Andrew Strauss was poised for a century in each innings as England took charge of the first Test against India at the Chidambaram Stadium yesterday.
The tourists, enjoying a first innings lead of 75, recovered from a shaky 43-3 to post 172-3 in their second knock by stumps on the third day, an overall lead of 247 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Left-handed Strauss, who made 123 in the first innings, was unbeaten at the close on 73 and looking to become only the second Englishman after Graham Gooch to score two centuries in a Test against India.
PHOTO: AFP
Gooch made 333 and 123 against Mohammad Azharuddin’s men at Lord’s in 1990, a match England won by 247 runs.
Paul Collingwood kept Strauss company at close on a polished 60, the pair having put on 129 for the unbroken fourth wicket after India, dismissed for 241 soon after lunch, grabbed three quick wickets before tea.
Seamer Ishant Sharma had opener Alastair Cook caught behind for 9, before Ian Bell and skipper Kevin Pietersen fell in successive overs.
PHOTO: AP
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra used the bounce in the wicket to have Bell fending a catch to Gautam Gambhir at short-leg after the batsman had made 7.
Next over, Pietersen was trapped leg before wicket off the first delivery by part-timer Yuvraj Singh, who came on ahead of front-line spinner Harbhajan Singh.
But Strauss and Collingwood ensured England begin the last two days well-placed to force victory in the first match of the two-Test series.
The 31-year-old Strauss has so far batted for four hours, hitting five boundaries, while Collingwood has six fours to his credit.
Earlier, India’s seventh-wicket pair of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan put on 75 runs to prolong the first innings after India resumed at the overnight score of 155-6.
Dhoni made 53 and Harbhajan contributed 40, before both batsmen fell to left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.
Andrew Flintoff removed Zaheer Khan for 1, but Mishra (12) and Sharma (8) put on 22 valuable runs for the last wicket.
Dhoni, who resumed on his overnight score of 24, showed his aggressive intent from the start when he cut Flintoff to the point boundary in the second over of the morning.
The Indian captain moved to 38 when Bell failed to hold a difficult chance at short-leg off Panesar.
Harbhajan swept Panesar for a four to bring up the 50 partnership and then took two successive boundaries off Harmison to post India’s 200.
Harbhajan was caught at short-leg off Panesar, while Dhoni holed out in the deep off the same bowler soon after.
Panesar and Flintoff finished with three wickets each and debutant Graeme Swann took two, both in his first over in Test cricket.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but