Ind vs Eng: England 111/0 in second innings at stumps on Day 3, trail by 219 runs

November 17, 2012

pujara

Ahmedabad, November 17: Pragyan Ojha snapped up five wickets to give India a mammoth 330-run lead before England staged a spirited fightback in the second innings to give themselves a slight hope of saving the first Test on Saturday.

England were bundled out for 191 in the first innings with Ojha taking five for 45 while Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets, prompting India to enforce the follow-on.

But the script changed remarkably in the second innings as skipper Alastair Cook (74 batting) and Nick Compton (34 batting) steered England to 111 for no loss at close on an eventful third day with the visitors still trailing by 219 runs.

With two full days left in the match, India still hold the advantage of going 1-0 up in the four-match series. England will have to bat out of their skin to save the game on a Sardar Patel track that appears to be getting slower.

The visitors showed better application in the second innings, after India, who scored a massive 521 for eight declared, asked them to follow-on.

Left-arm spinner Ojha claimed his career's fourth five-wicket haul with figures of five for 45 in 22.2 overs in his 17th Test while Ashwin grabbed three for 80 in 27 overs.

Starting the second innings after an early tea, Cook and debutant Compton, who was out for nine in the first innings, put on an unbeaten century stand to give England a fine start in their quest for avoiding an innings defeat.

Neither Ojha, nor his off-spin partner Ashwin, could pose as many problems to the English openers in the second essay as they did in the first.

The spinners, especially Ashwin, also bowled a lot flatter and did not stick to a consistent line of attack on a wicket that became more and more placid as the game progressed.

England still have a huge task on hand and their first job on Sunday would be to wipe out the first-innings deficit.

The manner in which Cook and Compton negotiated the Indian bowlers, in stark contrast to what they did in the first, holds some hope for the visitors.

England, who started the day at 41 for three, were pushed to the brink before they adjourned for the lunch break at 110 for seven. They fought back for a brief while through Matt Prior (48) and Tim Bresnan (19).

Prior was the last man out when he lost his off stump to Ojha.

Prior's was the top score of the innings with only captain Cook, who scored 41, being the only other batsman to cross 40 in a pathetic display.

Prior, who had come to the wicket at the fall of Ian Bell with the total reading a miserable 69 for five, played with positive intent.

Bresnan faced 112 balls and hit a couple of boundaries, and showed better application than most of the front-line batsmen.

India shuffled their bowlers constantly and Ojha got the breakthrough by dismissing Bresnan and then followed it up with the wicket of Prior after Zaheer got his only wicket of the innings, trapping Stuart Broad leg before.

In the morning, Ojha picked up two wickets off successive balls while Ashwin and medium pacer Umesh Yadav shared the other two to leave the tourists 411 runs behind India's first innings total at the end of first session.

Ojha packed off a nervous-looking Kevin Pietersen (17) and a clueless Bell (0) at the same score of 69 while Ashwin broke through the defense of Cook eleven runs later.

Yadav struck in his first over late in the second hour of play, having Samit Patel trapped in front.

Umpire Aleem Dar, who did not uphold a very confident leg before appeal against the same batsman off Ashwin earlier, this time raised his finger.

The visitors had, by lunch, got past their lowest ever total of 102 made in India, in 1981 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. They put on 66 runs in 34 overs while losing four wickets in the first session.

Ojha and Ashwin had taken three wickets each before lunch while Yadav had one for six after being brought on to bowl belatedly.

Both Pietersen and Cook worked themselves to boundaries when Ojha erred in length, but the left-armer also drew the morning's first blood after 47 minutes of play. He straightened the ball to disturb the middle stump of Pietersen who tried to work it around.

Further trouble was in store for England as in the next ball, Bell skied one and Sachin Tendulkar, after running back took a well-judged catch at mid-off.

England, who lost two wickets at the same score of 69, added one more run before the day's first drinks break, taken after the addition of 29 runs in 17 overs.

In the first hour, Ashwin did not trouble Cook though he kept the left-hander quiet before conceding his first run to Pietersen in his fifth over of the morning.

Zaheer was given a three-over spell to create some additional boot marks at the opposite end for Ojha to exploit from the other end.

Ashwin came back immediately after the drinks break and struck in his third over by turning the ball away from Cook who lunged for a drive. Sehwag took a simple catch at slip.

Cook's departure meant England had lost three wickets for the addition of 11 runs in 44 balls. They were struggling at 80 for six at that point.

Ashwin should have got the wicket of Patel too, in his next over when he rapped the right-hander on his pads with a fuller length ball, but umpire Dar denied much to the Indians' consternation. Patel was on four.

The off-spinner was unlucky later too when Zaheer dropped a straight forward catch from Prior at deep midwicket.

Yadav was given his first spell in the game when he was brought on to bowl the 48th over in place of Yuvraj, 20 minutes to lunch. And the bowler struck immediately by trapping Patel in front.

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
June 22,2020

Zadar (Croatia), Jun 22: Grigor Dimitrov took to Instagram to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The tennis star was one of the players who took part in the Adria Tour with the likes Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem among others.

Taking to Instagram, the player wrote: "Hi Everyone-I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19. I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions. I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering. Thanks for your support and please stay safe and healthy."

He also urged those who had come in contact with him over the last few days in Monaco should also get tested for the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, World no.1 Djokovic reached the final of his exhibition tournament in Zadar, Croatia, after easing through the round-robin group stage on the first day. This is the second stage of the Adria Tour with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade, Serbia.

Djokovic started by saving three set points in his 4-3, 4-1 win over fellow Serb Pedja Krstin. He then beat home favourite Borna Coric 4-1, 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.

The tournament in Zadar is being played on red clay over two days. In the other group, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into the final after wins over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic. He faces German star Alexander Zverev in the final round robin match on Sunday who stayed in contention after beating Cilic 4-3, 0-4, 4-3.

Djokovic''s own inconsequential final group match is against Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1, 4-1 loss to Coric.

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