Pink Test: India lose openers, sedately reach 41/2 at dinner on Day 1
Adelaide, Dec 17: Prithvi Shaw's poor technique was once again exposed but the experienced Cheteshwar Pujara's perseverance kept India afloat at 41 for 2 in the opening session of the first day/night Test against Australia here on Thursday.
Pujara (17 batting, 88 balls) safely negotiated the testing first session after Shaw (0 in 2 balls) was bowled off the game's second ball by Mitchell Starc.
His opening partner Mayank Agarwal (17 off 40 balls) did the hard work in the first hour but then got an in-dipper from Pat Cummins that cut back sharply to breach through his defences.
Giving Pujara company was skipper Virat Kohli (5 batting, 22 balls) when dinner break was taken at the completion of 25 overs.
The Australian pace troika of Starc (1/17 in 8 overs), Josh Hazlewood (0/16 in 9 overs) and Cummins (1/3 in 6 overs) bowled a very steady line comprising mostly of fuller deliveries but to the credit of the unbeaten Indian duo, they didn't look very jittery.
At the start, it was another disappointing mode of dismissal for Shaw, who according to many, was rather surprising selection over an in-form Shubman Gill.
Starc kept a full delivery, which slightly shaped in, and the opener, having faced one delivery, went for an expansive drive, playing away from his body only to drag it back onto the stumps.
Pujara seemed like starting from where he had left during the tour of 2018 as he defended and only jabbed the drivable balls in his area.
Agarwal was a little bit adventurous as he found India's first boundary with a cover drive off Hazlewood. An uppish square drive off Starc got him a second one.
But Cummins produced one that was fast and moved off the track and Agarwal was beaten for pace as replays showed that he couldn't even complete landing on his front-foot.
When the ball clipped the off-bail, Agarwal had just landed his left heel.
Such was the pressure created by the Australian pace attack that Pujara played an astounding 34 consecutive dot balls being stuck on 14.
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Police arrest 5 murder accused after encounter in UP's Ballia
Ballia (UP) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested five men accused in the murder of a roadways employee's son after a brief exchange of fire early Sunday, officials said.
Four of the accused – Nitish Yadav, Ashish Yadav, Dilip Yadav and Rahul Verma – sustained bullet injuries in their legs during the encounter in the Ubhaon area and were admitted to a hospital, Additional Superintendent of Police, Dinesh Kumar Shukla, said.
Police received information around 2.45 am that some criminals had gathered near Chainpur to carry out an offence. When a police team reached the spot, they found two four-wheelers and a motorcycle parked there, the ASP said.
"One of the accused alerted the others about the police. When asked to surrender, they opened fire on the police team with the intention to kill. In retaliatory firing, four accused were injured and arrested,” Shukla said.
A fifth accused, Anand Kumar Verma, managed to flee but was later arrested after a cordon operation.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement in the December 13 murder of Ayush Yadav (25), son of a roadways employee, who was shot in the Belthara Road area under the Ubhaon police station limits, the officer said.
Police had already arrested six accused in the case, while another accused, Rabin Singh, surrendered at the Mau city Kotwali on Saturday, taking the total number of arrests to 12.
