y
A
17
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Years
MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011
S P ORT S
Miami’s ‘Big Three’ ready to run with the Bulls NEW YORK: Miami’s “Big Three” are safely through to the final four and appear to be building momentum with only the top-seeded Chicago Bulls standing between the Heat and a berth in the NBA Finals. The skeptics who thought LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would struggle to combine their individual skills in their first season together are now having second thoughts. After a mixed start to the season, the Heat have suddenly found their form at the right time, winning the
Southeast division in the regular season and finishing second to the Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings. Miami’s All-Star trio saved their best for the playoffs, steering the Heat to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and then a surprisingly swift 4-1 win over the Boston Celtics in the conference semi-finals. James and Wade are both averaging more than 26 points in the playoffs while Bosh is averaging just over 16 points to go along with his team-leading 9.6 rebounds per game.
Stoner wins French GP LE MANS: Casey Stoner of Australia earned his second victory of the season at a dramatic French Grand Prix after Dani Pedrosa of Spain crashed out and fractured his right collarbone. The Honda rider completed yesterday the 28 laps of the 4.185-kilometer (2.6-mile) Le Mans circuit in 44 minutes, 3.955 seconds to climb to second place in the overall standings, 12 points behind defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain. Andrea Dovizioso of Italy finished second, 14.214 seconds behind Stoner. Multiple world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy came in third to earn his first podium of the season. Pedrosa initially had the better of polesitter Stoner at the start. But the Australian retook the lead on the second lap before Pedrosa’s crash in a battle for second place. Stoner opened up a gap of 2.20 seconds on Pedrosa at the LE MANS: Australian MotoGP driver Casey halfway stage to pull away and Stoner jubilates at the end of the race, at the cruise to victory. Pedrosa got Le Mans racetrack. —AP injured on lap 18 after colliding landed on the track with five laps to go. with Marco Simoncelli of Italy. Pole-sitter Stefan Bradl of Germany Simoncelli attempted an audacious move by passing Pedrosa on the outside finished third but still leads the champiof a curve, but his motorbike’s rear wheel onship, 28 points clear of Julian Simon of bumped into the Spaniard’s front wheel. Spain. Andrea Iannone of Italy crashed Simoncelli was given a ride-through out on the first lap to slip to third place, one point behind Simon. In the 125cc penalty but managed to finish fifth. Lorenzo placed fourth to retain the class, 16-year-old prodigy Maverick overall lead. Stoner, the 2007 world Vinales of Spain won his first race in just champion, was also fined §5,000 for his fourth career start to end compatriot punching French rider Randy De Puniet Nicolas Terol’s perfect start to the season. Vinales overtook Terol in the last curve in the shoulder during the morning of the last lap to stand on his Aprilia warm-up. In the Moto2 class, Marc Marquez of motorbike and clench his fists as he Spain scored his first points of the season crossed the finish line. Despite finishing by clinching victory, 1.982 seconds ahead second, Terol extended his overall lead of Japanese rider Yuki Takahashi. The over Sandro Cortese of Germany to 36 Suter rider, a 125cc world champion, took points. The next race will be held on June the lead just before a few drops of rain 5 in Barcelona, Spain.—AP
Al-Baz, Burabiea and Abdulaziz of Kuwait raise the Kuwaiti flag during the coronation ceremony.
Al-Baz wins Stock Title at UAE Jet Ski Championship Mohammad Al-Baz of Kuwait respectively. With this result, Al-Baz finclinched the United Arab Emirates ished the season on top of the overall standing with 370 points. Jet Ski Championship The final day also title in the Stock Class saw the final super for the first time in his stock class race, in career, after finishing which Kuwait’s Yousuf first in the overall standAl-Abdulrazaq finished ings ahead of reigning second, and ended up champion in the last in third place at the three tournaments and overall ranking behind fellow countr yman Kuwait ’s Khalid Mohammad Burabiea. Burabiea, while UAE’s The tournament, Nadir bin Hindi was which was held under crowned as the class’ the patronage of head of champion. the Abu Dhabi Meanwhile, up and International Sea Sports coming Kuwaiti conClub Sheikh Dr. Sultan tester Abdulaziz Albin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Omar finished in fourth was recently concluded place at the junior ’s with the final race that stand up competition, was won by Burabiea which was won by who finished before the Mohammad Al-Baz Japan’s Tushi Ohara who champion Mohammad finished ahead of Lahij Al-Baz, while Qatar’s Waleed Al-Sharshini and Kuwait’s Saud A-Ma’sam and Jaber Al-Ma’sam from Al-Sarraf finished third and fourth the UAE.
“We understood that for us to be successful as a team we had to be leaders together, to demand more of each other,” said Wade about merging their talents. “We’re the best of friends. Nothing that’s said on the basketball court will hurt my feelings or his feelings. We both listen and we move on from it.” It has been smooth sailing so far but the Bulls are likely to present more difficulties to Miami than the aging Celtics when they meet in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final starting
Sunday in Chicago. Chicago have not advanced this deep into the playoffs since 1998, when Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were en route to capturing a second three-peat of NBA titles. This year they are being led by 22year-old Derrick Rose, who became the youngest winner of the league’s most valuable player award in early May, an honour that has only inspired him to greater heights. Rose is averaging 28.8 points in the
playoffs and combining well with his team mates, especially Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, the son of former French Open champion Yannick Noah. The Bulls are brimming with confidence after rolling by the Indiana Pacers 4-1 in the opening round and then eliminating the Atlanta Hawks 4-2 in the conference semi-finals. The winner of the Eastern Conference final will play either the Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder or Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Finals. —Reuters
Kings XI Punjab defeat Delhi Daredevils in IPL DHARAMSALA: Paul Valthaty struck 62 to help Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs in the Indian Premier League yesterday. Valthaty put on 102 for the second wicket with Australian Shaun Marsh (46) to help Kings XI post a challenging 170-6 off 20 overs after being put in to bat. Left-arm pacer Shalabh Srivastava took two wickets and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla claimed three to restrict the Daredevils to 141-8 in 20 overs after the visitors failed to capitalize on a 52-run start. With their sixth victory in 12 matches and third on the trot, Kings XI moved to fifth in standings with 12 points. The team stays in contention for a spot in the play-offs featuring the top four in the 10-team league. “It was a great win, it will keep us alive and a 29-run win will help net run rate,” Kings XI skipper Adam Gilchrist said. “There were some great catches, one or two blemishes but in general the enthusiasm was terrific.” Gilchrist fell for nine, and Valthaty struggled in conditions that aided swing and seam before he found his bearings during his stand with Marsh, lashing six fours and three sixes. Valthaty hit Australian pacer James Hopes for two sixes and a four in one over and left-handed
Marsh smashed spinner Sridharan Sriram for two sixes and as many fours in a single over as the duo turned up the heat. The pair fell to left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan off successive deliveries in the 15th over but Dinesh Karthik (27) and Mandeep Singh hit six boundaries to help the side finish strongly. Australian David Warner (29) and Naman Ojha (28) got the Daredevils off to a flying start before Srivastava dismissed the pair off subsequent overs. Man of the match Chawla dismissed Sriram for four, Venugopal Rao for 16 and Hopes for seven to trigger a middle-order collapse from which the Daredevils failed to recover. “I am not sure luck had much to do with it tonight,” said Daredevils skipper Hopes, leading the team in place of Virender Sehwag who has been ruled out of the the remaining part of the IPL season with a shoulder injury. “Our fielding lost us this game. We have to take those chances. Tonight, it summed up our entire season.” Rajasthan Royals play Kochi Tuskers Kerala later yesterday. Score: Kings XI Punjab 170-6 in 20 overs (Paul Valthaty 62, Shaun Marsh 46; Irfan Pathan 3-28) def. Delhi Daredevils 141-8 in 20 overs (David Warner 29; Piyush Chawla 316). —AP
DHARAMSALA: Kings XI Punjab’s Paul Valthaty acknowledges the crowd after completing his half-century during their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Daredevils. —AP
Ajmal takes six wkts but Windies final pair resist PROVIDENCE: Pakistan recovered from losing three early wickets to reach 80 for three at the close on a remarkable third day of the first test against West I n dies on S aturday leavin g them 139 runs short of victory. A fascinating encounter on a throwback surface, that in contrast to so many modern test wickets offers something for the bowlers and truly tests the batsmen, remains in the balance although Pakistan will feel they have the upper hand. O ff-spin n er S aeed Aj ma l again dominated, tak ing six wickets, mak ing it 11 in the game, as West I n dies were bowled out for 152 in their second innings. That total would have been even worse had it not been for a fine 10th wicket partnership bet ween last man Devendra Bish oo an d S h ivn ar in e Chanderpaul. The Guyanese pair put on 48 for the final wicket-the best partnership in the West Indies innings with last man Bishoo mak ing 24 and Chanderpaul unbeaten on 36. It gave Darren Sammy’s side a target to bowl at despite Pakistan having more than two days to reach the modest target. A sur face that had offered plenty for all kinds of bowlers, especially the spinners, was certain to produce some difficulties though for the tourists. R avi R ampaul gave Wes t Indies the perfect start when he trapped Taufeeq Umar lbw without him scoring and then two balls later removed Azhar Ali, caught behind for nought. Pak istan were reeling at three down for just two runs after Kemar Roach picked up the prize wicket of Mohammad Hafeez, lbw after a review with a ball that cut back sharply. With th e h ome suppor t going wild with delight, the prospect of a swift end to the contest appeared on the hori-
GUYANA: Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq (right) drives for a single as West Indies’ wicket keeper Carlton Baugh looks on during the second innings on the third day of their first cricket Test match. —AP
Scoreboard PROVIDENCE, Guyana: Scoreboard at the close of the third day of the first test between West Indies and Pakistan yesterday:
West Indies first innings 226 (Saeed Ajmal 5-69) Pakistan first innings 160 (D. Bishoo 4-68) West Indies second innings (overnight 34-2) D. Smith lbw b Mohammad Hafeez 1 L. Simmons c Azhar Ali b Wahab Riaz 21 D. Bravo lbw b Saeed Ajmal 8 K. Roach lbw b Saeed Ajmal 3 R. Sarwan c Asad Shafiq b Saeed Ajmal 11 S. Chanderpaul not out 36 B. Nash run out 3 C. Baugh c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 7 D. Sammy lbw b Abdur Rehman 9 R. Rampaul c Azhar Ali b Saeed Ajmal 2 D. Bishoo c Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal 24 Extras (b 7, lb 17, w 2, nb 1) 27 Total (all out; 61.5 overs) 152 Fall of wickets: 1-3 2-23 3-35 4-47 5-59 6-74 7-86 8-99 9-
zon but Asad Shafiq (40 not out) and Misbah-ul-Haq (34) knuckled down and produced the biggest partnership of this low scoring test- putting on 78 before the close.
104 10-152 Bowling: Umar Gul 8-2-21-0 (2w), Mohammad Hafeez 91-15-1, Abdur Rehman 11-1-25-1, Saeed Ajmal 23.5-6-426, Wahab Riaz 10-1-25-1 (1nb) Pakistan second innings Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Roach 2 Taufeeq Umar lbw b Rampaul 0 Azhar Ali c Baugh b Rampaul 0 Asad Shafiq not out 40 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 34 Extras (lb 4) 4 Total (for three wickets; 36 overs) 80 Still to bat: Umar Akmal, Mohammad Salman, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal Fall of wickets: 1-2 2-2 3-2 Bowling (to date): Roach 8-1-16-1, Rampaul 11-3-24-2, Bishoo 10-4-19-0, Sammy 6-2-15-0, Nash 1-0-2-0.
It was a timely contribution to c a l m t he ne r ve s i n t he Pakistan camp overnight but, while time is no issue, 139 runs with seven wickets remaining will be a testing task.
The last wicket stand keeps West Indies’ hopes alive but, d e s p i te t he t r i c k y t ra c k , Pa k i s t a n w i l l f a nc y t he i r chances of taking a 1-0 lead in the two-test series. —Reuters