Brilliant Johnson inspires Australia to second Test success

December 21, 2014

Mitchell Johnson

Brisbane, Dec 21: Mitchell Johnson’s brilliance with both bat and ball inspired Australia to a four-wicket second Test victory over India at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

Mitch Marsh hit the winning runs as Australia survived a few wobbles to chase down their target of 128 after tea on the fourth day of the contest but there was little doubt that two interventions from Johnson set up the victory.

On Friday, Australia were 247-6 chasing India’s first innings 408 when Johnson came out and smashed 88 runs from 93 balls in a Gabba record seventh-wicket stand of 148 with skipper Steve Smith that turned the match on its head.

On Saturday, India had resumed their second innings on 71-1 looking to quickly make up the 26-run deficit on Australia’s total of 505 and build another imposing score.

Half an hour later, their hopes were shattered as Johnson (4-61), ably assisted by debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood (2-74), ripped through the batting to leave India pondering yet another collapse at 87 for five.

In one dizzying 11-ball spell, Johnson took three for 10 by removing Virat Kohli (1), Ajinkya Rahane (10) and Rohit Sharma (0). Hazlewood, who took 5-68 in the first innings, removed India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a duck in the next over.

“Mitch certainly turned it on for us in that little spell this morning, that really cracked the game open for us,” said Smith after tasting victory in his first match as captain in place of the injured Michael Clarke.

“All the bowlers, to be fair, produced the goods for us. I thought Josh Hazlewood was outstanding and Nathan Lyon came on and did a job here and there.”

It was another disappointing day on the road for the tourists, who had dominated the first day on the back of Murali Vijay’s 144 as Australia’s bowlers wilted in the sweltering heat.

They were still in the contest at the start of play on Saturday and Dhoni blamed the confusion after Shikhar Dhawan declaring himself unfit to resume his innings for creating ‘unrest’ in the dressing room.

“It is disappointing but what is more important is to reason out why it happened,” he told reporters.

“The first session today was crucial and we didn’t handle it very well. If we had been able to get a decent partnership together and pushed it into a fifth day, then we could have exploited the conditions more.”

Dhawan, who injured his right wrist in the nets, was later forced to cancel his trip to the hospital for scans and resume his innings, providing some resistance in an innings of 81 before India were dismissed for 224.

Australia’s run chase was far from perfectly handled either and question marks will be raised over the batting of Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and Brad Haddin who were among the six wickets to fall.

Smith, who was also run out with six runs still required, was fairly relaxed about the high casualty rate before Mitch Marsh’s cover drive for four got them over the line.

“I would have liked to have been there in the end but I guess that’s cricket and I’m just happy we got there,” he said. “The wicket was still pretty good and the boys were going after them to try and get the runs pretty quickly tonight, so no real hiccup there.”

Smith was ‘extremely satisfied’ with the victory to take a 2-0 lead into the final two matches in Melbourne (Dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 6-10), especially after a day one when Australia were under the cosh with bowlers, as he put it, “dropping like flies”.

Taking the man-of-the-match award for his superbly controlled 133 in the first innings, Smith was happy to pay credit to Johnson for his role in turning the match around.

“I think it was a big turning point in the game to get that partnership there with Mitch. To get 500 runs in the first innings was just crucial for us,” he said. “It was just amazing the way Mitch came out and took on the bowlers on from ball one. It was outstanding.”

Australia won the first Test in Adelaide by 48 runs.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings 408 (M. Vijay 144, A.M. Rahane 81; J.R. Hazlewood 5-68, N.M. Lyon 3-105).

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 505 (S.P.D. Smith 133, M.G. Johnson 88, C.J.L. Rogers 55, M.A. Starc 52; U.T. Yadav 3-101, I. Sharma 3-117).

INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 71-1):

M. Vijay b Starc 27

S. Dhawan lbw b Lyon 81

C.A. Pujara c Lyon b Hazlewood 43

V. Kohli b Johnson 1

A.M. Rahane c Lyon b Johnson 10

R.G. Sharma c Haddin b Johnson 0

M.S. Dhoni lbw b Hazlewood 0

R. Ashwin c Haddin b Starc 19

U.T. Yadav c Haddin b Johnson 30

V.R. Aaron c Hazlewood b Lyon 3

I. Sharma not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-5, NB-2) 9

TOTAL (all out, 64.3 overs) 224

FALL OF WKTS: 1-41, 2-76, 3-86, 4-86, 5-87, 6-117, 7-143, 8-203, 9-211.

BOWLING: Johnson 17.3-4-61-4 (1nb, 5w); Hazlewood 16-0-74-2 (1nb); Starc 8-1-27-2; Watson 13-6-27-0; Lyon 10-1-33-2.

AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):

C.J.L. Rogers c Dhawan b I. Sharma 55

D.A. Warner c Dhoni b I. Sharma 6

S.R. Watson c Dhoni b I. Sharma 0

S.P.D. Smith run out 28

S.E. Marsh c Dhoni b Yadav 17

B.J. Haddin c Kohli b Yadav 1

M.R. Marsh not out 6

M.G. Johnson not out 2

Extras (b-4, lb-4, w-1, nb-6) 15

Total (for six wkts, 23.1 overs) 130

FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-22, 3-85, 4-114, 5-122, 6-122.

BOWLING: I. Sharma 9-2-38-3 (5nb); Yadav 9-0-46-2; Aaron 5.1-0-38-0 (1nb, 1w).

RESULT: Australia won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: M. Erasmus (South Africa) and I.J. Gould (England).

TV UMPIRE: S.D. Fry (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Steve Smith.

FIRST TEST: Adelaide, Australia won by 48 runs.

THIRD TEST: Melbourne, Dec 26-30.

FOURTH TEST: Sydney, Jan 6-10.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
June 30,2020

Malabar, Jun 30: I-League club Gokulam Kerala's former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush on Monday died due to COVID-19. He was 44.

Alloush, who was with the football club in its inaugural season, was working as technical director at Egyptian club Tanta SC at the time of his demise.

Alloush's mother had also succumbed due to the deadly virus earlier.

"We're deeply saddened by the death of our former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush, aged 44, after contracting Covid_19. The thoughts of everybody at Gokulam Kerala Football Club are with Alloush's family and friends at this sad time. Rest in peace, Alloush," Gokulam Kerala FC tweeted.

Meanwhile, with a spike of 18,522 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count stands at 5,66,840, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, 418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths in the country now stands at 16,893.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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