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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, March 6, 2017
Sammy lifts Peshawar Zalmi to Pakistan Super League title LAHORE, Pakistan, (CMC) – Captain Darren Sammy’s cameo proved critical as his Peshawar Zalmi beat Quetta Gladiator by 58 runs in a final overshadowed by security concerns, to lift the Pakistan Super League title here Sunday.
six off their 20 overs at the Gaddafi Stadium, with opener Kamran Akmal sustaining his good form with 40 and Sammy arriving at the back end to deliver a stroke-filled unbeaten 28, and earn Manof-the-Match honours. In reply, Gladiators never recovered from a dodgy po-
Lahore fans express their delight at cricket’s return to Pakistan. In the first high profile match played here in eight years, Zalmi tallied 148 for
sition of 13 for three in the fifth over and crumbled to 90 all out in the 17th over.
Zimbabwe’s Sean Ervine, drafted in for the final, top-scored with 24 while captain Sarfraz Ahmed chipped in with 22, but they were just two of three players in double figures. Following the final which was played under tight security amidst fears of a terrorist attack, Sammy praised Pakistani superstar Shahid Afridi for influencing his decision to play in the championship game. “To me it’s just more than a game. It first started in the draft. Lala (Afridi) made the big announcement that I would be the captain,” the two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain said. “This trophy means a lot. Lala influenced my decision to come here. I felt tonight I brought a lot of smiles in Lahore and Peshawar. It is an amazing day. We thought with the new ball we did well. If we get 150-160 it would be a good total. We
Darren Sammy soaks up victory adulation from the Lahore crowd in the final Lahore. did get to 148 and our bowl- Luke Wright and Tyman ers have been doing well this Mills all of whom refused to play in the final over tournament. “The Peshawar is not just security fears. Former West Indies and a cricket team, we do a lot for the fans, the foundation. current Trinidad and Tobago Thanks to the PCB, and the all-rounder, Rayad Emrit, PSL. I am glad I came to along with Ervine and South experience the atmosphere African Morne van Wyk, here. Even though Peshawar were drafted in as last mincame out on top, cricket was ute replacements. Sent in, Zalmi were the real winner in Lahore.” Gladiators were with- powered by Akmal who out their main stars, En- put on 42 for the first wickglishmen Kevin Pietersen, et with Englishman Dawid
Malan (17) and a further 40 for the second wicket with West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels, who made 19 from 17 deliveries with two fours and a six. When Zalmi lost five wickets for 30 runs in the space of 40 balls, Sammy arrived to blast a four and three sixes off just 11 balls – in a 36-run, unbroken seventh wicket partnership with Barbados-born England all-rounder, Chris Jordan (8 not out), to give Zalmi momentum late on. Seamer Emrit was the best bowler with three for 31 from his four overs. Gladiators were never in the run chase after losing their first three wickets cheaply and their best stand came between Ervine and Anwar Ali (20), with the pair posting 35 for the sixth wicket. Once the partnership was broken, the last five wickets fell for 18 runs with all-rounder Emrit finishing on six not out.
Lanning’s record ton delivers series win Tottenham and Man City keep up the chase for Australia
AUSTRALIA captain Meg Lanning struck a record tenth century, the most in women’s ODIs, to lead her side to a five-wicket win over New Zealand on Sunday, helping them claim the series 2-1 and maintain their 18year hold on the Rose Bowl Trophy. (Scores:Australia women 273 for 5 (Lanning 104*, Mooney 69, Huddleston 3-44) beat New Zealand women 270 for 9 (Priest 77, Martin 77, Jonassen 3-47, Gardner 3-56) by five wickets Lanning surpassed Charlotte Edwards to top the list for most centuries in women’s ODIs in only her 57th match, struck an unbeaten 104 off 116 balls to help her side chase down 271 with four balls to spare. Lanning, who struck seven fours and a six, capitalised on a reprieve from New Zealand in the 22nd over after replays suggested that Rachel Priest had fumbled a stumping off the bowling of legspinner Amelia Kerr. Lanning went on to bring up her half-century off 62 deliveries and brought up her century off 111 balls in 48th over, with the win in sight. “It’s obviously nice [to get the record] but I’m more glad that we got the win, to be honest,” Lanning said after the match. “I had a pretty quiet series so I felt it was time to contribute and lead the side home. I was keen to finish it off
Meg Lanning hit her tenth ODI century. well and we needed someone to bat long and deep and I put my hand up to do that. It was nice to be able to get there at the end but I thought Mooney helped the top there, Villani and Blackwell certainly made it a lot easy for me to display my natural game.” The Australia captain was well-supported by opener Beth Mooney, who scored a 73-ball 69 and shared a 93run second-wicket partnership. Mooney, who had scores of 100 and 57 in the first two ODIs, was hardly deterred by the early loss of her opening partner, Nicole Bolton, as she played an aggressive innings, striking nine fours and racing to a half-century off 47 balls. Mooney’s run-out in the 20th over brought Ellyse Perry out to bat for her first innings since January 2017 - having returned to the side after a hamstring injury during the Women’s Big Bash League, Perry did not come out to bat in the second ODI after injur-
ing her elbow. Perry, however, was dismissed for 1 by New Zealand medium-pacer Holly Huddleston, who also dismissed Bolton and Elyse Villani to finish with 3 for 44, the best returns for her side in the game. Once Villani fell for 37 off 42 balls, having helped Lanning bring the chase under control, Alex Blackwell (32) and Alyssa Healy (21) stepped up in supporting roles and helped seal the win. Earlier, having been put in to bat, New Zealand began with a 60-run opening partnership before Suzie Bates was dismissed by Amanda-Jade Wellington in the 11th over for 27. Rachel Priest and Katey Martin, who both struck 77, then strung a 97-run partnership for the third wicket, before Martin added another 60 for the fourth wicket with Katie Perkins to take New Zealand to 230. Martin’s 86ball knock included ten fours but her dismissal triggered a slump in the end overs, which saw New Zealand lose six wickets for 38 runs. Spinners Jess Jonassen and Ashleigh Gardner took five of the six wickets to fall in this period as New Zealand finished their innings on 270 for 9. Gardner took 3 for 56, while Jonassen had returns of 3 for 47. Australia won the Rose Bowl for the 23rd time since the inception of the competition in February 1985. New Zealand have won it three times. Sunday’s game was the 100th between the two sides in the competition. (ESPN Cricinfo)
By Martyn Herman
LONDON,(Reuters)-Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City both issued timely reminders to Chelsea that the Premier League title race might not be over with impressive victories on Sunday. After top-six rivals Arsenal and Manchester United dropped points on Saturday, second-placed Tottenham took full advantage as Harry Kane struck twice in a 3-2 home win against Everton. That left Tottenham seven points behind Chelsea who face West Ham United on Monday, while City are a further point behind Tottenham with a game in hand after goals by Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane eased them to a 2-0 win at Sunderland who stay rooted to the bottom of the table. City are three points above fourth-placed Liverpool while Arsenal have slipped out of the top-four after their 3-1 loss at Anfield on Saturday. United are sixth, three points worse off than Liverpool, after drawing with Bournemouth on Saturday. Tottenham, as they did for most of last season when they pursued title winners Leicester City into the closing weeks, look like they are ready to go the distance again. Kane opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a 25-metre rocket shot and doubled his side’s advantage early in the second half -- his 19th league goal of the
Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters / Paul Childs Livepic
season and 14th strike in 12 games in all competitions. Romelu Lukaku, vying for the Premier League’s Golden Boot with Kane, struck his 18th of the season with 10 minutes left before Dele Alli struck for Spurs in stoppage time and Enner Valencia replied immediately for the visitors. Tottenham have now won nine consecutive home Premier League games for the first time while Everton’s nine-match unbeaten run in the league came to an end. “It was a fantastic performance even if we are a little disappointed to concede the goals,” Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “We dominated the game and played with a lot of confidence. “It’s important because now comes the most important period in the season.” City, who have the chance to move second when they
play at home to Stoke City on Wednesday, were in third gear at times against Sunderland but had far too much class. It took them until three minutes before the break to edge ahead. A sweeping move saw David Silva release Raheem Sterling whose cross was dinked home by Aguero. Silva was involved in City’s second -- a perfectly-weighted pass allowing Sane to smash a shot past Jordan Pickford. City have kept five successive away clean sheets in all competitions and have 10 away league wins, although Guardiola was still not totally satisfied. “It was a good victory,” he said. “But we were passing the ball between ourselves in the last 25 minutes. “I don’t like to defend a result and be near our box. It is okay if you’re 3-0 or 4-0 up but not 2-0.”