England claimed a dramatic draw in the first Ashes Test against Australia on this day in 2009 after James Anderson and Monty Panesar staged a dogged last-wicket stand in Cardiff.
The tailenders survived the final 69 deliveries in a tense rearguard action at Sophia Gardens to deny the tourists first blood and spark wild celebrations in the stands.
England had resumed on day five at 20 for two, 219 runs behind after Australia had overhauled their first innings total of 435 and established a platform for victory with a mammoth 674 for six declared in which Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting, Marcus North and Brad Haddin had all reached three figures.
The hosts looked to be heading for an innings defeat as Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior went by the time the score had reached 70, although Paul Collingwood’s resolute 74 steadied the ship with support from spinner Graeme Swann, who made 31.
However, the Durham all-rounder’s stubborn resistance ended after a 245-ball, 344-minute stay at the crease when he edged Peter Siddle to Michael Hussey at gully.
England had been reduced to 233 for nine and the writing was on the wall.
As Panesar walked out to join Anderson in the middle with his side still six runs behind, a minimum of 11.3 overs remained and few gave two men hardly renowned for their expertise with the bat any real chance of resisting.
But to huge popular acclaim resist they did, at times uncertain over whether to take runs when they presented themselves, but growing in confidence once successive Anderson boundaries had ensured the Australians would have to bat again.
Anderson ended up finishing unbeaten on 21 while Panesar contributed seven runs to a total of 252 for nine to secure a draw, the significance of which only became apparent as the summer progressed.
England went on to win at Lord’s and the Oval either side of a draw at Edgbaston and an Australian victory at Headingley, taking the series 2-1 and in the process regaining the Ashes they had surrendered so tamely Down Under during the winter of 2006-07.
Babar's captain's innings leads Pakistan to victory as series drawn with New Zealand
Babar Azam top scored as he led his Pakistan team to a nine-run victory over New Zealand in Lahore that saw the five-game T20I series end in a draw.
Babar hit 69 runs off 44 balls before being bowled by Ben Sears, smashing six fours and two sixes to take his team to 123/3 at the time of his dismissal.
Fakhar Zaman (43 from 33) and Usman Khan (31 off 24) also chipped in with important innings as Pakistan ended on 178/5.
With a target of 179 to secure a 3-1 series victory, New Zealand's run chase faltered almost immediately as opener Tom Blundell was removed within the first over with his team having managed just five runs on the board.
Blundell's fellow opener Tim Seifert steadied the ship with a vital 52-run innings off 33 deliveries before being bowled by Usama Mir, but Shaheen Shah Afridi led the way for Pakistan, finishing with figures of 4-30 to stem the New Zealand run chase
Josh Clarkson's 38 off 26 set up a nervy conclusion, but Pakistan held on to avoid defeat in the T20 series as the teams share the spoils at two wins apiece after the first game was abandoned.
Bayern star Kane scores 400th senior goal
Harry Kane surpassed the 400-goal mark for his senior career as his double helped Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Kane moved within one of the milestone as he put Bayern 1-0 up after just nine minutes, coolly finishing from close range after Konrad Laimer's pass had set him up.
Then, after Frankfurt levelled through Hugo Ekitike, Kane slotted home a penalty with typical aplomb following a foul on Thomas Muller to move himself onto 400 career goals and ultimately lead Bayern to victory.
Kane scored 280 of his goals in 435 appearances for Tottenham, overtaking Jimmy Greaves to become the club's all-time leading scorer when he netted for the 267th time in Spurs colours against Manchester City last February.
His tally of 213 Premier League goals, meanwhile, puts him just 47 behind the competition's all-time leader Alan Shearer, who scored 260 times for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Kane is also the most prolific player in England's history, his 62 goals for the Three Lions coming in 89 international appearances.
He memorably missed the chance to surpass Wayne Rooney's previous record of 53 when he blazed a penalty over the crossbar in the Three Lions' quarter-final defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, only to clinch his place in history in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy three months later.
The very first goal of Kane's senior career came in League One during a loan spell with Leyton Orient as they thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in January 2011.
That was the first of five goals Kane scored in O's colours, while he also netted nine times in a loan spell with Millwall in 2011-12 and twice during a stint with Leicester City the following season.
IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai
Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.
Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.
However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.
Data debrief
Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
