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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86 nations, two int'l organisations sign AI Impact Summit declaration: IT Min Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 countries and two international organisations have signed the AI Impact Summit declaration, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said, adding that the US, UK, Canada, China, Denmark, and Germany are among the signatories.
The strong global backing for the declaration comes at the conclusion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw told reporters that nations across the world have formalised and upheld principles of 'welfare of all, and happiness of all'.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human-centric AI vision been accepted by the world. Democratising Artificial Intelligence resources so AI facilities, services and technology can reach everyone in society has been accepted by all," the minister said.
Balancing economic growth with social good has been prioritised, he added.
"Not just economic growth, even social harmony has to be kept in mind. Safety and trust are at the centre, they have been brought among the main points," Vaishnaw said, adding that a secure, trustworthy and robust AI framework has been focused on.
Other major areas of thrust include innovations and development of human capital, he noted.
"For all these areas, all countries have agreed to work together. Almost all countries that participated, including the US, the UK, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, and Germany... everyone has participated," the minister said.
The mega AI Impact Summit secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure alone, with Vaishnaw on Friday terming it a "grand success".
Vaishnaw had said participation at the summit crossed five lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.
The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.
"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall, the quality of the discussion was phenomenal," he had said.
Be it the ministerial dialogue, the leaders' plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialogue was phenomenal, Vaishnaw had pointed out.
The investment pledges have crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related capital and around USD 20 billion on VC/deep tech investments.
Vaishnaw had said that the Summit reflected the world's confidence in India's role in the new AI age.
Delhi played host to a lineup of global tech heavyweights this week - Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft's Brad Smith and Anthropic's Dario Amodei - as discussions spanned most intensely debated global topics in the tech universe, from AI's opportunities and risks, all the way to AGI, governance and the future of jobs.
