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It was not supposed to be pretty. Not for Stephen Cook.His feet have been in a tangle all tour. The front one isnt moving freely enough and the back one is too often left behind. That has mostly resulted in him playing down the wrong line. On Saturday, they were more in sync, but only reluctantly so. What kept him at the crease was his defence, which is about as exciting to watch as someone building a 1000-piece puzzle. To the trained eye, there is something to be impressed with.Cook can make everything look like an effort, especially the leave. When he hops back and watches the ball carry through to the keeper, there is a nanosecond of anxiety as Cook waits to see if he made the right call. His awareness of his offstump appeared so shaky in his first three innings on tour that it was difficult to believe Cook had spent more a decade-and-a-half opening the batting in domestic cricket.The Cook who has bossed domestic cricket for the last seven seasons is not as much a stonewaller as the Cook who has been in Australia for the last four weeks. That Cook is more confident. This Cook is more circumspect, because he has to be.Unlike many of his team-mates who have matured on the international stage - Quinton de Kock, for example, only played 10 franchise first-class matches before he made his Test debut - the bulk of Cooks experience has been at a lower level. That means most of the bowling he has faced has not been of the quality on display in this series. Of course, the South African first-class competition has the likes of Marchant de Lange in its ranks, but like any domestic tournament, there are also has less exceptional bowlers on the circuit.Many players have spoken of the step up in intensity needed when they become internationals. its been no different for Cook. This is only his sixth Test and even if he failed, its likely he would have been given a slightly longer run. In tough circumstances, he showed he deserves one.Cook moved cautiously through an innings in which he lost partners at a quick enough rate to know that if he did not knuckle down, the Test could be gone. Slowly, he got into a rhythm of moving across his stumps to play Nathan Lyon into the leg side and getting forward to meet the fuller deliveries. He never looked entirely comfortable or in control.On 45, after facing 96 balls, he edged Jackson Bird to the vacant second slip area. It could all have ended right there. On 49, after facing 113 balls, a Lyon delivery spun back to hit his thigh pad and carry to short leg. On 51, after facing 135 deliveries, Josh Hazlewood half-appealed for a lbw after Cook missed a flick.But none of that unsettled him. Cook was content to let the dot balls mount. No doubt his father Jimmys words - You can get out to bad shot or a good ball, but you cant get out because you are tired - would have been on his mind. He did not let the frustration or the fatigue get to him. Not even under lights, when legend has it that the pink ball becomes more difficult to face. He hung on, only just, but at the end of the day, he was still hanging on.***It was not supposed to be ugly. Especially not from Hashim Amla. The man with the magic wrists, the most delicate flick and smoothest drive in world cricket is supposed to make batting look like field of flowers. For his last four away series, that field has been razed to the ground.Since August 2014, South Africa have toured Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India and Australia for 10 Tests, and Amla has scored 233 runs at an average of 16.64. His top score is the 47 that he made in Hobart on this tour. In this period, Amla has been dismissed in single figures eight times and been caught behind (by the keeper or in the slips or gully) the same number of times.Amlas issue seems to be that he is misjudging the line too often, something Josh Hazlewood, who has dismissed him all five times in the series, has taken note of. That could have changed when Mitchell Starc drew the drive but Matt Renshaw expected Matthew Wade to take the catch and reacted too late to hold on at slip.That almost proved the catalyst for an Amla turnaround, as has so often been the case in the past. Amla attacked after that, with a drive, a cut and even a loft over mid-on for six, but Hazlewood ended all that when he got just the right amount of deviation to take the edge.Part of Amlas problem could be that he is being called on too early because of the inconsistency of South Africas opening pair. Eight times in the the 14 innings mentioned, Amla has walked in to bat with with the score less than 20. Some of those have been at No. 4, but since Faf du Plessis took over as stand-in captain, Amla has been bumped up a place. Having spent most of his career coming in after Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, Amla had some buffer. Now, things have been different.Amla was the speaker at the MCG press conference, the person who called the ball tampering allegations against du Plessis a joke, and the one who reacted with feigned ignorance that sugary saliva could be used to shine the ball. Several players including du Plessis and the opposition captain Steven Smith have since confirmed that the sweet science is a common tactic. That has made Amla look as out of touch in his talk as he has in the middle.But to write Amla off would be premature, especially now that Cook has come good. If Cook can find some consistency, some of the pressure may be pulled away from Amla and South Africas top order can become beautiful again.Chris Tierney Jersey . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Jason Spezza Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. http://www.senatorssale.com/authentic-daniel-alfredsson-senators-jersey/ . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Senators Jersey . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Dylan DeMelo Senators Jersey . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46.Kevin Pietersen will return home, to KwaZulu-Natal, to play for Dolphins in South Africas T20 competition in the upcoming season. Pietersen, who was born in the provinces capital Pietermaritzburg, has signed a five-match deal with the franchise, which will see him compete in the second half of the tournament. He will also be available for the knockouts should the team qualify.This will be Pietersens second stint with the franchise, after he had contributed significantly to their run to the final last summer. Pietersen made seven appearances for Dolphins and finished as the second-highest run-getter, behind Quinton de Kock, with 401 runs, including two hundreds and two fifties, at an average and strike rate of 80.20 and 172.84 respectively.Im as excited as anything to have signed with Dolphins again, Pietersen said. I had such a wonderful time with them last season and I really enjoyed the team, the camaraderie and the competition so it was a very easy decision to sign again for this seasons T20 competition. It will be great to getting back onto the cricket field again and Im really looking forward to seeing everyone in Durban again as well.Apart from being the highest profile player so far to be part of South Africas T20 tournament - whhich continues to struggle to attract international names due to the declining Rand and the scheduling - Pietersen is one of only two internationals alongside Imran Tahir to be named in Dolphins squad for the upcoming season.ddddddddddddolphins had lost their South African stars David Miller and Kyle Abbott to Knights and Warriors respectively, in an off season, which also included the departure of three other players - Jonathan Vandiar and Daniel Sincuba - the CEO Pete de Wet and coach Lance Klusener.That has left newly-appointed coach Grant Morgan with the task of rebuilding the franchise. Morgan has already worked with Pietersen, during a stint at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, and hoped Pietersen could make a big impact for Dolphins as well.I was privileged enough to spend some time with Kevin during my time at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL back in 2009. Kevin was captain of that side and made an indelible impact on all the players, especially the youngsters, Morgan said. He is a world-class player in all formats of the game and in T20 he is no doubt one of the best there has ever been. ' ' '