S P O R T S
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015
England coach
Pakistan tighten grip on decisive Bangladesh Test
Moores facing sack again — reports
LONDON: Peter Moores is set to be sacked for the second time as England coach after Andrew Strauss takes up a new post in the national set-up, several British newspapers reported yesterday.
Strauss is the overwhelming favourite to land the post of
England director of cricket, a job created by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last month following Paul Downton’s sacking as managing director. Further evidence that former England captain Strauss was on course to take up the administrative role at Lord’s came when he was withdrawn from the Sky television commentary team covering the washed-out one-day international between Ireland and England in Malahide yesterday.
James Taylor, England’s stand-in captain against Ireland, said the players were unaware of any possible changes to the coaching set-up.
“I haven’t heard anything on that,” Taylor told BBC Radio’s
Test Match Special. “I haven’t heard any echoes of that being the case. I know in my brief time with England in the last six months he’s been really good with me, really positive, so I haven’t heard anything like that.”
DHAKA: Bangladesh faced a long haul to save the second and final Test against Pakistan in Dhaka after they were set an improbable victory target of 550 on the third day yesterday.
The hosts were 63 for one at stumps with Tamim Iqbal (32) and Mominul Haque (15) together at the crease after Imrul Kayes was bowled by Yasir Shah for 16 on a wearing pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. Bangladesh will still need to bat out six sessions over the last two days to avoid losing the short series after the first Test ended in a draw in Khulna last week.
Bangladesh’s highest fourth innings score to win a Test is 217 against the West Indies in 2009. The Tigers were bowled out for 203 in their first innings before lunch in reply to Pakistan’s 557-8 declared, but the tourists did not enforce the follow-on despite a a mammoth lead of 354 runs. Batting a second time, Pakistan declared their second innings at 195-6 with skipper Misbah-ul Haq leading the way with a 72- ball 82 that included nine boundaries and three sixes.
Pakistan lost opener Mohammad Hafeez before lunch, caught behind by hard-working seamer Mohammad Shahid off the fourth ball of the innings. Shahid struck again soon after resumption when he removed Sami Aslam, before Azhar Ali, a double-centurion in the first innings, became Soumya Sarkar’s first Test victim after making 25.
If Strauss does take over and Moores is removed from his post, it will mean the coach’s second spell in charge will have lasted barely a year since he was brought back in 2014 following England’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia, which led Andy Flower to step down as coach.
Moores’s second spell in charge-he was initially dismissed in 2009 after a falling out with then captain Kevin Pietersenhas so far yielded just one series win, at home to India last year, and included England’s embarrassing exit from the World Cup, where they failed to beat a single Test nation, and a disappointing 1-1 series draw in the West Indies.
Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie, now the coach of English county champions Yorkshire, having been brought on board at Headingley by incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves, has been touted as a possible replacement for Moores. Speculation has also focused on another former Australia international, Justin Langer, who was a mentor to Strauss early on in his professional career when the two lefthanded batsmen played for county side Middlesex. — AFP
Misbah put on 58 for the fourth wicket with Younis Khan before he closed the innings soon after he was sixth out caught in the deep in a bid to step up the run-rate.
Pakistan are seeking their first win on the month-long after being routed 3-0 in the one-day series and losing to
Contador aiming for slow Giro challenge
DHAKA: Pakistan cricketer Yasir Shah appeals unsuccessfully for leg before wicket decision against Bangladesh cricketer Imrul Kayes during the third day of the second cricket Test match. — AFP
Bangladesh for the first time in a Twenty20 international.
ITALY: Alberto Contador will begin his bid for a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double today aiming to keep out of the limelight for as long as possible in Italy.
Bangladesh, resuming the day at 107-5, conceded the huge lead despite an unbeaten 89 off 91 balls by Shakib Al Hasan that included 14 boundaries and two sixes. Shakib, who was on 27 when the eighth wicket fell at the total of 140, smashed 62 of the 63 runs he added for the ninth wicket with Mohammad Shahid, who held firm at the other end for nine overs. Shakib admitted his team faced a tough task, but vowed to go down fighting. “We won’t give up without a fight, that’s for sure,” the star all-rounder said. “Nobody has ever chased such a total so if we don’t play well tomorrow, we won’t be thinking about the chase obviously.
“But if we can get a 200-run stand from the top-order, we can build from there. There is a lot of time left in the game and the wicket is not as slow or low as it was in Khulna. “If we can spend the first hour tomorrow without losing a wicket, we have hope in this match.” Shakib said he was surprised by Pakistan’s decision to bat again instead of enforcing the follow-on. “Frankly, I did not expect them to bat again,” he said. “I don’t know why they did that. But hopefully this will go in our favor.
SCOREBOARD
The 32-year-old Spaniard, who won the Vuelta a Espana for the third time last year, is bidding to become the first person since disgraced Italian Marco Pantani in 1998 to do the Giro-Tour double in the same year. He last attempted the feat in 2011 and although he won the Giro, he faded to fifth in the Tour two months later. However, he was later stripped of both results when the Court of Arbitration for Sport found him guilty of ingesting the banned substance clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France and stripped him of all results from then onwards.
Even so, Contador will come into the race as clear favourite simply because his record in Grand Tours is so remarkable. Of the 12 he has started, he has finished top of the pile in eight of them.
Even after taking into consideration the results he was stripped of for doping, his record still reads six victories (two Tours, one Giro and three Vueltas) from nine. But this time around, he is mindful of saving energy to be able to reach the Tour de France in top shape. To do so he says that he would rather not take the race lead until the final week, and even then as late as possible. “I’d be happy with taking it on the last day. Better than having it for two weeks straight,” Contador told Spanish newspaper Marca.
“This Giro is very different to 2011, firstly because of the way
I’m planning on tackling it. “In terms of the route, there are a lot of mountains, but not so much at the ends of stages. There won’t be out-and-out mountain stages until after stage 14.”
It means Contador will likely be looking to control proceedings and keep in touch rather than taking the race by the scruff of the neck in those first two weeks.
The Spanish Tinkoff-Saxo leader said it is the mountainous stage 16 where he believes the Giro will be won and lost. That takes in five categorised climbs including the first category Passo del Mortirolo. “The key to the Giro will be the Mortirolo. For me it’s the key stage, with the Aprica, Tonale, Mortirolo and Aprica again,” Contador said. —AFP
DHAKA: Scoreboard yesterday at stumps on the third day of the second test between Bangladesh and Pakistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
- Mahmudullah
- 82
15 18 8
Pakistan 1st Innings 557-8 declared Bangladesh 1st Innings 203(overnight
107-5)
Asad Shafiq b Shuvagata Sarfraz Ahmed not out Extras (2lb, 6w)
Tamim Iqbal lbw b Junaid
Imrul Kayes b Yasir
4
Total (for 6 wickets declared) Overs: 41.1.
195
32
13 28 89 12 3
M Haque c Sarfraz b Junaid Mahmudullah c Azhar b Riaz Shakib Al Hasan not out Mushfiqur Rahim b Yasir Soumya Sarkar c Azhar b Riaz Shuvagata Hom c Asad b Riaz Taijul Islam b Hafeez Shahid c Azhar b Yasir Shahadat Hossain absent hurt Extras: (2lb, 2w, 2nb)
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-25, 3-49, 4-107, 5-140, 6-195. Did not bat: Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan. Bowling: Mohammad Shahid 10-4-23-2 (6w), Taijul Islam 10-0-56-1, Soumya Sarkar 9-0-45-1, Shakib Al Hasan 8-0-43-0, Shuvagata Hom 2-0-18-1, Mahmudullah 2.1-0-8-1.
015 1
6
- 203
- Total: (all out)
Overs: 47.3.
Bangladesh 2nd Innings
Tamim Iqbal not out Imrul Kayes b Yasir Mominul Haque not out Extras
32 16 15 0
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-38, 3-69, 4-85, 5-107, 6- 113, 7-119, 8-140, 9-203. Bowling: Junaid Khan 6-2-26-2 (1w), Imran Khan 7-0-31-0, Wahab Riaz 15-2-73-3 (1w, 2nb), Yasir Shah 15.3-4-58-3, Mohammad Hafeez 4-1-13-1.
Total (for 1 wicket) Overs: 14. Fall of wickets: 1-48.
63
“I am sure they will think about their decision if we have a big partnership tomorrow. It would, even for a short time, give them some tension.” Shakib raced to his half-century with two consecutive boundaries off leg-spinner Yasir and celebrated the landmark with a six later in the same over. Wahab Riaz and Yasir picked up three wickets each. — AFP
Still to bat: Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Shuvagata Hom, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Shahid, Shahadat Hossain. Bowling: Junaid Khan 5-0-19-0, Imran Khan 4-1-22-0, Yasir Shah 3-0-7-1, Wahab Riaz 2- 0-15-0.
Pakistan 2nd Innings
M Hafeez c Mushfiqur b Shahid Sami Aslam c Mahmudullah b Shahid Azhar Ali c Shuvagata b Soumya Younis Khan c and b Taijul
0825 39
Misbah-ul-Haq c sub (Abul Hasan) b