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Ponting in trouble for his
behaviour as Australia stumble further
Ricky Ponting shocks again with his on-field
behaviour |
Ricky Ponting could be in deep trouble. His
team is in dire straits in the Ashes, his own place in the
team is in doubt due to his woeful batting form and his
captaincy problems seem unending. All of these seem to have
gotten to the Punter. In a horrific exhibition of
gamesmanship, the Australian captain was involved in a heated
exchange with umpire Aleem Dar where he was seriously wagging
his finger at the umpire, virtually threatening him.
This behaviour could mean dire consequences for Ponting, who
could even be banned if the match referee takes a tough
stance. After all, an umpire is the final and binding
authority on the field and Ponting charging at him in front of
thousands of fans in the stands and millions watching on
television left the gentleman's game of cricket in very bad
taste.
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It all began after Pieterson first despatched Harris to
the boundary line with the shot of the day and the very
next ball, it got past the outside edge of the bat.
Haddin appealed vociferously but umpire Aleem Dar was
caught in two minds. Ponting went for a referral and the
TV umpire ruled in favour of the batsman after
discovering there was no edge on the hotspot.
Ponting and his colleagues were involved in a heated
exchange with umpire Dar and were even seen
finger-wagging. The match referee could take a very
serious note of the incident and it could make matters
worse for Ponting going forward. The high drama did not
end there. Shortly afterwards, Trott was given out
caught behind by umpire Dar but even before Trott
started walking back, umpire consulted the TV as he was
unsure if it was a no-ball. We had seen similar
incidents happening in the India-Australia series where
Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma had taken wickets before the
uncertain on-field umpire used technology to correct
decision. Trott was given not out after it was
discovered Johnson had over-stepped.
England get closer to retaining Ashes
There was drama and plenty of nervous moments at the MCG
on the second day of the fourth and what is trending
towards becoming a decisive test in the ongoing Ashes
series. But, at the end of it all, Andrew Strauss walked
away from the MCG knowing his team could just be a day
away from retaining the urn.
After grinding the hapless Aussie bowlers on day one,
England piled on the agony on Ricky Ponting with regular
partnerships to dent any Aussie hope of a fightback.
Australia began the day well when Peter Siddle, the lone
bowler to impress on a fruitless first day for
Australian bowlers, struck early on the second day
picking both English openers with very little addition
to the scorecard.
England resumed the day at 157 without loss but with
those two wickets, were suddenly pushed into an
uncomfortable corner at 170 for 2. Siddle was bowling
beautifully and exploiting the early morning cloud cover
at the MCG. But, in came Pieterson and he immediately
whacked Siddle for a couple of delightful 'KP' style
boundaries to loosen the nerves that were tightening
around the English batsmen. KP would have been firmly
aware of what had taken place at WACA a few days ago
when England had raced to 78 without loss before losing
all their 10 wickets for less than 100 runs. But, it was
hard going for Pieterson and the in-form Jonathan Trott
early on as the ball was doing its bit and the Aussie
bowlers too were looking much better than they did on
the previous day.
England crawled their way past the 200-run mark and the
duo soon reached their 50-run partnership in nearly 20
overs scoring at a patient rate of just around 2.5 an
over. Australia were looking to edge their way back into
the match when the on-field incidents involving umpire
Dar and Ponting took place.
At that stage, the Aussies had just reduced England to
286 for 5. But, a bit of distraction and Australia lost
it completely from then on and England pounced on it and
ensured the day squarely belonged to them. Trott went on
to complete a fine hundred and wicketkeeper Matt Prior,
who has been involved in sledging skirmishes in this
Ashes compiled a well-crafted half century. Trott and
Prior shared an unbroken 6th wicket stand of 158 runs as
England ended the day at 444 for the loss of 5 wickets.
Trott and Prior in firm partnership
The best part of England's inning was their top four
batsmen all got scores in excess of 50. Strauss made 69,
Cook 82, Trott unbeaten on 141 and Pieterson made 51.
For Australia, Siddle was the star performer ending with
figures of 3 for 58 from 27 long overs. Johnson picked 2
and looked a lot better today than he did yesterday.
Harris and Hilfenhaus were nowhere near their Perth
performances. Leg-spinner Steve Smith showed why
Australia need to urgently conduct a spin-bowling talent
hunt in the country.
With 3 full days remaining in this test match, England
are firmly in control in this test match with a first
innings lead of 346 with 5 wickets still in hand.
Australia will have to play out of their skins in their
second innings to try and save this test match ad take
the Ashes battle to the final test at the SCG. They can
take heart from England's performance at the GABBA in
the first test, where they were in a similar situation
and ended saving the match by scoring over 500 runs for
just 1 wicket on that occasion. But, with the form that
the Aussie batsmen are in, odds are stacked heavily in
favour of England retaining the Ashes in 2010 itself.
sports.in.msn.com/cricket/2010ashes/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4743797&page=3
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