Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook did their best to make up for lost time as they piled on the runs against the West Indies in the second Test at the Riverside yesterday.
England were 411 for four at lunch.
Pietersen was 46 not out off just 50 balls after Cook had fallen shortly before the break for a Test-best 160.
Cook batted for more than eight hours, facing 340 balls with 17 boundaries. His innings ended tamely when he got a leading edge to left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and was caught at extra-cover by West Indies captain Chris Gayle.
Together with Pietersen, he had added 84 runs for the fourth wicket in a rapid 107 balls.
Cook, who earlier in this match shared a second-wicket stand of 213 with Ravi Bopara (108), was uncertain early in his innings.
But he kept his composure as England, 1-0 up in this two-match series after last week’s 10-wicket win at Lord’s, looked to regain the Wisden Trophy they had lost earlier this year in the Caribbean.
The West Indies cause was not helped by a large extras total of 57, the result of inaccurate pace bowling and indifferent wicketkeeping by Denesh Ramdin.
Fidel Edwards, who bowled nightwatchman James Anderson, was especially wayward, his 11 overs before lunch costing 55 runs for one wicket. England resumed on 302 for two, with Cook 126 not out and Anderson unbeaten on 4.
Anderson reprieved twice off Edwards, on 9 and 10, was dropped down the leg-side by Ramdin and caught off a no-ball by third slip Lendl Simmons. Edwards finally bowled Anderson for 14 to end a stand of 44 with Cook.
His exit brought in Pietersen, dismissed by Edwards for a first ball duck at Lord’s.
Edwards greeted the star batsman with a bouncer, but Pietersen was soon into his stride, whipping Jerome Taylor behind square and clipping him through mid-wicket in trademark fashion for two fours in as many balls.
Cook cover-drove Taylor to the fence to go past his previous Test-best score of 139 not out, made against the West Indies in Barbados in March.
But it was Pietersen who drove Edwards down the ground with a flourish to bring up 400.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS