Smith’s ‘century’ puts Australia in command

Pakistan bowlers wilt in Brisbane heat

India’s captain Virat Kohli gestures during a training session ahead of the fifth cricket Test match between India and England at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on

Dec 15. (AFP)

to put us under pressure,” he said.

Kohli leads the series’ batting chart with 640 runs, way ahead of England batsman Joe Root, who has 397 for the four matches.

England’s Alastair Cook on Thursday shrugged off criticism of his captaincy ahead of the fifth and final Test against India in Chennai, saying one has to live and die by the decisions made.

The tourists, who lost the series 3-0 trail after the fourth Test loss in Mumbai, started off with a strong performance in the first drawn Test in Rajkot but could not keep pace with top-ranked India.

Cook’s role as a leader has been brought into question after the three consecutive defeats but he insisted that it is all part of the job.

“You get judged on your results as a captain don’t you? And when you lose games of cricket you are under fire, it happens to everyone,” Cook said.

“When Virat (Kohli) loses games of cricket he’ll get criticised, when I lose games of cricket I get criticised. That’s part and parcel of the job.

“Look at Dylan Hartley the England rugby captain. He wins games of rugby and it’s all flying and obviously an incident last week (when he hit an opponent in the face) he gets criticised,” added Cook.

Cook admitted reading the pitch wrong in the Mohali Test and also regretted using just two spinners in Mumbai.

“When you’re part of the leadership group you live and die by those decisions and when it’s going well everybody thinks you’re brilliant and when you’re doing badly everybody thinks you’re terrible,” he said.

Cook insisted England’s effort could not be criticised as they search for a consolation win.

England will be without their leading wicket-taker James Anderson in the fifth and final test against India, captain Alastair Cook said on Thursday.

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 15, (AFP): Skipper Steve Smith scored a hundred and rookies Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb halfcenturies as Australia took an early grip on the pinkball first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane on Thursday.

Smith, dropped on 53, showed the way as the Australians built the foundations for a sturdy first innings after winning the toss.

At the close before a first day Gabba crowd of more than 26,000, the home side were 288 for three with Smith on 110 and Handscomb, playing in only his second Test match, not out on 64.

Smith raised his 16th Test century with a driven four off Mohammad Amir with three overs left in the day. It came off 184 balls with 15 fours.

The pair put on an unbroken stand of 137 runs for the fourth wicket after 20-year-old opener Renshaw chipped in with an impressive 71 also playing in his second Test.

Smith was put down on 53 nearing the dinner break when an edge off spinner Azhar Ali went in and out of wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed’s gloves.

Smith and Handscomb batted through the entire final session when most wickets statistically tumble in pink-ball Tests under the lights to put Australia in a strong position.

Pakistan feared they might have lost their star pace bowler Mohammad Amir after he fell to the ground in the final session clutching his right knee after a misfield.

Amir jarred his knee after his right leg dug into the turf as the ball ran on to the boundary rope.

He was ferried off the ground by a medi-cab, but remarkably returned to the field 30 minutes later and went on to finish the session bowling with the second new ball.

It was a huge relief for the tourists after it conjured up memories of England fast bowler Simon Jones rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament in a similar fielding mishap at the Gabba in 2002.

“His knee went into the ground and we all feared that he might be worse, but thank God he recovered quickly and he came back,” team-mate Azhar Ali said.

“He’s feeling much better and the good thing is that he came on and bowled with the second new ball, which is a good sign.”

Australia lost the wicket of Renshaw in the middle session after the dismissals of David Warner and Usman Khawaja in the opening session.

Renshaw did not put a foot wrong in an assured innings until the 44th over when he was caught behind off Wahab for 71 off 125 balls with nine fours.

The youngster looked at ease in his home ground Test match and was on course for his maiden Test century before Wahab struck.

“I’m just enjoying it and trying to go out there and play with a smile on my face because it’s doing something I love, playing for my country,” Renshaw said. Australia’s captain Steven Smith plays a shot as Pakistani wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed (left), looks on during the first day-night cricket Test match between Australia and Pakistan at Gabba Stadium in Brisbane on Dec 15. (AFP)

Russia is again under pressure after a report last week by World AntiDoping Agency investigator Richard McLaren detailed a vast, state-sponsored doping cover-up involving 12 medalists from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

NBC is bringing year-round Olympic programming to the United States.

After years of trying, the US and International Olympic Committees have agreed with NBC on a package that will offer year-round Olympic programming, focused on US athletes. NBC will launch a new US television network branded “Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA” in the second half of 2017.

That channel will complement the IOC’s Olympic Channel, which launched on a worldwide digital platform after the Rio Games.

The programming will include archival