MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014 SPORTS Wretched form exposes India’s batting woes

MUMBAI: Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli’s and Manchester, last month’s stirring win at Lord’s DOWNHEARTED DHONI ing porous while England paceman James wretched form in England has again exposed India’s appears to stand out as a flash in the pan. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not Anderson has found a walking in Kohli, who failure to fill the huge void left in the batting line-up Pujara, who bats at the number three spot left mince his words in finding where to lay the blame has kept the slip cordon constantly interested with when Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar retired. vacant by Dravid, had been impressive with his for one-sided defeats in the last two tests as regular edges flying towards them. Dravid, India’s formidable number three bats- technique and temperament when India play at England stormed 2-1 ahead with the final match to But Dhoni, who himself has looked slack in his man, ended his career in January 2012 after scoring home and also during the 1-0 series loss in South come at The Oval next week. captaincy and with the gloves behind the stumps, 13,288 runs in 164 tests, with many of those coming Africa last year. The flamboyant Kohli, who took “What is important is to put runs on the board,” sounded less than convincing as he grasped for in tricky overseas conditions. Tendulkar’s number four position, had been marked Dhoni said after the innings defeat at Old Trafford excuses to defend his failing star batsmen. Run-machine Tendulkar bid farewell last out as India’s next great batsman - a reputation on Saturday. “To some extent, Lord’s and the per- “Consistently we are exposing Pujara in the sec- November after a career spanning 24 years, during underlined by his consistency in the last two years formance of the eight, nine, 10 and 11 so far in the ond, third or fourth over and he might feel that he is which he played 200 tests for India and scored close at home and on the tours of South Africa and New series camouflaged the question of the top order better off opening the batting,” Dhoni said, target- to 16,000 runs in the longest format. Zealand. However, their collective failures against not performing. ing his top two batsmen for offering little or no pro- The lack of a succession plan was bemoaned as the moving ball in England has given rise to doubts “But when you are playing with five bowlers, the tection against the new ball. the ageing batsmen reached the twilight of their about their class and ability and if they are the fifth bowler actually has scored more runs for us. “Our openers haven’t given us good enough careers during a horrid spell for the team away from answer to India’s search for batting solidity in the That actually puts pressure on, whatever the reason start and that has put a lot of pressure on Pujara home, when they lost eight tests in a row in absence of their retired heroes. may be. “Maybe a few of the batsmen are having a coming in at number three, who has never felt set- England and Australia. After batting eight times each in the first four lean period at the same time. But overall, we will tled. “Virat has had a lovely spell for two-and-a-half India had not won a test match outside the tests, Pujara has an average of 25.87 with one half have to put more runs on the board so that the years and this is something that will happen in country since 2011 when they set foot on English century while Kohli has dismal figures of a 13.50 bowlers can get the opposition out.” international . But I am not really worried as soil and after the thumping losses in Southampton average with a highest score of just 39. Pujara’s solid defence has suddenly started look- he is middling the ball well.” — Reuters Slow S Africa creep up on Zimbabwe

HARARE: Zimbabwe stifled South Africa’s on the stumps. De Villiers’ demise was lazy in usually fluent top six but the world’s top- the end as if the boredom of it all overcame ranked test side remained in control by reach- him as he tried to hit a ball from off-spinner ing 201 for four, 55 runs behind, at the close John Nyumbu over cover, but succeeded only on the second day of the one-off test at in picking out Sibanda. yesterday. Usually so fluent and difficult to contain, The day yielded just 209 runs in the 90 De Villiers’ torturous seven came from 34 balls. overs on a wicket that is becoming increas- Opener Dean Elgar fought his way to 61 from ingly difficult to bat on as Zimbabwe posted 146 balls before he was superbly caught flash- 256 in the morning session. Faf du Plessis (69) ing at a wide by wicketkeeper and Quinton de Kock (27) will resume on day Richmond Mutumbami off the of three. In the hour after tea South Africa scored Donald Tiripano, handing the debutant seam- 11 runs for the loss of Hashim Amla and AB de er his maiden test wicket. Villiers as the home sided packed the offside Under-pressure opener Alviro Petersen field and bowled wide of off-stump, daring (32), who averages 21 in his last 10 test the South African batsmen to blast their way innings, was also caught by Mutumbami - at through the ring of men. the second attempt - after he attempted to Amla (four) tried, but succeeded only in paddle a leg-side delivery from Nyumbu. In picking out Vusi Sibanda at cover off the the morning session, Dale Steyn completed bowling of seamer Tendai Chatara. It was the his 24th five-wicket haul in tests to end the perfect execution of home captain Brendan Zimbabwe innings. Steyn finished with five Taylor’s plan, hatched no doubt given his lim- for 46 from 22.4 overs to take his tally of test ited bowling options. to 380, three short of Ian Botham in That subdued the attacking instincts of Du 13th place on the all-time list. Off-spinner Plessis and De Villiers, who left anything wide Dane Piedt recorded figures of four for 90 in and what runs came were from rare deliveries his first test. — Reuters SCOREBOARD

HARARE: Scoreboard at the close of play on the second day of the one-off Test between Zimbabwe and South Africa at Harare Sports Club yesterday: Zimbabwe first innings Bowling: Steyn 22.4-11-46-5, Philander V. Sibanda c Petersen b Steyn 0 18-5-51-1, Morkel 19-3-39-0, Piedt 24-1- H. Masakadza b Piedt 45 90-4, Duminy 9-0-26-0 M. Vermeulen lbw b Piedt 14 GALLE: Sri Lankan cricket team captain Angelo Mathews celebrates after winning the opening Test match between Sri Lanka and . — AFP B. Taylor c Duminy b Piedt 93 South Africa first innings R. Chakabva c Amla b Piedt 0 D. Elgar c Mutumbami b Tiripano 61 S. Williams c de Kock b Steyn 24 A. Petersen c Mutumbami b Nyumbu 32 R. Mutumbami lbw b Steyn 21 F. du Plessis 69 Sri Lanka defeat rain, T. Panyangara c de Kock b Philander 12 H. Amla c Sibanda b Chatara 4 D. Tiripano not out 15 A. de Villiers c Sibanda b Nyumbu 7 T. Chatara c de Kock b Steyn 22 Q. de Kock not out 27 J. Nyumbu c de Kock b Steyn 2 Extras (1nb) 1 Extras (4lb, 2wd, 2nb) 8 Total (4 wkts, 84 overs, 334 mins) 201 Pakistan in first Test Total (all out, 92.4 overs, 403 mins) 256 To bat: JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Sibanda), 2-33 Steyn, Dane Piedt, Morne Morkel. GALLE: Retiring Mahela Jayawardene took on the (Vermeulen), 3-90 (Masakadza), 4-90 Fall of wicket: 1-57 (Petersen), 2-132 unusual role of opening batsman to hand Sri Lanka (Chakabva), 5-120 (Williams), 6-179 (Elgar), 3-146 (Amla), 4-157 (de Villiers). a thrilling seven-wicket victory on the final day of SCOREBOARD (Mutumbami), 7-204 (Panyangara), 8-220 Bowling: Panyangara 16-7-18-0, Tiripano the first Test against Pakistan in Galle yesterday. (Taylor), 9-246 (Chatara), 10-256 15-4-42-1, Nyumbu 24-4-71-2, Chatara The hosts, needing 99 to win in a minimum of 21 GALLE, Sri Lanka: Final scoreboard of the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Galle yes- (Nyumbu). 15-9-17-1, Williams 14-1-53-0. overs, beat fading light and approaching rain to terday: cruise home in the 17th over in front of some 5,000 jubilant home fans. Pakistan 1st innings: 451 (Younis Khan 177, Asad Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Manzoor), 2-11 (Ajmal), 3-39 Jayawardene, who is due to retire from Test crick- Shafiq 75, Sarfraz Ahmed 55, Abdur Rehman 50, (Shehzad), 4-55 (Younis), 5-111 (Ali), 6-111 (Misbah), et after the two-match series, scored 26 before Dilruwan Perera 5-137, Rangana Herath 3-116) 7-133 (Shafiq), 8-153 (Rehman), 9-178 (Talha), 10- Kumar Sangakkara (21) and skipper Angelo Sri Lanka 1st innings: 533-9 declared (K. Silva 64, 180 (Junaid). Mathews (25 not out) chipped in lower down the K. Sangakkara 221, M. Jayawardene 59, A. Mathews Bowling: Herath 30.2-11-48-6, Eranga 14-5-44-1, order. Mathews and Kithuruwan Vithanage smashed 91, Saeed Ajmal 5-166, Junaid Khan 2-104) Perera 28-6-68-2, Prasad 17 runs in the 16th over bowled by Junaid Khan and Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 4-1): 8-3-10-1. then scored the winning run in the next over just Khurram Manzoor c Dickwella b Herath 3 Sri Lanka 2nd innings: before rain hit Galle. Ahmed Shehzad lbw b Perera 16 U. Tharanga b Junaid 12 The win was set up by left-arm spinner Rangana Saeed Ajmal c Dickwella b Prasad 4 M. Jayawardene b Junaid 26 Herath, who claimed six for 48 that bundled Azhar Ali c Dickwella b Herath 41 K. Sangakkara c Manzoor b Talha 21 Pakistan out for 180 in their second innings in the Younis Khan b Herath 13 A. Mathews not out 25 post-tea session. “It was one of the best games I Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Perera 28 K. Vithanage not out 11 have been part of,” said Mathews. “I was praying for Asad Shafiq lbw b Herath 8 Extras: (lb3, w1) 4 a bit of sunshine and the rain staying away for some Sarfraz Ahmed not out 52 Total (for three wickets, 16.2 overs) 99 more time, but we managed to get through in the Abdur Rehman c Dickwella b Eranga 1 Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Tharanga), 2-59 (Jayawardene), end.” Mathews attributed the win to Sangakkara’s Mohammad Talha c Dickwella b Herath 4 3-73 (Sangakkara). 221 in the first innings and Herath’s six wickets earli- Junaid Khan lbw b Herath 0 Bowling: Ajmal 6-0-29-0, Junaid 8-0-55-2 (w1), Talha er on Sunday, and hoped they would also win the Extras: (b7, lb3) 10 2.2-0-12-1. final Test to give Jayawardene a perfect farewell. Total (all out, 80.2 overs) 180 Sri Lanka won by seven wickets. “Sangakkara is such a great player and Herath was unbelievable,” he said. “We want to focus on the must forget this game and get ready for the next 13 to reduce the tourists to 55-4. Ali and Misbah put next game and win it for Mahela, who is such an one.” Pakistan, who started the day at 4-1, lost three on 56 for the fifth wicket on either side of lunch unbelievable player.” wickets in the morning session to go to lunch on 66- when both fell at the same total to make it 111-6 — 4. The tourists added eight runs in the morning just 29 runs ahead with 45 overs left in the game. Ali DROPPED CATCHES when seamer Dhammika Prasad had nightwatch- (41) was caught behind off Herath and Misbah (28) Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq rued the missed man Saeed Ajmal edging a catch to wicket-keeper was leg-before to Perera in the next over. Pakistan chances on the field, but admitted Sri Lanka were Niroshan Dickwella. Opener Ahmed Shehzad made found themselves pinned against the wall at 133-7 deserving winners. 16 when he was given out leg-before to off-spinner when Asad Shafiq, the last recognised batsman, was “Dropped catches cost us badly, especially the Dilruwan Perera to make it 39-3. Shehzad, who con- leg-before to Herath for eight. Seamer Shaminda one off Sangakkara,” Misbah said, referring to the sulted his partner Azhar Ali before deciding not to Eranga had Abdur Rehman caught behind at the chance spilled at point by Abdur Rehman off the ask for an umpire’s review, would have survived if he stroke of tea before Herath dismissed Mohammad first ball of the fourth day when the batsman was on had signalled for it. Television replays showed the Talha and last man Junaid to leave gutsy Sarfraz 102. “Also our batting in the second innings could HARARE: South African batsman Quinton de Kock in action as Zimbabwe wicket ball missing the leg stump. Ahmed stranded on 52 not out. The second and have been better. This was too good a wicket to get Herath dealt Pakistan a bigger blow when he final Test will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club keeper Richmond Mutumbami (right) looks on during the second day of a Test match bowled out for 180. But the better team won. We between South Africa and host Zimbabwe. — AFP bowled first innings century-maker Younis Khan for in Colombo from Thursday. — AFP Marquez takes pole position

INDIANAPOLIS: World champion Marc Marquez Marquez said that he changed from soft tyres reconfigured for this year’s event, drew praise stormed to his eighth pole position of the sea- in Saturday’s practice run to hard tyres for the from the riders. son for yesterday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix afternoon qualifying. “Tomorrow, (it) depends on While the course still has 16 turns, the overall where he will be chasing a perfect 10th win in 10 the temperature,” Marquez added. “This morn- length is shorter at 4.17 kilometers (2.59 miles) races. The Spaniard clocked 1min 31.619sec on ing, the rhythm with the soft tires was so good. and turns 3, 4, 7, 15 and 16 have been modified. his Honda with Andrea Dovizioso in second This afternoon, with the hard tires, was also Also, the circuit’s entire infield section was place on a Ducati, 0.225sec off the pace. good. With both options, I feel comfortable.” repaved, to the delight of riders who com- Jorge Lorenzo, Aleix Espargaro and Valentino Dovizioso, whose only other front-row start plained in the past about the bumpy surface. “It Rossi filled out the top five places on the grid for this season came in France where he started in looks like they did a very good job,” said seven- yesterday’s race. Marquez, who won at the third place, was 10th at the Indianapolis Grand time series champion Rossi of Italy. Five of this Brickyard last year as a rookie in the elite class, Prix a year ago. year’s riders have competed in the previous six now has 17 poles in 28 races in MotoGP. The Italian’s highest finish at the venue came MotoGP races at Indianapolis-Rossi, Dovizioso, “This afternoon, I felt so good,” said Marquez. in 2012, when he took third. Lorenzo, the 2010 Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Colin Edwards. “In the qualifying and practice, I’m happy for the and 2012 world champion, won this event in The 40-year-old Edwards, who recently pole because after holidays, to get confidence 2009. He finished behind Marquez and Dani announced plans to retire, is the lone US entry in again, it’s important. Pedrosa a year ago in a one-two-three finish for this year’s race. In Moto2, Mika Kallio of Finland “Our pace is high and if it’s dry I think we can Spanish riders. won the pole with a qualifying time of 1:36.883. INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez of Spain and Repsol Honda Team rounds the bend fight for the victory. The tyres will be a big deci- Late yesterday, he’ll start in the front row for Australia’s Jack Miller had the day’s quickest per- during the MotoGp Red Bull US Indianapolis Grand Prix qualifying at Indianapolis sion, especially for the rear.” the fifth time this year. The MotoGP course, formance in Moto3 with a 1:40.727. —AFP Motor Speedway. — AFP