Pietersen, Cook get in the groove as India struggle

November 25, 2012

cook

Skipper Alastair Cook continued to torment India with yet another gritty batting display while Kevin Pietersen returned to form with an unbeaten half-century to give England a slight advantage in the second cricket Test here today.

After dismissing India for 327 in the first innings, England moved to a comfortable 178 for two in 65 overs before the stumps were drawn on the second day, with the visitors trailing by 149 runs.

At close, the left-handed Cook, who had scored a big century in the first Test, was unbeaten on 87. The more aggressive Pietersen was batting on 62 after a stay of 127 minutes during which he faced 85 balls and hit nine fours. Cook batted for 251 minutes and faced 209 balls, striking a six and ten fours in the process

The third wicket duo has so far put on 110 runs in 186 balls. For the record, Cook has batted for 960 minutes in all in the three innings he has batted during the series.

With three more days left in the second game of the four-match series in which India are 1-0 ahead, a result is on the cards on a track that is aiding the spin bowlers. England, though, looked to have a slight advantage with a settled and experienced pair at the wicket and some more batting to follow.

On a wicket where the spin duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann ran through the star-studded Indian batting line-up in which Cheteshwar Pujara (135) and Ravichandra Ashwin (68) stood out, the trio of home team spinners looked largely clueless against the determined Cook and Pietersen.

Barring the twin strike by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in the space of 11 balls just before tea, the home side’s spin attack looked far less menacing than both Panesar (five for 129) and Swann, who ran through the tail today to end up with figures of four for 70.

Cook again showed monumental patience to lead his side’s reply. Anything bowled at the stumps was blocked, balls outside the off were cut while the ones outside the leg were swept. He gathered his runs mostly in singles to frustrate the Indian spinners, just like he had done for nearly 12 hours in Ahmedabad.

With a sweep shot before tea, Cook surpassed Pujara as the highest run-getter in the series. The shot, incidentally, hit Pujara on the right side of his rib cage, forcing him to leave the field and seek medical attention. He did not come out to field after tea.

Substitute fielder Ajinkya Rahane, too, had to duck at times to avoid getting hit by the England captain’s sweeps. He eventually received a painful blow on his left elbow by Kevin Pietersen’s powerful sweep off Harbhajan Singh.

Pietersen, who looked in a hurry in the opening game, adopted a slightly different approach. He dispatch Harbhajan with lofted shots but played cautiously against Ojha, who had dismissed him twice in the first game. The batsman was also careful against Ashwin.

Pietersen, however, survived a confident appeal for a catch off Ashwin when he was on 45 in a team score of 146 for two.

Umpire Aleem Dar, who gave a wrong decision to send back Zaheer Khan in the morning by declaring him caught in the leg trap, did not agree to the Indians’ vociferous appeal against Pietersen when the ball ballooned to backward short-leg fielder Virat Kohli. Pietersen soon raced to his half-century with a back foot cut off Ashwin in 63 balls.

He had come to the crease after Ojha struck two blows in his three-over spell late in the second session to dismiss opener Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott in successive overs. Cook and his opening partner Compton had negotiated the spinning ball to raise the visitors’ hopes till Ojha struck.

Ojha had the dogged Compton caught at slip with a sharply turning ball for 29 and then fooled Trott with an arm ball to trap the batsman leg before as England slumped from 66 for no loss to 68 for two. Their dismissals brought together Cook and Pietersen who batted out the last session while adding 101 runs.

Neither Ojha nor off spinner Ashwin, who took four wickets in the first game, got the same amount of turn or bounce that Panesar found in the morning.

Both were also guilty of not sticking to a consistent line, with Ashwin slightly better than his spin partner till Ojha came on for a fresh spell to claim two quick wickets.

Harbhajan, playing his first Test after the disastrous tour to England in 2011, started off well by getting some turn and bounce, but later on became predictable and could not trouble the batsmen.

While Ojha was the most successful Indian bowler of the day with two for 65, Ashwin and Harbhajan gave away 54 and 47 runs, respectively, without tasting success. Zaheer Khan bowled economically in short spells.

Harbhajan was not summoned into the attack till the 25th over while Yuvraj Singh was not given a single over by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In the morning, England finally dismissed Pujara for the first time in three innings as India were all out 22 minutes before lunch. Pujara was the ninth man out at 316, after batting for almost the entire day yesterday and with just half an hour left for lunch today.

It was Pujara who pulled India out of a deep hole on the first day when India were struggling at 169 for six at one stage. He was lured out by Swann and wicketkeeper Matt Prior did the needful. Pujara’s seven and a half hour vigil lasted 350 balls. He struck 12 fours.

The Rajkot–born player had made an unbeaten 206 in the first Test. But despite Pujara’s brave effort, India, resuming on 266 for six, lost their remaining four wickets for the addition of adding 61 runs with Swann sending back Pujara, Harbhajan and Zaheer in the space of 10 balls.

India’s last four wickets added 158 runs, which helped them bounce back from the precarious position. Panesar, who dismissed overnight batsman Ashwin, finished with a five-for, his first against India and 11th overall.



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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will receive the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award for his exploits in international cricket in the 2018-19 season, the BCCI announced on Sunday.

The world's leading pacer will be honoured during the BCCI Annual Awards here on Sunday.

The world's No. 1 ODI bowler made his Test debut during India's tour of South Africa in January 2018 and has not looked back since. He picked up a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies becoming the first and only Asian bowler to achieve the feat.

He played a stellar role in the historic 2-1 Test series win in Australia, India's first Down Under and which helped them retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy. While Bumrah nets the biggest prize in the men's category, Poonam Yadav will claim the top prize in women's section and will be awarded the best international cricketer.

The award will be another feather in the leg-spinner's cap who recently received the Arjuna Award. Former India captains Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra will be presented with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award and the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for women respectively.

A member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, Srikkanth took on the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers and scored an attacking 38, the top individual score in the low-scoring final at the Lord's. He also captained India and post-retirement served as the chief selector and it was during his tenure that the 2011 World Cup squad was picked.

Anjum is one of the finest batswomen and the first Indian to play 100 ODIs. In a career spanning 17 years, Anjum represented India in four 50-over World Cups and two T20 World Cup (played in one).

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, "The BCCI Awards is our way of recognising the finest on-field performances right from the age group to senior level and also honour our legends.

"It will be a special evening in Mumbai as we will also have the 7th MAK Pataudi lecture and I am delighted to inform that it will be Virender Sehwag, who will address the gathering."

Board secretary Jay Shah said, "The BCCI Awards are an important feature in India's cricketing calendar, a melange of aspiration and inspiration. "We wanted to make Naman bigger and better and have introduced four new categories – highest run-getter and wicket-takers in WODIs and best international debut men and women – from this year. A total of 25 awards will be presented."

Arun Singh Dhumal, the board's treasurer, said, "Right from domestic to international level, Indian Cricket has had a memorable 2018-19 season. We have started the year on the right note with Team India completing a convincing series win against Sri Lanka and they will be in attendance. The U-19 team is in South Africa for the World Cup and all eyes will be on the stars of tomorrow. It will be a special evening and I congratulate the award winners".

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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