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Labuschagne, Marsh lead Australia’s fightback on rain-curtailed day
As expected, rain had a major say on the fourth day at Old Trafford with two sessions fully washed out. After a long wait, play finally had gotten underway during what would normally be the second hour of the post-lunch session. When play resumed, the odds were heavily stacked against Australia, more so the overnight pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh. To their credit, the duo weathered the storm rather solidly, negotiating whatever England threw at them with calm.
A lot of the initial phase was about defiance but Marsh did surprise some with an attacking shot early, a nonchalant drop-kick that wasn’t all that far away from Moeen Ali who ran to his left from deep square leg. That apart, the partnership was mostly compact in their shot selection and gave England very few chances when together. Labuschagne gradually started flowing in terms of run-scoring even as Marsh dug deep at the other end.
A moral victory of sorts came for the pair when, after about 90 minutes of play, the umpires told Ben Stokes that England couldn’t operate their pacers anymore due to fading light. It meant that spin had to be bowled from both ends and Moeen came in, as did Joe Root. It allowed Labuschagne to up a gear as he eased towards a well-deserved Test ton, his second overseas. However, it was spin that would eventually break the partnership.
Shortly after completing his century, Labuschagne appeared to be a tad lazy against Root who was getting some bite off the dry Old Trafford surface, constantly threatening the outside and inside edges. His arm-ball in particular had a bit of fizz about it and that’s what got Labuschagne, whose half-hearted late cut ended up as a bottom-edge which Jonny Bairstow pouched on the rebound. It wasn’t given on-field but Bairstow egged Stokes to review and was proven right.
Cameron Green appeared a bit shaky, particularly against spin, and also survived a review at the stroke of Tea. Meanwhile, Marsh has looked quite flawless at the other end although spin is starting to have a say on this tired surface. England would have fancied to have a few more overs of spin in the final session but that wasn’t to be as the rain returned to wash out the remainder of the day.
The weather forecast for the final day is just as ominous as it was for the fourth day, if not worse. England will hope that they get at least a session like they did today or more as they seek to gun down the remaining five wickets. As for Australia, they showed a lot of fight today in the 30 overs that they had to face but will need to do a lot more of that on a wearing surface, if weather and light permits.
Brief scores:
Australia 317 (Mitchell Marsh 51, Marnus Labuschagne 51; Chris Woakes 5-62) and 214/5 (Marnus Labuschagne 111, Mitchell Marsh 31*; Mark Wood 3-27) trail England 592 (Zak Crawley 189, Jonny Bairstow 99*, Joe Root 84; Josh Hazlewood 5-126) by 61 runs
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.
“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.
But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.
According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.
(BBC)
A large fire near a Canadian military base in Alberta has killed and injured some people, the defence minister said, without confirming the number of casualties.
The Canadian Armed Forces were working with local authorities to manage the fire and were looking into what caused it, David McGuinty said, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred, adding his “thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected”.
Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, where the fire broke out, is one of the country’s busiest military training bases.
The blaze “spread rapidly due to high winds” and had torn through the fences of the base, the Municipal District of Wainwright said.
McGuinty told reporters he “cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory”.
It is unclear when the fire broke out, but the district first posted about the incident at about 17:30 local time.
Local authorities have urged residents to avoid the area and give all emergency vehicles right of way.
(BBC)
The Asian Youth Games gold medallist who has run sub four minutes previously returned a time of 3:55.97 seconds to become the first athlete in his age category at these championships to run the distance under four minutes.
Achintha who has a personal best of 3:53.05 from last year was representing Prince College Ratnapura today.
In another impressive 1,500 m feat Tharushi Abhisheka of Lyceum International School, Wattala established a new meet record in the Under-20 Girls’ 1,500m as she returned a time of 4:34.59 seconds to win.
By the end of the second day of the meet seven new meet records had been established.
D. V. C. de Soysa (of Galewela Central College) Under-16 Boys’ Discus Throw – 55.83m.
D. G. Lahiru Achintha (of Ratnapura Kumara Vidyalaya) Under-18 Boys’ 1,500m – 3:55.97 secs.
W. P. Nethula Induwara (Rahula College, Matara) Under-14 Boys’ 100m – 11.70 seconds
K. V. R. Gayesha (Ira Handa Kotuwa Wewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa) Under-16 Girls’ High Jump – 1.70m
H. M. D. S. Herath (Maris Stella College, Thimbirigaskatuwa) Under-20 Boys’ Long Jump – 7.65m
P. M. Amaya Semindi (Vijitha Central College, Dikwella) Under-14 Girls’ High Jump – 1.58m
Record 1,600 students take Russian Classical Ballet examination in Sri Lanka
Half a million people join protests in France, but some turn violent
Deadly fire breaks out at Canada military base
Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island after 1.00 p.m.
Buddhist hierarchy demands prison perks for monk convicts
Debate on NCM against Speaker postponed indefinitely
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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