lp, Jones said.North Carolina has won the last two meeting

For much of the day it seemed the school girls in the stands in Visakhapatnam were screaming for their heroes in the India team. But as the last session unfolded, with England losing three top-order wickets for eight runs at one stage, the thought occurred that they might have been screaming in horror at Englands prospects in this match. Perhaps the pitch of the screaming had changed or perhaps, after several hours subjected to it, the mentality of those listening had.Or maybe the noise was just the soul of the England team. For England are in desperate trouble in this game. Already, with only two days of the game gone, they need a miracle of biblical proportions to save them. Rain wont come to their rescue - its not due to rain here until January - and, it says much for their predicament, that their best hope of saving this game really might be a plague of locusts. Or, seeing as it is Vizag, dogs.It would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that losing the toss in these circumstances is a substantial disadvantage. India took advantage of the pitch at its best for batting and England were condemned to replying as the deterioration began. Already, some good-length deliveries that batsmen might expect to play at hip height are scuttling along the deck and some deliveries are turning sharply. It will only grow more difficult for batsmen. It is fiendishly tough and any criticism of them has to be tempered by that knowledge.Theres no future in feeling sorry for themselves, though. Such challenges are part of the experience of touring India, just as dealing with green pitches is part of the challenge of touring England. England won the toss in the first Test in Rajkot - albeit not with just such disproportionate consequences - and they may yet win a toss later in the series with similar results.Besides, it would be quite wrong to accept the inevitability of future events from the moment the toss is taken. Had England placed a better fielder for their hook trap and had they placed a gully for the second new ball, it is entirely possible Indias total would be substantially smaller. You have to give the India batsmen credit, too. Virat Kohli has long been established as a great limited-overs player and he is well on the way to proving his class in the longest format. At times, he looks almost impossibly good. You suspect his bat will cause England a lot more pain before this series is done.Most of all, England had the opportunity to bat on the second afternoon when the conditions might be termed tricky rather than impossible. They had the chance to show they had learned from Dhaka, taken confidence from Rajkot and were able to put all that into action.There were some encouraging moments. Haseeb Hameed dealt comfortably with some good pace bowling by Indias seamers - including a few more short balls - and Ben Stokes demonstrated his tighter technique against spin. And there was the sight of Joe Root playing the ball off the back foot with a straight bat to try and adjust to the spin and variable bounce. For a while, he did it very well.But Test cricket isnt about batting nicely for a while. It is not about cameos and half-centuries. And Root knows that as well as anyone.His dismissal here - attempting to hit R Ashwin over the top but instead finding the fielder at long-off - probably looked worse than it was. Kohli had just moved long-on to mid-on and the previous ball had spun pretty sharply into Root pads. So the shot was just about on and, had it proved successful, we might have praised Roots positive intent and his refusal to allow Ashwin to settle.Instead, Ashwin persuaded the ball to drift away from the bat (it may have been natural variation, but he is a terrific bowler so let us give him the credit) and Root was only able to make contact with the outside third of his bat. It didnt look pretty but it wasnt such an unreasonable ploy. And perhaps we have to remind ourselves that Root is only 25. He will not need telling that the risk-reward ratio was not good. He will not need telling that this was a day for nudges and rotation and defence rather than such counter-attacking.That was exactly the message of Paul Farbrace, Englands assistant coach, at the close of play. When a high-quality player like Joe gets to fifty and gets out, it is massively disappointing, Farbrace said. And it looks a whole lot worse when you get out that way. But if he hit that one bounce for four down the ground then we say great shot.But this is a time when Joe will look back and say he could have done things better. He does not need telling.Nor will Alastair Cook - who was the victim of a magnificent delivery that looked as if it was passing outside off stump, but crept back and beat his forward push - or Moeen Ali, who thought that coming down the pitch would save him from not knowing how much the ball would spin but became the latest victim of a DRS decision that would never have been out a few years ago.There will be more worry about Ben Ducketts dismissal. For the third time in six Test innings he fell in strikingly similar fashion: placing his front foot on - or even outside - leg stump and nowhere near the pitch of the ball to allow himself the opportunity to hit an offspinner through the off side, he was bowled when the turn took the delivery away and into the top of off stump. He was bowled in similar fashion by Mehedi Hasan in Chittagong and edged to slip off Ashwin in Rajkot.It was always asking a lot of Duckett to cope with the spin on this tour. Spin plays a peripheral part in the lower division of the County Championship - only one spinner in the entire division managed even 25 wickets in 2016 and that was his Northants team-mate, Rob Keogh - and he will never have experienced conditions like this. Or bowlers so adept at exploiting them.But Farbrace was having none of that. Pointing to Stokes as an example of a man who has learned to deal with such challenges, Farbrace insisted Duckett had to find a way to cope. Wherever in the world you go to, there will always be something different to your home, Farbrace said. And the best players in the world adapt quickly. Thats why Root and Cook have runs all around the world. Now Stokes is showing he has got the capacity to adapt and play in different conditions.Our younger players have got to find a way to adapt cope with the conditions. And of course we would love to have more spinning wickets and more spin bowlers in England. Thats something we are always looking to address. Same as Australians are looking to address the swinging and seaming ball. Every team around the world are always looking at ways to improve the way they are playing.We are not panicking over Ben but we know, and he knows, that he has to find a way to cope. It is a massive step going from playing for Northants to facing Ashwin on a wicket in India that is turning and bouncing. You have to be able to adapt your game or any chink in your armoury, top players exploit it.It leaves England facing a tricky decision. Should they replace Duckett for the third Test or stick with him in the hope he can improve his technique during the course of the series? Both actions risk damaging his confidence, but Englands only other options on the tour are Jos Buttler - who has played only one first-class match since he was dropped a year ago - and Gary Ballance, who was dropped in Rajkot after a grim run of form.While recent history would suggest England will give Duckett more opportunities - James Vince, for example, was given seven Tests to prove himself without making a half-century - it is asking a great deal to tinker with his technique during such a condensed Test series. Aged 22, he has the time - and the talent - to reinvent himself. He also has the second innings.Hes practised extremely hard, Farbrace said. He has had long sessions against spin and he has made an adjustment already on this trip. But the danger is you dont want to be offering too many changes to a young player. You brought him into the side because he is talented, because he has got runs, and you have to trust him to play his way.Hes also got to trust himself to … have a solid defence so that when you do get a bad ball, you can put it away. Getting 13s, 15s, 20s, 30s are not good enough. He knows that. But hes got to find a way of improving and keep working on his defensive technique.Most all, Farbrace made it clear that he would accept no excuses from any of the England side. There are bound to be challenges like this in India. England either learn to deal with them or they settle for a place among the also-rans of world cricket.Theres no point bleating and making excuses, he said. We didnt show enough fight. Those are times when we need to show a bit more resilience and get stuck in. It was a bad session. We have to find a way to cut that out if were serious about being one of the best teams in the world.Wholesale Nike Blazer Shoes Online . 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Clearance Nike Blazer Shoes .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.DURHAM, N.C. -- Intent on maintaining a chance of winning an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, No. 17 North Carolina cant afford a hiccup Thursday night at Duke.While the Blue Devils could put a big dent in the Tar Heels title aspirations, theres a flip side when these rivals meet.North Carolina might send Duke tumbling out of bowl contention when the teams collide at Wallace Wade Stadium (7:30 p.m., ESPN).Its about the next game, thats the only thing we can control is what we do in this game on Thursday night, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said. Thats where our focus has been. Lets get ready for this game.North Carolina (7-2, 5-1 ACC) has rattled off three consecutive victories, remaining in a first-place tie with Virginia Tech, which owns the tiebreaker on the Tar Heels.Duke (3-6, 0-5), which is the only ACC team without a conference victory, holds a three-game losing streak going into its home finale.They could have very easily won all three of those games, theres no doubt about that, Fedora said. We dont really look at their record, thats not something that we pay attention to. We know were going to get their best game and hopefully were going to give them our best game.The Blue Devils have lost back-to-back games by three points.Obviously, everyone is well aware that weve played close football games all year long, Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. Were 3-6 for a reason, you have to look at why.North Carolina played strong in most areas against Georgia Tech on Saturday coming off an open week on the schedule. The refreshed team now faces a different type of challenge.I think we have a good plan for short weeks, Fedora said. When you go a short week, its more about making sure theyre mentally fresh and their bodies are ready to go.North Carolinas high-powered offense is bound to be troublesome for Duke, which has been prone to yielding big-yardage plays.Tar Heels senior receivers Ryan Switzer and Bug Howard both rank among the top seven in the ACC in receptions per game and receiving yards per game, helping quarterback Mitch Trubiskys soaring eefficiency ratings.ddddddddddddYou have to be really good on third downs (on defense) against this team, Cutcliffe said. Theyre very difficult to defend anyway.Part of the key for Dukes defense could be the play of linebacker Ben Humphreys, a sophomore coming off a career-high 16 tackles against Virginia Tech.North Carolina has benefited from running back Elijah Hood working through some midseason ailments. He racked up 168 rushing yards in the Georgia Tech game.That type of balance has the Tar Heels in a good frame of mind.Plays are being made, and everybody is having a lot of fun out there, Hood said.Meanwhile, the Blue Devils have shown their coach a degree of resiliency.Im real impressed with our team refocusing, Cutcliffe said. We try to teach the same whether weve won or lost.Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones, who is from Charlotte, will play in this rivalry for the first time. He said theres no reason to let the past few Duke results bring about frustration.If we get emotional about it, its not going to help, Jones said.North Carolina has won the last two meetings since Duke clinched the 2013 Coastal Division title by defeating the Tar Heels.The teams play annually for possession of the Victory Bell, which is kept for a year by the winning team. North Carolina has captured 23 of the past 26 matchups.For 27 Duke seniors, this is the last home game for a group that helped transform the program.Theyve won 30 games in their four-year career, Cutcliffe said. Thats pretty special.But without a victory against North Carolina, the Blue Devils wont meet bowl eligibility, meaning a four-year streak of postseason play would come to an end.This will be Dukes third game against a nationally ranked opponent in a four-game span. The Blue Devils have won four of their last 11 games against Top 25 opponents.Theyre going to give us everything theyve got, Fedora said. I hope that were prepared and we give them everything weve got. ' ' '