England batsman Jonathan Trott on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket following his poor showing with the bat in the recently-concluded Test series against the West Indies.The veteran right-hander managed just 59 runs in the three-match series, which finished in a 1-1 draw after West Indies won the third and final Test by five wickets in Barbados.Trott, 34, admitted that he found it tough to settle down on his comeback to international cricket. He had returned home in the middle of the 2013-14 Ashes tour 18 months ago citing a stress-related illness as England were whitewashed 5-0 by hosts Australia,"This was a tough decision to make but I don’t feel my game is at the level you need to be at to play for England. I was honoured to be given the opportunity to come back and play international cricket again and I’m disappointed it didn’t work out.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me and given me the chance to represent England and to thank supporters for all their backing over the years. I also want to wish the lads all the very best for what will be an incredibly exciting summer," he said. South-Africa born Trott played 52 Tests, 68 ODIs and seven T20s in an international career that began in 2007. He made his Test debut during in Ashes in 2009 and made an immediate impact scoring the first of his nine Test centuries.
He pointed out that he would continue to play for his English county side Warwickshire.
"I've had incredible highs and some real lows in an England shirt but wouldn’t change a thing. I look forward to continuing my career at Warwickshire and hopefully helping us win more silverware." Trott went on to become a vital part of a Test side that won an Ashes series away from home for the first time in 24 years, reached number one in the world and won a Test series in India for the first time in 27 years. The Warwickshire batsman was also the lynchpin of England’s ODI team, helping the side to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.
IPL 8: Rayudu powers Mumbai Indians to a 5-wicket
victory against Delhi
Rayudu powers Mumbai Indians to a 5-wicket victory against Delhi
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians had a strange batting order. They needed to overcome two rain interruptions in a chase that had gotten off on the wrong foot. They were up against a high-quality bowling attack. But in Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard, they had two masters of the chase. Confronted with a climbing required rate and an atmosphere that would have reduced lesser men to nerves, the two calmly stared the target down and gave Mumbai a fourth successive win in Pepsi IPL 2015.
Yuvraj Singh had revived a faltering Delhi innings to take them to a competitive 152 for 6, with Harbhajan Singh providing a spin masterclass of 2 for 11 in four overs. Delhi's bowlers had then reduced Mumbai to 40 for 4. When Mumbai's last pair of recognised batsmen got together, 53 were needed off 28 balls. In the event, Rayudu (49 not out off 40) and Pollard (26 not out off 14) needed only 25 of them, Mumbai winning by five wickets in 19.3 overs.The first half of the match was about two Punjab veterans showing the younger lot how it was done. Yuvraj scratched around for the first half of his knock, before the booming drives and flicks made an appearance so delightful that even the heavily partisan Wankhede crowd was swathed in appreciative applause.Yuvraj's knock dragged Delhi from trouble to respectability, but that they were in trouble was entirely down to Harbhajan. The offspinner came on to bowl in the fifth over with Delhi 43 for 1, having lost Mayank Agarwal the first ball of the match, poking at a full, moving Lasith Malinga delivery to be caught behind the stumps.By the time Harbhajan had finished his four-over spell, bowling unchanged, Delhi were 80 for 4 in 12 overs. Harbhajan got an impetuous Shreyas Iyer off his first ball. In his final over, he had the perfect spinner's dismissal, luring Kedar Jadhav - who had been promoted to No.4 - outside for the bails to be whipped off. In the end he had 4-1-11-2, and had made the difference between Mumbai chasing 170-plus and 150.
Harbhajan was aided by J Suchith making Mumbai's most crucial strike. JP Duminy (28 off 19) was middling the ball well and had already hit a couple of sixes to go with three fours when he jabbed one back in the air, giving Suchith enough time to move to his left and complete a sharp, tumbling catch. The score read 50 for 3 in the seventh over, with Delhi's in-form captain gone.Thereafter Harbhajan tightened the noose around batsmen, before Yuvraj broke free. He had plodded to 25 off 32, when he cut the last ball of the 16th over to the point fence. Malinga was brought back and Yuvraj stepped out to whip the second ball to the midwicket fence. The next delivery was jabbed into the ground but bounced over the wicketkeeper's head to also go to the boundary. The third four was stunning, Yuvraj middling the ball so powerfully that the man at the cover fence had no chance to stop it, even though the ball thudded into the fence only a few feet from where he was stationed.
Fifty came up with an effortless flick that sailed over the fine-leg fence, and he fell only due to a stunning catch. Having cut Malinga for what seemed destined to be another four, Yuvraj had to head back when Lendl Simmons showed sharp reflexes and better athletic ability, flying through the air at backward point to come up with the ball in hand off the final ball of the 19th over.Mumbai still didn't have a big total to chase, but they were up against one of the better attacks in the tournament, with Imran Tahir having returned to the XI in place of Gurinder Sandhu. Zaheer Khan gave Delhi the perfect start with an inswinger that trapped Simmons in front, and Nathan Coulter-Nile followed up in the next over with the wicket of Hardik Pandya, sent in at No.3. There was a brief interruption in the innings when the skies opened up after four overs with Mumbai 25 for 2; on resumption they lost Parthiv Patel immediately. Their batting order though, defied logic. After the Pandya experiment failed, Harbhajan came out at No.5. Perhaps Mumbai were concerned about the rains and being behind on Duckworth-Lewis. But the move made little sense, since if a wicket were lost, it would make the D/L target steeper. That is exactly what happened, with Harbhajan's stay lasting only four balls, and when the second rain interruption came, Mumbai were 40 for 4 in 5.2 overs, 16 behind the D/L target. The thing with Twenty20 cricket though, is that the wickets lost column can be made redundant pretty quickly, and especially so when the target being chased isn't all that steep. At the stoppage, Mumbai needed 113 more runs in 88 balls, eminently gettable. Realising that no big shots were needed, Rohit Sharma and Rayudu concentrated on building a partnership steadily, and a run-a-ball 60 stand later, the match was back on even keel. When Amit Mishra got Rohit to chop a googly back onto his stumps for 46 off 37 balls, Mumbai needed 53 off 28 balls and Pollard walked in. The equation required at least one boundary hit every over. Pollard took Mishra for six over long-on, Rayudu repeated that against Zaheer in the next over. Mathews bowled a brilliant 18th over, but the last ball went to the third man fence, having taken Rayudu's edge, and the equation read 22 to get in 12 balls. In the next over, the issue was settled, Coulter-Nile going for 14 runs, and leaving Tahir with only eight to defend in the final over. Delhi needed a miracle to win then, but against an assured duo, that wasn't forthcoming.
Is It Wedding Bells For Ranbir Kapoor And Katrina Kaif Already?
Its no more a secret that Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are dating each other and are all set to marry soon. The duo is set to take their love story on the next level.
According to the latest reports, lovely couple Ranbir-Katrina are gearing up with the preparations to make the official announcement of their relationship. Reports suggest that a special function is being planned for Ranbir- Katrina’s relationship, which will be hosted at the end of the month.
Reportedly, close friends and relatives would attend the function. There is no confirmation yet that it will be engagement or roka.
Recently Ranbir Kapoor who always dodged the question about his marriage with Katrina Kaif said, “I think you cannot keep it private. We are actors. My wedding date was fixed six years back. It’s a special day so let me announce it. But right now there are no plans.”
“I am in love and I do feel committed and responsible. But when it comes to wedding, so much speculation spoils the fun. I would request media to stop speculating about my wedding date.”
Ranbir and Katrina were recently spotted for a romantic holiday in Maldives. But later they had to take off back to Mumbai from their holiday for their prior commitments for the work. Earlier this month, Katrina was also spotted on dinner in Mumbai with Ranbir Kapoor’s family.
Amal to gift Clooney a Porsche for his birthday
Los Angeles: Hollywood star George Clooney is getting a brand new Porsche from wife Amal Alamuddin on his 54th birthday. The lawyer reportedly is getting her actor husband a Porsche 911 GT3 RS worth 135,000 pounds, reported Ace Showbiz. A family source has been quoted as claiming, “Amal has been looking for the right car for him to replace his black Porsche 911 and the new one is much faster.”
The source added, “He’s already test-driven it for his birthday present.” Amal, 37, was said to have arranged to buy George one of the first available in the US. The four-litre, 200mph motor will be placed in the same garage as George’s 1959 red and white Chevrolet Corvette. In addition to the pricey car, Amal plans to buy George a smoothie maker.
The least stressful companies to work for in America
(Wikimedia Commons) California-based life insurance company Pacific Life
was rated the least stressful, at 32%. More stress means less productivity.
In fact, stressful employees can cost companies between $200 and
$300 billion each year. What's more, stress is contagious, making it even
more critical for companies to create comfortable working conditions
to keep their employees happy. To find the least stressful employers in
America, we looked at Business Insider's latest
list of the 50 best companies to work for. For the second year in a row, Pacific
Life Insurance topped the list, with nearly a third (32%) of employees
reporting low stress, a significant jump from last year's 23.9%. The list is
based on exclusive data from employer-information website PayScale, which
surveyed employees in the US who work at companies that appeared on
the 2014 Fortune 500 list. PayScale calculated scores for each company
using six criteria: high job satisfaction, low job stress, ability to telecommute,
high job meaning, experienced median pay/total cash compensation, and
salary delta. We double-weighted pay to emphasize the importance of
companies that compensate their employees well. Job stress was based on
a survey that asked employees, "How stressful is your job/work environment?
" The higher percentage of employees who responded with "My job is Relaxing"
or "Not stressful," the lower the stress.
