Root's 41st century leads England to 364 on Day 2 of 5th Ashes test
Sydney (AP): Joe Root's second century of the series led England to 364 all out in its first innings just before tea on Day 2 of the fifth and final Ashes test.
Root's innings was finally ended at 160 from 242 balls on Monday when he popped a return catch to Michael Neser, who dived across the pitch to grasp the ball just inches above the ground.
Neser (4-60) was the pick of Australia's bowlers during the middle session with three wickets, including Will Jacks (27), Root and last wicket of Josh Tongue for a second-ball duck.
Earlier Root's 41st test century, but just his second in an Ashes test Down Under, was the highlight of a morning session that saw Australia chip away at the middle order to have England on 336-6 at lunch.
Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc made early breakthroughs after Root and Harry Brook's partnership had moved to 169 runs and was threatening to take the test away from the hosts, who already have a winning 3-1 lead in the series.
Boland (2-85) ended Brook's equal parts streaky and sublime innings at 84, with Steve Smith taking a sharp catch to bring to a close the best partnership of the series across both teams.
Then Starc (2-93) removed England skipper Ben Stokes (0) for the fifth time this series with a near unplayable delivery that shaped away from the left-hander and the TV umpire review found it took a thin edge on its way through to Alex Carey.
Milestone ton
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After some nervy moments in the nineties as the pitch began showing signs of variable bounce, Root's straight drive off Neser allowed the 163-test veteran to scamper through for two runs and complete his latest milestone off 146 balls, with 11 boundaries.
Root made 138 not out in the second test at Brisbane which was his first century in Australia in his four Ashes tours.
The England star is now level with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on the all-time list of test centurymakers. Only Sachin Tendulker (51) and Jacques Kallis (45) have more.
Jamie Smith made an enterprising, and at times fortunate, 46 before he holed-out to the part-time medium pace of Marnus Labuschagne just before the break.
Root and Jacks then combined for 54-run partnership before Neser's three quick strikes wrapped up the innings.
England lost each of the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action.
England then won its first Ashes match Down Under since 2011 with a four-wicket win in the Boxing Day test.
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No nation can progress unless small traders are protected: Arvind Kejriwal
Chandigarh (PTI): No nation can progress unless small shopkeepers and traders are protected and given ease of doing business, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Kejriwal made the remarks while addressing the maiden meeting of the Punjab State Traders Commission in Mohali, where he was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The former Delhi chief minister said that through the commission, local markets will be upgraded, and long-pending small issues of shopkeepers will be resolved.
He said the purpose of the commission is to make the tax system simpler, more transparent, and trader-friendly.
"Till now, in our country, traders and businessmen have been viewed with a very negative mindset. No matter which government or which party ruled, everyone treated traders as thieves," Kejriwal said.
"I pray that one day our government is formed at the Centre and we free you from GST. There is a kind of tax terrorism going on," he said.
Kejriwal termed the traders also a victim of politicians, who, he said, only remember them during elections and then, once in power, to extort money till the next election.
"I come from a trading family. I understand the pain and suffering of a trader. You may remember how, as children, we used to go to the village during summer holidays. My uncle there had a grocery shop at the bus stand. During summer vacations, many times I would manage the entire shop alone for days. I understand the pain of a shopkeeper," he said.
The AAP leader said the governments always talk about big investments everywhere. "But no one ever paid attention to the small shopkeeper running a grocery store, a clothing shop, a bread shop, a tile shop, or shops in small markets."
Attacking the rival parties in Punjab, he said that after their run was over, neither the Akali Dal nor the Congress would have dared to go among the public and seek honest feedback.
"After four years, they would face such abuse that I do not think the Congress government would have had the courage to pass around a microphone in a public gathering and say, speak whatever you want … If it had happened during the Akali Dal government, the microphone would not have returned," he said.
