think about.Obviously having Ohio State a think about.Obviously having Ohio State a | Forum

On Friday evening, play closed with Alastair Cook unbeaten on 64. Adidas Nmd Clearance Womens . England were leading by 17, an unlikely advantage given the balance of play over the first two days. The Edgbaston full-house rose to him, and to Alex Hales who had gone to 50 from the final ball of the day. The captain returned to the dressing-room amidst a flurry of back slaps. He had batted with a hitherto unseen freedom, as if the shackles of responsibility had been thrown to the wind, and thus inspired his men. It was a brilliant example of leadership, which comes in so many forms.He unclipped the armour, towelled himself down and remarked to the team that the game felt like a boxing match. For two days England had taken the punches, now they were giving a few back. It was, he figured, going to be much the same story over the next two days. There have been periods during Cooks career that his default position would have been to soak up the blows until the opponent wore himself out. Not these days. Confident and proud, he had hammered away - cuts and flicks off his pads, of course, but some magnificent driving of the ball too. The experience of 10,000 runs and more served him well. He saw the moment and took it.By Saturday evening, Cook was even more pleased than his wildest dream might have allowed. Though he fell early in the day himself, the others continued the momentum. Not that it was easy. Pakistan at first bowled impressively in an attacking manner and then, sensing the ball softening and the pitch becoming flatter, Pakistan bowled meanly. Ball after ball was speared wide of off-stump in an attempt to control the tempo of the match. Rather than panic, England changed down the gears, waiting until fatigue betrayed the tourists plan. When it did, England cashed in to a man.There was another virtuoso performance from Joe Root, cut short when a hundred beckoned. No man does tempo like Root. He brings movement and range to the game, adapting his method to the requirement of the moment. At the other end, James Vince watched and learnt, the result of which was the best Test innings he has played - a combination of beautiful flow and a previously unidentified steel. For a while, Gary Ballance let the game come to him but, once settled, he added a hint of risk to his otherwise risk averse nature. Johnny Bairstow hit them hard and ran them ragged. Moeen Ali sucked in the Edgbaston air that he so loves and paraded his touch and timing. England were suddenly miles in front and able to declare when they chose. Each one of the chosen batsmen had thrown the punches their captain had asked for.Cook then put the match out of Pakistans reach. It is his way. Old-timers reckon you keep the chaser interested, to encourage a hopeful response that leads to mistakes. The moderns reckon you crush all hope and choke the chaser to death.The problem England faced was that the ball would not move. Sami Aslam, at just 20 years of age, worked this out and played each one back down the line from whence it came. It was a masterclass, from an apprentice. He is the Pakistani cricketer of the hour. For the second time in the match, Azhar Ali batted with a nice feel, ensuring his team stayed in motion. Those who get stuck often find to their horror that they are sinking in quicksand.At 79 for 1, all seemed well with the Pakistan resistance. Then Cook came up with the first game-breaker. He convinced Moeen to flight the ball wide of off-stump but to keep trying to spin it hard. This brought his action into sync with his wrist. Suddenly, the ball came out with increased revs and the seam at 45 degrees. Cook himself went to gully, a most unusual position to an off-spinner and, bingo. Azhar drove hard to a ball that drifted away before it dipped just a little as the drive reached the point of impact. It fairly flew from the edge of the bat to the gully, where the captain reacted with haste and effect. He said afterwards that he didnt know much about it. He failed to mention that you never really do when you field that close; you just let instinct work its magic.The second game-breaker was less to do with Cook than the groundsman, whose wicket-ends from previous matches were suitably worn and dusty. The ball that pitched on the dry pitch, also bounced across and around these. After a few overs, Cook thought how handy, this thing might reverse swing. Which it did.Soon after 3 oclock, Steve Finn was roaring in - you aint seen nothing like the mighty Finn. He found a smidgeon of movement away from the bat which was quite enough at that pace and when delivered with such accuracy. Even Misbah succumbed. Then Chris Woakes was called back instead of Moeen and he fired the ball at the stumps and pads with an almost indecent expectation. Confidence is the most wonderful drug. Four big fish fell for a single run.Aslam watched on, doubtless confused by his elders but otherwise untroubled. All match, his judgement of what to play and what to leave alone had been unimpeachable. Tea was delayed to acknowledge the chance of a result within the 20-minute period of extension. Three minutes of that period remained when Sami shouldered arms to a fast ball that trimmed his off bail. There are two types of leave - a good one and a bad one. Ouch, his pain was our pain for this young mans courage, temperament and technical application deserved to take the game to the wire. He knew, as we knew, there was no saving the game now. The mighty Finn had won the day.James Anderson popped up with another wicket after tea; Stuart Broad too. The last pair delayed the inevitable and so Cook returned to magic Moeen and the man-of the-match (for the two street-smart innings he played) rewarded his captains faith with a sharp catch off his own bowling. They all rushed to a huddle of unbridled joy, except Cook who stood alone for a moment, slightly crouched, shaking the hands he had made into fists. The longer he plays, the more animated he becomes. His celebrations are ever so slightly showy now, which tells us he is comfortable in the captains skin and ecstatic at the results being achieved.These 1,200 words have included mentions of Cook, Hales, Root, Vince, Ballance, Bairstow, Moeen, Woakes, Broad, Finn, Anderson. It was not planned so, it is simply how the words turned out. There may not have been an England victory that so equally shared the efforts of each player. And there cannot have been many that were fashioned from a first innings deficit of 103.If Cooks team win at the Oval, they could go to number 1 in the world rankings. The captain has a lot to answer for. Adidas Nmd Mens Ireland . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Discount Adidas Nmd Ireland . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. http://www.cheapnmdsneakersireland.com/adidas-basketball-shoes.html . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- While much of the rest of the nation played at least one game over the weekend, South Carolina waited three more days to get its new season started.After waiting about 20 months to play a game for the Gamecocks, that belated tip came not a moment too soon for Kaela Davis and Allisha Gray. Transfers eligible for the first time with their new team, they had a lot of lost shots to make up for.Behind 37 points from Davis and 24 points from Gray, fourth-ranked South Carolina outlasted No. 7 Ohio State 92-80 for a road win as impressive as any they earned a season ago. By way of Georgia Tech and North Carolina, respectively, Davis and Gray combined to outscore everyone else on their team. The pair scored 61 points and took 39 shots. Their teammates scored 31 points and took 25 shots.Without them, South Carolina would have lost Monday night.With them, well, its fun to imagine what is possible in the months ahead.Youve got to let the players play, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. For us, weve never been this fortunate in allowing them to make plays. You dont have to control everything. Once you try and do that, you get in the way of everybody.For the first time in a long time, there was no Tiffany Mitchell for South Carolina. One of the programs all-time greats moved on to the WNBA after last season. The surprise Monday was that there was barely any Aja Wilson. Foul trouble limited the All-American to just 16 minutes and five points in a matchup that looked on paper like it would be an early player-of-the-year primary against Ohio States Kelsey Mitchell.Even when Wilson was on the court, Davis wasted little time scoring her first South Carolina points and the first points of the game. Closing a sizable amount of space in just a few steps, she stole an offensive rebound, relocated to the top of the key and knocked down a jumper. By halftime, she had 15 points -- two more than Mitchell. Gray had 10 points and South Carolina had a 44-39 lead.With Wilson getting in foul trouble early, that made it kind of difficult just to get the ball inside, Davis said. I think tonight was just one of those games where we kind of ended up by ourselves and maybe taking certain shots we wouldnt take in other games.While it sounds strange to say about a road game against a top-10 opponent, circumstances set up well for Davis. The Buckeyes want any game to have as many possessions as possible, and even on a night when they were dissatisfied with the pace, the tempo suited a scorer. And without Wilson, there was no awkward dance of deference.As a sophomore at Georgia Tech, Davis averaged 19.2 points per game. She also had the luxury to shoot 36 percent from the floor. She was the offense. She could shoot herself into rhythm. That wont be true at South Carolina, not all the time. Not when Wilson and Alaina Coates need the ball. Not when Gray has a hot hand. But she had leeway to settle in Monday.I think were still learning how to make that fit perfectly, Davis said of finding the balance. Like I said, tonight was a little different just because of the foul trouble situation. But I think it may be a game-by-game thing. Also in practice, were figuring out where that works and during what times to take what shots. Obviouslyy we want to start off with our bigs. Adidas Nmd Shoes Near Me. I think theyre some of the best bigs in the country, if not the best. We want to start there and work our way out.But with Wilson again on the bench after picking up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter, Davis took over in a way fans in Columbus are used to seeing -- just not from a visitor. After Mitchell pulled Ohio State within a field goal at 53-51, Davis hit a long jumper. Then after Gray took her turn, Davis hit a 3-pointer. Then another jumper. Then two free throws. The burst pushed the lead to eight points late in the third.When Ohio State again closed the gap, Gray and Davis again supplied the bulk of a run that put the game away. Davis capped it with a high arcing rainbow of a 3-pointer, exactly the kind of shot Mitchell so often makes on the same court.Asked if she was generally comfortable with Davis taking 20-plus shots -- South Carolinas single-game high for field goal attempts last season was 19 -- Staley joked that she was but that her assistants cringed when the shots started flying.Im still feeling them out, Staley said of Davis and Gray. Last year, they practiced with us but they didnt practice within the rotation -- we did it toward the end of the season because we knew we were kind of passing the torch. But Im still learning. Were not going to be the team we were in the past years where the point guard actually controlled the tempo, everything worked through the point guard. Youve got some guards that can initiate the offense and see over defenses, and were going to play off what they do best and not pigeonhole them into what we look like yesteryear.It is not as if Davis or Gray took Ohio State by surprise. One of the last games Gray played at North Carolina was a win in the NCAA tournament against the Buckeyes. And there was ample familiarity with Davis, the second-ranked recruit in her class in 2013.Ive seen them play; I know how good they are, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. But I think the biggest thing would be its just hard to focus on any one particular person. You start focusing on them too much and then Aja Wilson and Coates are going to have a field day around the basket. Thats what makes them so dangerous; theyve got so many good players.You can start talking about playing zone or double teaming the post or whatever it may be. But basically, essentially, youve got to get down and youve got to guard them and be really sound with what you do. When we werent sound, Davis and Gray really made us pay.South Carolinas schedule, with games looming against Louisville, Texas, Duke and UCLA, makes it likely there will be a stumble. Maybe two.But to add guards like Davis and Gray, not just scorers but big, strong rebounders and passers from the perimeter, to what the Gamecocks already had in the post?The possibilities are fun to think about.Obviously having Ohio State away as your first game back can be tough ... Davis said of her debut. I was excited to get here and get on the floor and play with this group of girls.It was a long time coming. Now the clock is ticking to figure out how to stop them. ' ' '