108.5 R Ashwin to Ben Stokes - pitch explosionThis was the first ball of the game that took a piece of the pitch after landing. The ball hit the edge of one of the cracks on a good length, right in front of the batsman. The cracks running right through the 22 yards have opened up a little from the first day and this ball was a sign of the edges crumbling a little. That puts England in a commanding position.Reverse swing and the off-stump trap for left-handersThe thing with reverse swing is that it allows you to both take wickets and, if needed, stop the flow of runs. India tried that with Ben Stokes, with both seamers bowling from around the wicket. India had set a 7-2 off-side field and bowled an 8-10th-stump line to him, and it not only stemmed the flow of runs but also produced two outside edges. As a batsman, Stokes had two options - he could either leave everything alone or walk across to get closer and drag it towards the leg side. Now, you might ask why the same does not apply to right-handed batsmen. The reason is that when the ball is reversing, it tends to tail back in more as compared to leaving the right-hander, and that makes it tougher to set an off-side trap.Yorkers - conspicuous by their absenceThe ball has reverse swung quite appreciably in this game, but we have not seen many attempts from the bowlers to bowl yorkers. During the last series, Zaheer Khan told me that you need either the extra pace or some reverse swing to attempt hitting the blockhole. The Indian fast bowlers were fortunate enough to have both in this innings - Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav are reasonably quick in the air and both were extracting considerable reverse swing. So it was slightly surprising that they did not attempt more yorkers. The angle of attack to StokesAgainst the pacers, Stokes scored most of his runs through the leg side. Whenever Indias seamers bowled outside off, they were able to keep him quiet. So, was there a case for bowling more in that channel outside off and also trying to go over the wicket more to use the natural angle taking the ball away from him? Indias fast bowlers did not go over the wicket even once to him.Making an open stance workTheres been a lot of talk about Gautam Gambhirs new stance and the challenges it is likely to pose. With the new, very open stance, a couple of things that Gambhir must be careful about are his judgment of where his off stump is and avoiding the temptation to play booming drives to full balls outside off. Thus far, Gambhir has shown both the patience and the judgment - he has left balls in the fifth-stump channel and allowed the full balls to come to him instead of going towards them. Cheap Titans Jerseys .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Wholesale Tennessee Titans Jerseys . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. http://www.cheaptitansjerseysauthentic.com/ . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Wholesale Titans Jerseys . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Tennessee Titans Jerseys China . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. BOSTON -- The Red Soxs torrid hitting pace continued, but only for one inning.Boston got a leadoff home run for the second straight night from Mookie Betts, but didnt score again as Minnesotas Kyle Gibson held the Red Sox to a pair of hits over eight innings and the Twins held on for a 2-1 win Friday night.Betts 20th homer and a one-out single by Xander Bogaerts were Bostons only hits until the Red Sox threatened in the bottom of the ninth. After getting 33 hits in their previous two games, 17 of them Thursday in a 13-2 rout of the Twins, the Red Sox had just four hits Friday.Always looking forward to something happening. It just doesnt work out all the time, said David Ortiz, who grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the ninth.Brian Dozier hit a solo home run for the Twins in the second inning and Miguel Sano added an RBI single in the sixth. It was all the scoring Minnesota needed as Gibson (3-6) did the rest.Closer Brandon Kintzler got his seventh save, preserving the lead in a wild bottom half of the ninth. Michael Martinez and Dustin Pedroia started the inning with consecutive singles and Bogaerts walked to load the bases with nobody out and Ortiz coming up next.Kintzler got Ortiz to ground into a double play, then Hanley Ramirez flew out to right to end the game and Bostons three-game winning streak.Stage was set. Golden opportunity, manager John Farrell said. We had quality at-bats in that ninth inning. Up until that point, Gibson was very good. Changed speeds, good sinker. Unable to really mount any kind of threat throughout the first eight innings.Eduardo Rodriguez (2-4) allowed two runs on six hits and struck out eight and walked one over 5 1/3 innings for Boston. Joe Mauer was the only batter Rodriguez walked, reaching with one out in the sixth before Heath Hembree took over for the Red Sox.Hembree walked Dozier, then Sano doubled to score Mauer with what would be the winning run.After Bogaerts single in the first, Boston didnt get another man on base until Gibson walked Brock Holt to lead off the sixth. Dozier got Holt with a diving stop on a hard shot up the middle and nearly doubled up Michael Martinez at ffirst.dddddddddddd Gibson and the Twins got right out of the threat when Pedroia grounded into a double play.MISSING MOOKIEBetts did not take the field with the Red Sox in the top of the fifth. Martinez took over in right field and the Red Sox announced a few minutes later that Betts had left the game with soreness in his right knee.Betts, an All-Star Game starter, leads the Red Sox with 127 hits and is second on the club with 20 home runs and 63 RBI. He was considered day-to-day and manager John Farrell wasnt sure when he could return to the lineup.We wouldnt take any risks with Mookie, certainly, Farrell said.GOOD GIBSONOrtiz went 0 for 4 Friday, one night after getting three hits -- including a home run -- and driving in four runs. He had a quick response when asked what Gibson was throwing that made him so effective.I dont know but he should keep on throwing it the rest of the season, Ortiz said. If the game would have been that easy, it wouldnt be the way it is. They know how to get a hitter out. They know how to get that done. Its not always going to work in our way. Sometimes its going to work in their way, too.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: C Kurt Suzuki was not in the starting lineup for the Twins, getting some rest and avoiding the heat. The temperature at gametime was 92 degrees. Manager Paul Molitor said Suzuki should return Saturday.Red Sox: Betts left the game in the fifth inning with soreness in his right knee. RHP Junichi Tazawa (right shoulder impingement) returned to the roster after being activated from the 15-day DL.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Ricky Nolasco (4-8, 5.02) gets his team-high 20th start. Nolasco also shares the team lead for losses, picking up his eighth Monday despite holding Detroit to one run on three hits and three walks in six innings.Red Sox: LHP David Price (9-7, 4.36) gets his first start since taking the loss Sunday when the Yankees ended Bostons six-game winning streak. Price struck out just one batter in 5 2/3 innings, ending a string of three straight starts with at least 10 strikeouts. ' ' '