Test, had a similar 6/62 to show for this time as he rattled the Australian batting order. He was ably supported by Sam Curran (3/46), whose haul included a two-wicket burst in two deliveries.

But none of them could get Smith out as he brought up his 10th consecutive Ashes fifty. Smith was dropped by England captain Joe Root at slips when he was on 66. Smith, who slammed 211 in the last Test to help Australia retain the Ashes and go 2-1 up, hit Jack Leach for a four to bring up his half-century off 91 balls, thus becoming the player with the most successive 50-plus scores against a single opponent.

Smith surpassed former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-Ul-Haq who hit nine hal-centuries in a row, also against England.

Just when Smith was looking set for a hundred, Chris Woakes (1/51) came back for a second spell and trapped him in front with a straight delivery that the talismanic batsman missed. Smith faced 145 balls for his 80 and hit nine fours and a six.

Besides Smith, Marnus Labuschagne missed out on a half-century as he was dismissed for 48 just after lunch. Smith and Labuschagne shared a 69-run stand for the third wicket before Archer trapped the latter plumb in front. Labuschagne faced 84 deliveries and his innings was laced with 10 fours.

Curran, playing his first Test in the series, got rid of Time Paine (1) and Pat Cummins (0) off successive deliveries but failed to bag a hat-trick. Archer then removed the tail although Nathan Lyon fought well for his 25 to trim the deficit down to below hundred.

Earlier, David Warner failed once again, as Archer had the out of sorts southpaw caught behind by Jonny Bairstow for just five.

Harris too was dismissed for three after he edged Archer to Ben Stokes at second slip, leaving Australia reeling at 14/2.

In the morning, England resumed at 271/8 with Jos Buttler batting on 64 and Leach on 10. Buttler could only add eight runs to his overnight score as he was castled by Pat Cummins for 70 off 98 balls (4x7, 6x3).

Leach (21) was clean bowled by Marsh who finished with career best Test figures of 5/46, playing his first Test in the series.

Australia have already retained the Ashes after winning the fourth Test and now lead the five-Test series 2-1.

Brief scores: England 1st innings: 294 all out; Australia 1st innings: 225 all out (Steve Smith 80, Marnus Labuschagne 48; Jofra Archer 6/62); England 2nd innings: 9/0 (Joe Denly 4 not out, Rory Burns 1 not out)

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Mumbai, May 11: The French Open, which was postponed to September from May due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, could be held without fans, the organisers of the claycourt Grand Slam have said.

Roland Garros had been scheduled for May 24 to June 7 before the French tennis federation (FFT) pushed it back to Sept. 20-Oct 4 in a bid to save the tournament from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week the FFT said all tickets purchased for this year's French Open would be cancelled and reimbursed instead of being transferred.

"Organising it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, (like) television rights and partnerships. It's not to be overlooked," FFT President Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We're not ruling any option out."

The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the pandemic and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown.

Wimbledon has been cancelled while the status of the U.S. Open, scheduled to take place in late August, is still unclear.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The FFT was widely criticised when they announced in mid-March that the French Open would be switched, with players bemoaning a lack of communication as the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

Organisers said last week they had been in talks with the sport's governing bodies to fine tune the calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament would be delayed further by a week and start on Sept. 27.

The delayed start would give players a two-week window between the end of the U.S. Open, played on the hardcourts of New York, and the Paris tournament.

"The 20th or the 27th, that does not change much," Giudicelli said.

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