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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday May 18, 2015
Kiwis beat Worcestershire after Guptill’s 150 NEW Zealand warmed up for their first Test against England with a 15-run victory over Worcestershire in their four-day match at New Road. The tourists declared on 275 for nine in the second innings with Martin Guptill firing 150 and spinner Shaaiq Choudhry posting the first five-wicket haul of his senior career. Tom Kohler-Cadmore struck a half-century as the hosts’ reply got off to a strong start, but their last six wickets fell for 22 runs as they squandered a commanding position of 208 for four. New Zealand, whose two-Test series against England opens at Lord’s on Friday, polished off the home side with 3.4 overs to spare.(PA Sport)
MARTIN GUPTILL
Barca beat Atletico to wrap up 23rd La Liga crown MADRID, (Reuters)-Treble-chasing Barcelona are La Liga champions for the fifth time in seven years after a clinical Lionel Messi strike secured a 1-0 victory away to Atletico Madrid that wrapped up the title with a game to spare yesterday. Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid in their 4-1 victory away to Espanyol but Barca cannot be caught now with a four point lead. Messi combined with Pedro Rodriguez and then slotted home from the centre of
the penalty area with 65 minutes gone. It had been a cagey game but the talent of the Argentine shone through again to break the deadlock and help Luis Enrique to his first piece of silverware at the helm of Barcelona. The Catalan side have dominated the list of La Liga titles in recent years and remain on course to repeat their trophy treble of 2009. They are through to the Champions League final on June 6 to face Juventus and will play Athletic Bilbao in the King’s Cup showpiece on May 30.
Lionel Messi scored the only goal, as Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 to clinch their 5th La Liga title in seven years.
Whatmore confirms team leaving for Pakistan By Nick Said CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) - Zimbabwe flew to Pakistan yesterday for a limited-overs tour, their coach Dav Whatmore told Reuters. The tour, the first in six years by a test-playing nation to Pakistan, was throw in doubt last week when a terrorist attack on a bus killed 47 people in Karachi. “The tour is going ahead and we leave tonight,” Whatmore said via telephone from Harare before reconfirming his belief the tour would be successful and that security measures put in place by Pakistan will be adequate. Zimbabwe will play two Twenty20 internationals, starting on May 22, and a three-match one-day series that begins four days later. All the matches are in Lahore. Zimbabwe Cricket released a statement on Thursday saying a decision had been reached not to tour on the advice of the country’s supreme sports regulatory
authority, the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC). The SRC cited concerns over the safety of the squad. However, just minutes later the statement was withdrawn and Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman
DAV WHATMORE Lovemore Banda said discussions were still ongoing. It is understood that concerns also emanated from the players themselves, some of who were reluctant to travel but have
now been persuaded to tour after additional security measures were announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Those were still deemed not good enough for the International Cricket Council, though, which released a statement yesterday saying they would not be sending match officials for the series. They cited a report by a security consultant who advised against sending a team of officials to the country. The ICC said the PCB would have to appoint its own officials, but that this would not affect the status of the games which would remain as full internationals. Zimbabwe are the first Test-playing nation to tour Pakistan since a 2009 gun attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore left six Pakistani policemen and a van driver dead. Some players and a local umpire were injured. (Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)