Kritik und Lob » 4:43, stuffing in a ba

When John Hampshire was appointed coach of Zimbabwe in the lead-up to their first Test match in 1992, the Yorkshireman was quick to lay out the extent of their ambitions. The batsmen were taught how to leave, and the bowlers instructed to bowl a foot outside off stump. When Zimbabwe crossed 400 in their first innings against India, taking nearly two days to do so, a player had the temerity to suggest that they might declare. Hampshires spiky response made it clear that they would be doing nothing of the sort. Zimbabwe drew the match, and viewed it like a victory.Forever the underdog (aside from the years of Bangladeshs Test infancy), Zimbabwes ambitions have rarely risen since. The countrys pitches are the very definition of nondescript, boasting little pace, average bounce, no real turn to speak of. Little wonder then that, asked how difficult it had been to take 10 wickets on the final day to beat Zimbabwe in their 100th Test, Rangana Heraths eyes became wide as the air escaped from his mouth.In truth it shouldnt have even been close. With Tino Mawoyo and Brian Chari seeing off the first hour of the day, Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza taking care of the second, and lots of batting to come, Zimbabwe should have notched up the 27th draw in their history, leaving everyone to debate Heraths decision not to declare earlier. You cannot plan for whether its raining or not, was how he saw it. We had a plan with the coaches to declare before the end of the [fourth] day but we couldnt do that because of the rain. You cant rely on the weather, so you have to keep on playing as it is.When Mawoyo got a rough decision from umpire Simon Fry, given out lbw to a delivery from Dilruwan Perera that was comfortably missing his leg stump, Zimbabwe embarked on their standard collapse and questions around Heraths decision-making receded. We were really happy with the start we had, but then when we started to lose a few wickets we panicked, said Graeme Cremer.Yet over the next 45 minutes, the air of inevitability around Zimbabwes defeat dissipated. Sean Williams and Peter Moor dug in, and Herath found himself being tested in his first Test as captain. Unlike fifth-day pitches back home, he could not wheel away from one end all day knowing that he could do the job all on his own. Nor could he post three slips and a gully and back his quicks to wrap it up. Field placements were changed, bowlers were rotated.Eventually it was Lahiru Kumara who showed why he had been picked at the age of 19, with just two first-class matches under his belt. Kumara endured a tough introduction to Test cricket on day two, when he registered a first-ball duck with the bat, started his bowling with five wides down the leg side and was taken off after two overs.Over the next three days, on a slow pitch with no lateral movement, his pace proved its worth. In the first innings he had separated a 132-run stand when, bowling in the heat of the day, he sent down a bouncer that Moor could only fend to slip. Now, with the sun at its hottest once again, he rattled Moor with a series of short deliveries before trapping him lbw, jumping on the crease.For me hes an interesting character, Herath said of Kumara. Hes quick and Im sure hes a good prospect for Sri Lankan cricket. I tell you a lot of credit goes to the fast bowlers. There was not much assistance for the spinners and the Zimbabweans batted well. But the fast bowlers played their heart out and gave 100%, which is the main thing.That was the back of Zimbabwes innings broken, but Sri Lanka still had to contend with Cremer. And Williams was in belligerent mood, blocking out delivery after delivery, then reverse-sweeping the spinners for four when he wanted to silence the fielders around the bat. Asela Gunaratnes inclusion at the expense of another spinner began to look questionable, given the friendly nature of his medium-pace.Before tea, Herath changed ends. During the interval, clouds welled up in the south, as they had prior to the fourth evening being lost to rain. The light faded. But fourth ball after the break, Williams edged to slip. When Herath trapped Donald Tiripano lbw soon after, it looked like Herath was just doing what Herath does on the final day of Test matches: bowl his side to victory. Sri Lanka didnt care that Tiripano had edged it, giving them a sixth dubious decision - and 10 lbws in a game where not one had gone against them. Its just one of those things that happens in cricket, Herath said.The clouds moved off, and the sun came out. Carl Mumba started blocking. At the other end Cremer looked immovable. Herath switched ends. He then took the second new ball and switched ends again. The overs ticked down. 15, 14, 13, 12. Zimbabwe, through their captain Cremer, were on their way to their objective. Herath switched ends. Then something unbelievable happened. For the first time in over seven hours at the crease, Cremer lost his head.Out of nowhere, with Zimbabwe less than 10 overs from drawing, he leaped down the pitch, missed one from Herath, and was stumped. Having cheered every dot ball wildly, the small crowd went quiet. I blame myself for losing this game, said the Man of the Match. If I was there then at least if Carl [Mumba] or Chris [Mpofu] had got out then I would have felt a lot better about myself, but I think my wicket was the turning point in us losing this game.It wasnt quite over yet. Mpofu, one of Test crickets worst No. 11s, saw off the over from Herath. Then Mumba took care of two more. Seven overs to go. On the balcony, Heath Streak was in the same seat hed occupied all day. Even with No. 10 and 11 out there we still thought, Shee, weve still got a chance here, reflected Cremer.Dilruwan returned. Mpofu fended one to midwicket, then dabbed another square on the leg side. The crowd cheered. 7.4 overs left. But Dilruwan flighted the next one, Mpofu pushed forward, and the ball took off stump. A young Sri Lankan side had passed their first test. Zimbabwe had lost their 100th, but rediscovered some of their moral fibre. Test cricket felt alive in Zimbabwe once again, and so did the spirit of Hampshire. 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The defencemans shot through traffic that beat Boston goalie Tuukka Rask gives the Blackhawks, who never trailed in the game, a new lease of life. The teams are now tied at 2-2 heading into Saturdays Game 5 in Chicago. And Bostons momentum, from two straight wins built on prickly defence, has been arrested. "(We were) thinking we pretty much have to win one game (in Boston), so mission accomplished," said Chicago defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson. "And weve got two days here to regroup and go back to Chicago and play in front of a big crowd back home. Hopefully we can feed off the energy in the United Center." Added forward Patrick Sharp: "Best of three with two home games but it doesnt really mean much. Bostons been tough in their building and tough in Chicago. I dont think it matters where we play, its going to be an even series." The Bruins threw everything they had at the visitors in mounting a furious comeback but came up short in the third game of the series to go to overtime. Seabrooks winner was his third of the playoffs and second in overtime. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said he felt confident going into extra time, despite Bostons fightback. "I still thought in the third period we didnt give up a ton even though it was a 5-5 game," he said. "We still had some composure going into the overtime. I thought the bench was where it needed to be and (we) continued to move forward. "But certainly they got the crowd (going) and we lost the momentum a couple of times. We had a nice lead, but they pressed. Their power play helped them tonight as well. But we did a lot of good things. "Well look at the positives and move forward." It was a crazy contest, crammed full of offence and momentum swings bristled with more than a little bad blood. At times, it was like a violent all-star game. Quennevilles decision to reunite Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell paid dividends. Toews and Kane each scored for the Blackhawks, with Michal Handzus, Marcus Kruger and Sharp getting the Blackhawks other goals. But the Bruins refused to keel over in trying to defending a seven-game playoff winning streak at home. Patrice Bergeron scored twice and Rich Peverley, Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk added singles for Boston, which found itself behind the eight-ball all night. It was a roller-coaster ride for the crowd of 17,565 -- the 164th straight full house at TD Garden -- as the Bruins trailed 3-1 and 4-2. Chicago outshot Boston 41-28 after regulation time and 47-33 overall. "We opened up and scored goals. But we gave them some goals," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "Our whole team was average tonight ... They were better than we were." Julien cited poor decision-making and sloppy puck movement in what he termed "a tough outing." What kind of night was it for Boston? Hulking captain Zdeno Chara had two assists but was minus-3. The Toews-Kane-Bickell line combined for two goals and three assists and was plus-7. Bickell and Kane both had assists on the winning goal. "We knew it was going to be a tough series and an even series," said Bergeron, who finished at minus-2 despite his two goals. "Thats where were at. We never said it was going to be easy. Theyre a great team out there and so are we." Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes, Chicago pulled ahead by outscoring the Bruins 3-2 in a frenetic second period that saw five goals in 10:49 and three in 2:39. The five second-period goals matched the combined total of Games 2 and 3. And Chicagos three-goal production for the period was one more than the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to put past Rask in four games. Trailing 4-3 to open the third period, Bergeron pulled the Bruins even at 2:05 with a wrist shot on the glove side that Corey Crawford might want back. Jaromir Jagr, in his 200th NHL playoff game, drew the assist on Bergerons ninth goal of tthe post-season after some dogged possession in the Chicago end.dddddddddddd The Bruins are no strangers to comebacks. Boston trailed 4-1 with 11 minutes to go in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, only to make history by winning 5-4 in OT to become the first NHL team to win a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period. Sharp put Chicago ahead 5-4 on the power play at 11:19 just six seconds after Boston survived a brief two-man disadvantage. Sharp stuffed the puck in from close range with Jagr trying to race back in the play from the penalty box, which still had David Krejci in it. Boston remarkably answered back with Boychuks slapshot just 55 seconds later knotting the score at 5-5 before Seabrook ended it in overtime to give Chicago a win it desperately needed. Teams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven a total of 229 times and have come back to win the series on 20 occasions or 8.7 per cent of the time. But the only team to do it in a Stanley Cup final was the 1942 Maple Leafs, who famously rallied to beat the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago came out with purpose in the first period and Rask had to stop Marian Hossa, back in the lineup after missing Game 3 due to an upper-body injury, from point-blank range early on. By the five-minute mark, Chicago had outshot Boston 5-0. A penalty to the Blackhawks Johnny Oduya seemed like a reprieve but a short-handed 2-on-1 rush with Handzus and Brandon Saad put Chicago ahead at 6:48. Tyler Seguin lost the puck to Saad near the blue-line, allowing the penalty killing duo to take off. The goal, the first short-handed effort of Handzus 95-game playoff career, ended Rasks shutout streak at 129:14 and the Bruins home shutout string at 193:16. But Boston began to show signs that it was digging itself out of the hole. A Krejci chance at the side of the net just missed when the puck bounced over his stick and several other passes also just missed their targets in front of the Chicago net. Peverley then tied it up in the dying seconds of a power play. It was a typical sequence by the Bruins, the product of hard work. Andrew Ference made a nice play at the blue-line to keep the puck in and when Saad couldnt clear the puck, Peverley swooped in and rifled a wrist shot past a surprised Crawford on the glove side at 14:43. It was Peverleys first goal since Game 3 of the first-round series against the Maple Leafs. As the first period wound down, the Bruins were moving their feet and creating chances. Outshot 7-1 earlier in the period, Boston finished with nine shots to Chicagos 12 and had a shot ring post after one. It was a tight second period until Toews, with his first point of the series, tipped in a Michal Rozsival point shot at 6:33 to make it 2-1 past a screened Rask. It was just Toews second of the playoffs and his first goal since May 25. Less than two minutes later, Kane scooped a backhand for his seventh of the playoffs into a near empty net at 8:41. Julien called a timeout in a bid to staunch the flow of goals and it seemed to work as Lucic pulled one back with his sixth at 14:43, stuffing in a backhand of a Chara rebound after some fierce Boston forechecking. But Kruger ended the celebrations 49 seconds later, tucking a shot home after a nice setup by Michael Frolik. Kruger appeared to have outdeked himself, but pulled the puck back as it went past the post and stuffed it in. Boston got the crowd going again at 17:22 on the power play, cutting the deficit to 4-3 with an opportunistic Bergeron goal. A booming Chara shot came off the glass behind Crawfords goal and bounced right in front of the crease where Bergeron banged it on. An action-packed second period ended with Chris Kelly hitting the post and Crawford stopping Jagr from close range. Chicago outshot Boston 13-11 in the period. Badly beaten in the faceoff circle last time out, Chicago held a 25-20 edge in faceoffs after two periods in Game 4. The Bruins led 35-33 after three periods. Coming into Wednesdays game, the Bruins had won seven straight at home, outscoring their opponents 21-10. Prior to Game 4, the Bruins were 11-2 in their last 13 games, with both losses coming in overtime. They had outscored opponents 40-21 in that span. ' ' '