Michael Clarke hit a charmed century, while Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin eased the pressure on their Test careers with half-centuries as Australia took charge of the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba yesterday.
Helped by sloppy Kiwi fielding, Australia put themselves in a strong position with a commanding 427 in their first innings to seize a 132-run lead over the Black Caps.
The Kiwis lost the big wicket of Brendon McCullum, caught in the slips by Ricky Ponting off James Pattinson in the seven overs to stumps to be 10 for one and trail by 122 runs with two days to play.
Martin Guptill was not out seven with nightwatchman Doug Bracewell yet to score.
New Zealand’s hopes of a first victory in Australia for 26 years faded after they dropped Clarke twice on his way to 139, while Haddin chipped in with 80 and former skipper Ponting hit 78.
It was the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Australia have amassed 400 runs or more in the first innings at their Gabba fortress, where they remain unbeaten for 23 years.
Clarke rode his luck to claim his 17th Test century after he was dropped at 85 and 105 and bowled off a no-ball. He made the All Blacks pay dearly as he shared in a 108-run sixth wicket stand with Haddin for Australia to take control of the match.
It was Clarke’s fourth Test hundred against the Kiwis and second in his last five Test innings after scoring 151 against South Africa in the first innings of the Cape Town Test last month.
Clarke was out on the fourth ball after tea, caught at deep backward square by Tim Southee off Chris Martin, ending his 368-minute stay, which included 19 fours and a six.
The Kiwis made it easier for Clarke, with wicketkeeper Reece Young and Jesse Ryder spilling catches, both off the luckless paceman Doug Bracewell.
Clarke on 85 edged straight into Young’s gloves only for the wicketkeeper to fumble the chance and after lunch Ryder dropped a high two-handed chance at third slip when the Australia skipper was on 105.
Clarke was also bowled off an inside edge on 23 late on Friday only to get a reprieve when Bracewell was found to have overstepped for a no-ball.
Ponting and Haddin both took the heat off their Test spots, with Haddin’s innings including two sixes and six boundaries.
Ponting, whose last big innings was 209 against Pakistan in Hobart in January last year, hit 12 boundaries off 140 balls and put on 86 runs for the fourth wicket with Clarke.
Ponting narrowly avoided being run out before he had scored and he also survived a video referee’s referral for LBW on 63 on Friday.
Mike Hussey was caught bat-pad by Ryder off-spinner Daniel Vettori for 15.
Bracewell finally grabbed the wicket he thoroughly deserved when he had James Pattinson caught by Ross Taylor in the slips for 12.
Test debutant Mitchell Starc, dropped by Taylor on nought, went on to make an unbeaten 32 off 54 balls, while Martin finished with three for 89 off 28 overs.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
RSS