To vote a gay bloke to be in that position is a massive hono

Mark Butcher believes Shane Watson played one of his finest innings as his unbeaten half century propelled Australia past Pakistan and into the World Cup semi-finals. Watson (64no from 66 balls) guided Australia to a six-wicket victory in Adelaide after entering the crease with his team teetering on 59-3 in pursuit of 214.The 33-year-old, who was dropped for the match with Afghanistan earlier in the tournament, held firm while the effervescent Wahab Riaz (2-54) came hurtling in. To get your team over the line is the aim of any cricketer and to have done it having weathered a pace storm from the unbelievably fired-up Wahab will make it extra special.” Mark Butcher And former England batsmen Butcher told Sky Sports that Watson will be delighted with his knock, one that secured a Sydney showdown with India on Thursday, March 26.“That innings from Watson will give him more pleasure than any 80 or hundred he would have made in easier circumstances,” said Butcher, who played 71 Tests for England but no one-day internationals.“To get your team over the line is the aim of any cricketer and to have done it having weathered a pace storm from the unbelievably fired-up Wahab will make it extra special.”CaptivatedWatson, whose half century was his 33rd in ODI cricket, was on the backfoot early in his innings with left-armer Wahab peppering him with a hostile spell of seam. Wahab Riaz says being unable to call upon the injured Mohammad Irfan was a big blow for Pakistan as they lost to Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals. “I was captivated by the battle, as everybody else was, and it was almost a mini episode of Test cricket in a one-day game,” said Michael Atherton after commentating on the match.“It has happened a lot in this tournament, though, as with batsmen dominating, captains have realised they need their fast bowlers bowling aggressively to try and prevent an onslaught from batters later on.”Watson, however, was given a costly reprieve by Rahat Ali when on four, the Pakistan quick shelling a routine catch at fine leg off the bowling of Wahab.But former Australia all-rounder Marcus North says that slip-up was just one of a number of differences between the sides. Watch this huge error from Rahat Ali which could prove costly for Pakistan in their quarter-final clash with Australia. “It was a very tense, close contest in the end but as a package Australia are better than Pakistan,” said North, after watching Michael Clarke’s men skittle their opponents for 213 and then chalk off their target in 33.5 overs, thanks also to scores from Steve Smith (65) and Glenn Maxwell (44no).“They just have more match winners, either with amazing hitters or in the bowling, while Pakistan have also been unable to master the fielding aspect of the game.”Highlights of Australias win over Pakistan will be available on Sky Sports World Cup at 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm with The Verdict, featuring VVS Laxman and Jacques Kallis, following each show.Highlights of the match are also available in Hindi over on Zee Cinema (channel 790). Vincent Edwards Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. Cheap Houston Rockets Jerseys . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. http://www.cheaprocketsjerseys.com/ . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Wholesale Rockets Jerseys . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Cheap NBA Jerseys . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. The XV Paralympic Games open in Rio on Wednesday night with 10-time gold medallist Lee Pearson leading Great Britain into a full to capacity Maracana Stadium.The Rio 2016 organising committee admitted as the Olympics came to a close last month that only 12 percent of the 2.5 million Paralympic tickets had been sold, while International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven admitted it was the worst build-up to a modern Games.However, it seems Rio has turned things around. Sales passed the 1.5m mark on Sunday and Rio is expected to be behind only London in terms of tickets sold. The London 2012 Paralympics saw 2.7m tickets sold.Wednesdays opening ceremony has been sold out, with 159 nations, plus two refugees in an Independent Paralympic Athletes team, represented, while unlike in the Olympics Russia is banned for state-sponsored doping.Rio 2016 spokesperson Mario Andrada said: We passed 1.6million tickets sold. The opening ceremony is sold out.We are following very much the same pattern that we have seen in the Olympic Games. Right before the Olympic Games we were selling around 40,000 tickets a day and we are selling around 40,000 tickets a day now for the Paralympics.We had peaks of selling 146,000 tickets (a day) for the Paralympics. The day that we sold most tickets was for the Paralympics.If you count the tickets sold we expect more people in the Paralympic Park next Saturday and Sunday than we could have seen during the Olympic Games.Britains chances of surpassing their target of 120 medals won at London 2012 and finishing second on the medal table, behind China, are boosted by Russias absence. Russia were second in the standings four years ago.Pearson will lead ParalympicsGB into the Maracana Stadium at the start of his fifth Games.The 42-year-old equestrian rider from Staffordshire describes himself as a colourful ccharacter.ddddddddddddHe believes the fact a gay bloke has been selected as flag bearer by his 263 teammates shows the strength and diversity of the team and the nation.The selection follows Kate Richardson-Walsh, who won hockey gold alongside wife Helen, being chosen to carry the flag at the Olympic closing ceremony last month.It just shows how diverse, how accepting, how lovely and how strong our team is, Pearson said.Thats why Im so proud of my fellow athletes. What an amazing nation to have - weve got so many diverse characters, different religions and races... To vote a gay bloke to be in that position is a massive honour.The first of 11 days of competition takes place on Thursday and the Games run until September 18.Irelands Jason Smyth is expected to be the fastest performer at the Games.The 29-year-old partially sighted sprinter from Londonderry set the fastest time in Paralympic competition in winning gold at London 2012 in 10.46 seconds.He competes on Friday morning, while the eagerly anticipated T44 100m final featuring amputee sprinters and defending champion Jonnie Peacock takes place later on the same day.Smyth is a four-time Paralympic champion and has been nicknamed the Paralympics Usain Bolt.Smyth, whose personal best is 10.22secs, said: Everyone in the world knows Usain Bolt and how incredible an athlete he is. To be put in the same sentence as him is a great honour and hopefully the main thing is for me to continue and run fast.Usain Bolt didnt break a world record this year either so maybe I can get away with not doing it.Major championship running is about trying to win. At the end of the day its about trying to make sure youre the first person across the line and thats my main target. ' ' '