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Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon leave Australia with massive advantage to press for 2-0 lead

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Australia opted to turn the screw on England after taking a huge first-innings lead in the second Test of the series in Adelaide. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon shared seven wickets as the tourists were unceremoniously bundled out following a century stand between Joe Root and Dawid Malan that had briefly raised English hopes, with Australia extending their lead to 282 after braving a half-session of batting against the pink ball under lights.Steven Smith’s decision not to enforce the follow-on meant the Test continued to follow the template set in the day-night game at the same ground in 2017-18 – on that occasion, England had been dismissed for 227 in response to 8 for 442 declared. But at this point the course diverged, as England’s seamers were unable to make any inroads with the new ball. Their only success came via a run-out, and that after David Warner and Marcus Harris had put on 41, Australia’s highest Ashes opening stand since the 2017 Boxing Day Test.With two full days left in the game, the potential to put England’s beleaguered batters through further floodlit examinations and the likelihood that Lyon’s spin will carry even greater threat in the fourth innings, Australia were already in prime position to press for a 2-0 lead in the series.It marked a remarkable – though not totally unexpected – turnaround, with the performances of Root and Malan during a third-wicket association that eventually realised 138 suggesting that Australia would not have it all their own way. But after Cameron Green provided the breakthrough, taking the key wicket of Root for the second week in succession, Lyon and Starc seized the moment. From 150 for 2, England lost their last eight wickets for 86 runs – a painful echo of shipping 8 for 74 after a similar stand between Root and Malan in Brisbane last week.Starc struck twice in a seven-over spell with the old ball, and at 6 for 169 there seemed a very real possibility that England would be batting again later in the night. Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes steadied the innings through to tea but there was very little batting to come; Lyon ended the stand at 41, finding appreciable turn to bowl Woakes off an inside edge, and although Stokes briefly threatened a counterattack, he dragged Green on to his stumps to be the ninth man out.Joe Root and Dawid Malan put on 138 before England lost 8 for 86•AFP/Getty Images

There may have been a degree of relish as Australia took the fresh pink pill with the lights beginning to take effect, ready to dole out some medicine to the last-wicket pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Starc finished the innings with 4 for 37, the wicket of Broad his 50th in day-night Tests – at a cool average of 18.10 – while Lyon reinforced his status a week after becoming the third Australian to reach 400 Test wickets, his 3 for 58 leaving him two shy of equalling Shane Warne’s aggregate of 56 as the most prolific bowler at Adelaide Oval.The workloads of his bowlers was probably the key concern for Smith, even though the control provided by Lyon – who wheeled away through a spell of 19-10-30-3 – meant he did not have to ask much of Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser, the two enforced replacements to the attack from Brisbane.After a wicketless afternoon session – the first time a visiting team had achieved that in a day-night Test in Australia, when facing a minimum of 15 overs – the reversal in fortunes following the dinner break was swift. Root took his tally of half-centuries without converting in Australia to eight, his departure precipitating a slide of 4 for 19 during what was supposedly the most benign time of the day for batting.Green, held back by Smith until the 38th over, was the man to disturb England’s tranquility, luring Root into playing needlessly outside off stump once again. Root punched his bat before walking off, fully aware that this was the sort of day on which England needed someone to go big. Australia immediately cranked up the pressure, with Green and Lyon stringing together four maidens before the return of Starc brought about Malan’s downfall for 80, slashing profligately for another catch in the slips to Smith.With Lyon finding his groove having switched ends, England entered a familiar spiral. Ollie Pope’s struggles against spin continued as he was caught twice at short leg in the space of three balls from Lyon. He successfully reviewed the first, Rod Tucker’s decision overturned after replays showed the ball had deflected off Pope’s forearm, but then fell trying to use his feet as a thickish inside edge squirted to the lurking Marnus Labuschagne, waiting eagerly for another chance.Stokes took a dogged approach to starting his innings, waiting until his 24th delivery to get off the mark, but there was little support forthcoming, Jos Buttler’s miserable Test continuing as he threw the hands through an ambitious drive at Starc to be caught in the slips for a 15-ball duck. Out of a clear blue sky, Australia had grabbed the game by its scruff.

Michael Holding calls for more sportspersons to speak out against racism

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West Indies bowling great Michael Holding wants more sportspeople to step forward and speak out against racism because they have an important platform.In an interview at the  conference on Wednesday, Holding said it was important that public figures used their celebrity status to get across important messages, particularly on racism.”If people who have a platform and who are able to reach out and get people to listen and people to understand say nothing, then who will?” Holding asked. “There are sportspeople who are well known throughout the entire world. If they get up and say something, people around the world will want to hear what they have to say and will want to try to understand what they had to say.”And that’s the reason why people with a platform, people with a name, people that are recognised all over the world, need to speak up about things that affect them and affect the world.”Holding has spoken out extensively on racism since an emotive plea for society to change its attitudes following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 in the United States. Floyd’s death led to the Black Lives Matter movement going global.Holding has published a book “Why we Kneel, How We Rise” which covers racism in sport and has contributions from several high profile black athletes. He said athletes should not have to confine their opinions to sporting matters.Related

  • What has English cricket been like for black players?

  • Holding: Quota 'an unnecessary burden for players of colour in South Africa to carry'

  • Holding: 'Racism strips away your humanity, takes away your feelings of self-worth'

  • Holding: England, Australia reasons for not continuing to take a knee are 'lame'

“When they leave the arena, or the basketball courts, they have to go back into society to live a normal life. If they are affected by society, they have to speak up and use their platform.”Holding also said there was a danger that the recent accusations of racism in English county cricket would be compartmentalised into “small boxes” when they were part of a larger societal problem.”We know it’s a cricket problem, because it’s happening now in cricket. But don’t put it in a little box because it’s comfortable to put it in a box. It’s not only football or cricket has a [racism] problem. It’s a society that has a problem. And that is what we need to fix, that’s we need to start. If we can accept that it’s society and not try to put it in small boxes, then we can get somewhere.”Holding said education ensured unconscious bias and required urgent review, with governments needing to take the lead. “The history of mankind has not been taught, what has been taught is what suits our particular narrative. And that narrative is white superiority. Everything taught, even in Africa, in the Caribbean, where I’m from, highlights what white folks have done.”But what about what people of colour have done? They don’t teach that. And that is why I highlighted in my book, so many discoveries, so many innovations, so many things that people of colour have done, that they need to teach.”People must recognise that it’s all folks from different denominations and from different sectors and different parts of the world have done great things.”

Ashes still in the balance as ECB prepares to make final tour assessment

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The ECB board is set to meet later this week to determine whether this winter’s Ashes can take place, after appearing to concede that several of the team’s leading players remain unwilling to submit to Australia’s stringent Covid-19 protocols.In a statement issued on Monday morning, the ECB said that it had been in discussions with England men’s players and management – some of whom will be departing for the UAE later the same day ahead of this month’s T20 World Cup.And while the statement insisted that the board’s dialogue with Cricket Australia remained “regular and positive”, it also appeared to express public doubt about whether the conditions that have been put in place will “enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance”.Related

  • England players set to agree to Ashes tour after further talks

  • CA faces a logistical nightmare for its NSW and Victoria Test players ahead of Ashes

  • Ashes diplomacy: UK PM raises travel concerns with Morrison

  • Root 'desperate' for success in Australia, but can't yet commit to tour

  • ECB chairman admits prospect of Ashes is a 'complicated picture'

“Over the weekend we have been talking to England men’s players and management to provide them with the latest information about the proposed arrangements for this winter’s scheduled Ashes tour,” the statement read.”We remain in regular and positive dialogue with Cricket Australia over these arrangements as the picture is constantly evolving. With health and wellbeing at the forefront, our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best.”We will continue talking to our players this week to share the latest information and seek feedback.”Later this week the ECB board will meet to decide whether the conditions in place are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance.”Australia’s government has outlined plans to ease entry and quarantine restrictions to fully-vaccinated citizens in November, but this provision isn’t expected to be extended to overseas travellers until a later date.Last week, England’s captain Joe Root expressed his own doubts about the series, stating that he was “desperate” for the tour to go ahead, but that he could not yet commit to leading the team.Writing on Instagram prior to the white-ball squad’s departure for the UAE, Paul Collingwood, the team’s assistant coach, summed up the dilemma being faced by many of the players, particularly those with young families.”I love my job and I’m so excited for the winter of cricket ahead but saying goodbye to your daughters for potentially 3 months is not easy, no matter how tough you feel you are,” he wrote. “We all make sacrifices in life. Looking forward to meeting up with the team tomorrow because I know we will try to help each other like a family.”In response, Cricket Australia issued a statement of its own, reiterating the “regular and positive” discussions of the past six months, and stressing that the “health and wellbeing of both squads … is a priority.””We especially thank our government partners for all their support in this regard,” the statement continued. “We are also buoyed by rising vaccination rates and an evolving approach to the pandemic in Australia.”The anticipated conditions for the tour, including quarantine arrangements have now been communicated to the ECB and directly to the England players and staff.”

Mohammad Amir set to return for final

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Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been ruled fit for selection for the Champions Trophy final against India, coach Mickey Arthur confirmed on Saturday. A back spasm had ruled Amir out of the semi-final against England on June 14, after he failed a fitness test shortly before the toss.Azhar Mahmood, Pakistan’s bowling coach, had said on Friday that Amir was available for selection, after the fast bowler competed a training session. “Amir bowled today. Amir is fit,” Mahmood had said.Amir’s availability leaves Pakistan with a conundrum, albeit a happy one. Despite bowling well, he was wicketless in the first two league matches, against India and South Africa. Amir had success against Sri Lanka, taking 2 for 53 and scoring a valuable 28 not out in an eighth-wicket partnership that sealed a semi-final place for Pakistan.”When you go to a final, you want your experienced player, you want him to be fully fit and participating on that particular day,” Mahmood said. “But (we have told him) if he has any doubt he should let us know. At the moment he bowled today. He is fine. Yeah, definitely you would go with Amir.”In the semi-final, Amir was replaced by Rumman Raees, another left-arm fast bowler who made his ODI debut in the match; he shared the new ball with Junaid Khan and took 2 for 44 in Pakistan’s eight-wicket victory.Along with Hasan Ali, who has emerged as Pakistan’s bowler of the tournament, Raees and Junaid surprised England, dismissing one of the best batting units over the last two years for 211. Hasan, who suffered a calf niggle in the semi-final, did not train with the team on Friday but Mahmood had said the bowler was resting as a precaution.”We have the bench strength,” Mahmood said. “Last match, when Amir was not there, people were worried about our main strike bowler not playing. But the way Rumman Raees came in and bowled, it showed we have the bench strength. We have guys who have such skill and such an ability that they can perform on any stage. It is just a matter of self belief and confidence. I think anyone can replace anyone.”Amir has been a near-constant presence in the Pakistan XI since his return to international cricket at the start of 2016, playing 47 out of the side’s 57 international matches, across formats, in this period.

Mitchell, D'Oliveira tons puts Worcs on top

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ScorecardDaryl Mitchell and Brett D’Oliveira ended a lean start to the County Championship season with centuries on a day of personal milestones as Worcestershire took charge of the Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.The opening pair put on 243 in 54 overs with Mitchell, who made 120, completing 10,000 first-class runs for Worcestershire when he got to 87. D’Oliveira scored 150 from 232 balls as the visitors closed day three on 323 for 3, a lead of 48 over Derbyshire, who needed a ninth-wicket stand of 45 between Tony Palladino and Tom Taylor to get to 275. Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach took 4 for 50 from 23 overs.Palladino and Taylor held up Worcestershire for 20 overs in the morning to steer Derbyshire to a second batting point that had looked unlikely when Leach struck twice in consecutive overs.Daryn Smit edged low to Mitchell at second slip and after Jeevan Mendis had driven Nathan Lyon for six and swept the Australian offspinner for two fours, he loosely clipped Leach to deep square leg. But Worcestershire’s hopes of wrapping up the innings were dashed by the tail until Ed Barnard came on at the City end and had Taylor caught behind to give Ben Cox his 200th first-class catch.Palladino was lbw to a full-length ball to leave Worcestershire with a potentially tricky 20 minutes of batting before lunch but there were few alarms as the openers closed in on Derbyshire’s total.D’Oliveira drove and cut Taylor for four fours in five balls but he should have been caught on 42 at square leg by Ben Slater off Shiv Thakor who was comfortably the pick of Derbyshire’s attack.Mitchell reached his landmark by driving Mendis through the covers for three just before tea, his 25th first-class century coming off 128 balls, before D’Oliveira completed his first in all cricket since last May from 160 balls.The stand was finally broken by Thakor who had Mitchell lbw playing across the line and Leach hit two sixes in the penultimate over before D’Oliveira finally fell with his side still in with a chance of forcing a win on the last day.

Rana, Rohit, Pollard seal another Wankhede chase

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
2:16

Hogg: Lions should have bowled more short balls to Pollard

The chase-friendly image of Wankhede Stadium has survived yet another test. On a slow pitch, Gujarat Lions rode on a mature 64 off 44 from Brendon McCullum and a blinder from Dinesh Karthik to get 176, which McCullum reckoned was 15 above par given the conditions. However, Nitish Rana – highest run-getter in the tournament now – and Kieron Pollard made light work of the target, making it 19 wins for teams batting second in the last 21 matches at Wankhede. Mumbai Indians solidified their lead at the top of the table with four wins in five matches.Lions did seem to be putting Mumbai into early strife when Rana top-edged Basil Thampi in the second over. However, Jason Roy, replacing Aaron Finch, whose kit didn’t make it with the rest of the luggage, dropped the catch, which could have reduced Mumbai to 11 for 2. By the time Rana finally fell, for 53 off 36, Mumbai were well on their way, at 85 for 2 in the 10th over. Pollard, carrying on from his match-winning batting in the previous match, and Rohit Sharma, slowly rediscovering form, saw the hosts through with three balls to spareMcClenaghan and Malinga start Mumbai offMitchell McClenaghan hasn’t had the best of tournaments, but from the previous match, he seems to have rediscovered his touch. He began with the wicket Dwayne Smith in the first over, and ended up with figures of 2 for 24 in four overs. It was a pitch he loved, giving him purchase if he banged the ball into the pitch. Malinga returned his worst IPL figures, but that took some excellent hitting from McCullum. They bowled two overs each in the Powerplay, which cost Mumbai just 36.Harbhajan and Krunal go wide
One of the few offspinners doing well in T20 cricket, Harbhajan Singh – 1 for 22 in four overs – extended his dominance over Suresh Raina, and in partnership, he and Krunal Pandya stifled Lions in the middle overs. The scoreboard will show Harbhajan was slog-swept for two boundaries by McCullum, but they were both hits that went at a catchable height with a deep midwicket in place. McCullum couldn’t hit those for usual sixes because the spinners bowled excellent wide lines to both the batsmen, and controlled the amount of turn on the ball.Raina finally fell to a wide ball from Harbhajan for just 28 off 29. It was the fifth time he had got out to Harbhajan in the IPL, the most against any bowler. Gujarat were now 81 for 1 in the 12th over. A full, straight ball from Malinga soon got McCullum when the latter had just begun to look good for a century. Gujarat 99 for 2 in the 14th over.Mumbai win cat-and-mouseThe fall of Raina brought out Ishan Kishan, and the dismissal of McCullum sent in Karthik. In the dugout sat the big-hitting Roy. Now, on paper, Krunal bowled only three overs, but Rohit Sharma’s canny captaincy had much to do with the absence of Roy for 89% of Gujarat’s innings. In T20 cricket in 2016, Roy scored just 65 off 53 balls from left-arm spin and got out thrice. Now, seeing that Gujarat were not sending out Roy, Rohit held back that over from Krunal, which he eventually didn’t even bowl. As a result, though, Roy faced only seven balls, off which he got 14, and Kishan instead faced 14 balls for just 11 runs. Krunal contributed more than just 3-0-18-0.Gujarat end on a highKarthik, striking at 145.45 this season, took the slow pitch out of the equation with clean hitting, excellent placement and desperate running in his unbeaten 48 off 26. Two of Karthik’s four quickest innings in which he has faced at least 20 balls have come this season. This one resulted in 77 off 38 for Lions since he came out to bat.Rana runs awayBenefitting from that drop, Rana displayed his season form again, taking the orange cap from Gautam Gambhir, who had an altercation with the Delhi coach after Rana had been dropped from the Vijay Hazare Trophy team. Rana hit both off the front foot and back, both into the leg side and off, picked the slower balls and used the pace on the quicker ones. With Jos Buttler, he added 85 in nine overs, leaving Mumbai with 92 off 64 balls.Pollard ends itWhen Rohit chose to field, he said he was expecting dew to play a part in the last 10 overs of the match. While Buttler fell to a slower short ball after yet another decent start, and while Rohit was relieved no doubt that Gujarat didn’t have a legspinner, it was Pollard who took the slowness out of the equation, hitting three sixes in his 23-ball 39. Thampi, who had been denied a maiden IPL wicket by that Roy drop, produced a fantastic 18th over of six yorkers for six singles to leave 17 required off two overs. Pollard now took a risk, and was caught at deep midwicket, but Rohit was composed in finishing off with 4, 2 and 2 with eight required in the last over.

KKR look to arrest slump in pursuit of top two

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Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders
Bengaluru, May 7, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Head-to-head

This season: In a record-breaking performance, Kolkata Knight Riders bowled out Royal Challengers Bangalore for 49 – the IPL’s lowest total – to win by 82 runs. Knight Riders, defending 131, used no spinners; Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme took three wickets each and Royal Challengers were dismissed in 9.4 overs.Overall: Knight Riders lead 10-9 in all IPL matches but Royal Challengers have a 4-3 record against the Kolkata team in Bengaluru.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore (eighth): lost to Kings XI Punjab by 19 runs, lost to Mumbai Indians by five wickets, lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by 61 runs
Kolkata Knight Riders (third): lost to Rising Pune by four wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 48 runs, defeated Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets

In the news

A hamstring niggle kept Robin Uthappa out of Knight Riders’ last game. The team will take a call on his selection based on how he shapes up during practice on Saturday.Chris Lynn, recovering from a shoulder injury he picked up on April 9, said he hoped to return to the side before the playoffs and was back to training this week. According to assistant coach Simon Katich, Lynn “could well be available for selection”.Nathan Coulter-Nile, RCB’s nemesis last time, suffered a blow on his helmet grille against Rising Pune Supergiant and was subsequently “shaken up” and “a little bit off colour” leading up to this game, according to Katich. A call will be taken on his fitness closer to the game.Royal Challengers are out of contention for a top-four finish. The captain Virat Kohli, after another heavy loss on Thursday, said that his team continued to “let themselves down with the bat” and that he found it “difficult to find motivation” due to their poor performance. Shane Watson has been in and out of their XI and it will not be of any surprise if Travis Head replaces him again.

Qualification scenario

A win against Royal Challengers will all but seal Knight Riders’ place in the playoffs – and help them shake off any nagging doubts that might have crept in after two losses in a row. Moreover, they are chasing a top-two finish, which allows them two chances to get to the final; they will need to win at least two of their last three games for this, but might need to win all three depending on other results.

The likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Mandeep Singh, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 6 Shane Watson/Travis Head, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 S Aravind, 9 Samuel Badree, 10 Aniket Choudhary, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa/Sheldon Jackson (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile/Piyush Chawla, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Kuldeep Yadav

Strategy punt

Kolkata Knight Riders might consider legspinner Piyush Chawla, who has had considerable success against de Villiers (dismissed four times, conceding only 43 off 44 balls) and Kohli (dismissed three times, 95 off 71 balls). If Chawla plays, though, captain Gautam Gambhir will look to hold him back until Chris Gayle is dismissed. The West Indies batsman has hit Chawla for 103 runs off 57 balls.

Stats that matter

  • Sunil Narine is having his poorest IPL with the ball. He has averaged 39.71 runs for every wicket and has a strike-rate of less than a wicket per game. His economy of 8.53 in the Powerplay – where he has taken only one wicket – is the worst among all spinners this season (minimum five overs bowled).
  • Knight Riders’ batting is heavily dependent on their top four. Their middle and lower order have scored at an average of 14.52 and a strike-rate of 115.97, the second-poorest among all teams – behind RCB.
  • Overall, Knight Riders have the second-worst scoring-rate at the death, and hit a boundary only every 6.1 balls.
  • In 2017, Chris Gayle has averaged 9.00 per match at the Chinnaswamy after four games. Shane Watson averages 13.66 while de Villiers averages 15.75. Each of them has scored at below a run a ball, too. Virat Kohli (106) and Kedar Jadhav (133) are the only two Royal Challengers batsmen to score more than a hundred runs this season at home.
  • Virat Kohli has smacked 137 runs off 73 balls against Umesh Yadav.

Vidarbha top table with fifth win

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Vidarbha finished at the top of the Group A points table after thumping Assam by 104 runs at the Karnail Singh stadium in Delhi. Top-order batsmen Jitesh Sharma and Ganesh Satish hit half-centuries, which formed the backbone of Vidarbha’s 273 for 9. Siddhesh Wath and Apoorv Wankhade pitched in thirty-somethings each to boost their team even as as the lower order crumbled.In response, Assam lost Pallavkumar Das early, but Rishav Das mounted some resistance with his second List A fifty. Pritam Debnath, Arun Karthik, and Amit Verma all found starts but failed to capitalise. The second-best score for Assam was wicketkeeper Kunal Saikia’s 34-ball 38. Offspinner Abhishek Chaurasia’s 6 for 37 ,however, ensured Vidarbha skittled Assam for 169 in 41.1 overs.Haryana dismissed Baroda for 181 in a chase of 267 at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, but it was not enough for a spot in the quarter-finals. New-ball bowlers Sanjay Pahal and Ashish Hooda claimed three wickets each to spark Baroda’s collapse. Opener Kedar Devdhar, who struck 81 off 113 balls, had given Baroda a positive start in their chase, and they were well-placed at 109 for 2. Then they lost their last eight wickets for 72 runs.Having opted to bat, Haryana put up 266 for 5 with half-centuries from wicketkeeper-batsman Nitin Saini, Rahul Dagar, and Rahul Tewatia. Dagar and Tewatia provided the late impetus with a unbroken 136-run stand for the sixth wicket.Captain Govinda Poddar’s third List A hundred fashioned a 69-run win for Odisha over Punjab at the Palam ground in Delhi.Poddar walked in at 5 for 1 in the sixth over and did not budge until the 42nd over. He struck 12 fours and a six in his 119-ball 120 and found support from allrounder Biplab Samantray, who scored 48 off 61 balls, as Odisha reached 240.Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh then ran through the Punjab line-up with career-best figures of 5 for 49. Shubham Gill and Anmolpreet Singh, who represented India in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year, contributed with half-centuries each, but the middle and lower order fell away. Punjab were eventually bowled out for 171 in 30 overs.

O'Keefe resuscitates Test career with 6.1 overs

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Steve O’Keefe knew this Test was his big chance. He had played four Tests before, but never more than one in a series. One in Dubai, one in Sydney, one in Pallekele, another in Sydney. So when he saw a pitch that threatened to be a raging turner, he knew the pressure was on to perform. And, having been given the new ball to share with Mitchell Starc, O’Keefe went to lunch on day two with 0 for 23 from seven overs.He was disappointed with how he had bowled. He was not leaking runs, but nor was he threatening much either. So, O’Keefe spent some of his lunch break training with Sridharan Sriram, the former India allrounder serving as Australia’s spin consultant on this trip. And when O’Keefe was handed the ball for his first spell upon the resumption, he took three wickets in his first over to turn the match in Australia’s favour, and finished with 6 for 35 from 13.1 overs.”When I first started to bowl, my first six overs, I went probably back to my comfort zone, which is what I bowl in Australia,” O’Keefe said after play. “You probably won’t see it on camera, but I know how it feels. I was probably just going a bit over the top and whenever I tried to bowl quick it was too full, and it was ordinary bowling the first six overs.”I’d been working in the nets on some other variations, just changing the seam angle and arm angle and you probably don’t notice it, but for me it made all the difference. Sree was like ‘let’s go out and bowl it so you feel comfortable with it’.”It’s amazing how things can quickly change over here. I probably didn’t bowl very well at all in my first six overs. And then it all just happened really quickly. I guess that’s the sort of wicket it is. We played and missed at a lot of balls, and fortunately for us they nicked them and we caught them. It was a good day to be a part of and well finished off by the batters.”O’Keefe’s success should guarantee that, unless he suffers an injury like he did during last year’s Sri Lanka tour, he will play multiple Tests in a series for the first time in his career. At 32, he knew this tour was make or break for his international career, after the disappointment of being forced home from Sri Lanka, which had been followed by a drunken incident at a Sydney hotel that led to a fine from Cricket Australia.Steve O’Keefe returned the third-best figures by a visiting left-arm spinner in India•AFP

“Going to Sri Lanka, I thought that was my big opportunity, and I sort of messed that one up,” he said. “To be honest, I always thought an India tour was there but that it was almost unreachable. To be given this opportunity – I’ve tried to make the most of it and I’ve prepared for it back home by giving away some of the Big Bash cricket to prepare solely for red-ball cricket … It means a lot to do well, but we’re day two in a four-Test series, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”O’Keefe was well backed up by the fielders on day two in Pune – Peter Handscomb’s take at second slip to get rid of Ajinkya Rahane was particularly special, but also by his captain. Steven Smith trusted O’Keefe to take the new ball and then went to him again soon after lunch, despite his struggle for impact in his opening spell.”I think the important thing is I’ve been well backed up by Steve Smith, who I think is a brilliant captain,” O’Keefe said. “When you play under a captain who shows a lot of belief in you, it’s amazing what can happen.”O’Keefe’s final analysis of 6 for 35 was the third best by a visiting left-arm spinner in India, behind Hedley Verity’s 7 for 49 in 1934 and Michael Clarke’s 6 for 9 in 2004, and they were also the second-best figures of O’Keefe’s first-class career. And while he was still coming to terms with his triumphant performance shortly after play on day two, he knew it would count for little if Australia let India off the hook in the second innings.”It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “I think it will if that contributes to a win. Right now we’ll enjoy it, we had a good day, but that’s all it is. It’s just a good day’s cricket. We know this Indian team, how well they can bat, and even in spinning conditions they’re exceptional players. They’re all match-winners, all their top seven batters, you’d even argue the top eight. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re 300 ahead – let’s get more and let’s create 10 chances tomorrow and hold on to them.”

Mishra, Rasool added to India's T20 squad

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Updated India squad

KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Virat Kohli (capt), MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Parvez Rasool, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra
In: Amit Mishra, Parvez Rasool
Out: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja

India have added legspinner Amit Mishra and offspinner Parvez Rasool to their squad for the three T20s against England, choosing to rest their first-choice spin pair of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the series. Ashwin and Jadeja had been part of the initial 15-man squad for the series, which also includes legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal.The series begins on January 26 in Kanpur, rounding off England’s full tour of India.Mishra played two Tests against England in the recent home series and picked up five wickets. In the home ODIs against New Zealand before that, he was India’s top wicket-taker with 15 strikes at 14.33 and an economy rate of 4.79. He had played that series, too, in the absence of Ashwin and Jadeja, who were rested.In all, Mishra has played eight T20Is, and taken 14 wickets at 13.71 and an economy rate of 6.40. Only one of those eight T20Is have come in the last year; before playing West Indies in Florida last August, his previous T20I was in early 2014 at the World T20 in Bangladesh where he finished as India’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Ashwin.Rasool, who is handy with the bat down the order, has played just one international game till date – against Bangladesh in Dhaka in mid-2014. It is understood that the selectors felt this series was a good opportunity to blood someone like Rasool as there were no high-profile T20I tournaments in the near future.When Rasool was selected for India A to play England in a warm-up one-dayer in January 2013, during what was a stand-out Ranji season for him with bat and ball, he became the first cricketer from Jammu & Kashmir to be selected in an Indian team to play an international side.Leading up to the recently-concluded ODIs against England, once again Rasool was picked to play a tour game, and he claimed 3 for 38 including the wickets of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes. In the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he took 38 wickets at 23.86.In the IPL, Rasool has represented Pune Warriors, Sunrisers Hyderabad and, most recently, Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 37 T20s, he has 27 wickets at 34.44 with an economy rate of 6.88.