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Results Based News

England dominate first day

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 07/03/2009

Another century from Andrew Strauss helped England dominate day one of the fifth Test in West Indies.

Skipper Strauss batted throughout the day at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad to reach a superb 139 not out by the close of play, hitting 11 boundaries.

Paul Collingwood offered fine support, finishing the day unbeaten on 54, with betting favourites England well-placed on 258-2 in their first innings.

The only two wickets to fall were those of Alastair Cook (12) and Kevin Pietersen (10), while Owais Shah was forced to retire hurt due to cramp after making 29.

Meanwhile in Durban, Australia dominated the first day of the second Test against South Africa closing on 303-4.

Phillip Hughes and Simon Katich both scored centuries as the two openers put on 184 for the first wicket.

In rugby league Hull, who struggled last season, are the early leaders in Super League after Friday's 24-20 win at Huddersfield Giants made it four wins out of four for The Airlie Birds.

Meanwhile, Harlequins moved up to fifth after thrashing newly-promoted Salford Reds 48-18. A first-half hat-trick by Chris Melling helped Quins surge into a 30-6 lead at half-time and, although Salford improved after the break, the result of the game was never in doubt.

In the Bundesliga, Schalke moved to within six points of the top of the table with a 1-0 win against mid-table Koln. Jermaine Jones' first-half goal proved to be the only difference between the two teams as Schalke continued their fine home form.

In the Netherlands, Sparta Rotterdam remain in relegation trouble after losing 1-0 at home to Willem II Tilburg.

In rugby union, Leinster are the new Celtic League leaders after securing an impressive 13-8 victory at Ospreys, Gordon D'Arcy's try proving decisive. Meanwhile, a late try from Robin Sowden-Taylor helped the Blues beat rock-bottom Connacht 19-14 in Galway.

In tennis, Spain's Davis Cup defence had to be postponed when strong winds damaged the purpose-built stadium in Benidorm. Their match against Serbia was delayed until Saturday.

Elsewhere, Argentina lead the Netherlands 2-0 while Croatia took the first two rubbers against Chile.

Austria lead Germany 1-0 while Russia took control of their tie with Romania, leading 2-0 after the first day.

Sweden hold a 1-0 advantage over Israel while the clash between Czech Republic and France is tied at 1-1.

In the Europe & Africa zone, Great Britain lost the opening two singles matches against Ukraine. Josh Goodall was beaten in straight sets by Illya Marchenko before Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Chris Eaton 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4.

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