Kane Williamson the Test captain has big boots to fill. In the World T20, for example, not one press conference would go without a question on the leadership of Brendon McCullum, how New Zealand were going to miss him, and how Williamson was going to carry forward McCullums legacy. Williamson is his own man, he leads in his own way, and New Zealand fans would have hoped that Williamson would dissociate himself from McCullums habit of not winning tosses. Its early days - Williamson came into this series with an even record - but if there was ever a series a visiting captain wanted to win tosses in, it is one in India, against this Indian Test side.Especially on this Green Park pitch, which was dry, which had cracks, but which was watered enough in the lead-up to make sure it didnt break up on day one. The humidity must have made it worse for New Zealand. You could see they were looking to bang the ball in, not just to test India against the short ball, but to rough it up for reverse swing. The first rule of reverse swing is no moisture on the rough side, but you can imagine how tough it would have been to execute that for Mark Craig, whose kit was dripping wet even before the end of the first session. You have been called upon to do a job in the first session of the series, you are looking to find the right length on a new pitch, but can you mind the sweat please while you are at it?Its very tough when youre sweating quite a bit, but you just have to find a way to keep the ball dry to try get the reverse swing, Mitchell Santner said. Even for the spinners, to try and keep your hands dry is key to grip the ball.It wasnt helping that New Zealands spinners had shown that they were not versatile enough to be threatening on a surface that wasnt yet doing much for them. It might be a slightly unfair expectation for bowlers who are rarely called upon to do the job on good surfaces. Yet, there were technical shortcomings, as noticed by Simon Doull on commentary. Santner doesnt use his non-bowling arm much, which denies him dip and drift; Ish Sodhis release is beyond the perpendicular, which denies him sideways turn. These things begin to matter less when the pitch starts to turn square, which it wasnt. So, they kept getting cut and pulled.Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay were now putting on a workshop on how to demoralise spinners who are unfamiliar with the conditions. Pujara frequently left his crease to take balls on the full or on the half-volley. Both Pujara and Vijay were alert to cut when this act forced the spinners to pitch short. Also, it has seemed New Zealands spinners have come more prepared for square turners where accuracy is more important. Thats what Daniel Vettori told Santner.Our conversation was more about bowling the ball in one area for a longer period of time but still having plenty on it, Santner said. Not try and do too much, let the wicket come and play its part. With not so much turn, you try and be patient and build more dots, try and get wickets that way through false shots.You cant overnight become different kind of bowlers, but what will hurt New Zealand is that the spinners couldnt stay as accurate as they would have wanted to on a slow pitch. The wicket is on the slower side and it is difficult to score runs, Vijay said. Thats what we felt. It is going to be difficult for them as well with the quality of Ashwin and Jadeja in the side.Yeah, I guess we might have been on the shorter side, but its about trying to find the pace that will suit for that wicket, Santner said. It might change in the second innings, I dont know.New Zealand were still going at 3.2 an over when things began to change. Around half-way into the day, Pujara got quite close to the pitch of a ball from Santner. There wasnt a lot of distance for the ball to travel, but the ball still turned. It spooned off the outer half of the bat for an easy return catch. The ball had begun to turn now. The techniques mattered a little less, and New Zealand dipped into their reserves.This was a day when it seemed this new batting core will finally put things past a side when its down without any dramas. Pujara and Vijay had been fantastic, but they left the door ajar, which the rest failed to shut. Virat Kohli possibly came in looking to dominate. He is that kind of a player. He has been itching to dominate a touring side with the bat. This was his opportunity, he possibly thought. When you see a partnership of 112 at a fairly brisk pace, you dont want to lose that momentum as the batsman going in. Neil Wagner played on the batsmans ego, and drew the top edge. Ajinkya Rahane will be the first one to admit he didnt move forward enough to be playing the defensive shot off the front foot. This was the mode of dismissal that had troubled him last year, but he overcame it. Rahane will be working to overcome this too. Vijay said the whole team will be.A bit of both, Vijay said. We got out to loose shots as well. The wicket was deteriorating as well. We have got to be really patient on this wicket. It is a lesson learnt. We will, hopefully, put up a better show in the second innings.The biggest lesson to learn is there for Rohit Sharma, who fell to a nothing loft, 20 minutes before stumps, giving Trent Boult the opportunity to run through the lower order. Vijay, though, extended Rohit the leeway that he didnt to himself. After calling his dismissal a bad shot selection, he wasnt as harsh on Rohit.Thats his area, I guess, Vijay said. When it comes off, it always looks good. When it doesnt, you fall on the wrong side. So I think we still got to back our instincts and play because we are playing in a sport where have got to win matches rather than just participate in a team. Whatever has got you here, you have to back that.In the end, through the wonderful mix of skills, imperfections, passing of time, changes in the pitch, the toll of weather that Test cricket is, we had a days play befitting the occasion that Indias 500th Test has somehow become. Both teams - India because they have Ashwin and Jadeja, New Zealand because they made a comeback and because the turn is slow - could lay claim to holding the advantage. Sammy Baugh Jersey . JOHNS, N. Trent Williams Womens Jersey . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Customized/ .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Doug Williams Youth Jersey . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Wes Martin Redskins Jersey .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Matt Garza plans to pitch as well as he can for the Chicago Cubs as long as hes with the team. Thats how hes dealing with all this trade talk. Garza pitched eight sharp innings for his third consecutive win, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night. "For the past six or seven years my name always comes up," he said. "Until my phone rings, Im going to be a Cub. Im just worried about the next five days." Garza (4-1) allowed one run and four hits, struck out five and walked three in his fourth consecutive quality start. The right-hander is 3-0 with a sparkling 0.90 ERA since yielding a season-high nine runs to the Cincinnati Reds on June 11. "Thats as good as Ive seen him in two years," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Thats with seven lefties in the lineup. His command of the fastball down and away, he didnt need to throw many breaking balls. He had extra velocity when he needed it and threw first pitch strikes." With the Cubs well off the pace in the NL Central, Garza could be one of the top targets for contenders looking for pitching help ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. "Sure I love pitching in October," Garza said. "Id love to be pitching with this team in October. Were scratching and clawing our way back into the toughest division." Luis Valbuena homered for Chicago, which has won five of seven. Alfonso Soriano and Brian Bogusevic each drove in a run, and Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances. Brandon Moss went deep for the Athletics, who had won five of six. Bartolo Colon (11-3) gave up two runs and nine hits in seven innings in his first loss since May 9. "It was a good matchup with two pitchers you expect to go deep into games," As manager Bob Melvin said. "We had a tough time figuring out Garza." As catcher John Jaso, one of the many left-handed batters, said he had trouble with Garzas fastball. "He moved it arouund on me the whole night," Jaso said.dddddddddddd"When he struck me out it was on a curve that just dropped in. I hadnt seen it all night and it was perfect timing." Colon (11-3) was 8-0 with a 1.66 ERA in his previous nine starts. He won the AL pitcher of the month award earlier in the day after going 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in June. "He made a good pitch to Soriano, who stayed on it and got the bloop single and then the home run," Melvin said. "Other than that he pitched like weve seen him all year." Colons first wild pitch in over four years helped the Cubs score in the first. Starlin Castro singled with one out, advanced to second on the wild pitch and scored on Sorianos single. Colons last wild pitch was on May 26, 2009, a span of 1,499 days and 443 innings. Valbuenas seventh homer of the season gave the Cubs a 2-0 edge in the third. It was his first home run in just over a month. Moss connected for his 15th homer in the fourth, but Dioner Navarro and Bogusevic hit back-to-back doubles to make it 3-1 in the eighth. NOTES: The Cubs designated RHP Shawn Camp for assignment and optioned LHP Chris Rusin to Triple-A Iowa, making room for RHP Matt Guerrier, acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, and RHP Pedro Strop, part of the deal that sent RHP Scott Feldman to the Baltimore Orioles. Sveum called designating Camp "not my finest day as a manager." ... Colon is the As first pitcher of the month since Dan Haren in May 2007. ... Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville will throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field on Saturday. ... As RHP Jarrod Parker (hamstring) had his start pushed back to Saturday. RHP Dan Straily (4-2, 5.00 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to make Thursdays start. ... LHP Travis Wood (5-6, 2.85 ERA) starts for the Cubs. Hes 0-3 in his last five starts. ... The As drew a sellout crowd of 35,067 on fireworks night despite an ongoing BART strike. ... Soriano has 37 RBIs in his last 50 games. ' ' '