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Australia have been in a batting rut for the last few months, and a recurring theme has been their batting collapses, when they have lost top-order wickets in a heap. It happened in Hobart, in Perth, and before that in Colombo, Galle and Pallekele as well. In some of these Tests there have been passages when a pair has settled in, but a breakthrough for the bowling team has generally led to a flurry of wickets, and this malaise has been more acute in 2016 than it has been in a long time.In eight Tests this year, Australia have had 79 partnerships for the top six wickets, of which 35 have ended before going past single digits. That is a whopping 44% of top-order partnerships that havent gone past 10, which is the worst for them in more than 100 years: the last time that percentage was higher was in 1901, when they played just one Test, and had seven sub-ten partnerships out of 12, for the top six wickets across both innings.In the last 100 years, the next highest percentage for Australia was in 1956, when 37 out of 95 partnerships for the top six wickets ended before getting to 10, a percentage of 38.95. The year 2011 was tough too, with a percentage of 37.76, but in their best batting years, the failure rates have been really low: it was just 6.06% in 2007 (two out of 33), 11.29 in 1998 (14 out of 124). Even in the two previous years, the percentages were in the early 20s - 21.26 in 2015, 22.43% in 2014. In fact, Australias average partnership for the top six wickets in 2014 and 2015 was 50.47; in 2016, it has slumped to 36.58. From an average of one century partnership in seven attempts in those two years, the frequency has reduced to one every 13 attempts in 2016.Of those 35 single-digit partnerships in 2016, eight came in Hobart, five each in Perth and Colombo, seven in Galle and six in Pallekele. Even in an innings when they scored big - 562 against New Zealand in Wellington - there were still three sub-10 partnerships among the first six wickets. That suggests an unhealthy reliance on a few batsmen to score all the runs, and too many top-order failures on a regular basis.*In a calendar year, since 1930 Even when comparing with other teams in 2016, Australias failure rate in partnerships stands out: even Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have a lower percentage of sub-10 partnerships, while the failure rate is considerably lower for the other top sides. India have had only nine completed stands of less than ten, out of 71 partnerships for the top six wickets, a percentage of less than 13. Australias top order, on the other hand, have had 11 partnerships of zero, and 24 others between one and nine, in 79 stands. For England, Pakistan and South Africa, the percentage is below 30. The two top-order partnerships that have been most disappointing for Australia have been the ones between David Warner and Joe Burns, and between Steven Smith and Adam Voges. In ten partnerships between Warner and Burns, the pair has added only 184 runs, of which 100 came in one innings, at the start of the year against West Indies in Sydney. The last six stands between them read thus: 3, 2, 0, 3, 2, 0.Smith-Voges has been even poorer, with 89 partnership runs from eight innings at 12.71. Between these two pairs, they have contributed 12 single-digit stands in 18 partnerships. The one consistently prolific pair for Australia has been Usman Khawaja-Smith: in six innings they have four partnerships of 50 or more, and a superb average of nearly 57. The contrast for these two pairs before and since the start of 2016 is particularly stark, and is symptomatic of Australias batting slump. Before 2016, both Warner-Burns and Smith-Voges had average partnerships of more than 70. Together, the two pairs added 1474 runs in 18 partnerships, at an average of 86.71, with six century stands. Since the start of 2016, these two pairs have added 273 runs in 18 partnerships, at an average of 16.06. This five-fold drop in partnership aggregate and average for these two pairs best illustrates Australias batting nosedive in 2016. Derrick Thomas Super Bowl Jersey . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. LeSean McCoy Super Bowl Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. 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This is the second meeting in four days for the teams, having last met Friday, a 5-3 Blue Jackets win at Amalie Arena.The Blue Jackets (11-5-4) earned three of a possible four points on the road trip and currently hold the first wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 26 points. They currently have a 7-3-1 record at home.We hung in there, found a way to get a point, Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella told the clubs website. Five games in seven nights here at 2-1-2...well go home feeling pretty good about ourselves.We picked up right where we left off last night with how quick we were playing and how quick we were going north. You always want the extra point, but to grind away here on the road and get one (point) on a back-to-back, well take it.The Lightning (13-9-1) are third in the Atlantic Division with 27 points and have won seven of the last eight games against Columbus at Nationwide Arena. They are strong away from home, notwithstanding the 4-1 loss at TD Garden on Sunday.There (are) so many ebbs and flows, Lightning head coach John Cooper told the teams website. The lows arent that low in the big picture and the highs arent really that high. Youve got to kind of just stay the course.Its no different than when our goal scorer doesnt score in 10 and everybody uses the gripping the stick too tight (excuse). Keep going to work and eventually the goal scorers will score and guys that set up guys will set up guys and good goalies will stop pucks.dddddddddddd Its what happens, just got to weather through it.Tortorella guided the Lightning to its only Stanley Cup Championship in 2004. He was with the Lightning for seven seasons.Former Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards is an assistant coach to John Cooper in Tampa. In his five seasons with the Blue Jackets, Richards compiled a record of 127-112-21 to become the winningest coach in Blue Jackets history.Both teams have a potent power play, with the Blue Jackets ranking first in the league and have a 28.3 percent conversion rate. The Lightning rank fourth, converting at 23.5 percent.The Lightning are without center Steven Stamkos (out four months with a Lateral Meniscus tear in right knee), defenseman Anton Stralman (day-to-day with an upper-body injury) and right winger J.T. Brown (day-to-day with an upper-body injury).The Blue Jackets are without defenseman Dalton Prout and left winter Matt Calvert (both day-to-day with upper-body injuries).In net, Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to start for the Blue Jackets, with Ben Bishop likely to start for the Lightning.The Blue Jackets announced Monday that they traded defenseman Cody Goloubef to the Colorado Avalanche for D Ryan Stanton, with both players reporting to their new respective AHL-affiliated clubs. ' ' '