WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2013 SPORTS

Cook, Dhoni grab captains of Photo of the day ICC teams of the year awards

MUMBAI: England selection panel chairman has received a welcome boost ahead of said in a statement. this week’s Ashes clash against Australia “The selection panel had a lengthy after he was named skipper of the debate on all the top performers during International Council’s (ICC) test the performance period and a number team of the year yesterday. The left- of combinations were considered. “The handed opener’s England team mates selectors did utilise a vast amount of sta- and James Anderson tistics from the period under observa- were also included in the 11-man team tion, but we also took into account other while world number one test side South factors like the opposition, pitch condi- Africa were represented by four players. tions, match situation and the like. “But South Africa paceman when you have only 12 places to fill from was included in the test side for the a big group of world-class players, there sixth consecutive year, while two play- will always be a few who will miss out.” ers each from Australia and India made up the remaining four slots. Cook took DHONI SATISFIED over as captain after Dhoni, who found place in the 50- quit last year and led England to a series over side for the sixth successive year, win in India, ending a barren run of 28 also won the ICC’s people’s choice years, as well as home series victories award ahead of Cook, Australia’s over New Zealand and Australia in the Michael Clarke, of India and year’s first Ashes series. South Africa’s AB de Viliers. “This is one England face Australia in the second of the awards that has given me test of the return Ashes series in tremendous satisfaction, since it comes Adelaide on Thursday, where the hold- from the key stakeholders of the game - ers will be hoping to bounce back after the fans,” Dhoni said in a statement. being thrashed by 381 runs in the open- “Recognition from the people who sup- er of the five-match series in Brisbane port and encourage us day in and day last month. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, out, only inspires me to put in that Competitors perform during Red Bull Flugtag at Museum Of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. — www.redbull.com who led India to the Champions Trophy much more, and go the extra mile for victory in June, was named captain of them. I would like to thank all those ICC’s one-day international team. “It is people who have voted in my favor.” always tough to decide on the test and Cook and Dhoni also made the short-list McCullum and Taylor ODI teams of the year, with so many of nominees for the ICC cricketer of the worthy candidates to consider based on year award along with Anderson, South the players’ performances between Aug. Africa batsman and 7 2012 and Aug. 25 2013,” ICC awards Clarke. —Reuters tons put NZ in charge

DUNEDIN: Brendon McCullum ended a barren run of scores and three-year drought as England facing a he and tore apart a weakened West Indies attack to drive the hosts to 367 for three critical challenge at the close of the first day of the opening test yesterday. The 32-year-old McCullum, who last scored a test century in November 2010 and ADELAIDE: England face a critical chal- the pitch would offer early spice, prime had accumulated just 85 runs in his previous lenge to their four-year Ashes reign in for the five-day duration and four tests, was back to his aggressive best as he the second Test against Australia starting reverse swing late in the game finished the day on 109 including 14 in Adelaide tomorrow against a re-ener- England say they have no problem boundaries and three sixes. gized home team looking to drive home with Australia’s incessant insults after Taylor was on 103, his ninth test century, as their advantage. Alastair Cook’s tourists skipper Clarke was fined by the the pair added an unbroken 182 runs in a little were swept away by the Mitchell International Cricket Council for telling under three years as the hosts plundered the Johnson-inspired home side in the first England’s Jimmy Anderson to expect a under-powered West Indies in the first Test, going down by the enormous mar- broken arm during the Brisbane Test.”I contest of the three-match series. “He was back gin 381 runs in a match overshadowed have absolutely no problem about any of to the Brendon of old,” Taylor told reporters at by a barrage from Australian what the Australians were doing on the University Oval in Dunedin. “The way he went captain Michael Clarke. field,” Anderson wrote in Britain’s Mail on about his innings, he let the ball come and once It was England’s first defeat in 14 Tests Sunday newspaper. “I probably dish it he got his eye in... he batted very well.” since losing to India in Ahmedabad a out more than most in the field, so I gen- McCullum came into the match under an year ago, but another loss in Adelaide erally get it back more than most. I injury cloud with reports suggesting he was could prove an insurmountable blow in expect it and accept it.” contemplating retirement with a long-standing their bid to hold on to the Ashes after Australian opener Chris Rogers is back problem that was not responding to treat- ment. The former wicketkeeper, who was seen three successive series wins dating back promising more aggression in Adelaide doing stretching exercises when at the non- to 2009. England urgently need to after the home side won their first Test striker’s end, however, did not appear to be too regroup after wilting under Australia’s since beating Sri Lanka in January. “They troubled as he built his innings. He was initially bowling and verbal barrage in Brisbane, probably haven’t been challenged like DUNEDIN: Brendon McCullum captain of New Zealand plays a shot during day one of the first cautious having joined Taylor shortly before tea international cricket test match between New Zealand and the West Indies yesterday. —AFP their task made all the more difficult by that for a while and to have someone like with the hosts on 185-3 and aware another having to find a replacement at number Mitch (Johnson) bowling that fast is quick could have ended the good start put the hosts on the back foot early. However, before tea, the hosts had looked slightly vulnera- three following the shock departure of great for us. Perhaps they were a little bit provided by openers (62) new-ball pairing Best and Gabriel failed to ble but Taylor and McCullum saw New Zealand with a stress-related ill- rattled and we can use that for the rest of and Peter Fulton (61). exploit the conditions by bowling too short of a through to the break then attacked in the final ness. the series,” he said. England will be look- The aggressive McCullum, however, length and Fulton and Rutherford put on 95 for session as the pitch flattened out. Shane The choice to fill Trott’s spot is ing to their batsmen to post a huge first increased the tempo after the break as he the first wicket before the latter was dismissed Shillingford, who had been under a selection between 94-Test veteran and the innings total at the Adelaide Oval, much scored 103 runs in the final session to beat shortly before lunch. The West Indies’ only peri- cloud following bio-mechanical analysis of his inexperienced , with Zimbabwe- like they did three years ago when cap- Taylor to the century milestone by a few min- od of dominance was for about an hour after action when he bowled his ‘’, was the most born likely to slot in at tain Cook (148) and (227) utes. “Its been well documented that he has the first interval, when a hostile Best dismissed economical of the visitors’ attack. The 30-year-old number six after his innings of 55 in Alice combined to lead the tourists to a daunt- been under the pump after a lean patch... and it for 20 and peppered Taylor with had figures of 1-88 off 28 overs but was extract- Springs in a tour game last week. ing 620 for five declared. was a very special moment for him... but our a barrage of short-pitched deliveries. ing little assistance from the pitch and got more When Fulton was dismissed about 15 minutes expensive as the day wore on.— Reuters England batting coach and former Test Cook’s team went on to inflict an jobs are not done yet,” Taylor said of the fact the captain Graham Gooch was pragmatic innings and 71-run victory over Australia pair would need to refocus when play resumed about whoever is chosen to fill the cru- at the ground-renowned for big scores- today. “We need to continue on come the morn- SCOREBOARD cial number three slot. “You’ve got to to take the second Test on their way to a ing... and hopefully a score of 500, 550 is realis- tic.” handle it,” he said. “That’s part of sport. 3-1 series victory. Michael Clarke’s 230 Scoreboard at the close of play on the first day of the first test between New Zealand and West Indies at You’ve got to adapt.” against South Africa in Adelaide last year University Oval in Dunedin yesterday. BOWLING GAMBLE West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl England must find a way to cope with was the fourth highest Test score at the The visitors had gambled on the composi- the hostile bowling of Johnson, who was famous ground behind Don Bradman’s tion of their attack with and Shannon New Zealand first innings Still to bat: Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, , P. Fulton c Edwards b Sammy 61 man-of-the-match in Brisbane with a unbeaten 299 and the Australia skipper Gabriel the only front-line pace bowlers with , , nine-wicket haul, helping dismiss the has accumulated five tons in eight H. Rutherford c Deonarine b Shillingford 62 Bowling: Best 21-4-87-1, Gabriel 17-3-98-0, Sammy 18-3- captain Darren Sammy taking the third seamer A. Redmond c Samuels b Best 20 tourists for 136 and 179. The left-armer is Adelaide Tests for a ground average of 68-1 (nb-1), Shillingford 28-5-88-1, Deonarine 6-0-15-0 role. The punt failed to pay off on the first day, R. Taylor not out 103 vowing more of the short stuff but will 100.82. The teams will not get much of a though, even after Sammy won the toss and B. McCullum not out 109 West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Kieran Powell, have different bowling conditions on a breather after Adelaide, with the third asked the hosts to bat on one of the greenest Extras: lb-7, nb-1, b-4 12 Kirk Edwards, , , Shivnarine drop-in pitch as Adelaide Oval under- Test starting at Perth’s WACA ground just the West Indian skipper said he had Total: (for three wickets, 90 overs) 367 Chanderpaul, , , goes a transformation into a multi-pur- four days after the scheduled end of the seen. He had hoped his side would be able to Fall of wickets: 1-95 2-117 3-185 Shane Shillingford, Tino Best, . pose stadium. The ground curator said match.— AFP utilise the lively strip and overcast conditions to

NHL results/standings

Winnipeg 5, NY Rangers 2; Montreal 3, New Jersey 2; Minnesota 2, Philadelphia 0; Los Angeles 3, St. Louis 2. Wild blank Flyers 2-0 Western Conference Pacific Division ST PAUL: Jason Pominville and Charlie of the season between Talbot’s pads with in the final 5:54. Scrivens has given up fewer Angeles has allowed fewer than three goals W L OTL GF GA PTS San Jose 18 3 5 92 60 41 Coyle scored 57 seconds apart early in the 1:54 left, making it 4-2. John Albert also than three goals in each of his last 10 starts in a franchise-record 13 consecutive games. Anaheim 18 7 4 91 77 40 third period, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a scored in his NHL debut and Blake Wheeler and has posted two shutouts since Quick The streak includes a pair of 3-2 shootout Los Angeles 17 7 4 73 60 38 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on added an empty-net goal in the final went on injured reserve on Nov 12. Los losses to Buffalo and San Jose.— AP Phoenix 15 7 4 85 84 34 Monday night. The Wild and Flyers had minute for Winnipeg, which got 35 saves Vancouver 14 10 5 77 77 33 combined for only 28 shots when from Ondrej Pavelec. Mats Zuccarello and Calgary 9 13 4 70 93 22 Pominville collected Mikko Koivu’s pass in Ryan Callahan scored for New York. Talbot Edmonton 9 17 2 73 95 20 the crease and pushed it past a helpless made 25 saves. Central Division Ray Emery 3:52 into the third period. On Chicago 20 4 4 102 76 44 St. Louis 18 5 3 91 60 39 the ensuing shift, Coyle tapped a rebound CANADIENS 3, DEVILS 2 Colorado 19 6 0 76 52 38 off Jared Spurgeon’s slap shot into an emp- Alex Galchenyuk scored midway Minnesota 16 8 5 70 67 37 ty corner at 4:49. It was an impressive and through the third period to help Montreal Winnipeg 13 12 4 78 82 30 unexpected flurry in a game that had get the victory. Rene Bourque and Max Nashville 13 11 3 62 75 29 played out as the statistics predicted. When Pacioretty also scored for the Canadiens. Dallas 12 9 4 70 73 28 the puck dropped, the Wild’s 17 even- Carey Price made 28 saves. Steve Bernier Eastern Conference strength goals allowed in 21 games led the and Michael Ryder scored for the Devils, Atlantic Division NHL; and the Flyers had allowed two or and Martin Brodeur stopped 14 shots. Boston 18 7 2 75 55 38 Montreal 16 9 3 76 59 35 fewer goals in 10 of their past 14 games. Ryder tied it at 2 with a slap shot that got Detroit 14 7 7 78 73 35 Josh Harding stopped 21 shots to earn his past Price at 4:42 in the third. But Tampa Bay 16 9 1 76 66 33 third shutout of the season, robbing Jakub Galchenyuk responded five minutes later, Toronto 14 10 3 75 73 31 Voracek on a third-period power play. picking up his seventh goal after Alexei Ottawa 10 13 4 78 90 24 Emelin’s shot landed on his stick. It was Florida 7 15 5 59 91 19 JETS 5, RANGERS 2 New Jersey’s first regulation loss at the Bell Buffalo 6 20 2 48 85 14 Olli Jokinen broke a tie with 7:18 left in Centre since 2008. Metropolitan Division the third period and then netted an insur- Pittsburgh 18 9 1 86 64 37 Washington 14 11 2 82 78 30 ance goal moments later to lead Winnipeg KINGS 3, BLUES 2 NY Rangers 14 14 0 62 71 28 to the win. Jokinen, a former Rangers play- Rookie Tyler Toffoli scored two goals, New Jersey 11 12 5 61 67 27 er who also assisted on Devin Setoguchi’s Jarret Stoll also tallied and Ben Scrivens Philadelphia 12 13 2 57 65 26 tying goal in the second period, gathered made 25 saves in Los Angeles’ victory over Carolina 10 12 5 57 78 25 the puck after a strange carom off the end St Louis. Scrivens, who has performed bril- Columbus 10 14 3 67 80 23 boards. He then fired a shot past rookie liantly in place of the injured Jonathan NY Islanders 8 15 4 72 93 20 Cam Talbot, who got a surprise second Quick, was heading toward his fourth LOS ANGELES: St Louis Blues center David Backes (top) trips Los Angeles Kings left Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings straight start over No 1 goalie Henrik shutout of the season when Kevin and are not included in the loss column (L). wing Dwight King during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Los Angeles Lundqvist. Jokinen then squeezed his sixth Shattenkirk and Vladimir Tarasenko scored on Monday, Dec 2, 2013. — AP