The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Triumphant England on top of the world Posted: 13 Aug 2011 07:39 AM PDT  England's Graeme Swann (4th R) celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of India's Suresh Raina (L) during the third cricket test match at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, England August 13, 2011. England surged to the top of the world rankings after crushing India by an innings and 242 runs in the third test today. – Reuters pic Fast bowler James Anderson claimed four for 85 as India were dismissed for 244 after lunch on the fourth day at Edgbaston, giving the home team a 3-0 lead in the four-match series. India's batsmen capitulated for the third successive match against England's penetrative attack. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was India's top scorer for the second time in the test, with 74 not out, but the game was over when Shanthakumaran Sreesanth edged Tim Bresnan to Kevin Pietersen in the gully. "There's not many bowling units better than ours in the world," said England captain Andrew Strauss at the presentation ceremony. "It's been a goal of ours to reach the top of the rankings for a long time. It's a great testament to everyone involved in the England set up and fills me with a lot of pride." England's series victory takes them top of the test rankings ahead of South Africa and previous leaders India. Alastair Cook's career-best 294 laid the foundations on Friday when England racked up a massive 710 for seven declared in reply to India's first innings 224. "Congratulations to England," said Dhoni. "We've not been up to the mark in this series and the margin of defeats have been getting bigger and bigger. "There are areas we need to improve in the side ... but overall to play really good cricket you have to be consistent and that's what England have done." – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Anderson puts England on brink of massive win Posted: 13 Aug 2011 07:31 AM PDT BIRMINGHAM, Aug 13 – James Anderson ripped through the top order to reduce India to 116 for six and put England on the verge of a crushing win in the third test today. Anderson had figures of four for 35 at lunch as India's batsmen capitulated for a third consecutive match against England's penetrative attack. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was nine not out and Amit Mishra was on 16 at the interval. India still needed another 370 runs to make England bat again but more realistically Andrew Strauss's team required another four wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series and climb to the top of the rankings. With the sun shining at Edgbaston and the pitch slow but encouraging spin, India were presented with good batting conditions but were unable to cope with Anderson from the outset. They resumed on 35 for one and Anderson had opener Gautam Gambhir (14) caught by Graeme Swann at second slip off the batsman's first ball of the day. That was 35 for two and it became 40 for three when the usually reliable Rahul Dravid (18) edged behind. Anderson reserved his best delivery of the morning for VVS Laxman (2) as he shaped the ball from middle stump to off and found an edge to the wicketkeeper. That was 56 for four and it was 87 for five when Suresh Raina (10) was lbw to Swann. World record-breaker Sachin Tendulkar looked at his best for the 95 minutes he occupied the crease, hitting eight boundaries including an elegantly-timed straight drive off Tim Bresnan. But he was dismissed in the cruellest of fashions when a Dhoni drive was deflected on to the non-striker's stumps by Swann's fingertips. Tendulkar was just out of his ground and the third umpire sealed his fate. Amongst the rattle of wickets, perhaps the most bizarre sight was wicketkeeper Matt Prior opting to don a helmet and stand up to Anderson as a tactic to prevent Tendulkar from standing outside of his crease. It lasted one ball. England are also well positioned to register their second-biggest test victory of all time after their first innings of 710 for seven declared in which Alastair Cook plundered a career best 294. – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan