Ponting, Hussey steady Australian innings

MELBOURNE: Senior batsmen Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey were steering Australia out of early trouble against India on the third day of the first Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

At tea, Ponting was unbeaten on 33 with Hussey on 29 to have Australia at 81 for four, after crashing to 27 for four.

That represented an overall lead of 132 runs after Australia led by 51 runs on the first innings.

Paceman Umesh Yadav claimed the first three wickets to have the Australians under threat of missing out on a decent total to defend in the fourth innings.

Yadav struck twice in four balls in his fourth over, removing both openers David Warner (5) and first innings top-scorer Ed Cowan (8).

Warner was bowled playing on from a loose shot, and Cowan was leg before wicket while padding up.

Australia’s woes deepened when Shaun Marsh dragged a wide Yadav delivery onto his stumps for three and skipper Michael Clarke followed in the next over.

Clarke played on and was bowled by Ishant Sharma for one.

Ben Hilfenhaus earlier claimed his best wicket haul in Tests to give Australia a handy innings lead as India were dismissed for 282 at lunch.

The Tasmanian swing bowler, recalled for his first Test match in almost a year, captured five for 75.

India lost seven wickets for 68 off 28.1 overs after they looked in command at 214 for two late on Tuesday.

Australia got off to a flyer when Rahul Dravid was bowled second ball by Hilfenhaus on his overnight score of 68.

Hilfenhaus breached the famed defence of “The Wall” and clipped his off-stump just five balls after Tuesday’s last-over dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar for 73 by Peter Siddle.

Dravid, second only to Tendulkar as Test cricket’s most prolific-scoring batsman, batted for 187 balls with six boundaries.

V.V.S. Laxman took 20 balls to get off the mark and fell for two, caught low down by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin off Siddle.

Although Laxman has a great batting record in Australia with four Test centuries, he has scored just 113 runs in seven innings at 16.14 at the MCG, one of the least productive venues in his 131 Tests.

Virat Kohli, playing in his fifth Test, was next to go, feathering an enticing Hilfenhaus outswinger to Haddin for 11.

Hilfenhaus struck again in his next over when skipper M.S. Dhoni got a thick outside edge to be caught in the gully by Hussey for just six.

Nightwatchman Ishant Sharma became Hilfenhaus’s fifth wicket when he was taken behind by Haddin for 11 off 69 balls.

Ravi Ashwin showed resistance with 31 off 35 balls with three fours and a top-edged six before he was last man out to Siddle.

Yadav remained two not out.

Wicketkeeper Haddin finished with five catches for the innings.

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Riaz, Akmal return for England tests

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket selectors on Monday recalled fast bowler Wahab Riaz and middle-order batsman Umar Akmal for next month’s three-test series against England.

Former captain Shoaib Malik was dropped from the 16-man squad after he failed to impress in the last three one-day series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He scored only 35 runs and took five wickets in his last eight ODIs.

Riaz, the left arm paceman, last played against the West Indies earlier this year.

Akmal also did not feature in the test series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh due to poor form, but returns to face the top-ranked test team.

Pakistan has performed well despite the loss of three key players _ Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were given prison sentences for their part in a spot-fixing scandal.

Under the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan has won three test series and drew 1-1 against the West Indies since reaching the semifinals of the World Cup this year.

While it defeated Sri Lanka 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates, the other two wins came against lowly ranked teams Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Chief selector Mohammad Ilyas said that the series against England will be tough, but hoped Pakistan would keep its winning momentum going.

“It’s a very tough competition,” he said. “But we will give you good surprise.”

Pakistan has been forced to play its home series mainly in the United Arab Emirates since gunmen attacked a Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore in 2009, killing six police officials and a van driver.

Dubai will host the first and third tests starting on Jan. 17 and Feb. 3, respectively, while Abu Dhabi will host the second starting on Jan. 25.

Ilyas said the Pakistan team for the five-match one-day series and three Twenty20 matches against England will be named after the second test.

Test squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Azhar Ali, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan (subject to fitness).

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Pakistan complete China clean-sweep with 2-1 win

LAHORE: Pakistan on Sunday completed a clean sweep of China in their four-match series, the first international hockey event in the troubled country since 2004.

Pakistan won the final match 2-1 to emerge unbeaten in the series after taking the first three games in Karachi and Faisalabad earlier this week by 3-0, 5-3 and 3-1.

Pakistan gained the early lead when vice-captain Shakeel Abbasi made a field goal in the first major attack of the match.

Fareed Ahmed drew the second in the 26th minute to double the lead, while China’s lone goal came in the 33rd minute when Dong Yang dodged Pakistan’s defence in the final moments of the first half.

“The Chinese played a much improved game today. They kept us tight,” said Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran.

“We had a clear edge on them in the first two matches but they had a good come back in the last two,” he added.

Pakistan, however, gifted the series trophy to their rivals to acknowledge their support for the violence-hit country.

“China lost the hockey series but won the friendship series by coming to Pakistan. So, we will give this trophy to them,” Asif Bajwa, the secretary of Pakistan Hockey Federation, said at the awards ceremony.

“They have proved that there is no security threat to any foreign team in Pakistan and sport is fully protected over here,” he said.

Pakistan, which last hosted an international major hockey event seven years ago, hopes the Chinese tour will help convince other foreign teams to visit.

The country is also working to resume a bilateral hockey series with arch-rivals India, after they were suspended following the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

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