Sports
Harry Brook’s third century secures slender lead after spinners turn screw
Harry Brook made the third hundred of his extraordinary series as England took a 50-run first-innings lead on the second day of their third and final Test against Pakistan. Nauman Ali and Abrar Ahmed shared eight wickets between them but were made to toil on a slow, dry pitch, bowling 64.4 out of the 81.4 overs in England’s innings.
Pakistan’s openers, Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood, had cut the deficit to 29 runs by the close, seeing out nine overs of spin. On Monday, they will look to set England a challenging fourth-innings target as they attempt to avoid being whitewashed on home soil for the first time.
Brook reached three figures in the afternoon session with a back-foot punch through the covers off Abrar, prompting a standing ovation from Karachi’s National Stadium and the England balcony. He added 117 in a vital sixth-wicket stand with Ben Foakes, who made a watchful 64 in his first innings of the tour.
Brook’s afternoon had started in calamity as he ran out his captain, Ben Stokes, in the second over after lunch. Brook worked Mohammad Wasim into the leg side and initially started coming back for a third run when Azhar Ali prepared to throw the ball in from deep midwicket, but scurried back to the keeper’s end with Stokes already charging down towards him.
As Wasim whipped the bails off at the other end, Brook managed to sneak his bat over the popping crease just before Stokes, who responded by throwing his head back before giving Brook a calm thumbs up, as if to exonerate him for his role in the mix-up. At that stage, England were 145 for 5 and still trailing by 159 runs on first innings.
But Brook pressed on unfazed, rifling a pull through the leg side off Abrar to get his innings back up and running and reaching a 73-ball half-century with a top-edged sweep. He found an able partner in Foakes, who overturned an early decision that went against him and calmly rotated the strike through the afternoon session.
Foakes was given out on 9 when struck on the pad by Abrar’s wrong’un, as the ball popped up to short leg. He was unsure whether he had been given out caught or leg-before, but in the event, he survived on both fronts: there was no inside edge, and ball-tracking technology predicted the ball would have missed his leg stump.
By the second drinks break, Pakistan had gone flat in the field and Brook recognised he had the opportunity to cash in. He pumped Abrar back over his head for a straight six and looked at ease against both spinners, reaching a fluent hundred off 133 balls by standing tall and crunching Abrar through extra cover.
Brook’s hundred was his third of his nascent Test career, in only his sixth innings. When he passed 94, Brook also broke Alastair Cook’s record (450 runs in 2015/16) for the most runs by an Englishman in an overseas Test series against Pakistan. He eventually fell for 111, trapped lbw by Wasim as the ball began to reverse.
England lost another wicket shortly after, as Rehan Ahmed hacked his third ball to short midwicket, but Mark Wood made a handy 35 in a 51-run stand with Foakes and a last-wicket partnership worth 30 between Jack Leach and Ollie Robinson meant Pakistan faced a significant deficit.
Earlier, with the pitch showing more signs of variable bounce on the second day, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope had looked comfortable in bringing up a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Wasim, on debut, conceded three early boundaries and was whisked out of the attack by Mohammad Rizwan, who stood in as captain for the first hour with Babar suffering from a headache.
Faheem Ashraf, the other seamer in the Pakistan line-up, bowled a solitary over in the day. Pope was busy, nudging singles and punching either side of the wicket, while Duckett continued to sweep regularly as he has throughout the tour and brought up a 50 partnership when skipping down to loft Abrar back over his head for a straight six.
It was Nauman, the left-arm spinner, who made the breakthrough. He found sharp spin from outside Duckett’s off stump, trapping him on the pad as he hung back rather than coming forward to a full ball. He was given out and reviewed the on-field decision in the hope that the ball had struck him outside the line of off stump, but ball-tracking technology gave an ‘umpire’s call’ verdict on impact.
And Nauman struck again with his next ball to continue Joe Root’s lean run on this tour. Bowling from around the wicket, he drew Root forwards with a full ball that turned away from the bat, and Root’s tentative push flew to Salman Ali Agha at slip. He held onto a sharp, low chance just above the turf, leaving England 58 for 3.
That brought Brook to the crease, who calmly worked the hat-trick ball into the off side and made his intentions clear by skipping down the pitch to the sixth delivery he faced, swinging Abrar high and mighty back over his head for six.
Brook survived a review for lbw when trapped on the crease by Abrar – with Babar back on the field to send it upstairs – but Pakistan’s legspinner was undeterred. No sooner had Pope reached his third half-century of the tour by slashing Nauman through point, he lost his off stump. Hanging back to combat the low bounce, he was beaten by Abrar’s fizzing legbreak and could only shake his head in disbelief.
Brook swung Abrar back over his head for six more later in the same over, bringing up another milestone for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s team. It was England’s 88th six in men’s Tests in 2022, breaking India’s 2021 record for the most sixes by a team in a calendar year (where data is available).
(cricinfo)
Scores:
Pakistan 304 all out (Babar Azam 78, Agha Salman 56; Jack Leach 4-140) and 21 for0
England 354 (Harry Brook 111, Ben Foakes 64, Ollie Pope 51; Nauman Ali 4-126, Abrar Ahmed 4-150)
91st Battle of the Saints
St. Joseph’s hold the edge when they meet arch rivals St. Peter’s in the 91st Battle of the Saints’ big match starting today. After having beaten Petes by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final at Polonnaruwa the Joes arive at the SSC ground to prove that the victory registered two months ago was not a fluke.
St. Joseph’s captained by wicketkeeper batsman Kenath Liyanage are concluding a successful season after having remained unbeaten until they were eliminated in the semi-final by St. Sebastian’s .
A strong batting lineup and a dynamic spin department are making them a formidable outfit.
Experienced campaigner Yenula Dewthusa and Demion de Silva with their left-arm spin and Aveesha Samash and Nushan Perera with off spin provide the Joes variety in the spin department. Dewthusa, Demion de Silva and Nushan Perera are their leading wicket takers. Spinners doing well at schools matches have not been effective at the SSC during the last few big matches. It will be interesting to watch as to how the spinners in these two teams would fare during the three days.
For pace the Joes will look to Maanasa Madubashana and Dunick Perera who are expected to share the new ball.
Abishek Jayaweera and Aveesha Samash will open batting, while Senuja Wakunugoda, skipper Liyanage, Dewthusa and Rishma Amarasinghe form the rest of the top order batting lineup.
St. Joseph’s registered three outright victories this season (beat St. Servatius’, St. Benedict’s and St. Peter’s) and remained unbeaten.
St. Peter’s under Oween Salgado’s captaincy did well to reach the business end of the Tier ‘A’ tournament. But the Petes were uncertain of Salgado’s participation in the big match as they were yet to assess his fitness yesterday morning. He was wounded during a match and the stitched wound had not fully healed according to team sources.
Petes beat Gurukula, St. Aloysius’ and Holy Cross this season. Their only defeat was at the hands of their arch rivals. They will look forward to avenge the defeat at the big match.
The Petes will rely on the likes of Dilana Damsara, Thareen Sanketh, Nathan David and Jason Fernando to take a greater share of batting responsibilities. The middle order batsman Sanketh is their leading batsman and has maintained an average of over 50 runs.
Speedsters Ethan Ransilige and Joshua Sebastian will share new ball duties for the Petes.
Lashmika Perera and Sanketh will share most of the slow ball duties.
St Peter’s are in the possession of the coveted Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy having last won the big match under the captaincy of Vinu Mohotty in 2016.
St. Joseph’s lead the series tally 12-10. They last won under Ruwantha Fernandopulle’s captaincy in 2008.
St. Peter’s College Team
(Seated from left) Harsha Prabath Perera (Asst. Physio/Trainer & Massuer), Thushara Maduhanka (1st XI Asst. Coach),
Nalin Wijesinghe (Head Coach), Priyadarshana Cooray (MIC – Senior & Junior), Oween Salgado (Captain), Rev. Fr.
Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector), Rev. Fr. Praveen Wijesekara (Priest in Charge – Cricket), Lashmika Perera
(Vice Captain), Dilana Damsara, Rohan Fernando (MIC – 2nd XI), Dinuka D. Godakanda (2nd XI Coach).
(Standing 1st row from left) Dinsara Rathnaweera, Dineth de Silva, Tharin Senvidu, Nathan David, Hiruka Silva, Thareen
Sanketh, Virul Amarapala, Yatheendra Jayaweera, Salith Gallage, Raphael Hettige. (Standing 2nd row from left) Jason Fernando,
Joshua Sebastian, Savi Fernnado, Ethan Ransilige, Asadisa De Silva, Sadeesha Kariyawasam, Enosh Peterson
by Reemus Fernando
120th Lovers’ Quarrel
The stakeholders of the Lovers’ Quarrel Big Match were still pursuing to make the historic 120th edition a reality on the eve of the match after Richmond authorities threatened to pull out citing that Mahinda had violated an accepted norm by included a newly recruited player in the big match team.
The historic edition was scheduled to commence as a three day encounter at the Galle International Stadium today. But the match remained doubtful at the time this edition went to press. The officials of both teams were unavailable for comments on the eve of the match. According to sources close to the two teams the joint big match committee was scheduled to meet in the evening yesterday to take a final decision regarding the match.
Richmond threatened to pull out after Mahinda included Charya Paranavithana in their big match team. Paranavithana captained St. Aloysius’ this season. He is not eligible to play matches that come under the purview of Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association as he is yet to be registered as a Mahinda player. Big Matches are not played according to SLSCA rules but Richmond authorities had raised concerns over the player registration citing that the two schools had honoured the norm even at the big match.
According to sources Richmond were threatening to pull out if Paranavithana’s name was included in the playing XI on the match day morning.
Mahinda concluded a highly successful season as the team captained by Kaveen Rukshan earned the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ promotion this year. They were also the joint champions of the Tier ‘B’ tournament with Thurstan. In contrast former Division I champions Richmond had to fight relegation scares. The team captained by Thamindu Pradeeptha later successfully retained their Tier A position by recording an outright victory.
Mahinda College Team
Seated left to right: T.D. Ajantha Kumara (Head Coach), Y. Nishantha Kumara (Master in Charge – Senior), L. P. Weeraman (Deputy Principal –
Sports), Kaveen Rukshan (Captain), Mr. Janaka Peduruheva (Principal), Arosha Udayanga (Vice Captain), Mr. M.W. Ajith (Prefect of Games), Mr.
Jagath Samarakoon (Master in charge – Junior), Mr. Sachith Lakmal (Asst. Coach)
Standing (Middle row) – left to right – Dineth Pahasara, Thiyon Helika, Vinupa Nethmira, Sahanjith Irugalbandara, Dulisth Darshana, Senuka
Dangamuwa, Sadew Nethmina, Manitha Rajapaksha, Vishmitha Sathsara, Charya Paranavithana, Randula Mabarana
Standing (Back row) – left to right – Sajeew Punsara, Sehas Ashinsa, Kaveesha Githmal, Thevindu Rashmika
by Reemus Fernando
CR & FC huffed and puffed before beating Havelocks Sports Club 25-24 in a keenly contested Clifford Cup semi final game worked off in Colombo yesterday before booking their berth in Sunday’s rugby final, scheduled to take place in Kandy.
In Sunday’s final, CR will meet Kandy SC, the winner of the first semi final.
CR dominated the first half, but Havies came from behind in the second half to be in contention of pulling the game off till the last minute. Havelocks’ chances were boosted with two powerful tries coming from Chathura Dilshan late in the second half. But unpardonable mistakes by the men in the pink and chocolate jerseys helped CR to slip away with the game. Havelocks gave away two yellow cards during extra time in the second half.
The winners collected their points through three tries, two conversions and two penalties while Havelocks responded with three converted tries and a penalty. The winners led 15-10 at half time. Referee Raveen Alexander controlled the game.
By A Special Sports Correspondent
EC asked to ensure level playing field at LG polls; complaint lodged against President AKD
Former CM, and private secretary sentenced to 16 years RI for corruption
Traditional Japanese musical concert and cultural performance
-
Sports4 days agoSri Lanka’s eternal search for the elusive all-rounder
-
News3 days agoBid to include genocide allegation against Sri Lanka in Canada’s school curriculum thwarted
-
News5 days agoGnanasara Thera urged to reveal masterminds behind Easter Sunday terror attacks
-
Business6 days agoAIA Higher Education Scholarships Programme celebrating 30-year journey
-
News4 days agoComBank crowned Global Finance Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka for 3rd successive year
-
Features4 days agoSanctions by The Unpunished
-
Latest News2 days agoIPL 2025: Rookies Ashwani and Rickelton lead Mumbai Indians to first win
-
Features4 days agoMore parliamentary giants I was privileged to know