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Overseas spinners coming to Indian shores might fantasise of the ball turning square, but not New Zealands Mark Craig.The one that goes straight is probably just as invaluable as the ball that turns. I think over here, at times it can probably do too much, so the key is trying and find a way for the ball to slide on straight, he said a week out from the first of three Tests in Kanpur.Craig is yet to play a first-class match in the country and has not played Test cricket in seven months after a beamer struck his hand while playing for his state side Otago. He has used his time away from the game to make technical changes, he said. All of them pertained to his bowling action, which a spinner relies on quite heavily.I was getting pretty flat with the shoulders, trying to get my shoulders back to 45 [degrees, to be taller at the crease] when I load up, Craig said. Not getting too long in my delivery stride and just closing off with the feet. So just three things that I can always go back and look on now. And yeah, happy with the changes Ive made.His tweaks have come in the wake of two dismal series against Australia last season - seven innings, 137.2 overs and only 10 wickets.Craig said New Zealand have observed Indias spinners to gain insight on how to bowl in subcontinent conditions. R Ashwin was recently called the best in the world by his coach Anil Kumble, and Ravindra Jadeja picked up 10 wickets in a match in the final of the Duleep Trophy - the first-class tournament that kicked off Indias domestic calendar in 2016-17.Theyre probably different spinners to our boys, but theyre world class, Craig said. They tend to play around a little bit with, I suppose, undercutting the ball slightly so they get that ball to skid and one to grab. Weve done a bit of work at watching how they bowl and at the same time weve got to do what we do.New Zealand have three spinners in their squad. Craig bowls offspin, Ish Sodhi, legspin, and Mitchell Santner, left-arm spin. Craig understood that there would be a lot expected of them but was mindful of not allowing that pressure to push them into trying too much.Theres a lot of expectation that falls on you [when] you go into spinning conditions, I think its key to not try and reinvent the wheel. Just keep doing what our boys have been doing and let the wicket do it for us.Those boys have played [in India] a bit more than I have. So [I am] sitting next to them on the bus and talking shop so to speak, just about the paces to bowl and how the wickets generally are like and things like that. Were always talking, pretty tight unit. The chance that a New Zealand side might play three spinners in a Test, if it goes ahead, is pretty exciting.Craig hasnt ignored his batting. He has three Test fifties and is known for an ability to hang around and frustrate bowlers. Just trying to nurdle it, he joked in response to a question on whether hes tried to hit his team-mates for sixes. Keep it on the ground mate, bat longer.The New Zealanders play their first match of the tour, a three-day game against a Mumbai XI in Delhi, on Friday.Gold UA Stephen Curry 2 . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Blue UA Stephen Curry 4 .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. http://www.cheapuastephencurry.com/ . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Womens UA Stephen Curry 3 . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Red UA Stephen Curry 5 . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Athletics middle reliever Liam Hendriks pumped his fist and did a little spin as he came off the mound after striking out Baltimore Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo to end the seventh inning.Ryan Madson wasnt as demonstrative but was equally pumped up after getting Chris Davis to strike out looking to end the game with the tying run on first base.Manager Bob Melvins ballclub might have the third-worst record in the AL but they clearly are still having a good time.Jake Smolinski singled and scored the deciding run in the third inning, rookie Zach Neal earned his first career win as a starter and Oakland held on to beat Baltimore 2-1 on Tuesday night.Youre going to go through waves and were on a good wave right now, Madson said. Everybodys feeding off each other, and its fun when everybodys doing that.Danny Valencia and Khris Davis drove in a run apiece as the As won consecutive games for the first time since July 26-27 to keep Wade Miley winless in an Orioles uniform.Smolinksi finished with two hits and two walks while Marcus Semien singled and scored as Oakland won its second straight one-run game from AL East-leading Baltimore.The Orioles remain percentage points ahead of Toronto, which lost earlier Tuesday night.Like they did in the series opener, the As got strong starting pitching, solid relief and just enough hitting.Neal (2-1) allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings and retired 16 of the 18 batters he faced to win his second career start and first since May 25. He gave up Adam Jones home run in the fourth and a double to Jonathan Schoop leading off the sixth.Boy that was impressive, Melvin said. For a guy thats thrown 39, 40 pitches tops for us in relief here recently, to give us 75, 80 is what I was looking for from him and he was terrific.Neals only other win in the majors came in relief against San Francisco on June 28.Its not like he struck us out, Jones said. He just kept getting ground balls and balls right at people. Tough luck. Same thing as last night.Hendriks retired five batters and punctuaated his night by striking out Trumbo.dddddddddddd John Axford pitched the eighth and Madson worked the ninth for his 24th save to complete the three-hitter.Jones singled leading off the ninth but Hyun-Soon Kim hit into a 1-6-3 double play. Madson walked Manny Machado before Chris Davis struck out looking.Its a lot of fun to be a part of, Madson said after the As bullpen combined for 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Thats what its all about for us in the bullpen.The As did all of their scoring in the third off Miley. Valencia doubled in Semien, and Smolinksi singled and scored on Davis sacrifice fly.Miley (7-10) pitched well but remained winless since arriving from Seattle a day before the trade deadline. The lefty allowed two runs over six-plus innings and struck out two.NEAR PERFECT PROSPECTJharel Cotton, one of three prospects acquired when the As traded Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to the Los Angeles Dodgers, came within one out of a perfect game while pitching for Triple-A Nashville against Round Rock on Tuesday night. Cotton retired the first 26 batters he faced before Greg Bernier tripled on a 2-1 pitch. The right-hander finished with a one-hit shutout and 12 strikeouts. Impressive outing, Melvin said. When you make a trade like that we certainly like to see our guys do well when they get here.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: T.J. McFarland had his scheduled rehab start in the Gulf Coast League rained out Tuesday. McFarland, on the DL because of inflammation in his left knee, will pitch on Wednesday instead and the team will decide where he goes after that.UP NEXTOrioles: RHP Yovani Gallardo (4-3) pitches the third game of the series Wednesday and is seeking to win consecutive starts for the first time this season.Athletics: Ross Detwiler (0-0) will be called up from Triple-A Nashville to make his debut with Oakland. The lefty was obtained in a trade from Cleveland two weeks before the trade deadline. ' ' '