Pak eager to set the ball rolling against England
MANCHESTER:PAKISTAN will have to hit the ground running if they are to have any chance against England in their three-test series which starts on Wednesday, coach Misbah-ul-haq said.
Six months since their last Test match, Pakistan go into the games at bio-secure venues in Manchester and Southampton against an England team that beat the West Indies 2-1 last month in cricket’s restart.
“We have to really come in this Test series right from the word go at our best if we want to win a test series or a test match,” Misbah told reporters.
“We’re aware that England have a slight advantage, but if we’re alert and go 100 per cent in the first test, that’s the only way we can beat England ... otherwise we will find ourselves in difficulty,” he added.
TV Timing: Live on Sony Six, 3.30pm
TESTS ON IPL PLAYERS EVERY FIFTH DAY
NEW DELHI: Indian players and support staff will have to return negative for Covid-19 at least five times before they start training in the UAE and subsequently will be tested every fifth day during the IPL, according to a draft prepared by the BCCI.
A BCCI official told PTI if any individual tests positive, he will go into a 14-day quarantine. After that, he will be required to undergo two more Covid-19 RT-PCR tests within a space of 24 hours and if they come negative, that person will be cleared to fly to UAE for the IPL.
NRAI DEFERS NATIONAL CAMP INDEFINITELY NEWDELHI:THE shooting national camp for Tokyo Olympics core group has been deferred. The camp was scheduled to be held at the Karni Singh Range here from first week of August.
Some shooters and coaches had expressed their inability to travel with lockdown restrictions imposed in their respective states. The national body NRAI on Tuesday decided to defer the camp till the time conditions are safer for outstation travel. “Health and safety of shooters and coaches are paramount,” NRAI said in a statement.
MADRID OPEN CALLED OFF IN FRESH SETBACK MADRID:THE Madrid Open tennis tournament has been cancelled due to fresh outbreaks of coronavirus in the region, organisers confirmed on Tuesday, raising doubts around the US and French Opens.
Originally scheduled for May, the postponed Madrid tournament was scheduled to take place on the clay courts at Caja Magica between September 12 and 20.
The Italian Open is due to go ahead in Rome in the week leading up to the Grand Slam at Roland Garros but it remains to be seen how other competitions react to the development.
MORGAN CENTURY
LIFTS ENGLAND TO 328 SOUTHAMPTON: England captain Eoin Morgan again proved a thorn in the side of Ireland, hitting a century in his team’s total of 328 in the third ODI at Southampton on Tuesday.
England were in trouble at 14 for two. But Morgan went on to make 106 and shared a fourthwicket stand of 146 with Tom Banton, whose 58 was his maiden ODI half-century.
BRIEF SCORES: England 328 in 50 overs (E Morgan 106, T Banton 58, D Willey 51; C Young 3/53) v Ireland