England hold firm after Bell loss

LONDON: England kept Sri Lanka at bay after losing dangerman Ian Bell in the first Test at Lord´s on Thursday.

England, after losing the toss, were 195 for four at tea on the first day with Bell having fallen early in the second session for 56. But Joe Root and debutant Mooen Ali, both 43 not out, repelled Sri Lanka with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand so far worth 75.

England had struggled to 98 for three at lunch after debutant opener Sam Robson, captain Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance had all fallen cheaply in the morning session.

But Bell, in his 99th Test, was unbeaten on 41 and looking in excellent touch. Shortly after lunch, he drove left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for six to complete a 69-ball fifty also including seven fours. But he was out soon afterwards when, hitting across the line, he was lbw to seamer Shaminda Eranga although Sri Lanka had to challenge Australian umpire Paul Reiffel´s original not out decision before Bell was finally on his way.

Ali, one of three debutants in the England side, began cautiously but the left-hander found his form in slog-sweeping Herath for six.

Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to field in the first of this two-match series against an England side playing their first Test since suffering a 281-run defeat by Australia in Sydney that condemned them to a 5-0 Ashes loss in January.

Although the sunny blue skies above Lord´s suggested ideal batting conditions, the pitch was a greener-looking one than usually associated with the ´home of cricket´ at this time of year. Mathews´s decision yielded a quick reward as England lost both their openers inside the first half hour.

Australia-born Robson, playing on his Middlesex home ground, fell for one when he was drawn forward by a full-length Nuwan Pradeep delivery that took the outside edge and wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, diving to his right, held a fine catch. And 14 for one became 22 for two when Cook exited for 17, the left-hander bottom-edging an intended cut off Nuwan Kulasekara into his stumps.

Ballance, promoted to number three in only his second Test, was on one as Bell, taking over the number four slot from the exiled Kevin Pietersen, walked in.

Bell demonstrated his class by easing first-change Eranga through the covers for four with a textbook drive.And the Warwickshire batsman also dealt well with Mathews, Sri Lanka´s fourth seamer, by cover-driving and straight driving the all-rounder for elegant boundaries.

Ballance looked less assured but the Zimbabwe-born left-hander brought up a fifty stand with Bell when he clipped Pradeep off his pads for four.

However, Ballance´s 73-minute innings ended when, to Pradeep´s fifth ball back, he drove flat-footedly and was caught behind for 23 to leave England 74 for three. (AFP)

Google buys satellite imaging firm for $500 mn

SAN FRANCISCO: Google announced plans Tuesday to buy the satellite group Skybox Imaging for $500 million in a move to improve mapping and other services using geospatial data.

"We´ve agreed to acquire Skybox Imaging, and we look forward to welcoming them to Google," a statement from the Internet giant said.

"Their satellites will help keep our maps accurate with up-to-date imagery. Over time, we also hope that Skybox´s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief -- areas Google has long been interested in."

Skybox said in a blog post that the goal of the five-year-old firm was "to revolutionize access to information about the changes happening across the surface of the Earth."

"We´ve built and launched the world´s smallest high-resolution imaging satellite, which collects beautiful and useful images and video every day... The time is right to join a company who can challenge us to think even bigger and bolder, and who can support us in accelerating our ambitious vision."

The news comes two months after Google announced a deal to buy Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar-powered drones that could be used to boost Internet access to remote areas.

Google has also been working on its Project Loon, which uses large balloons for transmitting Internet signals to regions that are not now connected.(AFP)

Cotton market: prices firm on modest trade

Steadier trend was seen on the cotton market on Friday in the process of modest trading, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6,850, they added. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh per 40 kg were inert at Rs 2500-3200, in Punjab, rates also retained overnight levels at Rs 2500-3300, dealers said. In the ready session, over 600 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6900-7000, dealers said.

Main participants were on the sidelines to observe the latest situation, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said. Prices of local yarn are falling as buyers were taking interest in purchasing of Indian yarn. The value-added sector is in favour of import of yarn from Indian but the textile spinners were demanding tax on import, brokers said.

Reuters adds: cotton futures shot to their highest since August on Thursday on a late burst of buying as rumours circulated that China has issued new import quotas and strong export sales reinforced hopes that the US surplus will shrink more than many expected.

In its best daily performance since June last year, the benchmark May cotton contract on ICE Futures US closed up 2.85 cents, or 3.24 percent, at 90.71 cents a lb. Most of the day's gains and turnover were in the final hour of trade, in part due to technical buying after prices pierced the psychologically key 90-cent mark and short covering. Prices jumped to as high as 90.80 cents, its loftiest since August last year. Volumes were decent with over 23,000 lots of May contract changing hands. The following deals were reported: 200 bales from Haroonabad sold at Rs 6900 and 400 bales from Lodhran at Rs 7000, they said.

=========================================================================== The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL =========================================================================== Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Spot Rate DifferenceFor Price Ex-Karachi Ex. KHI. As Ex-Karachion 06.03.2014 =========================================================================== 37.324 Kgs 6,850 155 7,005 7,005 NIL --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equivalent --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 Kgs 7,341 155 7,496 7,496 NIL ===========================================================================