Charles grabs five as Root powers England
CAVE HILL, Barbados, CMC – Off-spinner Bryan Charles claimed five wickets as CWI President’s XI pushed touring England on the opening day of the twoday tour match at 3W’s Oval here yesterday.
The tourists were dismissed at the close for 317 with the 23-year-old Charles claiming five for 100 from 25 overs.
Twenty-year-old speedster Chemar Holder ended with three for 67 while fellow seamer Alzarri Joseph, picked in the 13-man squad for the first Test, claimed a single wicket from 14 overs.
Captain Joe Root shone with a run-a-ball top score of 87 while all-rounder Ben Stokes struck 56 and Chris Woakes, an unbeaten 39.
Opener Rory Burns made 35 while Moeen Ali got a start failed to build on his 21.
The home side made a strong start when they removed opener Keaton Jennings (10) and the dangerous Jonny Bairstow (4) cheaply.
Jennings was taken at short leg by Vishaul Singh off Joseph while left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer removed Bairstow to a catch at the wicket.
Root, however, stabilised the innings by anchoring two successive half-century stands. First, he put on 72 for the third wicket with Burns, who faced 70 balls and counted three fours before falling lbw to Holder.
Root then added a further 69 for the fourth wicket with Stokes, a stand which saw England dominate the second session to be 202 for four at tea.
The right-handed Root struck 12 fours and two sixes in nearly two hours at the crease before perishing to a catch at mid-wicket by Sunil Ambris off Charles.
Stokes, who belted seven fours and a six off 97 balls, posted 42 for the fifth with Moeen but was sixth out, holing out to mid-wicket off Charles. SYDNEY, (Reuters) - Virat Kohli smashed his 39th one-day international century as India claimed a dramatic six-wicket victory over Australia at a sweltering Adelaide Oval yesterday to level up the three-match series at 1-1.
Skipper Kohli contributed of 104 of his side’s runs as they successfully chased down their victory target of 299 for the loss of four wickets to send the series into a decider on Friday at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, clearly suffering in the heat, smashed a huge six to bring the scores level and reach his half century before scoring the winning run with four balls to spare.
“Very pleased,” Kohli said afterwards. “It was a really tough day. M.S. in the end was tired as well. We need a good day’s rest, a good day’s travel and then we’ll recuperate and get ready for the MCG.”
Shaun Marsh had earlier scored a sparkling 131, his second century in three outings in the format, to drive the hosts to 298 for nine in their 50 overs in the heat of the afternoon when temperatures soared well above the 40 degree Celsius mark. Kohli took over under the lights on what remained a muggy evening and took his century off 108 balls, pumping his first towards the dressing room after taking two runs to square leg to reach the milestone.
In all, he hit five fours and two sixes in his 112-ball innings but left disappointed after smacking a Jhye Richardson delivery straight to Glenn Maxwell on the deep midwicket boundary in the 44th over.
Dhoni (55 not out) had played within himself as he kept Kohli company in a partnership of 82 but hit a six for his first boundary soon after his captain departed and added 57 with Dinesh Karthik (25 not out) to get the tourists over the line.
“I think we hung on really well,” said Australia captain Aaron Finch. “But when you come up against a side that’s in form like India ... you know you have to keep taking wickets and when the old pro Dhoni is there at the end it’s tough.”
Finch won the toss for the second successive match but that was as far as his luck went and he departed for six as he did on Saturday when the hosts won the series opener in Sydney by 34 runs.
The hosts have made a habit of making starts in recent matches and Usman Khawaja had put 21 runs on the board before being brilliantly run-out by a direct hit from Ravindra Jadeja at cover-point.