Trott, Broad set world record for eighth wicket

LONDON: England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership on Saturday when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of the fourth test against Pakistan at Lord’s.

The pair, who came to the crease with England in deep trouble at 102 for seven in their first innings on Friday, broke the previous mark of 313 set by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq against Zimbabwe in 1996.

The partnership was finally broken 15 minutes before lunch when Broad was dismissed lbw to off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for 169.

At the interval, England were 445 for eight in their first innings with Trott still at the crease on 183. A draw would be enough for England to win the series 2-1.

Trott, who scored 226 in the Lord’s test against Bangladesh this year, took a single off the first ball he faced on Saturday to reach

Highest eighth wicket test match partnerships

LONDON: A list of the top 10 highest eighth wicket test match partnerships after England’s Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad broke the previous best of 313 against Pakistan at Lord’s on Saturday.

Players Runs Opposition Venue Year

1. Trott/Broad 332 Pakistan Lord’s 2010

2. Wasim Akram/Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) 313 Zimbabwe Sheikhupura 1996

3. Stephen Fleming/James Franklin (New Zealand) 256 South Africa Cape Town 2006

4. Nathan Astle/Adam Parore (New Zealand) 253 Australia Perth 2001

5. Les Ames/Gubby Allen (England) 246 New Zealand Lord’s 1931

6. Roger Hartigan/Clem Hill (Australia) 243 England Adelaide 1908

7. Tom

Amir rips through England top order

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen’s miserable run of scores continued with a golden duck as Mohammad Aamer gave England a nightmare start to the second morning of the fourth npower Test at Lord’s.

The Pakistani seam and swing bowler took three wickets for no runs in five balls as England faltered to 47 for five after 20 minutes’ play under yet more heavy cloud cover in a series almost entirely beset by such conditions.

Pietersen drove at a wide, swinging delivery from the teenage left-armer and got an obliging edge behind, safely collected by Kamran Akmal.

The Pakistan wicketkeeper, one of several less than reliable catchers in the tourists’ ranks this summer, had already done the decent thing from the final ball of the previous over when Aamer got one to swing down the slope from the pavilion end to have Alastair Cook also caught behind.

With Pietersen gone

This year’s Ramazan to see 3 different rates of sugar

KARACHI: Sugar will be sold at three different rates to the people during this year’s holy month of Ramazan.

For the first time in the country’s history, government will supply sugar at two different rates while the third rate will be the one prevalent in open market at which people will have to buy sugar after failing to get it at the previous two rates. The third rate will be Rs70 a kilogram or more.

So this Ramazan will witness people struggling to get sugar at Rs55 after standing in long queues before the Utility Stores and in case of failure they will have to head toward ‘Sasta Bazars’. The third and final option will be the open market where they will be sure to get the commodity but at highest rates.

This year’s sugar production was 1.2 million tones less than the country’s requirement. It was in this context that the government decided to import the commodity.

PSO says will cut fuel to WAPDA, IPPs on dues

KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has threatened to stop supplying fuel to public and private power companies which fail to clear their dues by the end of the month, a company official said on Tuesday.

“PSO has sent ultimatums to Water and Power Development Authority, Hub Power Company and Kot Addu Power Company,” the official said requesting anonymity. “We are supplying 28,000 barrels of oil to these companies daily, but they have not paid a penny in July.”

WAPDA, HUBCO and KAPCO owe Rs.45 billion, Rs.55 billion and Rs.28billion to PSO respectively. Total receivables of the state-run fuel supplier now stand at Rs.139 billion.

When contacted, PSO spokesperson Mariam Shah said that the company can no longer borrow from banks to run daily operations as it has almost reached the limit of Rs.40 billion.

“The company already absorbed Rs.8.5 billion in interest cost by the end of May. Now we don’t have money to open L/Cs for the import of fuel oil.”

Analysts say that the cash-flow problems could limit the company’s ability to pay dividends. PSO did not pay any dividend while announcing its half-yearly and nine-month results during the fiscal year 2009-10, they said.

The company has been paying salaries on time but failed to give bonuses in the past one year. It has lost at least two of its senior officials to another oil marketing company.

Power generation companies delay payments to PSO on the plea that electricity distribution companies are not able to clear their dues on time. This vicious cycle of inter-corporate circular debt has held the entire energy supply line hostage for over two years, officials said.

Oil hovers around 77 dollars in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil extended losses in Asian trade Wednesday, hovering around 77 dollars a barrel as waning consumer confidence in the United States affected investors” appetite.

New York”s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, was down 11 cents at 77.39 dollars a barrel in afternoon trade.

London”s Brent North Sea crude for September was flat at 76.13 dollars.

“Falling consumer confidence (in the United States) and the growing likelihood of a double-dip in house prices have put a further dent in the already deteriorating outlook for consumption growth,” research house Capital Economics said.

“Without consumers on board, the economic recovery is looking dangerously vulnerable.”

The United States is the world”s biggest economy and the largest energy consuming nation.

Oil prices tumbled in US trade Tuesday after a closely-watched survey showed that American consumer confidence had plunged to its worst level in five months due to concerns about unemployment amid an uncertain economic outlook.

The Conference Board, a business research firm, said its consumer confidence index, which had declined sharply in June, retreated further this month.

The index fell to 50.4 points from 54.3 last month and is now at its lowest level since February.

“It appears that lower equity prices, signs of a slowdown in activity and fears that the jobs recovery is fading have wiped out the previous optimism,” Capital Economics added.

Oil falls below $76 as poor U.S. data fans econ fears

PERTH: Oil prices fell below $76 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session”s decline, on concern about the U.S. economic outlook after data showed consumer sentiment fell to a near one-year low.

News that the IMF and European Union has suspended a review of Hungary”s funding programme at the weekend has also ignited fresh eurozone jitters, as the country will not have access to remaining funds in its $25.1 billion loan package set up in 2008 until the review is concluded.

However, analysts said marginal slide in oil prices shows that crude was receiving ample support at above $74 a barrel, thanks to bullish inventory reports that showed large drawdowns in U.S. crude stocks over the past three weeks.

U.S. crude for August delivery CLc1 fell 22 cents to $75.75 a barrel by 0126 GMT. The contract settled down 61 cents at $76.01 a barrel on Friday, closing the week 8 cents lower than the previous week.

London Brent crude LCOc1 retreated 5 cents to $75.23.

“The price decline looked mild considering the 2.5 percent slide in the Dow. The consumer sentiment report would have put the oil longs on the back foot,” said Mark Pervan, chief of commodities research at Australia New Zealand Bank.

“The stickier oil price move may be reflecting bullish inventory reports over the past three weeks showing larger than expected declines in U.S. crude supplies and a pickup in underlying demand.”

Weak energy costs pushed U.S. consumer prices down for a third straight month in June while consumer sentiment dropped to a near one-year low in July, highlighting the sluggishness of the economic recovery.

In the eurozone, analysts at Informa Global Markets said uncertainty over Hungary”s funding programme has prompted a steep rise in the country”s funding costs ahead of Friday”s banks stress test results.

Asian stocks are set to drop on Monday, as poor data and disappointing results stoked fears over the state of the global economy, with Japan”s markets closed for a holiday.

In a sign of reversing risk appetite, the U.S. dollar index .DXY rose 0.17 percent against a basket of currencies, as the market volatility index .VIX rose 4.4 percent on Friday.

Dismal consumer sentiment data and anaemic revenues from GE and two big banks slammed U.S. stocks on Friday, driving down major indexes more than 2 percent. The slide in the SP 500 was a decisive break of an 8 percent rise over the last two weeks as investors lost hope that strong earnings could overcome doubts about the economic outlook.

After poor economic data and an unexpected downturn in sentiment on quarterly earnings, Wall Street will face a tough time battling back from the latest sell-off this week, analysts said.

Gold falls slightly on low inflation outlook

SYDNEY: Gold staged a modest retreat early on Monday, after falling to its lowest in more than a week in the previous session, as low U.S. inflation expectations outweighed any upside sentiment from weaker equity markets.

Gold was down $1.05 to $1,192.05 at 0109 GMT versus Friday”s nominal close of $1,193.10.

Gold fell on Friday as weak U.S. inflation data and heavy inflows to government bonds from the equity market prompted funds to sell.

Data on Friday also showed consumer sentiment crumbled in early July to its lowest level in 11 months.

On Monday, the Shanghai composite index was down nearly 1 percent to 2,401.774 .SSEC in early trading, with Japan closed for a market holiday.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCQ0 climbed 0.4 percent to $1192.50 an ounce against Friday”s settlement price of $1,188.20.

Data supplied by the world”s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, and last updated on Thursday showed holdings of 1,314.211 tonnes, a steady decline since a record high of 1,320.436 tonnes in late June.

NKorea starts releasing dam water to South

SEOUL: North Korea may have discharged dam water into a river flowing to South Korea, similar to an unannounced move it made last year causing a surge that killed six people.

Go here to see the original:
NKorea starts releasing dam water to South

Oil falls below $76 in Asia

PERTH: Oil prices fell below $76 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session’s decline, on concern about the U.

Read the original here:
Oil falls below $76 in Asia

Next Page »