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
January 27,2020

Auckland, Jan 27: : K.L. Rahul made an unbeaten 57 Sunday to steer India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the second Twenty20 international and to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Rahul and Shreyas Iyer put on 86 for the third wicket as India cruised past New Zealand's total of 132-5 with 2.3 overs to spare. Shivam Dube (13 not out) hit a six from the bowling of Tim Southeein in the 18th over to lift India to 135-3.

Iyer made 58 not out and Rahul 56 as India beat New Zealand by six wickets with an over to spare in the first match of the series.

New Zealand made 203-5 batting first in that match but on Sunday, on the same pitch, it struggled to achieve any real momentum. During the second match the pitch played much slower and India bowled expertly to restrict New Zealand's total.

Martin Guptill made 33 in a 48-run opening partnership with Colin Munro and Tim Seifert made an unbeaten 33 at the end of the innings but New Zealand wasn't able to reach a total that could stretch India's deep batting lineup.

Rohit Sharma (8) and captain Virat Kohli (11) were out relatively cheaply but Rahul and Iyer (44) sped India towards a comprehensive victory.

Dube came to the crease shortly before the end and quickly brought the match to a conclusion.

"I think we backed up the first match with a very good performance today, especially with the ball," Kohli said. "We demanded that the bowlers stood up and took control of what we wanted to do out there.

"I think our line and length and the way we wanted to bowl on that wicket, sticking to one side of the wicket and being shorter was a very good feature of us as a team and helped us restrict a very good New Zealand team."

New Zealand's total was inadequate, even on a slower pitch, and India almost toyed with the home side as it made its way to a comfortable win.

New Zealand named the same team that lost the first match of the series and batted after winning the toss, just as it batted when it was outplayed in the first match of the series.

The match raised further questions about the coaching and captaincy of the New Zealand team after its humiliating test series loss in Australia last month. New Zealand showed again Sunday it hasn't the talent to compete with the best teams in the world.

"As a batting unit we probably needed another 15 or 20 to make that total more competitive," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "But credit to the way the India side bowled, they're a class side in all departments and they put us under pressure throughout that middle period."

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News Network
January 30,2020

Jan 30: Three days after Los Angeles basketball great Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others perished in a helicopter crash, his wife, Vanessa, broke her silence with an Instagram message saying she was “completely devastated” by their loss.

The social media text was posted alongside a recent family photo of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant with all four of their daughters - Gianna, who died with her father, along with the couple’s eldest, Natalia, 17, 3-year-old Bianka, and the youngest, Capri, born in June 2019.

Kobe Bryant and the couple’s second daughter, knicknamed Gigi, died on Sunday when the helicopter they were flying in en route to the Mamba Sports Academy for a girl’s basketball tournament crashed in foggy weather on a hillside northwest of Los Angeles.

Gianna Bryant was a member of the Mamba team due to compete that day. Her father, who retired from the National Basketball Association in 2016 after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, was the coach of his daughter’s team. ]

The pilot and six more passengers were also killed - two other 13-year-old girls involved in the tournament, three of their parents and another coach. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The death of Bryant, 41, an 18-time NBA all-star, five-time Lakers champion and one of the world’s most admired sports figures, unleashed an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans, fellow athletes and politicians around the globe.

“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” Vanessa Bryant, 37, a former model, wrote on her Instagram account.

“We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri,” she added.

The message goes on to say: “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now.

“I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

She directed anyone wishing to “further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports” to visit the site MambaSports Foundation.org.

There has been no word yet on funeral arrangements.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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