SPORTS 13
Sunday, 7 September, 2014
Brathwaite century
PUTS WEST INDIES IN COMMAND KingSTOwn
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Scoreboard WeST INdIeS 1st innings 64 cH Gayle lbw b Shuvagata Hom Kc brathwaitenot out 123 Ka edwards c Mominul Haque b Taijul Islam 10 dM bravo c Mahmudullah b Taijul Islam 62 S chanderpaul not out 1 4 exTraS: (b 1, lb 2, nb 1) ToTal: (3 wickets; 87 overs) 264 To baT: J blackwood, d ramdin*†, KaJ roach, Je Taylor, SJ benn, ST Gabriel Fall oF WIcKeTS: 1-116 (Gayle, 39.1 ov), 2-133 (edwards, 42.2 ov), 3-261 (bravo, 84.3 ov) boWlING: al-amin Hossain 14-7-30-0, rubel Hossain 16-0-55-0,
Petition against PcB constitution rejected
SPORTS DESK The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has rejected a writ petition against the PCB's new constitution, discouraging an attempt to push the Pakistan board into another legal tangle. The court has also fined the four petitioners Rs 1 million each for misguiding the court and concealing facts. Justice Athar Minallah, the High Court judge, rejected the petition after a first hearing and said: "The four petitioners' objection on the constitution was rejected as they tried to mislead the court by concealing facts." The four petitioners in the appeal are Nadeem Sadal, Aamir Nawab [a former PCB governing board member from the Abbottabad Cricket Association], Mohammad Rafiq and Ameer Haider. The court noted that none of the four petitioners, who had questioned the newly implemented constitution, were aggrieved parties and all of them were given heavy monetary sanctions which will be paid to the PCB directly. Incidentally, it was Sadal's petition in the Islamabad High Court in May last year that led to then-PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf's suspension after his election was termed "polluted" and "dubious". The decision triggered a leadership crisis within the PCB and the chairmanship rotated between Najam Sethi and Ashraf before the crisis was finally resolved following Shaharyar Khan's election as chairman. Sadal is a former official of the Army Cricket Club in Rawalpindi, and had earlier filed various petitions against the board. This is the third time that his appeal has been struck down by the court, which also questioned how Sadal's fundamental rights were affected by the functioning of the PCB. Sadal had briefly joined the board as a member of the organising committee of the 2013 National Twenty20 Cup in Rawalpindi and had backed down from legal proceedings during that period.
Mahmudullah 5-0-31-0, Shuvagata Hom 27-4-76-1, Taijul Islam 25-6-69-2 baNGladeSH team Tamim Iqbal, Shamsur rahman, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur rahim*†, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Shuvagata Hom, Taijul Islam, al-amin Hossain, rubel Hossain MaTcH deTaIlS ToSS: bangladesh, who chose to field TeST debuTS: Shuvagata Hom and Taijul Islam (bangladesh) uMpIreS: M erasmus (South africa) and rK Illingworth (england) TV uMpIre: SJ davis (australia) MaTcH reFeree: rS Mahanama (Sri lanka) reSerVe uMpIre: N duguid
aGeNcIeS
RAIGG Brathwaite's quintessential Test innings, an unbeaten 123, directed West Indies towards early control of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Arnos Vale. A third rain break at exactly 5.00pm ended the first day's play with West Indies 264 for 3. It was Brathwaite's second century in the last three Tests, after his maiden Test hundred against New Zealand in Port-of-Spain in June. Despite the fact that he had not played much cricket since the series against New Zealand, Brathwaite maintained rigorous focus. West Indies lost a late wicket when Darren Bravo got out for 62 off 126 balls, just two overs before play was called off, getting too impish for his own good. He struck Taijul Islam for two consecutive fours over mid-off towards the end of the day but he tried to repeat the shot even after the bowler changed his angle and bowled around the wicket, resulting in a catch to Mahmudullah at mid-off. But that was one of the few bright moments for Bangladesh on a day when they picked only three specialist bowlers and put West Indies in to bat on what looked like, and later proved to be, excellent batting conditions. It was enough encouragement for Brathwaite, who hardly dithered from his known and trusted method. Brathwaite let Chris Gayle do all the scoring at first, before reaching his
fifty in the second session. West Indies lost two wickets quickly but Brathwaite remained unfazed, again letting his partner, Bravo, get the boundaries. Brathwaite went after only those deliveries that were too wide or two full or both, and hardly anything troubled him, except a few missed flashes and the odd ball from Rubel Hossain that jumped. When the opener hung back on his backfoot, the bowlers didn't bowl full enough, and Al-Amin didn't make him play enough, bowling a one-day line wide outside off stump. Some credit was also due to the Bangladesh bowlers, especially the two newcomers. Taijul, the left-arm spinner, and Shuvagata, the offspinning allrounder, became the 72nd and 73rd Test players for the country, and they had an eventful first day. The pair bowled the majority of the overs, picking up all three wickets. They looked lost at first, but soon they discovered the rewards of bowling proactively. They stuck to trusted lines, and gradually began to bowl like they would in domestic cricket. Gayle's wicket was Bangladesh's first success of the match. Having made 61 before lunch, he added just three runs off 21 balls after the break, with the two newcomers muffling his strokeplay. Both attacked his off stump, either spinning in or leaving him slightly. Eventually he missed a sweep off Shuvagata, but umpire Marais Erasmus denied the loud appeal. Mushfiqur took an extra second to call for the review, but it looked
straight and the replays confirmed it had pitched in line, struck Gayle's front pad in front of the stumps and was going on to hit middle stump. Gayle had played very well in the first session, reaching his fifty off 60 balls. He threaded the off-side field well, taking every chance to pick up runs as his opening partner remained circumspect. He struck most of his boundaries in front of the wicket, and got to his 37th fifty with a six over wide mid-on off Taijul. He survived two chances in the first session: a run-out appeal that had him just reach the bowlers' end to complete a second run. Just after reaching 50, Gayle was dropped by Rubel Hossain off his own bowling. After Shuvagata dismissed Gayle, it was Taijul's turn to take his first Test wicket. Kirk Edwards, batting at No 3 and under a bit of pressure after two low scores in the ODI series, attacked from the onset. He quickly got to 10 with a four and a straight six, but Taijul continued to toss the ball up, and took his leading edge in the 43rd over as he looked to work the ball against the turn. Mominul Haque took a sharp catch at silly mid-off, making it 133 for 2. Brathwaite and Bravo added 128 for the third wicket, with very few deliveries threatening them. There was one from Rubel that reared at Brathwaite but he looked unbeatable outside the off stump. With the inexperienced attack fading in the final session, he got plenty of bad balls to get to his second Test century.
serena far too strong for Makarova in semi-final SPORTS DESK World number one Serena Williams took no chances with the searing heat on Arthur Ashe Stadium court by racing to a 6-1 6-3 rout of Ekaterina Makarova to reach the U.S. Open women's final on Friday. Williams, winner of the last two U.S. Opens, came out firing, striking the ball with ferocious force and dazzling accuracy and needed only 60 minutes to advance against the 17th seeded Russian. The top seed's opponent in Sunday's final will be 10th-seeded former world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who advanced in abrupt fashion when China's Peng Shuai was forced to retire due to heat illness trailing 7-6(1) 4-3 after two hours four minutes on the court. Williams, who failed to reach the quarter-finals in any of the year's previous three slams, is aiming for her sixth U.S. title and an 18th slam singles crown that would tie her with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for fourth on the all-time list.
"It feels so good. I am so happy, you have no idea," Williams, 32, told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd after reaching the final. Williams won 58 points to 33 for left-hander Makarova, who was playing in her first grand slam singles semi-final and had no answers for the brute power of the winner. Makarova held her first serve in the opening set and lost the next nine games before holding serve to trail 14 in the second set. With Williams serving for the match at 5-2, the Russian broke serve, but the top seed returned the favour in the next game to clinch victory. The hard-hitting American blasted 24 winners, including five aces, while Makarova managed six. "I know she's such an aggressive player," Williams said, "so I was just really focused. "I'm just so happy to be here in New York, in another final. I'm really excited." Williams said she and her friend Wozniacki had hoped for this match-up in the final before the tournament began. "She obviously wants to win and go for her first grand slam, and I want
Cavendish targeting tour of Britain stage wins
SPORTS DESK Mark Cavendish is relishing recommencing his battle with German sprinter Marcel Kittel at the Tour of Britain, but admits he’s still not in peak condition. The Manxman required shoulder surgery after
to win and try to make a little history," said Williams. "But regardless, I'm going to be happy with the outcome. "She's such a great person and a
crashing in the closing metres of the first stage of the Tour de France in Harrogate – a sprint won by Kittel Cavendish returned to action in last month’s Tour de l’Ain, finishing ninth in the opening prologue, but missed out on Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s team for the Vuelta a Espana. So the 29-year-old teams up with leadout man Mark Renshaw in OPQS’s lineup for the Tour of Britain, which departs Liverpool on Sunday – a race in which he won three stages in 2013. “Realistically you have to say that I am not in my best condition after the last few months I've had,” Cavendish said on tourofbritain.co.uk. “I'm racing this week because this is my national Tour, Britain's big race, and I always want to support it when I can. “It's always a treat racing on home soil in front of big British crowds. I'm just going to enjoy myself and see what the week brings.” Cavendish joins fellow Brit Bradley Wiggins on the startline, who is looking to defend his title from 2013. The 2012 Tour de France winner is joined by Ben Swift in the Team Sky lineup, another threat to Cavendish in the sprint stages. “It's a really strong field at the Tour this year, the best ever,” Cavendish continued. “It's going to make for really intense racing but I don't think it will change the nature of the race. “Looking at the route it seems to be bookended by the two sure-fire sprints but after that almost anything can happen and that
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great girl. We really looked forward to this since the draw came out, so we really hope we can have a lot of fun and enjoy it."
Perez criticism misinterPreted: ronaldo SPORTS DESK Cristiano Ronaldo has moved to clarify comments made about Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and the club’s transfer policy. Ronaldo suggested earlier in the week that if he was in charge at Santiago Bernabeu, he would have conducted business differently than sell Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso. The Portugal forward’s words were taken as an implied criticism of Perez, who responded by saying Ronaldo would never criticise the club in that manner. Writing on his personal Twitter account, Ronaldo has attempted to clear up what he meant. “My statements were misinterpreted. Yesterday I heard the president and I’m with him 100%,” AS reports Ronaldo as tweeting. “My new teammates are great! With them we have completed a great team. We’re going for it all! A hug and Hala Madrid!”