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DT
Sport
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016
IN NUMBERS 0
QUICK BYTES Kerber crashes out in Qatar Open
Number of home Tests lost by New Zealand out of the 12 they had played under Brendon McCullum’s captaincy before this series.
Angelique Kerber was one of at least seven seeds who crashed out of the Qatar Open on Tuesday, in the German’s first singles tournament since winning her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne last month. The Australian Open champion lost her second round match - she received a first round bye - in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 to China’s Zheng Saisai, who is ranked 70 places below the world number two. –AFP
7-0
Australia’s win-loss record in Tests under Steven Smith, in 11 Tests. They are yet to lost a Test under him since he started captaining in 2014-15.
10
Successive Tests by Australia in New Zealand without a defeat.
2010-11
The last time New Zealand lost two or more consecutive home Tests before this. They had lost two Tests to Australia and then to Pakistan in three consecutive home matches in 2010-11.
Pressure on LVG in Midtjylland return Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal remains a man facing problems as he has no margin for error as he attempts to maintain his team’s chances of a European trophy when they face Midtjylland at Old Trafford on Thursday. United’s 2-1 defeat away to the previously unheralded Danish champions in their Europa League round of 32 first leg last week was a significant embarrassment for Van Gaal, with the local newspaper, the Manchester Evening News, calling for him to be sacked the day after the match. –AFP
Mourinho hopes to be back in summer Jose Mourinho says he is in the dark about a possible switch to Manchester United but that he hopes to be back in football this summer. The Portuguese, who was sacked as manager by Chelsea in December despite winning the English title last year, has been heavily tipped by British media to take over from current United head coach Louis van Gaal in June but he was coy when asked by students at Singapore’s North Light secondary school. –REUTERS
Sukur risks jail for ‘insulting Erdogan’ Turkey’s former international football star Hakan Sukur risks up to four years in jail after being charged with insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in posts on Twitter, reports said yesterday. Prosecutors have charged Sukur with posting Tweets from his account @HakanSukur containing “insulting content against Mr President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his son,” the private Dogan news agency reported. In his defence, Sukur, 44, said he did not intend to target the president in his posts, the content of which was not made clear. –AFP
8
Australian captain Steve Smith (C) holds the trans-Tasman trophy with his team after winning the second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Park in Christchurch yesterday AFP
Instances of two Australia batsmen scoring a century and another fifty-plus score in the same Test. In this Test, Joe Burns made 170 and 65 and Steven Smith 138 and 53 not out.
Australia’s return to the top hit by controversy n AFP, Christchurch Australia sealed a 2-0 series victory over New Zealand to reach the top Test ranking yesterday but captain Steve Smith was forced to defend their aggressive style as he was charged with dissent. With Smith smacking 53 off 46 balls, Australia polished off the 131 runs they needed on the last day to reach their 201 target just after lunch in what was New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum’s final Test. The match had no sooner finished than Smith was charged over
Tuesday’s profanity-laced confrontation with the umpires that earlier saw fast bowler Josh Hazlewood fined 15 percent of his match fee. Adam Voges was not out 10, while the only wickets to fall on day five were those of Joe Burns for 65 and Usman Khawaja for 45 as Australia finished on 201 for three to win by seven wickets. The victory confirmed Australia’s superiority after they won the first Test by an innings and 52 runs, and allowed them to overtake India as the world’s top Test side. “It’s always special when you get to number one in the world.
That’s our goal as a team to be number one in the world in every format of the game,” Smith said. However, Smith also had to dispute suggestions that Australia, often controversial over their uncompromising play and habit of sledging, or insulting the opposition, were cricket’s bully boys. “I don’t think we’re not nice guys. We play a good hard, aggressive brand of cricket,” Smith said. “For us it’s about knowing where that line is and myself and Josh Hazlewood have crossed that line in this Test match and that’s not what we’re about.
BANGLADESH CRICKET LEAGUE
East, North in driving seat n Mazhar Uddin East Zone paceman Abu Jayed and off-spinner Iftekhar Sajjad starred with the ball on the opening day of the third round in the Bangladesh Cricket League longer-version yesterday as South Zone were bundled out for 262 at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium. In the other match of the day at the same venue in the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar, Central Zone were struggling on 243/8 against table-toppers North Zone.
East v South
Batting first, bottom side South were in early trouble, losing both their openers – Shahriar Nafees (18) and Fazle Mahmud (17) - in quick
4TH BCL, RD 3, DAY 1 Central Zone 243/8 in 73 overs (Sharif 46*, Sharifullah 46, Ariful 3/43) v North Zone South Zone 262 in 78.1 overs (Tushar 78, Mosaddek 65, Jayed 4/62) v East Zone 0/0 in 2 overs succession. Sajjad (3/67) then dismissed Anamul Haque (11) and it was left upto veteran cricketer Tushar Imran (78) and youngster Mosaddek Hossain (65) to rebuild the innings. The fourth wicket pair did just that, adding 147 crucial runs. However, just when South were well on their way to a competitive first innings tally, Jayed (4/62) in-
tervened, dismissing both Tushar and Mosaddek. South were unable to continue the momentum thereafter, losing their remaining seven wickets for 67 runs.
Central v North
Taking first guard, Central kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually dismissed for 243 with as many as five players crossing 30. In the face of some disciplined bowling by the North bowlers, led by seamer Ariful Haque (3/43), Central were unable to stitch together any significant partnership. Mohammad Sharif and Sharifullah top-scored for Central with identical 46s. l
“Hopefully we can learn from that and continue to develop as a team and get better.” For New Zealand the drubbing by their arch-rivals put a cloud on the much-loved McCullum’s farewell, as their captain took his final bow on the world stage after 101 Tests. “We’re obviously disappointed to lose the Test match and the series but the right team won,” McCullum said. “We threw everything at them at key times but they were able to withstand us. It’s not the ideal way to go out but at the same time, I’ve had a great time.”l
Evergreen Afridi reconsidering retirement n AFP, Dubai Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi yesterday said he was reconsidering plans to leave Twenty20 international cricket as he is facing pressure from his elder family members and close friends. “I had announced that I will leave all cricket after the World Twenty20 in India but my elder family members and some friends are putting pressure on me to continue playing Twenty20 cricket, so I am thinking on that,” Afridi told. “I have a family who told me that I retired from one-day on my own so I have to consider their advice on the Twenty20 retirement, but I have to look at all the factors before taking a final call,” said Afridi. l