Sports FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013 Pietersen curbs instincts in England crawl
MELBOURNE: Kevin Pietersen played a substitute Nathan Coulter-Nile at deep dar year. Perth Test centurion Ben Stokes his off-stump to Watson for 38 to waste cautious out-of-character innings and backward square leg off Harris. fell late in the day when he edged to another good start. Carberry, who was lived a charmed life as English wickets But Coulter-Nile was unable to stay Shane Watson at slip off Mitchell Johnson dropped in the slips on two, had done all clattered around him on an attritional within the field of play in taking the catch, for 14. He he was followed by Jonny the hard work but was beaten by terrific opening day of the dead-rubber fourth staggering over the boundary marker, Bairstow, replacing Matt Prior but bowled movement off the pitch from Watson in Ashes Test against Australia yesterday. and Pietersen was awarded a six instead. by a Johnson snorter for 10. “We know if the 34th over of the innings. In nine Test Pietersen, under fire for his unproductive He had a second “life” on 41 when George we bowl like we did today we’re going to innings he has been out six times batting in England’s troubled series, Bailey had two goes in a fumbling have days like that, where they’re not between 30 and 43. Harris removed Root curbed his natural attacking instincts to attempt at a catch off Harris at mid-wick- going to score many runs because we’re with an outswinger, enticing an edge to keep the pressing Australians at bay et. Harris, who was superb leading the putting so much pressure on them and Haddin for 24 off 82 balls in the 43rd over. before a crowd of 91,092, the highest sin- Australian attack, ended a threatening 67- they’re not scoring,” Harris said. Watson’s well-catalogued injury jinx gle-day attendance for any Test match. run partnership when he got Bell to nick The Australians’ tight bowling line struck again when he was unable to com- Pietersen went to stumps unbeaten on an outswinger to Brad Haddin for 27 off restricted the English scoring and extract- plete his seventh over late in the middle a fighting 67 off 152 balls, with Tim 98 balls in the 73rd over. ed the wickets of opener Michael session and left the ground for treatment Bresnan on one in England’s 226 for six. In During his innings Bell joined Michael Carberry and Joe Root in the middle ses- for a right groin problem. He returned to doing so Pietersen passed Geoff Boycott Clarke in passing 1,000 runs for the calen- sion. Carberry shouldered arms and lost the field late in the day to take the catch as the fourth all-time England run-getter. to dismiss Stokes. Australian captain “I think he’s outstanding. He does play an Michael Clarke-with an unassailable 3-0 aggressive game and sometimes, like at Scoreboard lead in the five-match series and the the WACA (Perth Test), he gets caught at Ashes already recovered-won the toss long on, it doesn’t look particularly great,” and sent the troubled tourists in to bat teammate Ian Bell said. “But the number MELBOURNE: Scoreboard at the close on the first day of the fourth Ashes Test under overcast skies. of games he’s won us in the past, there’s between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday: England got to first-hour drinks with- not many cricketers like him in world England 1st innings: 5-202 (Stokes), 6-216 (Bairstow) out losing a wicket but lost skipper cricket. Alastair Cook c Clarke b Siddle 27 Bowling: Harris 20-8-32-2, Johnson Alastair Cook three overs later when he “Tomorrow morning if you wanted Michael Carberryb Watson 38 20-2-59-2 (1w), Siddle 22-7-48-1 nibbled at Peter Siddle and was caught by one guy to go out there in the middle to Joe Root c Haddin b Harris 24 (1nb), Lyon 20.2-3-60-0, Watson 6.4- Clarke at second slip for 27. In the 19 toss- try to get us up to a competitive score, it Kevin Pietersennot out 67 2-11-1 es Clarke has had as Australia skipper it would be KP.” The subdued Pietersen had Ian BellC Haddin b Harris 27 To bat: Stuart Broad, James was only the fourth time he has put the some luck along the way and denied the Ben Stokes c Watson b Johnson 14 Anderson, Monty Panesar. opposing team into bat. England impressive Ryan Harris both times, as Jonny Bairstow b Johnson 10 Toss: Australia dropped vice-captain Prior and named England were pinned down by a disci- Tim Bresnan not out 1 Crowd: 91,092 Bairstow as wicketkeeper, while Monty plined Australian bowling attack on a Extras (b10, lb6, w1, 1nb) 18 Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Kumar Panesar was chosen as the specialist spin- slow scoring day at the Melbourne Cricket Total (6 wkts; 89 overs) 226 Dharmasena (SRI) ner following the shock mid-series retire- Ground. Pietersen, who took 12 balls to Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Cook), 2-96 TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL) ment of Graeme Swann. In contrast get off the mark, had some good fortune (Carberry), 3-106 (Root), 4-173 (Bell), Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI) Australia named an unchanged side for on six when he was caught by fielding the fourth consecutive Test. — AFP King Kallis - The quiet conqueror steps down
DURBAN: Jacques Kallis was never one for displays of emo- still comes as a blow when the reality dawns,” Cricket South tion or grand speeches. Instead, he preferred to move quiet- Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. ly, even serenely, through an 18-year test career that estab- South Africa coach Russell Domingo paid tribute, more lished him as arguably the greatest allrounder of cricket’s than anything, to Kallis’ influence in the dressing room, modern era. His expressions were mostly concealed by his revealing a lesser-known side to a player who was sometimes helmet while batting or by his sunglasses and trademark criticized, unfairly, for playing slowly and selfishly. “Jacques’ wide-brimmed sun hat when South Africa was fielding. calmness, maturity and presence in the change room will On the occasions when he scored one of his 44 test cen- sorely be missed and hopefully he will still be able to play a turies or took one of his nearly-300 wickets before announc- role in this team’s success in the near future,” Domingo said. ing his retirement earlier this week, he would flash his toothy For a player who rarely was animated on the field, Kallis’ influ- grin in acknowledgement or raise an arm up in celebration. ence on those around him was immense, and he seemingly In interviews, the broad-shouldered allrounder who could didn’t need many words to exercise it. When he did speak, it dominate bowlers with seemingly effortless cover drives and was often in a manner that was understated, incisive and, cru- bounce out the best batsmen with fierce, heavy short balls cially, valuable. Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock was surprisingly soft-spoken. recently told a story about a Kallis comment in the dressing For much of his career, Kallis was strangely never adored room after South Africa had conceded a then world-record in South Africa the way Sachin Tendulkar was in India or Don 434 runs to Australia in a limited-overs international at Bradman was in Australia. And yet his worth to his country’s Johannesburg’s famously high-scoring Wanderers ground. As test team over his career has been just as valuable, perhaps the South Africans trudged into the dressing room desperate- more. South Africa will miss him now. It was Kallis’ introspec- ly downcast, Kallis said: “Right, the bowlers have done their tive approach that probably didn’t always win over the sup- job, they’re 10 runs short,” Pollock recalled. The mood was porters, but his teammates and opponents rated his value as instantly lightened, Pollock said, and South Africa won the a player and a person as priceless. And his achievements game by scoring a new-record 438 in what is widely consid- spoke volumes. ered the best ODI game ever. Kallis’ teammates paid glowing He scored match-winning hundreds and took partner- tribute on social media following his retirement announce- ship-breaking wickets in abundance, and buckets of test ment, praising him as the best cricketer ever, South Africa’s catches as one of the most dependable slip fielders in the best sportsman and a “legend” of the game. game. Only Tendulkar has made more test centuries. And Batsman Faf du Plessis wrote: “What an honor sharing a when it came to batting allrounders, no one could touch changeroom with the greatest cricketer of all time.” Captain Kallis for his additional contribution with the ball. His batting Graeme Smith even expressed his brotherly “love” for Kallis. average is better than the “Little Master” Tendulkar and his In typical fashion, Kallis didn’t immediately post any mes- bowling average on a par with front-line quicks such as sages about his retirement, happy instead to let his won- England’s James Anderson and India’s Zaheer Khan. drous achievements - and others - do most of the talking. Kallis will retire from test cricket after South Africa’s sec- There was one comment from Kallis in the statement ond test against India, which started yesterday at Durban, announcing his upcoming retirement after his 166th test DURBAN: South Africa’s Jacques Kallis waves to the crowd in and his country will soon doubtless realize how rare a crick- that stood out, though: “I feel that I have made my contribu- his last match before retirement during Day 1 of the second eter he was. “Although we all knew the retirement of a great tion in this format.” In his own way, that summed it up per- Cricket Test Match between India and South Africa at the player like Jacques Kallis was going to happen, his decision fectly. — AP SAHARA Stadium, Kingsmead in Durban yesterday. — AFP