26 Sports Thursday, December 20, 2018 Rain, epic stand save Sri Lanka in New Zealand Test Mendis unbeaten on 141 and Mathews 120 at stumps

WELLINGTON: Sri Lanka battled to a rain-affected draw skipper Dinesh Chandimal. “They fought hard when the in the first Test against New Zealand yesterday after the situations came.” It was the only time in New Zealand that Black Caps were unable to break an epic stand by Kusal a full day’s play has been completed without a Test Mendis and Angelo Mathews. falling, and the first time anywhere since South Africa The tourists were 287 for three in their second innings- achieved the feat against Bangladesh in Chittagong in still nine runs away from an innings defeat-when the 2008. umpires called time with only 13 overs bowled on the final The partnership was also a Sri Lankan record against day. Mendis was unbeaten on 141 and Mathews 120 not the Black Caps. The draw snaps Sri Lanka’s four-Test los- out at stumps after a stubborn 274-run stand that, along ing streak against the Black Caps on New Zealand soil. It with the weather, allowed Sri Lanka to salvage a draw. will give the world’s sixth-ranked team confidence after New Zealand Kane Williamson was left to rue they arrived in New Zealand smarting from a 3-0 Test missed opportunities after controlling the match for three whitewash against England last month. days then failing to land a killer blow. “Obviously it’s a They have also had to contend with disarray in their shame to have the weather around today because we felt if coaching and selection ranks. The fourth-ranked Black we could pick up a wicket and get into their lower order, Caps entered the two-match contest buoyed by their first there was still very much a chance of a result,” he said. away Test series win over Pakistan in 49 years. New Zealand’s early dominance was built on a mam- They are looking for a fourth straight Test series win moth 578 in the first innings, featuring an unbeaten 264 after also defeating England and the West Indies in the from Tom Latham. The left-hander’s career-best effort past 12 months. The second and final Test begins on overhauled former England captain Alastair Cook’s 244 as December 26 in Christchurch, where the tourists have not the highest score by an opener carrying their bat in Test won in three attempts. history. Williamson did not expect the Christchurch pitch to The emphatic performance should have given the New flatten out as it did in Wellington, offering more for his Zealand bowlers two full days to attack a Sri Lanka line-up seamers. Chandimal said his team had benefitted from a that showed little fight in the first innings, but Mathews hit-out in New Zealand conditions but needed to improve and Mendis responded with a masterclass of their own. on the slow starts they made in Wellington. The pair came together late on day three with Sri “When we were we lost three early Lanka reeling at 13 for three in their second dig, trailing in both innings and when we were bowling we couldn’t New Zealand’s first inning total by 296. They batted get early wickets,” he said. “So that’s an area we’ll through the whole of day four, fending off a barrage of have to improve as a team... we’ve got a lot of young- bouncers from the New Zealanders. sters in our side, so I’m sure they will learn and exe- WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s Tim Southee (R) holds his leg in pain beside Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews during day five of “Both boys out there showed a lot of character,” said cute their plans.” — AFP the first Test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in Wellington yesterday. — AFP

order of a team with a lengthy tail, and number three trapped LBW in 11 of his last 14 innings. batting Opening woes Cheteshwar Pujara has had to walk out to bat inside four coach Sanjay Bangar lamented last month that the open- overs on three of the four occasions. er was “finding new ways to get out” and many believe Opening stands made telling difference in Perth, where Rahul needs to work out the flaws with his technique. continue to Australia prevailed by 146 runs to square the four-test Opening partner Vijay has not covered himself in glory ‘Disrespectful, series. The 112-run first innings stand between Marcus either on his return to the squad after he and fellow blight India Harris and Aaron Finch laid the platform for Australia’s opener were dropped following modest silly’ Kohli blasted 300-plus total in a low-scoring contest and they raised 59 returns in England. Down Under in the second to help set India a target which the tourists Vijay has managed 49 runs from four innings but may at home and abroad could not achieve. still continue as opener purely because India have lost Rahul, who has managed 48 in four innings, has looked the exciting Prithvi Shaw to an ankle injury for the NEW DELHI: Captain Virat Kohli has thrown his weight like a sitting duck, with batting great entire series. “I’m sure those guys have figured out NEW DELHI: Indian captain Virat Kohli faced stiff crit- behind India’s struggling openers but the tourists’ defeat in demanding the 26-year-old be sent home to work on his what’s gone wrong in this game especially and they’re icism both Down Under and at home yesterday after his Perth showed they have yet to find a solution to their top game. “I think he should come back and play very keen to correct it themselves,” Kohli said in Perth side’s crushing loss to Australia in the second Test. order woes. for Karnataka,” the former India captain told Aaj Tak of his misfiring openers. Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson called Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay have managed only one channel. “It is not just that he is out of form, he is just not The tourists have flown in as replace- Kohli “disrespectful” and “silly” over his heated double-digit stand midway through the four-Test series in there and you can see that.” ment, rewarding the uncapped opener for his consistency exchanges with fellow skipper Tim Paine during the Australia, hardly the starts that would help bring India a Rahul has not managed a fifty in his last seven Test in domestic cricket. The series shifts to the traditional Perth Test. first test series win Down Under. outings and equally worrying has been the manner of his Boxing Day Test in Melbourne followed by the finale in Former India great Sunil Gavaskar meanwhile hit out Their struggles have intensified pressure on the middle dismissals, with the right hander either bowled or Sydney. — Reuters at “selection blunders” and the Indian Express daily slammed Kohli’s “explicit lack of confidence” in some of his players. Kohli and Paine exchanged barbs, at one point prompting intervention from the umpire, during in March this year. Shakib showed dissent while batting the game that Australia won by 146 runs on Tuesday to Bangladesh’s after the umpire did not call a wide in the 14th over of the level the four-match series 1-1. Bangladesh innings. Shaw ruled out of It was reported that Kohli belittled Paine as just “a Shakib fined for “He first shouted at the umpire and then got involved in stand-in captain”-a claim angrily denied by India’s team a prolonged discussion,” said an ICC statement issued late Australia series management. The retired Johnson said the famously Tuesday. combative Kohli’s antics were unnecessary. shouting at umpire “After the end of the match, Shakib admitted the “At the end of the match, you should be able to look offence and accepted the sanction,” it said, adding no for- PERTH: Young Indian batting phenomenon Prithvi each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great con- mal hearing was required. Shaw has been ruled out for the final two Tests test’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports. “Virat Kohli DHAKA: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was fined 15 Shakib scored 61 off 43 balls in the game in Sylhet but against Australia after failing to recover from an ankle could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian percent of his match fee for shouting at the umpire during could not prevent a humiliating loss for his side. injury picked up during a warm-up game before the captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. Monday’s opening against West West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 129 and series began. To me, that is disrespectful. Indies, the International Cricket Council said. knocked off the target with 55 balls in hand to take Team management had previously suggested the “Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers Shakib was also handed one demerit point, his second 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second and 19-year-old, who scored a sparkling debut simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a such penalty since the introduction of the system in third matches will be held in Dhaka today and against the West Indies in October and has been pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking sil- September 2016, for the offence during hosts’ eight-wicket Saturday. compared to , could be fit for the ly,” he added. After the game both Paine and Kohli defeat. Bangladesh swept West Indies 2-0 in the preceding Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. played down their on-field sledging, which was picked Shakib now has two demerit points, having been hand- Test series before winning the three-match one-day inter- But they have now decided to send him home with up by stump microphones. ed one for an offence during a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka national series 2-1. — AFP Mayank Agarwal called up as his replacement. Kohli described it as simply banter that was part and “Opening batsman Prithvi Shaw, who had suffered parcel of . “As long as there is no swearing a left ankle injury while attempting a catch in the the line doesn’t get crossed. And no personal attacks,” practice game against CA XI, has been ruled out of he said. He added that the remarks in Perth were noth- Titans, Redskins the ongoing Test series against Australia,” governing ing compared to their Australian tour in 2014, when he body, the BCCI, said in a statement late Tuesday. claimed to have been called a “spoilt brat”. square off with In addition to Agarwal, they also added all- But Johnson said Kohli’s behaviour made a mockery rounder Hardik Pandya to their squad for the third of his pre-series claims that he was a changed man and and fourth Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, with the didn’t plan to initiate any confrontations. “What we saw playoffs within reach series tied 1-1. this Test says otherwise,” he said. “From my experi- India won the first Test at Adelaide with ences with him and what I am seeing as an observer WASHINGTON: The Washington Redskins and Tennessee Australia claiming the second in Perth-their first now, not much has changed. It was disappointing and Titans will try to put pressure on their fellow playoff pur- Test victory since the ball-tampering scandal in that is not the only area where he let himself down.” suers when they kick off Week 16 on Saturday in South Africa in March. Johnson and Kohli have history. In 2014 at Nashville. The Titans (8-6) are one of three teams tied for India squad for Melbourne and Sydney: Virat Melbourne, Johnson threw the ball that hit Kohli in the the second AFC wild card along with the Baltimore Ravens Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar back when attempting a run out, sparking a heated and the Indianapolis Colts, with the Ravens holding the Pujara, , Hanuma Vihari, Rohit debate. tiebreaker. Sharma, , Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Gavaskar said that the roles of Kohli and coach Ravi Washington (7-7) is tied with the Philadelphia Eagles, Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Shastri need to be assessed if India fail to perform in one game behind the Dallas Cowboys (8-6) in the NFC Mohammed Shami, , , the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. He said East and one-half game behind the Minnesota Vikings (7- Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, that since India’s tour of South Africa at the start of the 6-1) for the second NFC wild card. Tennessee has won Mayank Agarwal. year, picking the wrong players “has lost matches which three straight, including a 17-0 shutout of the New York could’ve been won.” Giants last Sunday. Running back Derrick Henry has JACKSONVILLE: File photo shows Cody Kessler #6 of the If India fail to win the next two matches, “the selec- rushed for 408 yards and scored six touchdowns in his Jacksonville Jaguars is sacked by Jonathan Allen #93 of tors need to think whether we are getting any benefit past two games after producing 474 yards and five scores the Washington Redskins during the game at TIAA Bank from this lot-the captain, coach and support staff,” in the first 12 contests. Field on December 16, 2018 in Jacksonville. — AFP Gavaskar told Aaj Tak TV news network. The Indian “It helps the offense tremendously,” quarterback Express said that the biggest bone of contention in Marcus Mariota told the team’s website regarding Henry. Perth was not selection but that Kohli “has little confi- “When you are able to do that and get in third-and-man- was vital as he rushed nine times for 49 yards. dence in some of his teammates”. “It’s a viciously self- ageable, you have an opportunity to throw the ball down “He’s got a lot of poise for a guy who just got here. A fulfilling prophecy: the more you think they can’t do it, the field. So, we definitely have to continue to do that.” lot of confidence,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. “We they won’t be able to do it,” the paper said. — AFP While quarterback injuries got most of the attention blew a protection, he got hit a few times pretty hard, but during Washington’s four-game losing streak that ended he didn’t let that affect his next drop. He continued to read last week, a leaky defense was as much to blame. After the field, scan the field, stand tall, and made some big-time being near the top of the total-defense rankings early in throws. So, I was impressed with him.” the season, the Redskins are 18th in the NFL, allowing The Titans’ defense is ranked seventh in the NFL, 357.4 yards per game, including 116.6 on the ground (also allowing 329 yards per game. One week after the Giants 18th). However, with their playoff chances on the verge of gained 402 yards in a rout of the Redskins, the Titans held extinction, the Redskins held the Jacksonville Jaguars to New York to 260 yards. Washington running back Adrian 192 total yards in a 16-13 win last Sunday. “I think they’ve Peterson has topped 70 yards in a game just once in the done a great job on defense,” Mariota said of the past seven weeks, but on Sunday, 24 of his 51 yards came Redskins. “They’ve got some veteran guys throughout, and on the game-winning drive. “Adrian has been great all they’ve done a good job getting after the passer. And from year. I was a little nervous when we first got him. I was like, what I have seen, they’ve done a good job of attacking the man, if I don’t give it to this guy 20 times a game, he’s football.” going to kick my butt,” Gruden joked. “He’s been very Josh Johnson, Washington’s fourth starting quarterback good, man, he’s been very patient, very understanding of the season, was successful in his first start since 2011 about the rotations, about what we try to do.” PERTH: India’s captain Virat Kohli (C) sits on the players and will benefit from another week of practice before fac- Tennessee linebacker Brian Orakpo, a former Redskin, bench at the end of second Test cricket match between ing the Titans. Against the Jaguars, Johnson completed 16 missed last week’s game with an elbow injury, and his sta- Prithvi Shaw Australia and India in Perth. — AFP of 25 passes for 151 yards, one touchdown pass and no tus for Saturday is uncertain. Redskins tackle Ty Nsekhe interceptions. His mobility, behind a battered offensive line, (knee) is day-to-day for Washington. — Reuters