India lost four wickets in the final session to undo much of their earlier good work with the bat on the first day of the third Test against Australia at the WACA yesterday.
After Indian captain Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat, the tourists were 297 for six at stumps, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan both undefeated on eight.
India started the day's final session in a commanding position at 177 for two, with star batsmen Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in fine touch.
However, Tendulkar (71) was the victim of another poor umpiring decision, while Dravid (93) and VVS Laxman (26) threw their wickets away with poor shots to allow the home side back into the match.
Umpire Asad Rauf adjudged Tendulkar LBW to Brett Lee, who was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 3-64, despite the fact the ball appeared to be passing over the top of the stumps.
The dismissal meant India were 198 for three and it was a turning point in the day's play, with Sourav Ganguly then falling cheaply to Mitchell Johnson.
Dravid holed out to the innocuous off-spin of Andrew Symonds late in the day, and just six runs later Laxman fell to a similarly injudicious shot from the bowling of Lee, as India slipped to 284 for six.
It was a disappointing end to the day for the Indians, after Tendulkar and Dravid added 139 runs for the third wicket to steady their side after the loss of two quick wickets before lunch.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when