England bowlers decimate Australia on day one of Adelaide Ashes Test

Published>Fri, Dec 03 10 02:23 PM

Adelaide, Dec 3(ANI): England bowlers made a sensational start to the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval by bowling out Australia for 245 in their first innings on day one on Friday.

Asked to bowl first, England had a dream opening three overs when they took three quick wickets to have the hosts 3-2 after 13 balls of the Test.

Australian opening batsman Simon Katich was run out without even facing a ball by a brilliant throw from Jonathan Trott, while captain Ricky Ponting edged his first ball from Jimmy Anderson low to second slip, where Graeme Swann took an outstanding catch.

It was Ponting's fifth golden duck in Test cricket.

The dramatic start did not end there as Michael Clarke (two) never looked comfortable and quickly joined his teammates back in the dressing room.

Anderson gained his rewards for pitching the ball up on a track, when Clarke, again looking troubled by his chronic bad back, was drawn into a loose drive and also edged to Swann.

Shane Watson (51) however looked solid in the middle and scored a confident half-century, during which he shared a crucial partnership with Michael Hussey (93).

Watson and Hussey shared a 94-run partnership, before the opening batsman became the third scalp for Anderson.

Hussey fell short of a defiant century, but went on to add some stability to Australia's innings from the dramatic early batting collapse.

The left-handed batsman struck eight boundaries from his 183 deliveries, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin contributed an aggressive 56, but was the last man out as the hosts' last five wickets fell for 38 runs.

Anderson claimed 4-51, while off-spinner Swann took 2-70, his wickets coming off consecutive deliveries.

England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook faced an over before stumps.

Brief Scorecard:

Australia:- Ist innings: 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Anderson 4-51)

England:- Ist innings: 1-0 (Strauss 0 not out, Cook 0 not out) (ANI)

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Matches against Arsenal, Chelsea key to winning back Premier League: Ferguson

Published>Fri, Dec 03 10 01:57 PM

London, Dec 3 (ANI): Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said that a six-day period later this month will be key to his team's chances of winning back the Premier League title.

Manchester United hosts rivals Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday week and then travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on December 19.

Ferguson has earmarked the back-to-back fixtures as vital to their hopes of winning the trophy back from Chelsea.

"You always want to win those games because I think they're really significant. We've managed to claw ourselves into a position two points ahead of Chelsea. So the game at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal's trip to Manchester will certainly be very important," The Sun quoted Ferguson, as saying.

United lost the crown to Chelsea on the final day of last season and Ferguson reckons the two matches against the London outfit decided it.

"We saw that last season. Some big decisions didn't go our way in the two matches against Chelsea and they ended up costing us important points," he said.

United start their December programme at Blackpool tomorrow and also face Sunderland, West Brom, Birmingham and Stoke over the Christmas period.

Ferguson admitted that he is happy enough with the run of matches and is pleased their festive travelling has been kept to a minimum.

"Of course, how you do at Christmas depends on who you've got to play. And more importantly who you have to play in away games. Over the years we always seemed to have had games in the North East but this year it's a bit more local," he said. (ANI)

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Pietersen didn't cross 'twitter line' by criticizing Adelaide curator: Strauss

Published>Fri, Dec 03 10 01:37 PM

Melbourne, Dec 3 (ANI): England captain Andrew Strauss has said that star batsman Kevin Pietersen has not crossed the line by criticizing Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough on Twitter.

Pietersen was rebuked earlier for slamming the English selectors who dumped him from their limited-overs sides earlier this year.

Asked if Pietersen had crossed a line with his latest outburst, Strauss replied: "No, he didn't. But obviously there are degrees of everything, and we don't want anything that distracts our attention from what's important - which is getting on the cricket pitch and performing."

"I don't think he realised when he put it on there. I think he was just frustrated. But the groundsman and authorities at Adelaide have looked after us exceptionally well. We've got no qualms with them whatsoever," The Age quoted him, as saying.

Strauss added Twitter was a way for players to engage with cricket fans and express their differing personalities.

"It was just one of those situations where it was raining and they had to get the covers on. It's not something that I was particularly concerned about. I think Kevin was just frustrated because he wanted to have a long bat yesterday and he wasn't able to do that," Strauss said.

"We have a set of [Twitter] guidelines for our players - and we fully expect them to adhere to those guidelines as much as possible. I wouldn't prefer all of my players to be exactly like me. It would be a pretty boring dressing room. Everyone's different, and a lot of the guys really enjoy it," Strauss said.

Pietersen was highly annoyed when practice wickets were too wet to train on after a downpour on Wednesday.

It is understood Pietersen confronted Hough at the ground about the state of the practice nets, expressing his displeasure before filling in the rest of the world on his social media page. (ANI)

Source: Web Search