India had a lead of 32 with just one wicket remaining after ending the fourth day of the third Test against England at 239-9 in Kolkata yesterday.
Once again, the hosts’ batsmen failed to shine and it was left to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to save India from total ignominy with a hard-fought 83 not out.
After Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir put on a brisk 86 for the first wicket, India slumped to 159-8 before fast bowler Ishant Sharma joined Ashwin and hung around for 53 balls before becoming Monty Panesar’s first and only victim of the day.
Fast bowler Steve Finn took 3-37 while off-spinner Graeme Swann and paceman James Anderson took two wickets apiece.
The remaining wicket came from a run out, Cheteshwar Pujara, who had made only 8, the unfortunate victim.
England had started the day on 509-6 but quickly folded to be dismissed for 523, Ashwin picking up two of the wickets to fall.
Fast bowler Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha took the other wickets, the left-arm spinner finishing with figures of 4-142.
A win now looks inevitable for England, which will leave them 2-1 up in the series with one Test to play, which starts in Nagpur on Thursday.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, losing to defending champion Japan 3-1 at the Taipei Dome last night. Japan’s victory put Taiwan’s score at two wins and one loss in WBSC Premier12 championship Group B play. In the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly from Japanese batter Shota Morishita allowed Masayuki Kuwahara to score a run on Taiwan’s starter Chen Po-ching (陳柏清). Taiwan’s attempt to catch up in the bottom of the first ended to no avail and an uneventful second inning saw the score
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick on Friday as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to guarantee a place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. Ronaldo turned in a man-of-the-match performance in a blistering second half. Rafael Leao broke the deadlock with a fine header 14 minutes into the second half and then Ronaldo got his 134th international goal from the penalty spot 13 minutes later. Bruno Fernandes scored a stunning third from almost 30m out and three minutes later Ronaldo’s pass gave Pedro Neto the space to lash home a fourth from a tight angle. Ronaldo made it five — and 135
RSS