Stumps Pakistan 279 for 1 (Azhar 146*, Aslam 90, Shafiq 33*) v West IndiesScorecard and ball-by-ball details Pakistan dominated the first day of their 400th Test, piling on 279 for 1, after Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and opted to bat. Openers Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam made the most of the batting-friendly conditions in Dubai, sharing a double-century stand, before Asad Shafiq came in at No. 3 and lent his weight to a batting effort that deflated West Indies.In theory, both teams were in uncharted territory, playing their first day-night Test - and the second overall - at a time when the concept is still new, with the behaviour of the pink ball under scrutiny. In practice, the ball did not do much in the afternoon heat and, while there was a bit more for the West Indies bowlers under lights, they did not do enough to threaten the batsmen for sustained periods.The pink ball offered very little swing to the new-ball bowlers and very little reverse-swing as it got older. On both counts, West Indies did not help their own cause. At the start of the day, both Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder were too short to give the new ball a chance to swing. Miguel Cummins bowled fuller, but not consistently enough. As the ball grew older, West Indies seemed uninterested in keeping one side shiny to extract reverse-swing.Azhar was fluent almost from the outset, marrying a tight defence with a number of sumptuous drives. One such drive, wide of mid-off off Roston Chases bowling, brought up his 11th Test century, off 184 balls. He didnt stop there, walking off at stumps on an unbeaten 146. His opening partner, Aslam, was the more circumspect of the two, but both batsmen were very strong on the cut when the bowlers dropped short.Aslam often skipped out to the spinners to hit them down the ground, but was equally impressive when leaving balls outside off. He also used the sweep shot quite effectively, but it was that shot that led to his eventual downfall - he got a bottom-edge onto the stumps off Chase to depart for 90 and end a 215-run opening stand.That brought Shafiq to the crease at No. 3. Though Shafiq has mostly batted at the No. 6 position in international cricket, he is a regular No. 3 in domestic cricket. Moreover, the adjustment from No. 6 to No. 3 is minimal when the openers have consumed more than 67 overs and the pitch has no terrors. Shafiq took his time to settle into his innings and calmly accumulated 33 runs, before walking back undefeated at stumps.While the first ball held its shape for the full 80 overs, it was quite discoloured and tattered by the time the second new ball was due. Holder, who had looked increasingly unimpressed with the state of the older ball, took that new ball immediately. Like the first new ball, though, it did not offer much in the way of swing and the second-wicket partnership steadily swelled to 64 by the close of play.It was Gabriel who had generated the first of two half-chances for West Indies in the first session. In his second over, he seamed one away from Azhar to induce an outside edge, but the ball fell short of Kraigg Brathwaite at second slip. Cummins generated the other in his second spell when Azhar slashed a short, wide delivery towards Leon Johnson at gully; the ball burst through Johnsons hands and raced away to third man for a boundary.If the bowling was not sufficiently penetrative, the decision-making was also puzzling at times. West Indies used six bowlers before tea, but there was no discernible logic in the manner in which they were used. Brathwaite bowled three overs of gentle offspin before either Devendra Bishoo or Chase was introduced. By the time Bishoo was called upon, in the 21st over of the chase, Azhar and Aslam had grown in confidence and were finding the boundary with increasing regularity, pouncing whenever the bowlers erred.The one spell that came close to being penetrative was Holders spell immediately after the tea break. With a bit more bounce and carry under lights, Holder bowled with more intensity, troubling Azhar with some well-directed bouncers. Azhar fended a few of those in the air, but got away with it due to the lack of close-in fielders.When Holder went up for a big lbw shout against Azhar and reviewed the not-out decision, West Indies lost their first review. Replays showed ball would have missed leg stump. Thereafter, Gabriel and Cummins also found more pace, the former bowling some good bouncers to Aslam. Bishoo also created his closest opportunity under lights, wrapping Aslam on the pads, but the not-out decision was upheld upon review when HawkEye indicated that the ball would have gone down leg with the angle.Such fleeting moments of encouragement were all West Indies had to cling to on a deflating opening day in which the pink ball did not misbehave and the bowlers were largely unthreatening. Antonio Callaway Jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Genard Avery Jersey . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. http://www.authenticbrownsshopnfl.com/simeon-thomas-jersey/ . 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But by and large, Thoroughbred racing is a dichotomous entity.This comes to mind because of Saturdays stakes activity. The road to the Breeders Cup takes a serious turn Saturday with five Grade 1 stakes at Santa Anita, each of them Win and Youre In events for the Breeders Cup on Nov. 4 and 5 that Santa Anita will host. There are also five graded stakes at Belmont Park, three of them Grade 1 contests, two of which are also Breeders Cup WAYI races. And there are stakes-heavy cards at Churchill Downs and Gulfstream Park, although those cards carry less of a significant Breeders Cup impact.Many of these stakes on Saturday are very important from a sporting perspective. A few are even critical, and I will explain why in a moment. But from a wagering standpoint, many of these stakes are, frankly, duds.As prep races for the Breeders Cup go, the stakes at Santa Anita would be important even if you didnt know a single horse entered in any of them. All five of these stakes will be run on the same main track or turf course that their corresponding Breeders Cup races in November will be run on. It is for this reason that these preps take on an added degree of significance. And Saturdays Rodeo Drive, Chandelier, and FrontRunner Stakes will not only be run on the same surface as their corresponding Breeders Cup races, they will also be run at the same distance as the Filly & Mare Turf, Juvenile Fillies, and Juvenile, respectively.Santa Anitas Awesome Again Stakes, the local prep for the Breeders Cup Classic, boasts California Chrome, the best horse in the world (right now, at least), and the future book favorite for the Classic. If California Chrome wins Saturday, hell become an even stronger favorite for the Classic. If he loses, it will turn the Classic on its head.Klimt is in a similar position in the FrontRunner. I have Klimt as the future book favorite for the Juvenile in DRF, and whatever race the favorite for any Breeders Cup event has his or her final prep in, it makes that race a key prep.The Zenyatta, the other big stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, lured Beholder and Stellar WWind, currently the two best older dirt females in the country, leading candidates for the Breeders Cup Distaff, and two horses the likes of which Songbird has not yet met.ddddddddddddAt Belmont, Flintshire, Americas dominant male turf horse and the favorite for the Breeders Cup Turf, gets his final tune up in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.Also at Belmont, A. P. Indian, winner of two Grade 1 events during the Saratoga meet, and X Y Jet, freakish in Florida early this year and who was a narrowly beaten second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen despite chipping a knee, meet in the Vosburgh. By any measure, A. P. Indian and X Y Jet are top contenders for the Breeders Cup Sprint.And at Churchill Downs, Runhappy, last years champion male sprinter, makes his belated 4-year-old debut in the Ack Ack Stakes, a return that could have significant implications for a couple of Breeders Cup events, and beyond.Clearly, there is big stuff going on Saturday. It doesnt take F. Lee Bailey to make that case.But if youre a bettor who is not a chalk-eating weasel (a term of endearment, sort of, for people who like to wager on short-priced horses), how many of these races are you eager to bet on?Runhappy will be a prohibitive favorite and, in my view, there arent any appealing wagering alternatives in his race.California Chrome will also be a prohibitive favorite. Dortmund looks like the only imaginable alternative to him in the Awesome Again, and even though Dortmund just doesnt seem as good as California Chrome, he wont be much of a price, either.Klimt looks very imposing, and so do A. P. Indian and X Y Jet. But all three will be short prices.Flintshire, who might be the tiniest price of the day, faces only three opponents. And only three others lined up to face Beholder and Stellar Wind, who were going to be heavily bet no matter how many showed up to oppose them.Look, I know declining foal crops have resulted in a shallower pool of available stakes horses. That said, short fields and competitive racing are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You still can have six or seven horse races that are competitive, and thus reasonably attractive, betting-wise.And thats the rub. As important as many of Saturdays stakes might be, satisfying the sports purists, many are also decidedly uncompetitive, frustrating bettors. Cheap Jerseys Store Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2018 Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '