Die Allianz T-D-P » England to hit the target for the first time

Hampshire 219 and 173 for 4 (Alsop 53, Gregory 3-26) trail Somerset 474 for 8 dec by 82 runsScorecard There was a heavy sense of sadness about this, the flattest of days, at the Ageas Bowl. Played out in front of a smattering of barely 100 people, a crowd described by one seasoned journalist as the smallest he had seen here for at least a decade; bottom of the table, relegation-threatened Hampshire battled and blocked, nudged and nurdled and waited for the forecasted rain to fall.It is at times like these that a club needs its senior players. In Michael Carberry, Hampshire have one who stood up better than most to some of the fastest bowling in history when Mitchell Johnson ripped England apart in the 2013-14 Ashes. Shortly after that, perhaps harshly, Carberrys international career came to an end and Dale Benkenstein, the Hampshire coach, revealed it has not been an easy adjustment for Carberry to make. This season season his average hovers around the mid-20s.As part of Hampshires attempt to re-motivate Carberry they have shifted him down the order to No. 4 to give him a new challenge and the management will have been pleased with the fight he showed, closing on an unbeaten 37, alongside Sean Ervine in a 52-run stand before play was halted.We are trying to find some motivation for Carbs, explained Benkenstein. I think its tough when you dont have England anymore. You just lose your oxygen. When youve had one thing as your goal and suddenly it goes, and youve never really thought about anything else - youve always wanted to play for England. Ive seen that with a few senior players in my career as captain.Physically and skill-wise he could play for many more years, but at this level you have got to have a real hunger to play. Especially as a batsman you have to have that hunger for runs because you are getting a year older and guys are getting faster and better and they have ambition to play for England and you tend to see guys drop off quite quickly.Weve found he is actually playing quite well but keeps getting out, Benkenstein said of the move to bat him down the order. The new ball is always tough in England and we thought maybe its a chance to free him up a bit and take him away from the new ball. Just changing his role gives him a bit of a mini-challenge and we are hoping that stimulates him.Hampshire will hope Carberry can flourish in the second half of the season. Play began under a warming sun, but as the day wore on, the clouds thickened and darkened and like the looming threat of Hampshires relegation, they slowly closed in.When, at 3.18pm the umpires decided the light was too bad for play to continue Ervine and Carberry could hardly have left the pitch much quicker. Less than five minutes later it started to rain and the players never returned.More rain is forecast tomorrow and Hampshire could well escape this match with a draw but having been hoping for rain since mid-afternoon on day one, it will be with a heavy heart that they make the five hour drive to Chester-le-Street on Saturday.This pitch has been very slow, too slow to produce particularly intriguing cricket, and without the blanket of dark clouds under which they bowled on the first day, Somerset must have felt what it was like to bowl several overs in Hampshires shoes on day two as the hosts fought admirably against some accurate bowling.Unlike Somersets batsmen however, Hampshires were unable to convert strong starts into significant scores. All three of the wickets to fall were self-inflicted.Tom Alsop was the first to go when shortly before lunch he was caught at second slip having tried to cut a ball from Peter Trego that was too straight to do so to and angling in further still. Alsops wicket ended a stoic partnership of 89 - tellingly Hampshires best second-wicket stand of the season.That Alsop received a generous reception from Hampshires members for his 53 when he finally reached the pavilion, head bowed, bat hanging limply by his side and dragging along the turf, is perhaps emblematic of the clubs readjusted expectations. A good effort it was, but ultimately not good enough.After the interval Will Smith dragged on to Lewis Gregory and when Liam Dawsons limp push outside off stump ended up in the hands of second slip there was a possibility Hampshire were not even going to beat the rain, let alone Somerset.After an hour of thick, miserly rain, with darkness enveloping the ground and puddles forming on the covers, the floodlights were unceremoniously switched off. Ten minutes after that, with the ground practically deserted but for a lone member of the ground staff, the PA system echoed around the stadium confirming to no one but the assembled press that play had been abandoned.And with that the lonely groundsman trudged across the outfield and disappeared into the bowels of the stadium, the only sound he left behind him was the gentle patter of rain on the covers as a melancholy day crept slowly towards its end. Theo Pinson Nets Jersey . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Kenneth Faried Nets Jersey . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Taurean-Prince-City-Edition-Jersey/ .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Jaylen Hands Nets Jersey . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Rodions Kurucs Nets Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. TRNAVA, Slovakia -- Until Adam Lallana pounced in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Sam Allardyce was about to become the first England manager in 34 years to fail to win his opening game.Instead, Lallanas late goal against Slovakia showed Allardyce he just might gain the fortuitous breaks his predecessors havent enjoyed.And the former Bolton, Sunderland and West Ham manager wondered what role a newly-obtained lucky penny had to play in the winning start to World Cup qualifying.A father and his son in a wheelchair came to the hotel this morning and asked if it was OK to have a picture, Allardyce said after Sundays 1-0 win in Trnava. When we finished, he said: `Let me give you a lucky coin. Here it is. I had it with me in my pocket. We won, so itll stay with me.Im not really superstitious but Im going to keep it. Its got us a last-minute winner. I wonder how far it will take us.The first target is just making it to the finals in Russia in 2018. Then Allardyce will need his players to provide more of a threat than they did against Slovakia. It was a turgid England performance reminiscent of Roy Hodgsons final game in charge -- the loss to Iceland in the round of 16 at the European Championship in June.Even after gaining a man-advantage from the 57th minute, when Martin Skrtel received a second yellow card for another foul on Harry Kane, the visitors struggled to break through Slovakias resistance in their first game in Group F.Sloppy goalkeeping helped Lallana score his first England goal in his 27th international after his shot went through Matus Kozaciks legs.Its been a long time coming, Lallana said. I put pressure on myself to score goals and I knew it was only a matter of time.It was pretty nerve-wracking at the end because the 10-man scenario means you must win, a giddy Allardyce said in his post-match television interview, struggling to begin his answer while still laughing at his good fortune.ddddddddddddIt was difficult to break them down ... but we got what we deserved.It took until the 65th minute for England to hit the target for the first time. Wayne Rooney hit a low shot straight at Kozacik as the captain became Englands most capped outfield player, surpassing the record he held with David Beckham, by making a 116th appearance.We didnt panic, I think thats the main thing, the 30-year-old Rooney said. We stuck to our plan, we kept our shape and tried to penetrate them in the right areas but also without giving them too many chances.---MALTA 1, SCOTLAND 5Robert Snodgrass gave Scotland the early edge over neighbor England in Group F with a hat trick on the Mediterranean island as the team chases its first tournament appearance since the 1998 World Cup. Two Malta players -- Jonathan Caruana and Luke Gambin -- were also sent off in the second half for fouling Snodgrass.Scotland only got going in the second half, after Alfred Effiongs header had canceled out Snodgrass opener. Surprise starter Chris Martin restored Scotlands lead in the 53rd minute and Snodgrass was on target again on the hour from the penalty spot after being clipped by Caruana. Snodgrass completed his treble after substitute Steven Fletcher netted, while Gambin saw red in stoppage time.---LITHUANIA 2, SLOVENIA 2Slovenia staged a late fightback to rescue a point, with Bostjan Cesar heading in the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time. Rene Krhin started the comeback in the final 15 minutes after Fedor Cernych and Vykintas Slivka gave Lithuania a 2-0 half-time lead. ' ' '