Alastair Cook and Joe Root took England to 114/2 with a lead of 154 runs after India rode Ravindra Jadeja’s batting heroics to post 292 in their first innings on Day 3 of the fifth and final test here on Sunday.

At stumps, Cook playing his final test match was batting on 46 while Root was on 29.

For India, Mohammed Shami and Jadeja got a wicket apiece.

Earlier, Jadeja remained unbeaten on 86 while debutant Hanuma Vihari scored 56 to help the tourists trim the lead to 40 after resuming the day on 174/6.

Brief scores: England 332 & 114/2 (Alastair Cook 46 batting, Joe Root 29 batting); India 292 (R Jadeja 86, Hanuma Vihari 56, Virat Kohli 49; James Anderson 2/54, Ben Stokes 2/56, Moeen Ali 2/50)

England reached 123/1 in their first innings at tea on the opening day of the fifth and final cricket Test against India at the Oval here on Friday.

Veteran opening batsman Alastair Cook (66 not out) and Moeen Ali (23 not out) were at the crease for England at tea as the hosts added 55 runs in the second session without losing any wicket.

Cook, playing in his final international match, registered his 57th fifty in his 161st Test.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who resumed the session with an individual score of 37, got a reprieve at the same score. An away-swigning delivery from paceman Ishant Sharma was poked by Cook but Ajinkya Rahane dropped it at gully in the 31st over.

In the following over, Moeen too got a reprieve while batting on a personal score of 2. The left-hander got a thick edge off Jasprit Bumrah and captain Virat Kohli dropped the left-hander at third slip.

Cook and Moeen, then, batted with strong defences and played riskfree cricket to see off the session. They waited for the loose deliveries to score runs.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who took the wicket of Keaton Jennings (23) in the first session, was dealt with strongly by Cook and Moeen.

Brief scores: England: 123/1 (Alastair Cook 66 not out, Moeen Ali 23 not out, Keaton Jennings 23; Ravindra Jadeja 1/36) vs India at tea on Day 1.

(IANS)

England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat in the fifth and final cricket Test against India at the Oval here on Friday.

England, who have already won the series 3-1, have picked the same 11 who won the fourth Test in Southampton by 60 runs.

India have made two changes to their playing 11. India have handed Andhra Pradesh batsman Hanuma Vihari his international debut, replacing all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the visitors decided to go with an extra batter. Experienced left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has come in place of injured off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Teams:

England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (Captain), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

(IANS)

The Japan Football Association decided on Thursday to suspend a friendly match between the national teams of Japan and Chile on the island of Hokkaido after a powerful earthquake struck the region.

Earlier in the day, Chile’s team was caught off guard by a 6.7-magnitude tremor that struck Japan’s Hokkaido island, where they were scheduled to play a friendly match at the Sapporo Dame stadium on Friday, reports Efe news agency.

“This decision was made upon careful evaluation of the magnitude of damage incurred, including damage to critical infrastructure such as power outages and significant transportation disruptions, as well as to ensure the security of all spectators,” the JFA said in a statement.

“We send our deepest condolences and sincerest sympathies to those affected by the earthquake that struck the central-eastern part of Iburi region in Hokkaido,” the JFA added.

Chile’s coach Reinaldo Rueda tweeted that all the team members were safe while a JFA spokesperson confirmed to Efe that the team is still in Hokkaido but will depart for South Korea — where they will play a friendly on September 11 — as soon as preparations are complete.

(IANS)

Keeping Haryana’s flag flying high in the medals tally for the country in the Jakarta Asian Games, sportspersons from Haryana have bagged nearly 25 per cent of the total medals.

Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij said on Thursday that sportspersons from the state won 17 medals in these games.

Of the total 69 medals won by India, 15 are gold medals, 24 silver and 30 bronze medals.

Athletes from Haryana won five gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.

“In these games, as solo player, Manjit Singh of Jind won gold medal in 800 meters and Neeraj Chopra of Panipat won gold medal in javelin throw. Amit from Rohtak in boxing and Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat won gold medals in wrestling,” the Minister said.

Among other players, Lakshay Sheoran and Sanjeev Rajput won silver medals in shooting.

“Fifteen men and 11 women players have won medals in Asian Games, including solo and team competitions. All these players will be provided prize money and jobs as per sports policy of the state,” Vij added.

(IANS)

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Kumar Verma on Thursday felicitated sailor Harshita Tomar who won the bronze medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia. Harshita’s mother Rani Tomar is a CBI official.

The 16-year-old, Harshita won the bronze in 4.7 Laser event of sailing competition at the Asiad. She had totalled 62 points after race 12 to finish third.

She has earlier won 19 gold, three silver and five bronze medals at national swimming competitions.

The Director praised the young sailor for her achievements at such a young age.

“On behalf of the CBI family, he extended best wishes to Harshita and her family and assured her all possible assistance from the CBI in her future endeavours,” a statement said.

Verma also praised her mother Rani Tomar, an official in CBI, for her wonderful parenting.

India will have only pride to play for after going down in the fourth Test and losing the five-match series 1-3 against England who will see former captain Alastair Cook don the white flannels for the last time, in the fifth and final Test at The Oval here on Friday.

The final match might only be of academic interest but India skipper Virat Kohli will want to finish on a high nonetheless.

Head coach Ravi Shastri, on Tuesday, rated the team the “best travelling side in last 15 years”, although being factually incorrect.

India under Sourav Ganguly drew a Test series in England (2002) and Australia (2003-04) apart from winning a Test in the West Indies and a series in Pakistan.

Under Rahul Dravid, India won two series in the West Indies (2006) and England (2007) apart from winning a Test in South Africa.

When Anil Kumble was made the captain, India bagged a Test match win in Perth for the first time and under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team won a series in New Zealand and also for the only time drew a series in South Africa.

Kohli and Co. on the contrary have failed to win a series in South Africa followed by the ongoing debacle in England.

India have retained the number one Test ranking despite series losses overseas where their batting frailties have time and again been exposed and bowling, although, doing well, have failed to put up a winning show.

India’s team selection has been an eye-sore too starting from the South Africa tour with a lot of decisions raising more than an eyebrow.

The lack of consistency in the top order has affected the team balance with a number of players not being among runs.

Now with only pride to play for, India might opt for India’s U-19 World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw to open the batting along with Lokesh Rahul or Shikhar Dhawan. Both Dhawan and Rahul have failed to make a mark in the series and Murali Vijay has already been sent home before the fourth Test.

The other player brought in is Hanuma Vihari who besides being a middle-order bat, is also a handy spinner. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been off-colour with the bat and the team management could think of the road ahead and give Vihari a chance.

Coming to the bowling department, pacer Jasprit Bumrah could be rested keeping in view the Asia Cup beginning next week in the United Arab Emirates.

The pacer, along with Shardul Thakur, is part of India’s limited-overs’ squad and as such Umesh Yadav could make a comeback into the Test side.

For England, this Test will revolve around Cook who called time on his illustrious career recently. Pace ace James Anderson or Stuart Broad could be rested in the light of their workloads, as Chris Woakes is fit again and available for selection.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

England: Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Oliver Pope, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes.

(IANS)

Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club is all set to launch north India’s biggest inter-zonal private kabaddi tournament, called ‘Red Bull Tashan’, on September 8.

The tournament will witness 90 teams competing for the title, all hailing from three of the Delhi NCR zones — Gurugram (September 8-9), Delhi (September 11-12) and Noida (September 15-16).

The finals of Red Bull Tashan will be held at Ambience Mall, Gurugram on September 22. The winning team will also have the opportunity to train with the Dabang Delhi KC team, before the sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League kicks off in October.

“While the Pro Kabaddi League has brought the sport of Kabaddi into the limelight, we feel there is a lot of opportunity to build the sport at the grassroot level. We firmly believe that Red Bull Tashan is a high-rewarding platform, for young talent to showcase their talent and potential,” Radha Kapoor Khanna, founder and executive director of DO IT Sports Management who own Dabang Delhi, said.

“Dabang Delhi KC and Red Bull are united in furthering the development of Kabaddi. Dabang Delhi KC will also use this tournament as a scouting exercise to give young players the opportunity to be professional players in the coming seasons. We are confident that this association will enable the sport of Kabaddi to scale newer heights in Delhi NCR,” Khanna said in a statement.

Davangere (Karnataka) Sandeep Sharma and Suresh Rana scripted a gallant fightback for Team Maruti Suzuki in the 10th edition of the Dakshin Dare, taking the fourth and sixth positions respectively after Day 2 here on Tuesday evening.

Suzuki’s Sandeep, and his co-driver Anmol Rampal, were at their aggressive best on the day, clocking 58.09 minutes in three Special Stages and one Super Special Stage for a cumulative timing of 03:35:05 over the first two days.

His teammate, 10-time Raid de Himalaya champion Suresh (with Chirag Thakur), also fought back bravely to climb from the 11th position to take the sixth position.

Suresh, who fell behind after enduring a punctured tyre on the opening day, caught up on lost time by going flat out and even posting the day’s third best timing.

“I did not have the best of starts to the rally. But I am glad that I could get back into the fray. Our team (Maruti Suzuki) has its hopes pinned on me and I am quite sure that I will keep improving and fight till the end to defend my title,” Suresh said.

Three-time APRC champion Gaurav Gill continued to hold on to the top position on the leaderboard after yet another power-packed performance.

The Mahindra Adventure racer, along with his co-driver Musa Sherif, was in his elements from the word go, winning all the three Special Stages and one Super Special Stage.

His teammate Philippos Matthai (with navigator PVS Moorthy) came in second, with a total time of 03:26:03 minutes.

Another Mahindra Adventure driver, Amittrajit Ghosh (with co-driver Ashwin Naik), slipped one place to take the third position after losing six minutes in the early part of the morning.

Yuva Kumar continued to lead in the bike category, winning two of the day’s stages and finishing second in the third. Aakash and Vishwas are in the second and third positions.

In the TSD category, Pramod Vig and Prakash Vig jumped to the top spot, while Santosh and Nagarajan took the second spot. Srikanth and Raghuraman are on the third spot.

[IANS]

Kolkata Manika Batra, who created history by becoming the first Indian female paddler to win an Asian Games medal, is now planning to work overtime in order to improve her reflexes and agility and come close to matching her Asian counterparts by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Manika, who built on her Commonwealth Games (CWG) high by winning a bronze with veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal in the mixed doubles category in table tennis, was no match for Wang Manyu of China in the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles.

Though it was the best-ever outing for the country in the sport at the Asian Games, with the men’s team also bagging bronze, Manika said she has her eyes set on a podium finish at the Olympics in two years’ time and for that she needs to catch up with the mighty Chinese and other strong Asian players.

“I gave my hundred percent against Wang Manyu, but I realised I have to improve a lot to beat them. I will prepare well for the coming tournaments,” Manika told IANS in an interview.

“As a team we are in a good shape right now. In singles we have to improve a lot, especially when we play with Asians. Their reflexes are so good. Personally, I have to improve my reflexes and agility to match them.

“So I will work on that till the Olympics and try to match them there,” said Manika, who showed signs of ending Singaporean supremacy in the discipline by choking out Mengyu Yu in straight sets to clinch a historic first-ever gold medal in women’s singles of the CWG earlier this year.

The 23-year old bagged four medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as India finished with a rich haul of eight.

Besides her game, Manika also aims to break into the top-40 rankings. Currently, the Delhi girl is ranked World No 56.

“Personally, my goal would be to break into top 30 or 40. I am 56 right now, so I have to improve that. To improve my rankings, I have to play many tournaments abroad, so I am preparing for that as well.”

Manika, who will take part in the Belgium Open, starting from September 23, and the Swedish Open, from November 15, also revealed that she has plans to play for a European club next year but it’s too early to speak on that, she added.

On her and Kamal’s bronze medal winning performance in the semifinals of the mixed doubles match where they ended up with bronze, Manika said she never wanted to come back empty-handed from Jakarta.
“It was not difficult, but, of course, since all Asians come together at the Asian Games, the challenge is stiffer as compared to Commonwealth Games. In my mind, it was there that it would be difficult… but when I reached Jakarta, I thought that I had to do something here, I had to beat someone,” she said.

Kamal and Manika played four matches in a day and only the opener against Malaysia was comfortable.

In the semis, Kamal and Manika made life tough for China’s Yingsha Sun and Wang Sun before going down 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 4-11, 8-11.

[IANS]