3rd test: Buttler scores century as England reach 373-4 at lunch
Southampton: Jos Buttler survived a scare on 99 before reaching his second test century as England strengthened its grip on the third and final test against Pakistan in a wicketless morning session interrupted by two rain breaks on Day 2 on Saturday.
England took lunch on 373-4, with Buttler on a career-best test score of 113 not out and opening-day century-maker Zak Crawley unbeaten on 186.
Needing one run to get to triple figures, Buttler was given out caught behind off Mohammad Abbas, with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan up to the stumps taking a sharp catch. The England batsman immediately reviewed and replays showed no contact, with the noise being his bat hitting his pad.
Off the next ball, he stroked a back-foot drive into the off-side for three runs to bring up his first hundred as England's wicketkeeper. The other ton 106 against India two years ago was as a specialist batsman.
Buttler removed his helmet and saluted his teammates on the balcony after an important innings that further quietened the critics calling for him to be dropped because of wicketkeeping mistakes against the West Indies and Pakistan this season. At the start of this series, he acknowledged he was batting for his place in the team.
Crawley is close to a big milestone of his own after adding 15 runs to his overnight 171, also a personal-best in tests.
The fifth-wicket partnership between Crawley and Buttler grew to 246 runs, after coming together following lunch on Day 1 with England 127-4.
Brief showers took the teams off twice during the morning session, resulting in lunch being taken an hour later than scheduled.
England, which started Day 2 on 332-4, leads 1-0 and is looking to clinch a first series victory over Pakistan in 10 years, as well as a second of the summer after beating the West Indies 2-1.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
