test.Five deliveries compared to five sessions. Which one

PORTLAND, Oregon -- Diego Valeri scored goals on either side of halftime to give the Portland Timbers a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.The win extended Portlands MLS unbeaten streak to nine games (4-0-5).Valeris first came on the brink of halftime, as he combined with Lucas Melano to move the ball down the left wing. Melano eventually threaded a pass through three Seattle defenders into the path of Valeri, who sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.The lead was doubled five minutes into the second half with Valeris ninth goal of the season. After receiving a cross-field pass from Jermaine Taylor, Valeri worked past defender Joevin Jones near the goal line and sliced a shot with the outside of his foot over Frei, off the far post, and in.In the 59th minute, Seattles Chad Marshall headed in Andreas Ivanschitzs corner kick for his third goal. But Portland restored the two-goal advantage five minutes later on Fanendo Adis goal.Melano carried the ball from box to box before sliding a pass across to Adi, who chipped a shot over Frei for his 10th goal of the season.Portlands Jake Gleeson finished with five saves to earn his sixth win of the season.Seattle has lost seven of its last 10 league matches (2-7-1) and was missing captain Clint Dempsey. The national team star was suspended after receiving a red card in Wednesdays match against FC Dallas. Miguel Tejada Athletics Jersey .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Ryan Buchter Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/1675m-gene-tenace-jersey-athletics.html . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Seth Brown Athletics Jersey . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. A. J. Puk Athletics Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. What is the difference between a Twenty20, a fifty-over match and a five-day Test? Is there a hidden dissimilarity? The game essentially remains the same: the ball, the bat, the pitch, the stump height, the rules (more or less) and the players (not always). Then, why is it that some teams can consistently play well and win in one format but look pedestrian in another?More questions. Why do teams manage to score 200 runs in a Twenty20 while in a fifty-over game 300 is not easy? And why is scoring 400 runs in the fourth innings (even on a good pitch) of a Test nearly impossible? How come Dale Steyn is carted for more than 20 runs in an over by average players in Twenty20s, but when it comes to Tests, they cant lay bat to his deliveries?Why do we love to play Candy Crush? It looks so silly at times to slide fingers over a smartphone, but lets face it, everyone does it. Why? The answer I presume is not that we love sweets or chocolates (though it is a nudging factor) but it is the nature of the game. It involves a lot of luck and only a little bit of smartness. If you lose, you say it was luck; if you win, you can silently pat your ego for being smart. Would we play chess like this? I cant imagine, because chess is essentially a game that does not involve luck. If you win, it entirely proves that you are smarter than the opponent. Even in card games, when the experience of the players starts to converge, it is the lucky one who is dealt all the aces that wins. Sometimes even a novice beats a seasoned player. But in chess, a novice never wins. If players are equal in ability, the one who is more alert on the day may win but he still cant be called lucky.Unlike most sports, chess begins on the same board with the same pieces arranged in the same spots. There is no toss, wind, sunlight, a line call or injured players to induce luck. Some other games are similar, like checkers, but chess possibilities make it vastly superior.The popular games will always be slightly high on the luck factor because watching unpredictability is easier than facing it. Uncertainty also keeps the underdogs interested and hopeful of toppling a big-name team or player. Sports which have no element of luck, like chess, struggle to penetrate for viewership. This is not to say that only sports involving luck are popular. Olympic track and field events are hugely popular but they owe their viewership to the sense of the event. Imagine watching a 100-metres race, a wrestling match or a shot-put event every month.Football too has an element of luck which introduces unpredictability, and hence reduces the dominance of perennial favorites. True, some teams dominate but others are never out of contention. Where else do we see a rank outsider like Senegal beating France or Cameroon stunning Argentina?Why are tennis and Test cricket high on intensity while low on luck? Its primarily because a lucky line call or a streaky boundary might give you a point or a run, but they cant win you the match. In Twenty20, or even in an ODI, a couple of lucky hits, wickets or even dot balls can make the difference. And remember there are no second chances in limited-overs cricket.This is not to say that players who excel in the shorter formats dont have these attributes, but Test cricket does require a lot of patience, perseverance and grit. To turn a Test match is no joke: it needs a sustained high-quality performance to tilt it, eveen more to turn it in your favour.ddddddddddddThe length of a Test match ensures luck does not dominate the game. If it were not so, we would see a lot of inferior teams winning Tests. In the IPL, every year mostly all the teams have a chance of qualifying till the end. This is pure randomness. Who are the players who excel in this? Not only brilliant players of the shorter version, but also those who are masters of cashing in on randomness. MS Dhoni is such a master. Using his influence as a captain, he loves bringing every game to a state where a stroke or a wicket can decide the game. If a chase comes to a point where 120 runs are needed in 20 overs, instead of batting with sustained aggression, he would stretch it to make it a game of chance. He would bring the equation to say, 75 in ten, and then 40 in four overs. At this stage, the opposing captain will not have a choice but to gamble. He would forget the ideas of field setting or wicket-taking and would indulge in pure run-stopping tactics. Before I proceed, let me clarify. There is nothing unethical in Dhonis methods.Dhoni works hard to find himself in a 22 runs off ten balls situation. He loves it. This introduces randomness in the game. An edge can fly over third man, a catch might be dropped, or the bowler may drift to the leg side under pressure. All such things help the batting side. Moreover, Dhoni, invariably the senior batsman in such a situation, hits the ball out of the ground with his muscular swing and wins it. Dhoni becomes a hero while the spectators and fans are left to bite their nails.A Test can rarely be brought to a lottery state where it can be decided by a swing or two. A few fortunate happenings will even out in the day itself. This is where a quality player excels. He needs to bat or bowl session after session with the same intensity, aggression and most importantly, with the same calibre. This is indeed very tough. VVS Laxman did this for five sessions against the worlds best in Kolkata in 2001. His effort produced possibly the greatest cricketing contest.Five deliveries compared to five sessions. Which one do you prefer?Batting in cricket depends a lot on horizon. Arguably, every delivery can be hit out of the park - even the ones delivered from stratosphere by Curtly Ambrose and Joel Garner. Batting also depends on the match state and batsmans mindset. So, if the horizon is an over, it is not at all a heroic act to hit sixes against Dale Styen - or for that matter two or three. In fact, it is more like a gamble that might pay off. It does need, however, a basic capability of hand-eye coordination and a good swing. Further, in Twenty20 situations, if a batsman fails, he has nothing to lose, especially if he has scored well in his previous innings. So, with that knowledge, he can always swing with abandon. If the same state becomes surviving a whole day against Dale Steyn bowling at his will, scoring even 20 runs becomes a challenge for most batsmen.The more you shorten the game, the more it hinges on a few events - most of them can be pure luck. Try playing a one-over game. The outcome of a match between international teams would not be far away from the randomness of a coin flip.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with Inbox in the subject line. ' ' '