12/07/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | JULY 12, 2025

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Tense day at Lord’s Root lifts England to 251-4, keeps India at bay in third Test J OE ROOT’S patient unbeaten 99 led England to 251-4 on an attritional and compelling first day of the third Test against

INSIDE EDGE

‘Life has come full circle’ SACHIN TENDULKAR said “life has truly come full circle”after a portrait of the India cricket great was unveiled at Lord’s yesterday. Tendulkar is one of the greatest batsmen cricket has known, scoring 34,357 runs in Test matches, one-day internationals and one T20 for India in an international career that spanned 24 years from 1989 to 2013. That total is over 6,000 more runs than the next highest of 28,016 compiled by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. “I remember standing near the pavilion, soaking in the history and dreaming quietly,” Tendulkar said of his first visit to Lord’s in 1988 as a teenager in a post on X . “Today, to have my portrait unveiled at this very place is a feeling that’s hard to put into words. Life has truly come full circle. I’m grateful, and filled with wonderful memories.” Five wickets in five balls IRELAND all-rounder Curtis Campher made history by becoming the first male player in professional cricket to claim five wickets in five balls, achieving the feat yesterday. He did so while playing for Munster Reds during their Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy clash against the North-West Warriors in Dublin, with Munster ultimately winning the match by 100 runs. Campher began his spell by bowling Jared Wilson and trapping Graham Hume lbw to end the 12th over, then returned in the 14th to complete a hattrick with the dismissal of Andy McBrine, before removing Robbie Millar and Josh Wilson to finish the streak. “I wasn’t really sure what was happening,” he told Cricket Ireland. “I just kind of stuck to my guns and kept it real simple and luckily it kind of went off.” Zimbabwe women’s all-rounder Kelis Ndhlovu was the first in achieving the rare feat during a domestic U-19 T20 match against Eagles Women in 2024. Sri Lanka draw first blood SRI LANKA steamroll Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Bangladesh at Pallekele yesterday, coasting home with an over to spare. Chasing a modest target of 155, skipper Charith Asalanka fittingly put the seal on the game by launching Tanzim Hasan straight down the ground for six, much to the delight of a holiday crowd that turned up in numbers. The foundations for the win were laid early, with openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis cutting loose from the word go. The pair added a blistering 78 runs in just 28 deliveries, making full use of the powerplay as Sri Lanka raced to 83 for one, their highest ever score in the first six overs of a T20 International, eclipsing the previous best of 75 against India in 2018. Nissanka set the tone by dispatching the first ball of the innings to the fence, and he never looked back. Mendis, fresh off a match-winning hundred in the ODI series decider at the same venue, picked up where he left off. His 73 came off 51 deliveries and featured five boundaries and three sixes.

a very hard chance to Shubman Gill at gully. Reddy had squared up Crawley with a fine delivery and he edged it to Pant to depart for 18. A packed crowd at the home of cricket was stunned into near silence as India celebrated wildly and Reddy continued to extract movement off the pitch as England laboured to 83-2 at lunch. Root reached his 67th Test half century to go with 36 hundreds for England’s leading all-time runscorer, the milestone coming off 102 balls and including seven fours. India suffered a blow when the free-scoring Pant was forced off the field with a finger injury but Pope was out for 44 to the first ball after tea, driving loosely at spinner Ravindra Jadeja and nicking the ball to stand-in keeper Dhruv Jurel. Root tried to complete his 37th Test century before the close but was unable to do so. “Joe Root has inspired everyone in the changing room and in this country,” Pope said. “His work ethic and the way he goes about his cricket is inspirational over such a long career. Fingers crossed he can make it a massive one tomorrow.” – Reuters But such is his importance to the balance of the team, with England currently 1-1 in a mar quee series at home against India as they build towards a showpiece Ashes tour of Australia, that team chiefs will hope Thursday’s inci dent is merely a minor problem. “Fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious and he can do some thing magic and come back strong,” said England vice-captain Ollie Pope. “We’ve got a big Test over the next four days “We’ve got a big two coming up after that so it’s important to try and manage him. “That’s one of my roles, to make sure he doesn’t push himself to a ridiculous place with what ever he’s dealing with at the moment. – AFP Mulder said he felt he had no right to dislodge a legend like Lara, who had set the record against a much stronger opponent. “Now that things have settled a little bit, I’ve chatted a little bit to Brian Lara,” Mulder told SuperSport . “He said to me I’m creating my own legacy and I should have gone for it. He said records are there to be broken and he wishes if I’m ever in that position again, I actually go and score more than what he had.” – Reuters

but we need to dig in off this sort of surface.” Earlier, Stokes won the toss under clear skies and would have expected his top order to take full advantage. India won the second Test by 336 runs to level the series without Bumrah and he bowled a probing opening spell as the touring side rode the momentum of their excellent performance at Edgbaston. Crawley drove Akash Deep sweetly to the cover boundary before greeting Mohammed Siraj to the attack with another crisp hit through the off side but neither he nor Duckett looked comfortable on a slow pitch. Immediately after the drinks interval, Nitish

India at Lord’s yesterday. With the series level at 1-1 after two high scoring matches, England won the toss in good batting conditions but they lost Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley cheaply and with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah back in their attack India sensed a big chance. Root and Ollie Pope, however, adopted a risk free approach, a far cry from the aggressive

Kumar Reddy struck in his first over when Duckett fell for 23, playing a loose stroke to a ball down the leg side and feathering

Bazball style of cricket England have adopted in recent years, to rebuild the innings, and Ben Stokes made 39 not out to leave the match finely poised. “We want to be a team that is positive and entertaining, but we want to play to the situation,” Pope said. “Our order is pretty fast scoring on our good days, we all know we can score hundreds off 120 balls,

a catch to wicketkeeper R i s h a b h Pant. Pope was dropped off his first ball,

Joe Root. – REUTERSPIC

Stokes injury history worrying for England

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WIAAN MULDER said West Indies batting great Brian Lara had told him he should have tried to break his record for the highest individual score in a Test match after the South African all rounder stopped 34 runs shy of setting a new mark on Monday. Mulder was on 367 when he declared South Africa’s innings at lunch on the second day of the second test against Zimbabwe, turning down the chance to go for Lara’s record of 400 not out registered against England in Antigua 21 years ago. FRESH doubts have emerged over the fitness of inspirational England captain Ben Stokes ahead of third Test against India at Lord’s. The skipper pulled up with what appeared to be a groin issue at yesterday’s opening day, with Stokes receiving on-field treat ment before he batted on until the close. The 34-year-old Stokes’ career has been blighted by injuries, with a longstanding knee problem requiring an operation in 2023, while the all-rounder has suffered two serious hamstring tears dur ing the past eight months. In an encouraging develop ment for the side, Stokes has been able to operate as a fully fledged all-rounder in recent games after his fitness issues restricted his impact as a lively seamer.

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Lara said I should have gone for his record: Mulder

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