Ben Stokes last three Test innings against India in 2014, yielded three ducks. He made amends for his earlier failures in England, by scoring his fourth ton, which guided his side to a sizable first-innings score of 537 in their first Test against India in Rajkot on Thursday.India took the new ball at the start of play on the second day in a bid to make early inroads, but the hosts were up against Moeen Ali, only a run away from his fourth Test ton and Stokes batting confidently on 19.It took Ali just three balls to reach the milestone as he dabbed as short ball from Mohammad Shami past point for a single. Ali then switched gears in an attempt to push the tempo and smashed Umesh Yadav for three fours from the second over of the day. Stokes joined in on the boundary frenzy and thumped two fours in the next two overs.Ali made a rare error in the 100th over the innings, when he left a straight delivery from Shami, which rattled the stumps. India hoped that his dismissal would prompt a collapse. But they were wrong as Jonny Bairstow joined forces with Stokes to steal the session from the hosts.The duo added 99 runs for the sixth wicket from 21.1 overs and scored at a brisk rate of 4.67. India compounded their own woes by dropping Stokes twice, Wriddhiman Saha, the wicket keeper, the culprit. Stokes took advantage of the dropped chances and ripped every bad ball apart. He took 11 runs off Ravindra Jadejas first over of the day, then repeatedly targeted R Ashwin the moment he dropped short. Stokes added a brutal 65 off 95 in the session.Stokes, in the post-lunch session, adopted a more cautious approach as he approached his ton. He took little over 12 overs to reach the milestone, which he did by muscling Jadeja through the cover-point region for four. It was Stokes first ton in India. His four centuries have come in four different continents - Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia.His innings, along with centuries from Joe Root and Ali, helped the tourists post a massive 537 in their innings, which is the highest total England has scored in India since 1985, when they had scored 652 for 7 in Chennai during the 1984-85 tour. This is also the first time since 2009 when three batsmen from a visiting team scored centuries in the same innings in India. In the 2009 Test, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene amassed tons at Motera in 2008-09. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Arsenal Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Shkodran Mustafi Arsenal Jersey . 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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.Leicester are favourites for the Premier League title, but their title run-in is not as easy as it looks, says Jamie Redknapp. Claudio Ranieris side went five points clear at the top of the table with nine games remaining following a 1-0 win at Watford on Saturday Night Football, and are now evens with Sky Bet to win their first-ever top flight crown.They seemingly have the more favourable run-in compared to their challenging rivals, facing bottom-half sides Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Swansea and Everton before the end of the season, but Redknapp does not necessarily see the remaining fixtures as simple. Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri saw his team pull five points clear at Watford Leicesters remaining games Newcastle (H) Crystal Palace (A) Southampton (H) Sunderland (A) West Ham (H) Swansea (H) Man Utd (A) Everton (H) Chelsea (A) He said on Saturday Night Football: The fixtures are perfect for them it seems, but my worry with Leicester is that I actually think they function better when playing against the better sides. I think they sit back, counter and hit them with pace. But absolutely, five points clear, what a fantastic position to be in. But pressure does come on you, and at some stage pressure is going to come onto this Leicester side. Mahrez fires Foxes five clear Leicester moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League after Riyad Mahrezs strike Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring Leicesters winner at Watford The win at Vicarage Road courtesy of Riyad Mahrezs strike means Leicester now have an 11-point gap between them and fifth pllace, and Redknapp is sure Champions League football has been secured.ddddddddddddFor the chasing pack in Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City, Redknapp sees more positives in the north London clubs form than Citys, despite their 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.Thats done, you can forget that, Leicester fans are in the Champions League next year, thats something they can look forward to. Raheem Sterling of Manchester City celebrates scoring his teams fourth goal against Villa with David Silva Leicester have lost three games all season. City, with 10 games to go, have got to go and win maybe eight or nine of those. Are they capable of that at the moment? I dont think so. I think the draw [in the north London derby] will certainly galvanise Arsenal, and Tottenham defensively are organised and have a really good manager. I think theyre the big dangers to Leicester. The title race run-in We analyse the title rivals run-ins to see who will emerge victorious... But you still have to think, as the bookies say, that Leicester are the favourites to win it.Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith agrees that Tottenham are second favourites for the title, which would be their first since 1961, and says the closer to the line Leicester get, the more pressure it will put on the team. Tottenham and Arsenal played out a 2-2 draw earlier on Saturday Smith said: I still like the look of Spurs, even after today. The draw has done Arsenal a lot of good. Spurs look a proper team, very together, and Id still see them as the second favourites, as the bookies say. If Leicester play with the freedom and maturity, and patience and experience, the closer to the line they get, the realisation of what they could achieve will get bigger.Who knows how that could impact the camp, but as it stands theyre looking great. Also See: Watford 0-1 Leicester Title run-in As it happened Premier League table ' ' '
