Top five moments from the last week of sport

Siddle clebrates

One

Test cricket hat-tricks are a fairly rare occurrence, happening about once every 50 test matches, so it is generally heard about when one happens. One happened on Wednesday, Australian Peter Siddle successfully removed Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad with three consecutive balls. What made this hat-trick so special is that it was against bitter rivals England, in the first innings of the first day of the 2010/11 ashes series. To top it off, it was also Siddle’s 26th birthday, a very happy birthday it was.

Two

Hat-tricks in football generally happen more regularly than in test cricket, but how about four goals in one game, or even five? Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov scored five goals in their 7-1 whitewash of Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. In doing so, Berbatov is now one of only four players to have scored five goals in a premier league game, with Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe the only other players to manage the feat.

Three

With your position in the side under pressure, and your team battling to salvage a draw, there probably couldn’t be a better time to show the world why you were put in the team. Just ask Alistair Cook, who managed to score 235* as part of England’s mammoth 517 for 1 second innings score. Jonathan Trott joined Cook after the dismissal of captain Andrew Stauss, where they proceeded to knock an unbeaten 329, surpassing Hussey and Haddin’s efforts in Australia’s first innings. As well as helping to send the game towards a draw Cook now holds the accolade of scoring the highest test score at the Gabba, beating none other than Don Bradman, what a way to rub it into the faces of the Aussies.

Four

Thanksgiving is a big day for American football in the states, with three NFL games being played this year. The Cincinnati Bengals’ game against the New York Jets will be remembered for the actions of Jets’ wide receiver Brad Smith. Receiving the ball deep within his own half, Smith ran with the ball towards the Bengals’ end zone. With his teammates helping to give him a free path Smith made quick progress towards the halfway line when one of his shoes fell off. If anything Smith got quicker with one shoe missing and was able to make it all the way to the Bengals’ end zone, to score a touchdown after running 90 yards, about 50 of those with only one shoe.

Five

Reigning premiership champions versus newly promoted side, this game seems as if it could go only one way. Try telling that to Newcastle United, who managed to hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, preventing the blues from returning to the top of the league. The Newcastle goal was lucky coming from Alex’s poor back-pass in the first five minutes, but it was Newcastle’s ability to hold the game to a 1-1 draw that was impressive. The point earned sees Newcastle lifted to ninth in the league, which is not a bad performance from a newly promoted side, despite the fact that they were an established premier league side prior to their one season outside the top flight

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