Kommandozentrale » nt looking like a man batting on 120 overnight.

Is momentum in cricket real?Captains talk about it in earnest. Commentators go one step further, looking for the actual tipping point. It becomes part of the answer to why a player is in form and can even lay out why he isnt. It impacts a sides performance no matter the format. It even supersedes arguments such as conditions being different or that not all people tend to be affected by something in the same way.Clearly, physics was never big enough to hold momentum all to itself and having transcended into the sporting arena, it has become a buzzword that nobody can escape.In Rajkot, Virat Kohli said momentum sort of defines if you have an advantage of a disadvantage as a team. By that logic, can England consider themselves as being on top going into the Visakhapatnam Test? They made more runs in Rajkot. They took more wickets. They even took the awards. Assuming momentum is as powerful as everyone says, perhaps.Only, before the series began, India had crushed New Zealand, a team that seemed well-equipped to handle spin-friendly conditions. They hadnt lost a Test in over a year and the last time they did so at home was in 2012. If momentum was such an irresistible force, Kohli and his men shouldnt have been given the scare they were. Besides, theyve insisted it wasnt a scare. That tense situations like being six down with 10 overs left on a fifth-day pitch are a learning experience. You can imagine how desperately disappointed they must have been as kids when school was out.Momentum seems to have a tendency to vary with points of view as well. Alastair Cook is buoyed by the strength of Englands performance in the opening Test of one of the toughest series of his career. Kohli believes he will get a track that is conducive to Indias strengths so he is barely bothered about the events in Rajkot. Ask them who has the momentum, both men, would likely say they do. Makes sense. Not.Look at the things that have changed. India have brought back their first-choice opener. KL Rahul comes into the second Test on the back of a first-class century which not only points to his form but importantly establishes that he has recovered well from a hamstring injury. On the other hand, England are worried over the availability of Chris Woakes, who has been among their best performing players since the start of their home summer.Then there is the surface, which may start out better than hoped but would certainly deteriorate a lot quicker than the one at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Ground. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have exploited such conditions in the past. All they need is one to spin big. That combined with their ability to undercut the ball and make a few go straight has led many a batsmen to confusion. It is not an easily replicable skill. A spinner hoping for as little deviation as possible has to avoid the seam hitting the deck. Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Zafar Ansari may have made a fine start to the series, but can they match the Indians tricks? None of them is experienced enough in this format to carry a bowling attack.Finally, the batting. It is never black and white in touch conditions, which arguably, neither of these sides has had to deal with so far. Visakhapatnam - from day three onwards - appears set to remedy that. So defensive techniques need to be tight. Partnerships become crucial for any time a new batsman comes in, the likelihood of him getting out quickly may as well be a blaring red light on top of his head.Even if someone is in form, he has to be mindful of the ways in which the bowler is targeting him. Just because he made a hundred in the last innings doesnt give him the right to pass go and collect 200 the next time. Monopoly rules sadly dont apply in cricket.All these factors - the pitch, each teams plans, each individuals plans, the outcome of the toss - dispute the impact momentum can have across matches. Within a match then. Does one team pulling ahead immediately set them up in a match? Four years ago, in Ahmedabad, Cook made a resoundingly defiant 176 while following-on which forced the Indian bowlers to tire themselves out and may even have had a bearing on their potency in the next Test in Mumbai.Hard work, skill, and just that little bit of chance, make up a cricket match. Momentum - whatever it is - is a far weaker influence.Nike Zoom Online Shop . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Nike Zoom For Sale . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. http://www.wholesalenikezoom.com/ .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Nike Zoom Sale . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Nike Zoom Clearance . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta.India 60 for 0 (Rahul 30*, Parthiv 28*) trail England 477 (Moeen 146, Root 88, Dawson 66*, Rashid 60) by 417 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEngland made a shaky start to the second day, but got to a sizeable first-innings total courtesy a century stand for the eighth wicket between Adil Rashid and the debutant Liam Dawson. The two came together at 321 for 7, after India had taken three wickets for 37 runs at the start of play, and scored half-centuries that reiterated the depth of Englands batting and lifted their score to 477. Only once - Australia in 2010 - has a team scored more than 450 batting first and lost a Test in India.India began confidently in reply, reaching 60 for 0 at stumps, their only real moment of discomfort in 20 overs occurring when KL Rahul, jumping back to slash Stuart Broad, jarred some part of his leg, causing him to hobble between wickets for a short while thereafter. The runs came at a steady clip, and the openers picked up five fours between them, in their contrasting styles: mostly off the front foot for the tall, languid Rahul, and mostly off the back foot for Parthiv Patel, who opened because M Vijay had hurt his shoulder while diving to stop the ball at point during the second session.Playing his first Test, Dawson only bowled one over of left-arm spin. By then, though, he had already made a significant impact, finishing unbeaten on 66, the highest score by an England debutant batting at No. 8.Dawson and Rashid had begun cautiously before lunch, scoring the first 31 runs of their partnership in 15.2 overs. Dawson had been the dominant partner, shrugging off a nasty welcome to Test cricket - an Ishant Sharma bouncer that followed him as he tried to sway and clattered the badge of his helmet - and moving to 27 with three fours: a flick off Umesh Yadav, a square-cut off R Ashwin, and a cover drive, against the turn, off an Amit Mishra googly. Rashid, in that time, had made 8 off 55 balls.The roles were reversed somewhat after lunch, as Rashid unshackled his wrists, stepping out to Mishra to whip him through the leg side - on one occasion over the infield to bring up Englands 400 - and driving Ravindra Jadeja for two inside-out boundaries in one over: the first through the covers, the second past points right hand.dddddddddddd He overtook Dawson, reaching his half-century first, before edging an attempted slice off Umesh to the keeper.Stuart Broad was run-out after tea, caught short of the crease at the keepers end by a flat throw from Rahul at third man following a mix-up with Dawson. Jake Ball, who hit two big sixes off R Ashwin in one over, was last man out, bowled trying to cut a Mishra googly.Indias bowlers were impressive at the start of play, with a ball that was only 4.4 overs old. Ashwin struck in the first over of the day, drawing Ben Stokes forward and getting him to reach out at a dipping and sharply spinning offbreak to get him caught behind. Then Ishant, defying the age of the ball, began getting it to reverse, producing a series of awkward induckers against Jos Buttler, two of which led to loud lbw shouts. The first one was turned down - and India reviewed unwisely, the ball clearly striking pad outside off stump - and the second, off a full, straight ball, was so plumb, Buttlers head falling over as he missed a flick, that the batsman barely thought of reviewing.Moeen Ali now held the key to Englands hopes of a big total, but he wasnt looking like a man batting on 120 overnight. This had a lot to do with Indias method of attack against him. They hadnt tested him with the short ball on day one, puzzlingly, but now they did. He played two uppish pulls against Ishant that dropped short of fielders in the deep, and an attempt to flick the ball against Umesh resulted in a blow to the chest.Umeshs next ball was another bouncer, which struck Moeen on the armpit as he looked to ride the bounce and keep it down. Perhaps the lack of success with two attempts at defence caused Moeen to change his mind and revert to the pull. Umesh bounced him once more, and this time the ball carried nicely to Ravindra Jadeja, who was a few yards in from the backward square leg boundary, placed with the miscontrolled hook in mind. ' ' '