SPORTMonday 26 March 2018

Federer loses match and the No. 1 ranking

at Miami Open

‘Lucky’ Vettel holds off Hamilton to win Australian Grand Prix

PAGE | 32-33 PAGE | 35 PAGE | 36

Smith steps down amidball-tampering

probe

SmiS t

ix

Sanchez satisfied with impressive Al Annabi showRIZWAN REHMAT

THE PENINSULA

BASRA: Qatar coach Felix Sanchez (pictured) has termed his team’s performance in Iraq as ‘satisfactory, saying the ‘young players’ in the side gave their 100 percent in matches against Iraq and Syria at the International Friendship Tournament.

The three-nation tournament is being organised by Iraq Football Association (IFA) to celebrate the return of football on Iraqi soil.

Qatar beat Iraq 3-2 in the opening game followed by a 2-2 draw against Syria on Saturday.

Akram Afif scored three goals in the two matches as Qatar impressed with attacking football.

“In general, I am satisfied with what the team has done in the two matches they have played in this tournament. A

victory and a fighting draw are good results,” Sanchez said after the 2-2 draw against Syria.

“We played a strong game after con-ceding the opening goal. We scored the equaliser and then we also took the lead but the Syrians managed to equalise and the game ended in a draw,” Sanchez said.

“We played the tournament with young players but this did not affect our performances. They gave a good show and we got positive results. We were close to winning the second game also I am happy with the performance of the players. I am happy with what they have provided on the pitch and that confirms that we are going well.

“I spoke with the players before the Syria match and I said I was looking for

the 100 percent commitment. I made several changes to the playing XI. I had to do that because injury to a few players,” Sanchez said.

“I have 21 players in the squad. I trust them and faith in their abilities,” Sanchez said. “I think all the players in the team and those who were on the bench have done well. Any player who proves his

worth will get a chance to play. There are other positives that we have to look at like scoring five goals in two matches,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the team needs to look at reducing mistakes that cost goals being scored by the opposition.

“Overall, we played 180 minutes well and managed to control the matches, We

will look to play more friendly matches in order to get ready for the 2019 Asian Cup,” said the Al Annabi coach.

Syria’s coach Bernd Stang said: “Qatar plays in a style that is more of the European school. They have good players such as Abdul Karim Hassan and Hassan Al Haydos in addition to the presence of a number of young players on the bench.”

ICC bans Smith for one match

We played the tournament with young players but this did not affect our performances. They gave a good show and we got positive results. We were close to winning the second game also I am happy with the performance of the players. I am happy with what they have provided on the pitch and that confirms that we are going well: Sanchez.

Qatar’s Abdulaziz Hatem Mohamed (third left) celebrates with team-mates after scoring a goal during their Tri-nation Friendly Tournament match played in Basra, Iraq on Saturday.

Australian batsman and captain Steve Smith leaves the ground after having been dismissed by South Africa bowler Kagiso Rabada during day one of the second Sunfoil Test in Port Elizabeth in this March 9 file photo.

AFP

DUBAI: International cricket bosses suspended Australia captain Steve Smith for one match and docked his entire match fee for the current Test after he admitted responsibility for the ball-tampering scandal in the ongoing game against South Africa.

Opener Cameron Bancroft, 25, was hit by three demerit points, fined 75 percent of his match fee and warned for his part in attempting to “change the condition of the ball in order to gain an unfair advantage” on Saturday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement yesterday.

“The decision made by the lead-ership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is therefore ‘serious’ in nature,” said ICC chief executive David Richardson.

“As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended.”

The ICC statement said Smith had “accepted the charge” and a “sanction of two suspension points which equates to a ban for the next Test match and which will see four demerit points added to his record”.

Smith, 28, had admitted to planning the ball tampering during lunch on the third day of the fourth Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday.

Bancroft was caught on tele-vision, first rubbing a piece of yellow sticky tape on the ball and then trying

to hide the evidence down his trousers.

The plan was to attach a sticky substance to the ball that would pick up abrasive dirt from the pitch.

Australia were bowling at the time and the move was likely aimed at getting a more unpredictable bounce when the ball was bowled at the South Africa batsmen.

“To carry a foreign object on to the field of play with the intention of changing the condition of the ball to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent is against not only the laws, but the spirit of the game as well,” said ICC refereeing chief Andy Pycroft.

Before the start of play on Sunday at Newlands, Smith and Australian vice-captain David Warner agreed to stand down from their positions for the remainder of the match.

Tim Paine led the team out yesterday.

Richardson noted a worrying recent trend in cricket and said the time had come for the sport to take stock and fix its problems.

“The game needs to have a hard look at itself,” he said. “In recent weeks we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires’ decisions, a walk-off, ball-tampering and some ordinary off-field behaviour.”

Steve Smith was banned for one match and loses his entire match fee for the current Test. Opener Cameron Bancroft, 25, was hit by three demerit points, fined 75 percent of his match fee and warned for his part.

HOW THE WORLD REACTED TO THE SCANDAL

REUTERS Reaction after Australia captain Steve smith confessed that

the team's "leadership group" had hatched a plan to alter

the condition of the ball during the third day of the third

test against South Africa.

MALCOLM TURNBULL, Prime Minister of Australia"Shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from

South Africa. It seemed completely beyond belief that the

Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating. Our

cricketers are role models and cricket is synonymous with

fair play. How can our team be engaged in cheating like

this? It beggars belief."

JAMES SUTHERLAND, Cricket Australia chief"To our Australian cricket fans. We are sorry. We are sorry

that you had to wake up this morning to the news ... that

our Australian men's cricket team and our captain admitted

to conduct that is outside both the laws of our game and

spirit of cricket.

DAVID RICHARDSON, International Cricket Council CEO"The decision made by the leadership group of the Austral-

ian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of

the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity

of the match, the players and the sport itself and is there-

fore ‘serious’ in nature."

MICHAEL CLARKE, former Australia captain"It's a terrible day for Australian cricket. I can't believe the

leadership group have got a young kid playing in his eighth

test match to do this."

ADAM GILCHRIST, former Australia wicketkeeper"Australian cricket is the laughing stock of the sporting

world."

SHANE WARNE, former Australia spinner"Disappointed in Steve smith as captain to go out there and

do that. To me it was unAustralian. I don't care who you are

you can't tamper with the ball."

30 MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018SPORT

QGF eyes memorable World ChampionshipsFAWAD HUSSAIN

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Hailing the recently-concluded FIG Artistic Indi-vidual World Cup a huge success, President of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) Ali Al Hitmi has vowed to host a memorable World Champi-onships when top athletes will come back to Doha later this year.

Qatar, which has been hosting the FIG World Cup series since 2007 will become the first country in the Middle East to host the mega event scheduled from October 25 – November 3, 2018.

The QGF tested their mettle for hosting the spectacle during the World Cup which was held from March 21 to 24 at the Aspire Dome. Over 360 athletes from 39 countries took part in the four-day annual event which saw thrilling battles as

gymnasts fought for a total of 10 gold medals.

“The event was a successful dress rehearsal for the World Championships,” Al Hitmi said.

“We have plenty of

experience of hosting top notch events and I am confident we will be able to deliver memo-rable World Championships in Doha,” he added.

“We will try very hard to

make it best World Champion-ships for artistic gymnastics because we have great capabil-ities and modern facilities.”

Top International Feder-ation of Gymnastics, who were here during the event, praised QGF for hosting successful World Cup series since 11 years and hoped World Champion-ships in Qatar will be a blockbuster.

In addition, top gymnasts also showed their interest in participating in the October-November event.

Uzbek veteran Oksana Chusovitana who successfully defended her volt title on Friday said she was desperate to come to Doha.

“ I love competing in Doha. The support I get here from the spectators here motivates me to come back again and again,” the 42-year-old said. “I am looking forward to come here and win more gold medals,” she added.

A Japanese gymnast in action during the FIG World Cup finals on Friday at Aspire Dome.

The President of Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) Ali Al Hitmi.

Qatar’s Adel second in desert stage at Abu Dhabi Challenge THE PENINSULA

QASR AL SARAB: Qatar’s Adel Abdulla completed the opening 276.01km desert selective section of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in second position in the T2 standings after a measured drive in difficult conditions.

With the later morning start, the car drivers had to endure the worst of the midday heat in the UAE desert and that made the sand even softer and more treacherous than usual.

Adel’s rented and near-standard Nissan Safari Y61 is not ideally suited to these conditions, but the Qatar and navigator Nasser Al Kuwari maintained their composure and conserved the vehicle without taking risks to complete the stage in 4hrs 52min 37sec.

A niggling exhaust issue forced them to stop on several occasions and cost valuable

minutes. That dropped them to second position - 30min 33sec behind Saudi Arabian rival Ahmed Shegawi - but there are four long stages remaining before the finish on Thursday afternoon at Yas Marina.

Both Russia’s Yuliya Khegay-Migunova and Romania’s Claudia Laurentiu Barbu hit trouble on the stage.

Adel said: “Today was a good day for us because we did not get stuck. But, unfortunately, we had some problems with the car. It’s a rental car and I suppose this can be expected.

“Until PC2, I think we were leading and then we heard something wrong with the exhaust. When we drove fast, we could see some smoke coming inside the car and we thought

there could be a fire, so we stopped to check several times to check the car.

“On the last part of the stage, before PC3, we start to hear the exhaust knocking on the car and we stopped after the PC for a time and lost a lot of time. Still, we have four days to go and 30 minutes on the Desert Challenge is nothing.”

Adel Abdulla is running his

T2 programme with the crucial support of the Qatar gov-ernment, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and Ooredoo Qatar.

Competitors will remain at the Qasr Al Sarab bivouac for the next four nights and tackle the longest special of the entire event – a loop of 287.92km through the towering sand dunes of the Liwa Desert - today.

1. Ahmed Al Shegawi (SAU)/Laurent Lich-

tleuchter (FRA) Toyota Land Cruiser 4hrs 23min

31.7sec

2. Adel Abdulla (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT)

Nissan Patrol 4hrs 54min 05.6sec

3. Yuliya Khegay-Migunova (RUS)/Aldis Vilcans

(LVA) Toyota LC 200 6hrs 08min 41.5sec

POSITIONS

Qatar’s Adel Abdulla competes on the opening day of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. INSET: Abdulla during the desert stage.

Tala wins first-ever rowing gold for QatarTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Promising Tala Abu Jabara (pictured above) made Qatar proud by winning the first-ever gold medal in country’s rowing history during the recently-concluded Arab Indoor Rowing Championship in Kuwait.

A total of 8 countries took part in the 2000 pad-dling event in which Tala gave her personal record of 7.02.7 minutes to clinch gold medal.

UAE’s Amana Khalfan took silver medal in the contest.

The Qatari player showed top performance during the tournament to win the contest.

Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE are the other countries which took part in the contest.

This achievement is a continuation of Qatar’s improving performance in rowing, as this is Tala’s second medal after her bronze at the 12th Arab Rowing Championship 2017, which was hosted by Tunisia last October.

The Qatar Sailing and Kayaking Federation is taking several efforts to prepare it’s upcoming rowers for top international competitions.

The body has also been hosting various international events which is also helping the local rowers.

The Qatar Sailing and Kayaking Federation also hosted the Asian Indoor Rowing Championship in March 2014 with the partici-pation of as many as 13 countries.

Tala Abu Jabara

QC crowned Qatar Basketball Cup championsThe podium winners and officials pose for a group photo after the final of Qatar Basketball Cup on Saturday in Doha. Qatar Club (QC) won the final after defeating Al Gharafa (91-90) in a thrilling final at Al Gharafa Club Lounge. The winners, who were trailing in the first three quarters of the final, made a dramatic comeback in the decisive session to win the exciting final.

31MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Islamabad dethrone Peshawar to regain PSL title

Italy friendly a chance for Alli to state his caseREUTERS

LONDON: England approach tomorrow’s friendly against Italy grappling with a familiar set of recurring problems that seem to resurface whenever major soccer tournaments approach.

An injury to Harry Kane will deny them their most potent weapon at Wembley with con-cerns over the Tottenham Hotspur striker’s availability for the World Cup mirroring sto-rylines from other build-ups when former linchpins Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole all struggled for fitness.

Kane is expected to return to action next month and, if the 24-year-old then stays fit, will be one of only a handful of players guaranteed a start in England’s World Cup opener against Tunisia in June, as manager Gareth Southgate struggles with issues throughout the team.

Kane’s club mate Dele Alli has long seemed a shoo-in as support striker but he has struggled to live up to the praise from Tottenham manager Mau-ricio Pochettino, who this month referred to him as the best 21-year-old in the world.

Alli again looked ineffectual when he came on as a substitute in England’s 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday and goalscorer Jesse Lingard made a strong case for inclusion in Southgate’s World

Cup starting line-up.Alli’s chances may be further

restricted if England go into the tournament with the 3-5-2 for-mation employed in Amsterdam as Southgate might opt for Raheem Sterling alongside Kane on the back of the 23-year-old’s fine club season with Man-chester City.

With time running out, Alli

has the chance to make his case against Italy when Southgate is expected to name him up front with Jamie Vardy, whose pace and prolific goal-scoring record make him a certainty for the squad.

The same can no longer be said about Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere who, although long touted as the answer to

England’s problems in midfield, is once again absent injured and appears to be too brittle for a major tournament.

That leaves Southgate short of creativity with Liverpool’s Adam Lallana struggling for games and fitness after impressing for England last season.

There is further uncertainty over the goalkeeper, an area of traditional English strength. With little more than two months remaining, Southgate has yet to settle on a first choice and Stoke City’s Jack Butland is likely to be given a chance to stake his claim on Tuesday ahead of Everton’s Jordan Pickford, who kept a clean sheet in Amsterdam.

Observers cautiously praised England’s performance against a Dutch side who showed why they were not good enough to qualify for the World Cup finals.

Few, though, are tipping England to progress far in Russia despite a favourable group draw that has placed them alongside Belgium, Tunisia and Panama.

Off the field, there were more echoes from the past as the Football Association (FA) con-demned the “unacceptable scenes” which led to 100 England supporters being arrested in Amsterdam.

While England’s hooligan problem is not on the same scale as in the past, police have raised concerns over supporters clashing with Russian counter-parts in June and July.

England’s Dele Alli (right) in action in friendly game against the Netherlands recently.

Davis Cup: Team Qatar leaves for VietnamTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s men’s tennis team yesterday left for Hanoi, Vietnam to participate in the 2018 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III to begin early next month.

The Qatari delegation to the event starting on April 2 includes Mousa Shanan, Mubarak Shanan, Essa Shanan, Jabor Al Mutawa, the team captain Mohammad Khenji and Head coach Younes Al Aynoui.

The 2018 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III will feature nine coun-tries including Malaysia, Kuwait, Cam-bodia, Jordan, Oceania, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam.

As per the ITF rules the participating teams in the 2018 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III will be divided into two groups where the winners and runners-up will qualify to Group II.

Ji grabs share of Classic lead as Kerr collapsesAFP

LOS ANGELES: South Korea’s Ji Eun-hee fired five birdies in a five-under par 67 on Saturday to share the LPGA Kia Classic third-round lead with compatriot Kim In-kyung and American Lizette Salas.

The trio’s 11-under total of 205 put them one stroke in front of a group of four players headed by American Cristie Kerr -- who started the day with a five-shot lead but carded a three-over par 75.

“The conditions were rough so I just tried to keep the ball on the fairway,” Ji said.

“It (course) is a challenge. I keep trying to change my swing. I am starting to feel more comfortable with my new swing.” Kerr was tied on 206

with Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-Ling (68), Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall (70) and fellow American Cindy LaCrosse (68).

A day after a sparkling 64, Kerr had three bogeys and a double-bogey six at the par-four 15th -- where she hooked her drive into the trees.

Kerr, 40, had just two birdies on the Aviara Golf Club course where she won in 2015.

“I just didn’t have it,” Kerr said on Saturday.

“I’ve got to go work on my game a little bit.” On a tightly bunched leaderboard, another four players were tied on 207.

Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist joined that group with a six-under 66 that included seven birdies.

She was level with Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (69), South

Korean Lee Jeong-eun (70) and American Kris Tamulis (67).

205 - Ji Eun-hee (KOR) 70-68-67, Lizette

Salas 69-67-69, Kim In-kyung (KOR) 67-69-

69

206 - Hsu Wei-Ling (TPE) 72-66-68, Cindy

LaCrosse 69-69-68, Caroline Hedwall (SWE)

66-70-70, Cristie Kerr 67-64-75

207 - Anna Nordqvist (SWE) 71-70-66, Kris

Tamulis 70-70-67, Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 70-

68-69, Lee Jeong-eun (KOR) 68-69-70

208 - Choi Hye-jin (KOR) 72-70-66, Kim Jin-

young (KOR) 70-72-66, Jane Park 71-69-68,

Caroline Masson (GER) 70-70-68, Park Hee-

young (KOR) 66-70-72

209 - Brittany Lincicome 72-72-65, Perrine

Delacour (FRA) 70-72-67, Bronte Law (ENG)

69-72-68, Feng Shanshan (CHN) 72-68-69,

Lydia Ko (NZL) 68-71-70, Thidapa Suwan-

napura (THA) 69-69-71

CLASSIC SCORES

South Korea’s Ji Eun-hee in action.

Sanchez kicks 19 points as Jaguares tame Lions againAFP

BUENOS AIRES: Star play-maker Nicolas Sanchez kicked 19 points as Jaguares main-tained their Super Rugby mastery of Golden Lions in Argentina with a 49-35 triumph on Saturday after a 11-try fest.

The Buenos Aires result completed a disastrous weekend for South African teams on the road in round 6 with Northern Bulls and Coastal S h a r k s c r a s h i n g i n Australasia.

Western Stormers were the lone South African winners, surviving a late Queensland Reds rally to win 25-19 in a Cape Town match marred by a dangerous tackle that went

unpunished.Wellington Hurricanes

ended Otago Highlanders’ perfect start to the season with a 29-12 victory and Waikato Chiefs kept the Sunwolves winless in a 61-10 Tokyo rout.

After 12-point home wins over 2016 and 2017 runners-up the Lions in the past two seasons, Jaguares shook off a poor start this year that included a 20-point drubbing at the Lions to win impressively.

The South Americans were ahead within 45 seconds through a Bautista Delguy try, led 25-14 at half-time and responded swiftly when the Lions twice closed the gap to four points.

Jaguares winger Emiliano Boffelli and loose forward Javier Ortega Desio and Lions hooker Malcolm Marx scored two tries each.

Meanwhile, SuperSport TV analyst and former South Africa coach Nick Mallett said Reds prop Taniela Tupou should have been red-carded for a no-arms, high tackle on Craig Barry during the first half.

The Reds, who arrived in Cape Town from Buenos Aires via London after defeating the Jaguares last weekend, were soon 18 points behind.

But scores just before and after half-time from forwards Caleb Timu and Alex Mafi slashed the deficit to four points.

Nicolas Sanchez takes a penalty kick.

Islamabad United’s Luke Ronchi (left) celebrates a boundary against Peshawar Zalmi during their Pakistan Super League (PSL) final at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi yesterday. Islamabad beat Peshawar by three wickets to regain their PSL title. Kiwi master blaster Luke Ronchi scored a swashbuckling 52 off 26 balls as Islamabad achieved their target of 149-7 in 16.5 overs. RIGHT: Islamabad players celebrate a wicket of Peshawar captain Darren Sammy. Islamabad won the inaugural edition in 2016.

REUTERS

CAPE TOWN: Factbox on major ball-tampering inci-dents in cricket after in the wake of the ongoing probe into the Australian team for attempting to alter the state of the ball during the third day of the third Test against South Africa:

* 1977 - England bowler John Lever was accused of applying Vaseline on one side of the ball to make it swing better during the third Test against India in Chen-nai. The visitors said that Lever and bowling partner Bob Willis had applied Vaseline-covered gauze above their eyes to divert sweat from their forehead away. No charges were brought.

* 1990 - New Zealand had used bottle tops to tamper the ball during the third Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad, former wicket-keeper batsman Adam Parore said decades later. The tampering increased the swing on the ball and helped seamer Chris Pringle take an 11-wicket haul. No charges were brought.

* 1994 - England captain Michael Atherton rubbed loose dirt from his pocket onto the ball during the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s. Atherton said that he used the soil, taken from the pitch, to keep his hands dry. He was fined but avoided suspension and held on to the captaincy.

* 2000 - Pakistan paceman Waqar Younis worked on the ball with his fingers in a match against South Africa during a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka in 2000. The bowler was the first player to be suspended for ball tampering after being found guilty and was also fined 50 percent of his match fees.

* 2001 - Indian batting great Sachin Ten-dulkar was accused of scuffing the seam by running his fingers on it by match referee Mike Denness during the second Test against South Africa in 2001. Tendulkar maintained his innocence saying that he was trying to remove dirt from the ball in wet conditions but was handed a suspended one-match ban. The Indian team threatened to pull out of the tour if the decision was not reversed. The Indian cricket board (BCCI) boycotted the third Test and fielded a reserve team to play an unofficial Test. International Cricket Council (ICC) subsequently said that Tendulkar was not guilty of ball tampering but rather of cleaning the ball without the umpire’s permission.

* 2004 - Indian batsman Rahul Dravid rubbed a cough lozenge on the shiny side of the ball during a one-day international win over Zim-babwe in a triangular series held at Brisbane. Dravid was found to be guilty by match referee Clive Lloyd and was fined 50 percent of his match fee.

* 2005 - Former England batsman Marcus Tresco-thick said in his autobiography that he used mint-induced saliva to keep the shine on the ball as his team recorded their first Ashes victory after 18 years. The tampering aided with the unplayable swing delivered by England bowlers as Australia lost the series 2-1. No charges were brought against Trescothick, who retired before his book was published.

* 2006 - During a controversial Test at the Oval, England were awarded five extra runs after Pakistan were accused of ball tampering by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove. Pakistan refused to take the field after the tea break, in protest of the decision, and for-feited the Test. The scandal led to years of conflict between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and current and former players.

* 2010 - England bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson were accused of ball tampering after the former treaded on the ball with his spikes while the lat-ter appeared to be picking at the seam during a Test against South Africa. The duo both rejected the accusa-tions, with Broad saying he was just being lazy while stopping the ball and Anderson claiming he was absent-mindedly playing with it. Neither player was charged.

* 2010 - Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was caught on camera biting the ball during a one-day inter-national against Australia in Perth. Afridi was banned for two Twenty20 internationals.

* 2012 - Australia bowler Peter Siddle was accused by Sri Lanka of raising the seam of the ball during the first Test at Hobart after the paceman collected five wickets for 54 runs in the first innings. Siddle was later cleared by the ICC.

* 2013 - South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis scuffed the ball on the zippers of his trousers while fielding dur-ing a Test against Pakistan in 2013. On-field umpires awarded Pakistan five runs and changed the ball. Du Ples-sis plead guilty to the charge and was fined 50 percent of his match fees.

* 2014 - South Africa’s Vernon Philander scratched the ball with his finger and thumbs during a Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. Philander was found guilty and fined 75 percent of his match fees.

* 2016 - Faf du Plessis was charged for ball tamper-ing yet again during the second Test against Australia at Hobart after the South African skipper applied saliva from a mint or lollipop onto the ball. Du Plessis was found guilty by the ICC and fined his entire match fee.

* 2018 - Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera using a yellow object to rub the ball and then concealing the object in his trousers during the third Test against South Africa. Captain Steve Smith and Bancroft admitted to the offence at the end-of-day, say-ing a number of senior Australian players had planned the tampering. Smith and David Warner stepped down from their roles as captain and vice-captain respectively.

32 MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018SPORT 33MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018 SPORT

REUTERS

AUCKLAND: Captain Joe Root was dismissed off the last ball of the fourth day moments after he had been struck on the hand by a Trent Boult bouncer to put New Zealand firmly in the driving seat to win the rain-affected first Test at Eden Park.

Root, who received on-field treatment, was bounced again on the next delivery and caught off the glove by BJ Watling to leave England in desperate trouble at 132 for three, needing another 237 runs to make New Zealand bat again.

Until those last two deliveries on Sunday, Root had looked like he might be able to defy New Zea-land on the final day, having reached his 38th Test half century before Boult removed him for 51.

Dawid Malan was 19 not out and will be joined by Ben Stokes, who will face the final ball of Boult’s 14th over when play resumes on Monday.

Earlier, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had declared his side’s first innings at 427-8, a lead of 369 runs, about an hour into the middle session. England were dismissed for just 58 in their first innings on Saturday.

Rain had washed out virtually all of the previous two days, with only 23.1 overs bowled by Eng-land on Friday and just 17 deliveries on Saturday.

Finally able to enjoy a period of uninterrupted play, Henry Nicholls advanced from his over-night score of 52 to reach his highest Test score of 145 not out before Williamson declared.

Boult then made an early

breakthrough in England’s sec-ond innings when he had a woefully out-of-form Alastair Cook caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Watling for two.

Mark Stoneman and Root had looked comfortable after seeing off the threat of Boult and fellow opening bowler Tim Southee as they compiled an 88-run partner-ship and appeared well set to go through to the close.

Stoneman, however, undid all of their good work when he dis-patched successive Neil Wagner deliveries for a four and then a six that brought up his fourth Test half century, only to be caught by Boult in the deep off the next ball.

Root and Malan then contin-ued to defy New Zealand’s bowlers, with the 27-year-old captain bringing up his half

century with a cut past point for two runs, before the dramatic final two deliveries put New Zea-land firmly back in control.

The second Test, a standard daytime match, is at Hagley Oval in Christchurch from March 30-April 3.

Smith steps down amidball-tampering probe

Five incidents that tarnished Steve SmithAFP

MELBOURNE: Steve Smith was fighting to save his job and reputation yesterday after admitting he was the chief plotter in a ball-tampering scandal.

It is not the first time that the Aus-tralia cricket captain has been involved in controversy. Here are five incidents where Smith made headlines for rea-sons other than his batting since taking over the captaincy in 2015.

DRS ‘BRAIN FADE’Steve Smith set off a storm of con-

troversy in the second Test of the four-match series in India a year ago when he looked to his dressing room for help while deciding whether to call for a review into his lbw dismissal in Bangalore -- describing the moment a “brain fade”.

BULLY RETORTEngland bowler James Anderson

claimed the Australians were bullies who overstepped the line in the recent Ashes series and Smith returned fire, calling the England paceman one of the biggest sledgers in cricket, as insults flew ahead of the Adelaide Test.

The rancour spilt onto the pitch as umpire Aleem Dar had to separate Smith from Anderson in ugly scenes when the Aussie skipper was batting.

UMPIRE RANTSmith was fined 30 percent of his

match fee for dissent after an obscen-ity-sprinkled rant against the umpires after a decision review went against the Aussies during the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch in February, 2016.

Smith said: “I’ll cop that on the chin and I need to be better as a leader. For me it’s about trying to learn from my mistakes and improve.”

RABADA APPEAL QUESTIONEDSmith raised eyebrows when he

appeared to question the ICC appeal process after a ban on South African bowler Kagiso Rabada for bumping the Australian captain was lifted last week.

“They’ve deemed the contact not to be deliberate and set the line in the sand of what is appropriate and what’s not,” he said, adding it was “pretty interesting” that he had no input at the six-hour hearing.

BALL-TAMPER SHAMESmith faced calls to quit after con-

fessing he was the chief plotter in Saturday’s ball-tampering scandal which plunged the game into crisis. Teammate Cameron Bancroft was caught using yellow sticky tape laden with dirt to alter the condition of the ball.

REUTERS

MELBOURNE/CAPE TOWN: Steve Smith stepped down as Australia captain yesterday and his deputy David Warner also relinquished the vice-captaincy amid stunning ball-tampering revelations that have plunged the Test team into crisis.

Cricket Australia said the pair had agreed to give up their leader-ship roles following “discussions” with the governing body, with wick-etkeeper Tim Paine to take the reins for the remainder of the third Test in Cape Town.

“This Test match needs to pro-ceed, and in the interim we will continue to investigate this mat-ter with the urgency that it

demands,” CA CEO James Sutherland said in a

statement.“Cricket Australia

and Australian cricket fans expect certain standards of conduct

from cricketers represent-ing our country, and on this

occasion these standards have not been met.

“All Australians, like us, want answers and we will keep you

updated on our findings, as a matter of priority.”

Smith and Warner’s

demotion came hours after Austral-ia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull heaped pressure on CA to act swiftly and decisively.

“I have to say that the whole nation which holds those who wear the ‘baggy green’ up on a pedestal about as high as you can get in Aus-tralia, certainly higher than any politician that’s for sure, this is a shocking disappointment,” Turn-bull said.

Smith had admitted on

Saturday that the ball-tampering carried out by Cameron Bancroft had been orchestrated by himself and senior players but although he was “embarrassed” by the scandal, he had no intention of stepping down as skipper.

Captain since 2015, Smith did not join his team mates as they warmed up at Newlands before the fourth day’s play yesterday. The four-Test series is tied at 1-1 with the hosts in a strong position in the ongoing match.

Opening batsman Bancroft, the most junior member in the side at

25, has been charged by the Inter-national Cricket Council (ICC).

The cost to Australia’s reputation is immeasura-

bly higher, however, with former players across the globe branding the team cheats and fans

castigating the players on social media.

Kepler Wessels, who played Test cricket for both

Australia and South Africa, suggested there should be

lengthy bans for those found guilty of wrong-doing.

He cited the case of former West Indian wicketkeeper Rid-

ley Jacobs, suspended for three games in 2002

for appealing a run out

w h e n

he did not have the ball in his gloves.“If Jacobs got three games for

that offence then I wonder what is going to happen to these Austral-ians?” Wessels asked yesterday.

South Africa coach Ottis Gibson also called for strong action from the ICC.

“I’m shocked at what’s gone on. I’ve never seen anything as blatant as that,” he told SuperSport television.

“The statement from them said it was the ‘leadership group’ and therefore it was quite a few people involved, so we’ll see how the ICC deals with the situation.”

Team manager Mohammed Moosajee, an influential figure within Cricket South Africa, said he did not believe the scandal would affect relations between the cricket boards of the two nations.

“The fact that Australia have admitted to what they have done,” he said. “There is no place for that in cricket at all. They will go through

an internal process as well. We leave it to the ICC to make the call on what the next steps are and what the sanction will be.”

“DISGRACEFUL”Australia cricket chief Suth-

erland had earlier told a news conference in Melbourne that the CA’s head of integrity would fly to South Africa to investigate the incident.

Sutherland described it as “very sad for Australian

cricket” and said fans had “every reason to wake up and not be proud of the Australian cricket team”.

However, the long-serving chief executive declined to call

the ball-tampering “cheating” and steered studiously clear of using the word.

His reticence was not shared by Australian media pundits and a host of former players who lined up to decry the incident.

Australian newspapers described the scandal as the worst captaincy crisis since 1981 when skipper Greg Chappell instructed younger brother Trevor to bowl underarm with the last ball of a one-day match against New Zea-land to secure a victory.

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Smith had admitted on Saturday that the ball-tampering carried out by Cameron Bancroft had been orchestrated by himself and senior players but although he was “embarrassed” by the scandal, he had no intention of stepping down as skipper.

Ball-tampering incidents in internationals

Aussies jeered by home crowdAFP

CAPE TOWN: A muted chorus of boos greeted Australia when stand-in captain Tim Paine led the team out at the start of play against South Africa yesterday in the wake of a ball-tampering scandal.

Paine was made captain for the rest of the third Test -- which has reached the fourth day -- at Newlands after regu-lar captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were stood down following Sat-urday’s revelations.

Although all tickets for the day had been sold, the ground was only about a third full at the

start of play. Some boos could be heard but a loud public address system was played until the Australians had taken their places on the field.

Former Australia captain Allan Border said in SuperSport television’s build-up to the day’s play that he was “angry and embarrassed” by Saturday’s events.

Australian leg-spinning great Shane Warne also spoke of his ire.

“I am disappointed in Steve Smith as captain to take that deci-sion to go out and try to do this.”

He said the actions were “un-Australian” and opened the team up to criticism from around the world.

Smith had admitted follow-ing Saturday’s third day action that he had masterminded an attempt by Cameron Bancroft to alter the condition of the ball in the outfield using a yellow object.

“The leadership group knew about it,” Smith said. “I’m not proud of what happened.”

Former South African cap-tain Graeme Smith said the current team was unlike previ-ous Australian outfits he had encountered, pointing to a move from before the tour to try to get South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada banned.

“That’s not Australia for me,” said Smith, who criticised what

he described as “whingeing” about the behaviour of South African spectators and Steve Smith’s anger that Rabada had been reprieved despite being banned after reaching a demerit point threshold.

Shaun Pollock, another former South African captain, said the Australians would have to face the consequences of their actions.

“It was pre-meditated and they’ve been caught. They have been shown to cheat,” he said.

South Africa started Sun-day’s fourth day with a 294-run lead and five wickets remain-ing in their second innings.

A South African supporter holds

a placard reading “Sandpaper 4

woodwork + not 2 craft balls” as the

Australian team leaves for the changing

room during the fourth day of the

third Test at Newlands.

Root out in final over as Black Caps tighten gripENGLAND, first innings 58 (C. Overton 33 not

out; Boult 6-32, Southee 4-25)

NEW ZEALAND first innings

(overnight 233-4)

J. Raval c Bairstow b Anderson ............................ 3

T. Latham c Woakes b Broad ..............................26

K. Williamson lbw Anderson ............................102

R. Taylor c Woakes b Anderson ........................ 20

H. Nicholls not out ...............................................145

B. Watling c Bairstow b Broad ............................31

C. de Grandhomme c Bairstow b Overton .......29

T. Astle b Broad ...................................................... 18

T. Southee c and b Root .......................................25

N. Wagner not out ..................................................9

Extras: (b4, lb9, w6) ........................................... 19

Total: (8 wkts dec; 141 overs) ............... 427

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Raval), 2-92 (Latham), 3-123

(Taylor), 4-206 (Williamson), 5-260 (Watling),

6-309 (de Grandhomme), 7-341 (Astle), 8-413

(Southee)

Did not bat: Trent Boult

Bowling: Anderson 29-10-87-3, Broad 34-9-78-3,

Overton 25-7-70-1 (1w), Woakes 33-9-107-0 (1w),

Ali 17-1-59-0, Root 3-0-13-1

ENGLAND second innings

A. Cook c Watling b Boult ...................................... 2

M. Stoneman c Boult b Wagner .........................55

J. Root c Watling b Boult ......................................51

D. Malan not out .................................................... 19

Extras: (b4, lb1) ...................................................... 5

Total: (for 3 wickets, 46.5 overs) ...........132

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Cook), 2-94 (Stoneman), 3-132

(Root)

Bowling: Boult 13.5-6-24-2, Southee 13-1-40-0, de

Grandhomme 10-1-31-0, Wagner 10-2-32-1

Toss: New Zealand

SCOREBOARD

REUTERS

CAPE TOWN: South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee does not expect rela-tions between the country’s board and their Australian counterparts to be unduly affected by the ball-tampering scandal engulfing the third Test at Newlands.

He added the South African team was focused on applying “relentless pressure” on the Australian side in order to win the Test and take a 2-1 lead in the tempestuous four-match series.

“I don’t think it will hurt the relations between the two boards,” Moosajee told reporters on Sunday.

“The process is now in the hands of the

International Cricket Council (ICC). The fact that Australia have admitted to what they have done... there is no place for that in cricket at all. They will go through an internal process as well.

“We leave it to the ICC to make the call on what the next steps are and what the sanc-tion will be.”

Moosajee added that the South African team remained focused on winning the game.

“(Coach) Ottis Gibson addressed the boys this morning and the focus is very much about applying relentless pressure. From a mental space point of view, the team are certainly in a good one. The most important thing for us is to focus on the job at hand and win the Test match.”

Moosajee was not surprised that Smith came clean at a news conference on Satur-day, believing he had no choice after television pictures showed fielder Cameron Bancroft trying to hide sticky tape he used to pick up grit to rub on the ball.

“When the evidence is as damning as it was, it is sometimes better just to plea and come clean. That is probably what they were thinking,” he added. “There are so many cam-eras these days, if people are trying to do something untoward it is only a matter of time before they will be exposed.”

But Moosajee did take issue with the fact that umpires Nigel Llong and R Illingworth had not changed the ball after compelling evi-dence of tampering had been revealed.

Relations with Australia unaffected by scandal: SA Manager Moosajee

Australia’s Steve Smith

Morkel rips through sorry Aussies to guide Proteas to massive winAP

CAPE TOWN: Arriving and departing to boos from the crowd, Australia’s cricketers endured further humiliation yesterday after being bowled out for 107 and losing to South Africa by 322 runs in the third Test, after admitting to cheating a day earlier.

Australia was removed in less than 40 overs in its second innings on Day 4 at Newlands in Cape Town, failing to offer

pride-restoring resistance and way off the winning target of 430.

With captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner step-ping down from their leadership roles while their involvement in a ball-tampering scandal is fully investigated, Australia looked like a team with its morale shattered.

Smith and Warner played on Sunday but wicketkeeper Tim Paine took over as stand-in captain.

Warner top-scored for the Aus-sies with 32 and fellow opener

Cameron Bancroft, also involved in the tampering plan, made 26 with an opening partnership of 57. They were both booed as they arrived and then trudged off the field, as was Smith, who made just 7.

Away from the reputational damage suffered by Australia from its ball tampering on Day 3, Aus-tralia now trails 2-1 in the series with one Test to go. Smith is banned for that last Test because of his leading role in hatching a plan to cheat in the Cape Town

game on Saturday. Australia’s proud record of having never lost a series in South Africa since 1970 is seriously under threat in Johan-nesburg next week.

South Africa’s players had been told to maintain their focus on winning the Test amid sepa-rate investigations by the International Cricket Council and Cricket Australia into the ball tam-pering which was planned, carried out and then botched by senior Australian players and Bancroft.

South Africa set Australia a huge task to win by making 373 in the second innings and then cut-ting through the Australian batsmen mercilessly.

Fast bowler Morne Morkel took 5-23 in Australia’s second innings and nine wickets in the match in what is his last series in international cricket.

It was Australia’s second-heaviest defeat to South Africa in terms of runs and its heaviest since 1970.

SOUTH AFRICA, first innings, 311

AUSTRALIA, first innings, 255

SOUTH AFRICA, second innings

(Overnight 238-5)

A. Markram c Cummins b Starc ............84

D. Elgar c Smith b Cummins ..................14

H. Amla c Bancroft b Cummins ............. 31

A. de Villiers c S. Marsh b Hazlewood ..63

F. du Plessis lbw b Lyon .........................20

T. Bavuma c sub (Handscomb) b Hazle-

wood .............................................................5

Q. de Kock c Paine b Cummins ............. 65

V. Philander not out ................................ 52

K. Rabada st Paine b Lyon ....................20

K. Maharaj c Cummins b Lyon ................. 5

M. Morkel c Khawaja b Hazlewood ........6

Extras (b4, lb1, nb1, w2) .........................8

Total (112.2 overs) ....................373Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-104, 3-151, 4-196,

5-201, 6-269, 7-324, 8-354, 9-362, 10-373

Bowling: Starc 23-5-98-1 (1nb), Hazle-

wood 25.2-5-69-3, Cummins 27-5-67-2

(2w), Lyon 31-2-102-3, Smith 1-0-6-0, M.

Marsh 5-0-26-0

AUSTRALIA, second inningsC. Bancroft run out (Du Plessis) ........... 26

D. Warner c De Villiers b Rabada ..........32

U. Khawaja c De Villiers b Maharaj ..........1

S. Smith c Elgar b Morkel ...........................7

S. Marsh c Markram b Maharaj ................0

M. Marsh c De Villiers b Morkel ..............16

T. Paine not out ...........................................9

P. Cummins c Elgar b Morkel ....................0

M. Starc c Markram b Morkel ....................7

N. Lyon run out (Bavuma) ........................0

J. Hazlewood c Philander b Morkel ........5

Extras (b4) .................................................4

Total (39.4 overs) ......................107Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-59, 3-59, 4-59,

5-75, 6-86, 7-86, 8-94

Bowling: Rabada 12-6-31-1, Philander 6-2-

17-0, Morkel 9.4-3-23-5, Maharaj 12-2-32-2

Result: South Africa won by 322 runs

SCOREBOARDSouth Africa’s Morne Morkel (left) celebrates with team-mates after taking

the wicket of Australia’s Pat Cummins during the Third Test against Australia

in Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa yesterday.

34 MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018SPORT

Rockets notch record 59th winAGENCIES

NEW YORK: James Harden paired a game-high 27 points with eight assists and Clint Capela produced a monster effort on both ends as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to eight games with a 114-91 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday at Toyota Center.

Houston set a new franchise record with its 59th win, besting the mark set by the 1993-94 NBA champions.

The Rockets have won 15 consecutive home games, the second-longest streak in team history, and claimed the season series from the Pelicans by winning three of four games.

Harden surpassed 2,000 points on the season, the first player in the league to do so this season. He has hit that plateau in four consecutive campaigns and five times in six seasons with Houston.

Capela posted 18 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high-tying six blocks in an entertaining battle with Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis, who totaled 25 points, eight boards and four blocks.

76ers 120, Timberwolves 108 Rookie Ben Simmons recorded his 10th triple-double with 15 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds as Philadelphia dominated the third quarter and defeated vis-iting Minnesota.

The 76ers won their sixth straight by outscoring Minnesota 39-19 in the third quarter.

They shot 55.6 percent in the period while getting 13 assists

and holding Minnesota to 15.8 percent.

Simmons had 10 points and five assists in the third as Phila-delphia totaled 33 assists.

It was the Sixers’ 24th straight game with at least 20 assists, equaling the team record set during the 1992-93 season, and their 20th game this season with at least 30 assists.

Lakers 100, Grizzlies 93

Rookie Kyle Kuzma scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Los Angeles beat Memphis.

Kuzma helped the Lakers halt a four-game losing streak by posting his 21st game with at least 20 points, including his third straight.

He shot 5-of-6 in the final 12 minutes and 9-of-21 overall while adding 10 rebounds.

Andrew Harrison had 20 points and Marc Gasol scored 18 for the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth straight game and for the 23rd time in 24 games.

Hornets 102, Mavericks 98 Kemba Walker scored 24 points and made a pivotal steal and Dwight Howard contributed 18 points and 23 rebounds to help Charlotte defeat host Dallas.

Jeremy Lamb added 14 points

and Malik Monk scored 11 for the Hornets, who won their third straight game. Charlotte posted a 62-52 rebounding edge and hit 12 of 25 from 3-point range despite shooting just 38 percent overall.

Dennis Smith Jr. scored 21 points and Harrison Barnes added 18 but couldn’t prevent Dallas from dropping its fifth straight game.

Pistons 117, Bulls 95 Anthony Tolliver scored a season-high 25 points, including a career-best six 3-pointers, and Detroit had eight players in double figures while rolling past depleted Chicago in Detroit.

Tolliver, a reserve forward, had not scored more than 20 points this season prior to his outburst.

Andre Drummond posted 15 points, 20 rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocks for Detroit, which has won three of its last four games.

Blake Griffin had 10 points and nine assists while sitting out the fourth quarter in the lopsided win.

Magic 105, Suns 99 Aaron Gordon enjoyed a solid all-around game with 29 points, 11 rebounds, a career-best eight assists and three steals to lead host Orlando past Phoenix.

Nikola Vucevic recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando, which won for just the fourth time in the past 19 games. DJ Augustin had 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Mario Hezonja reg-istered 14 points, eight rebounds and matched his season high of four steals and Shelvin Mack scored 12 points.

Josh Jackson scored 18 points and Alex Len added 15 points and nine rebounds for Phoenix, which has lost 11 straight games and 26 of its last 28.

Houston Rockets guard James Harden (right) attempts to drive the ball past New Orleans Pelicans forward Cheick Diallo during the first quarter at Toyota Center on Saturday.

James Harden surpasses 2,000 points, the first player in the league to do so this season. He has hit that plateau in four consecutive campaigns and five times in six seasons with Houston.

NHL: McDavid stars as Oilers edge KingsAP

EDMONTON, ALBERTA: Once again, Connor McDavid has put the rest of the NHL in his rearview mirror.

McDavid had two goals to take over the league scoring lead, and the Edmonton Oilers held off the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday night for their third straight victory.

The Oilers captain and last year’s scoring champion has 23 goals in his last 26 games and 12 points in his past six.

“I’m just going to put repeat on,” said McDavid, who added he would be lying if he said he hasn’t kept an eye on where he sat in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

“We pay attention to it. Guys that are in the race, I’m sure they are paying attention to it. We are so far along in the year and everyone has come so far that you might as well put your best foot forward and go for it.”

Pontus Aberg also scored for the Oilers, who are 4-1-1 in their last six games. During that span, however, they were eliminated from the playoff race.

“Lately we have been stringing some games together, something we didn’t do as well at the start of the season,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said.

“It was obviously not the way we wanted it to go in the first half, but we can take some confidence and play the game the right way to at least go into the summer with at

least a good feeling.” Jake Muzzin and Jeff Carter had the goals for the Kings, who have lost two of three. Los Angeles remained tied with idle Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division.

“Chasing games on the road is tough,” Muzzin said. “We had some chances and didn’t score. I don’t think we were as prepared as we should have emotionally in this game and I don’t know why. We got desperate a little too late. We weren’t able to capitalise and able to come back.”

The Oilers started the scoring 45 seconds into the

first period when Aberg hooked a puck from behind the net past surprised Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for his sixth point in the last three games.

Edmonton made it 2-0 with 4:28 left in the period when McDavid had a strong second effort to bang his own rebound under Quick’s stick for his 37th goal of the season.

However, the Kings bounced back just 28 seconds later when Muzzin cleanly beat Oilers goalie Cam Talbot with a shot from the slot.

The Oilers regained their two-goal advantage four minutes into the second when

McDavid sent a shot through Quick’s legs on a partial breakaway.

The goal gave McDavid the NHL scoring lead with 96 points, moving him ahead of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

The Kings got that goal back a couple of minutes later when Tobias Rieder made a long feed to Carter, who scored at the side of the net.

Talbot made a huge stop on a short-handed breakaway by Nate Thompson early in the third and withstood some late pressure to preserve the win.

Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (left) carries the puck up the ice during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place on Saturday.

MLB: Bumgarner undergoes surgeryAGENCIES

NEW YORK: New San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner underwent hand surgery on Saturday to repair the fractured bone he suffered one day earlier.

The Giants announced that the left-hander had three pins inserted into the fifth metacarpal bone on his throwing hand.

Bumgarner suffered the injury in Friday’s exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Whit Merrifield.

Bumgarner told reporters on Friday that he will be sidelined from four to six weeks while some outlets have reported he will miss up to two months.

The Giants didn’t immediately announce a timetable after the surgery.

Meanwhile, Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale departed in the first inning of his final spring start after being hit by a line drive in the hip

against the Houston Astros. Sale was facing his fourth batter of the game when Houston’s JD Davis sent a liner right at him.

The ball smashed into Sale’s left hip and the Boston ace went down to the ground in obvious pain, but seem-ingly clutching his knee. He told reporters that the ball hit a nerve in his hip and sent numbness down his leg, and he was relieved to hear later that he only suffered a bruise.

“I don’t see anything lingering from this,” Sale told reporters, insisting he would make Thursday’s Opening Day start against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Elsewhere, New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test and CT scan on his right foot after he recently informed medical staff of discomfort.

The team appears concerned that Bird’s soreness is related to the foot/ankle injury that required surgery last season and sidelined him for all but 48 games in 2017.

Madison Bumgarner

35MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018 SPORT

Federer loses match and the No. 1 ranking at Miami OpenAP

KEY BISCAYNE: Roger Federer lost his second consecutive match and the No. 1 ranking Saturday.

Big-serving Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, a qualifier ranked 175th, rallied to upset Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at the Miami Open. The 36-year-old Federer had been the oldest No. 1 man ever, but he’ll lose that spot to Rafael Nadal when the new rankings come out April 2.

“I deserve it after this match,” Federer said. “That’s how I feel.”

Kokkinakis became the lowest-ranked man to beat a No. 1 player since No. 178 Francisco Clavet upset Lleyton Hewitt in 2003. That upset was also at Key Biscayne.

“Pretty crazy,” said Kokki-nakis, 21. “I’m pretty happy about it.”

Federer now has lost back-to-back matches for the first time since 2014, a dip that comes after a career-best 17-0 start to the year. He lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the Indian Wells final Sunday, a defeat that also came down to a winner-take-all tiebreaker.

Did the losses have anything in common?

“Yes, 7-6 in the third,” Federer said. “Other than that, not much.”

The 6-foot-5 Kokkinakis has long been regarded as a prom-ising talent thanks to a thun-derous serve and forehand, but has been plagued by injuries. The match was his first against Federer, although they’ve prac-ticed together.

“I’ve always liked his game,” Federer said.

“I’m happy for him that on the big stage he was able to show it. It’s a big result for him in his career, and I hope it’s going to launch him.”

Federer’s defeat left both No. 1 players out of the tournament.

Simona Halep lost hours earlier to Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Eight-t ime women’s champion Serena Williams and six-time winner Novak Djokovic were also eliminated in their opening matches.

Federer won’t be playing to reclaim the No. 1 spot anytime soon. He said he’ll skip the upcoming clay season for the second year in a row, including the French Open.

During a stadium ceremony before the night session, tour professionals joined members of the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to promote a fund-raising campaign for victims of last month’s mass shooting there.

Federer’s match turned when he played a poor service game and was broken at love to fall behind 3-1 in the second set.

“That game I knuckled down and put pressure on him,” Kok-kinakis said. “I started to dictate from there.”

Kokkinakis never broke again but held the rest of the way, consistently topping 125 mph with his serve.

“Every time I had chances, something bad happened,” Federer said.

“Wrong decision-making by me, good decision-making by him. It’s disappointing. I don’t know why I couldn’t get to any level I was happy with today.”

Federer kept one exchange going by hitting a volley behind

his back, but couldn’t win even that point. He laughed then - it was early in the match - but looked grim two hours later as the end neared.

On match point, Federer buried a backhand return in the bottom of the net. Kokkinakis screamed in celebration, waved his index finger and gestured for more noise from the appreciative capacity crowd.

Kokkinakis said he didn’t mind that fans were firmly in Federer’s corner during the match - and even before it.

“When I came on court there wasn’t much cheering,” Kokki-nakis said with a laugh. “He came on court with a little delay and that sort of strut he does, and I was like, ‘This is pretty nuts.’

The crowd goes nuts when he does his walk onto court.”

The walk to the exit was the last at Key Biscayne for Federer, a three-time champion. The event is moving next year to the Miami Dolphins’ stadium.

Nadal will become the new No. 1 even though he missed Key Biscayne because of a hip injury that also forced him to skip Indian Wells. Kokkinakis is healthy for a change. The tour-nament is just his fifth in the past seven months, but he said he thought he could beat Federer.

“When I’m playing on my terms, I don’t feel there are too many people that can go with me,” Kokkinakis said. “I just needed to play my game and aggressive tennis.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis (left) of Australia in action against Roger Federer (right) of Switzerland during Day 6 of the Miami Open at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Radwanska beats Halep in three sets; Azarenka advances AFP

MIAMI: World number one Simona Halep tumbled out of the Miami Open on Saturday, falling 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.

The third-round defeat comes a week after Romania’s Halep was toppled in the semi-finals at Indian Wells by Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who went on to win the title in the California desert.

With the first set in hand, the mercurial Halep was clearly frustrated when Radwanska dropped just four points in the opening four games of the second to seize a 4-0 lead.

Halep reclaimed one break, but was broken again as Rad-wanska forced a third set, in which an early break put Halep up 2-0. The Romanian couldn’t maintain the advantage, however, and her 44 unforced errors were too much to

overcome as Radwanska won six of the last seven games to seal the victory.

Radwanska, the 2012 Miami champion, hadn’t posted back-to-back match victories since January. She next faces former world number one Victoria Aza-renka, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over 20th-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.

Azarenka, of Belarus, is unseeded this year as she tries to get her career back on track

after taking time off to have a baby. Despite the defeat, Halep is assured of retaining the number one spot when the rankings are updated at the end of the tournament.

But her exit leaves the women’s field in the elite hard-court tournament without its top two seeds after second-seeded Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki lost to Monica Puig on Friday night.

Wozniacki was smarting

Saturday, not from anything Puig offered on court but from what she said was threatening and vulgar behavior by fans at the match.

In a Twitter post, the Danish star called on Miami Open organ-izers to act after fans threatened her parents and swore at the niece and nephew of her fiance, David Lee.

In other third-round action, reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza crushed

American Christina McHale 6-2, 6-1 and US Open winner Sloane Stephens was handed a victory when opponent Monica Nicu-lescu retired in the third set with an injury.

Fifth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova also defeated Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4). Pliskova will battle for a quarter-final berth against Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, who defeated German Carina Witthoeft 4-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Federer to skip European clay court seasonREUTERS

MIAMI: Roger Federer will skip the upcoming European clay court season, including the French Open, he said after his shock loss to 175th-ranked Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Miami Open.

“I decided not to play,” Federer said of his plans for Europe.

The decision means the 36-year-old will follow the same path as last year, when he also took two months off after the Miami Open, before returning to win the Wimbledon.

Federer’s loss to Kokkinakis was his second in six days, after falling to Juan Martin del Potro at Indian Wells.

Kokkinakis is the lowest-ranked player to defeat a men’s world number one since 178th-ranked Francisco Clavet beat Lleyton Hewitt in Miami in 2003.

WTA AND ATP MIAMI OPEN RESULTS

MIAMI: Results at the WTA and ATP Miami Open tournament on Saturday (x denotes seeding):

Men’s Second RoundThanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) bt Roger Federer (SUI x1) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)Fernando Verdasco (ESP x31) bt Guillermo García-López (ESP) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2Steve Johnson (USA) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA x18) 6-3, 6-3Pablo Carreño-Busta (ESP x16) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-1, 6-0Tomas Berdych (CZE x10) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-1, 6-4Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR x21) 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5)Karen Khachanov (RUS x32) bt Marius Copil (ROU) 7-5, 6-3Kevin Anderson (RSA x6) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-4, 6-3Alexander Zverev (GER x4) bt Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/5)David Ferrer (ESP x28) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-2, 6-2Fabio Fognini (ITA x15) bt Nicola Kuhn (ESP) 6-2, 6-4Nick Kyrgios (AUS x17) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-4, 6-1Sam Querrey (USA x11) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH x24) 6-1, 7-5Borna Coric (CRO x29) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4Jack Sock (USA x8) bt Yuki Bhambri (IND) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)

Women’s Third RoundAgnieszka Radwanska (POL x30) bt Simona Halep (ROM x1) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x20) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0Karolina Pliskova (CZE x5) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4)Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP x3) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-2, 6-1Sloane Stephens (USA x13) bt Monica Niculescu (ROU) 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 4-0 retiredAngelique Kerber (GER x10) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x23) 6-4, 6-4Wang Yafan (CHN) bt Alison Riske (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)

Wozniacki says she, her family verbally abused at Miami matchREUTERS

MIAMI: Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki said on Saturday she and her family were verbally abused and the subject of death threats by spectators during her loss to Monica Puig at the Miami Open the previous day.

Wozniacki, in a Twitter posting, said tournament staff and security did nothing to prevent the abuse.

However, Miami Open offi-cials said they were not aware during the match of any threats and would have been handled the situation immediately if notified.

Number two seed Wozniacki won the first set against Puig 6-0, but then lost the next two 6-4 6-4.

“I am fully aware that tennis is a game of wins and losses,” the Dane said on her Twitter account after the match.

“However, during the match last night people in the crowd threatened my family, wished death threats on my mom and dad, called me names that I can’t repeat here and told my fiance’s niece and nephew (who are 10 years old) to sit down and shut... up.

“Meanwhile security and staff did nothing to prevent this and even accepted this to take place.”

Tournament director James Blake denied security had been notified of the incident.

“During the match we had tournament and WTA staff as well as tournament security courtside,” he said in a statement.

“They never witnessed, nor were they notified of any spe-cific threats made to the players or their families. If we had been notified, the situation would have been handled immediately.”

He noted the match “was played in front of a loud and pas-sionate crowd,” adding “while I personally feel that no one should have to endure any sort of abuse on the court, we do our best to provide a safe and fair environment.”

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland celebrates

her win over Simona Halep of Romania.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus shows her emotions against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in their third-round match at the Miami Open.

SPORT36MONDAY 26 MARCH 2018

Sometimes you have those matches. Sometimes you find a way through. I just couldn’t

get it done today (against wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis)

Roger Federer

reflects on his first-round loss

‘Lucky’ Vettel holds off Hamilton to win Australian Grand PrixAP

MELBOURNE: Believing his Ferrari still lacks the race pace to fully challenge Mercedes in Formula One, Sebastian Vettel will take a little luck when he can get it.

Yesterday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, his Ferrari team benefitted not only from a smart pit-stop strategy, but also the fortuitous emergence of a safety car midway through the race that helped Vettel take the lead from rival Lewis Hamilton and hold on for victory.

“We got a bit lucky, but we’ll take it,” Vettel said. “We’re not yet there where we want to be.. But I think it gives us a good start, a good wind and fresh moti-vation for the coming weeks.”

It was the 48th race win of Vettel’s career and his 100th podium finish, coming in his 200th F1 race.

The German becomes the fourth driver to claim 100 podium finishes, joining Ham-ilton, Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost.

Vettel finished the race a full five seconds ahead of Hamilton, who started from pole and had made several late attempts to catch the Ferrari but couldn’t manage to pass on the narrow Albert Park circuit.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished third, denying Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo a chance to become the first Australian driver to secure a podium place at the Australian GP.

A resurgent Fernando Alonso of McLaren made a bold run to finish in fifth place, holding off a spirited challenge by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who recovered after losing control of his car and doing a 360-degree spin early in the race to take sixth.

H a m i l t o n l o o k e d

comfortable up front for the first 20 laps before deciding to pit, giving up the lead to Vettel.

The race then took a dra-matic turn when Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean suffered calamitous back-to-back pit stops midway through the race.

Both drivers had been running strongly in fourth and fifth places, respectively, but were forced to stop immediately after coming out of pit lane with loose wheels.

The virtual safety car emerged as race marshals removed Grosjean’s car from the circuit and Vettel took advantage of the slowdown to pit and change tires. He came out of the pit lane just ahead of a confused Hamilton, who got on the radio to ask his team what had just happened.

“Why did you not tell me

Vettel was in the pits?” Hamilton asked. “We thought we were safe, but there’s obviously some-thing wrong,” his team responded.

When racing resumed, Ham-ilton stayed close to Vettel’s Ferrari, trailing by less than a second for more than 10 laps, but was unable to find space on the tight circuit to pass the German.

With victory looking increas-ingly out of reach, Hamilton then eased up toward the end to con-serve his engine for future races.

Hamilton said after the race that he still wasn’t clear exactly what happened.

“I think just disbelief was really from that moment until the end. Just disbelief,” he said. “I had extra tools and could have been further ahead by the first pit stop. There were so many good things we could have done.”

Vettel’s victory comes a day after Hamilton set a blistering track record to capture pole position nearly 0.7 of a second ahead of the rest of the field, a massive margin that raised con-cerns among some teams that Mercedes had the speed to dom-inate yet another Formula One season.

But Vettel said he believed Ferrari would fare better in race conditions - and he was right.

“I think we didn’t have the true race pace to match them but we weren’t that far off,” he said.

“Even though we were probably lucky with the virtual safety car, we still had enough pace to stay ahead and make it very difficult for him to be close and try and do something.”

Ricciardo also pushed Raik-konen hard for the entire second half of the race for a chance at a podium spot, but the Ferrari

driver put in a masterful drive to hold him off and maintain third.

“I think we’re pretty close with Ferrari and our race pace is strong,” Ricciardo said. “Being so close to the podium and getting fastest lap is definitely an encouraging way to start the season.”

Alonso also put several dis-piriting years of technical failures with McLaren’s Honda-made engines behind him, securing his best race result since late 2016 with the team’s new Renault engines. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg finished in seventh place, just ahead of the other Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, who crashed in qualifying and ended up starting in 15th place on the grid after incurring a penalty for switching out his damaged gearbox. McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne finished in ninth place.

Ferrari’s German driver Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the Australian Grand Prix beside second-placed Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton (left) in Melbourne

Vettel has last laugh in AustraliaREUTERS

MELBOURNE: Sebastian Vettel’s hopes of a Sunday “party” after Mercedes’ Saturday celebrations were fulfilled in spades with a “lucky” win for Ferrari at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Vettel capitalised on a virtual safety car deployment to sneak out of the pits in front of pole-sitter Hamilton and held off the champion Briton to claim a 48th win overall and third at Albert Park.

On Saturday, Hamilton and Mercedes had far superior pace in qualifying, and the excited Briton could not help but make a cheeky dig at Vettel, saying his blistering pole lap was intended to “wipe the smile” off the Ger-man’s face.

Vettel, who had been third fastest, retorted that “what goes around comes around”.

“He’s free to have a party tonight and then hopefully Kimi and myself will have a party tomorrow,” he countered.

And so it proved, as a frus-trated Hamilton was left in a Ferrari sandwich between Vettel and third-placed Kimi Raikkonen.

Although presented with a golden opportunity to rub Hamilton’s nose in it, Vettel

denied there was extra satis-faction winning after the Briton’s taunt.

“Not really. He said he was joking and I believe him,” Vettel told reporters yesterday.

“I think we are old enough, I don’t think we need to go on that

sort of level. It’s fine as long as we joke with each other.

“I think we share -- all of us -- a common passion and that makes us quite equal again.

“We love racing and we try to do our best, once we’re in the car and beat all the others. I think

in that regard, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get on with each other.”

Vettel’s win had echoes of last year’s race, when he re-entered from the pits in front of pole-sitter Hamilton and burned away to victory as the Briton battled traffic.

Last year, however, Ferrari had a better car and the per-formance gap with Mercedes was far less glaring, added Vettel, making a sobering assessment of his team’s immediate prospects in the series.

“I think last year we had more pace in relative terms. Last year, we were putting them under pressure,” said the four-times world champion.

“At the moment we’re a bit worse off. If you look at the gaps the whole weekend and we’re not yet a true match,” he told reporters yesterday.

“Therefore at this point we know that we are not yet where we want to be because we want to be fastest.”

Second-placed Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton wipes his face after having a drink next to Ferrari’s German driver Sebastian Vettel during a press conference after the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne yesterday.

Team analysis at the season’s first

Grand Prix

MELBOURNE: Team by team analysis at yesterday’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix (teams listed in champi-onship order):

FERRARI (Sebastian Vettel 1,

Kimi Raikkonen 3)

Vettel won in Melbourne for the second year in a row and third time in total. The German had the virtual safety car to thank for allowing him to pit and stay ahead. The podium was his 100th, making Vettel only the fourth driver to reach that mile-stone, and the win his 48th. Raikkonen, who started in second place with Vettel third, now has 92 podiums.

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 2,

Valtteri Bottas 8)

Hamilton led from pole (his 73rd and record seventh in Aus-tralia) but lost out to Vettel, who stayed out after the Briton and Raikkonen had pitted and was rewarded by the virtual safety car being deployed just as he was about to come in.

RED BULL (Daniel Ricciardo 4,

Max Verstappen 6)

Ricciardo started eighth after a three place grid drop and moved up thanks to the two Haas cars retiring and Ver-stappen suffering a 360 degree spin on lap 10. The Australian still missed out on an elusive home podium. Verstappen started fourth but lost a position at the start to Magnussen.

MCLAREN (Fernando Alonso

5, Stoffel Vandoorne 9)

Alonso, who started 10th, equalled McLaren’s highest finish from their three dismal years with Honda in the team’s debut with Renault power. The double points finish represents McLaren’s best start to a season since 2014.

RENAULT (Nico Hulkenberg 7,

Carlos Sainz 10)

A solid start for Renault but still behind their two customer teams. Hulkenberg started seventh while Sainz was ninth on the grid. The Spaniard struggled with a problem with his drinks bottle, which left him feeling sick.

FORCE INDIA (Sergio Perez 11,

Esteban Ocon 12)

No points for Force India, who had Perez chasing Sainz at the end. The team, fourth overall last year, are hoping for a step up at the next race in Bahrain, with new parts to come.

Ocon passed Stroll at the start and then battled with Bottas.

SAUBER (Charles Leclerc 13,

Marcus Ericsson retired)

Formula Two champion Leclerc made his debut and chalked up a first finish. Ericsson, who has not scored a point since 2015, retired on lap six with an hydraulic issue.

WILLIAMS (Lance Stroll 14,

Sergey Sirotkin retired)

Debutant Sirotkin was the first retirement, pulling over on lap four with a rear brake failure that may have been caused by a stray plastic bag that blocked the cooling.

England vs New Zealand

3rd Test - Day 5

at Newlands, Cape Town

Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

at Liwa Desert

United Arab Emirates

CRICKET RALLYING

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