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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Perfect New Zealand go through to World T20 semis MOHALI, India (Reuters) - New Zealand became the first team to book a spot in the World Twenty20 semi-finals after opener Martin Guptill smashed his 10th fifty in the game’s shortest format to set up a 22-run win against Pakistan in their Super10 stage match yesterday. The right-handed Guptill hit 10 fours and three sixes in his 48-ball 80, sharing an opening stand of 62 with captain Kane Williamson, after an unchanged New Zealand won the toss on a green-tinged surface at Mohali to post 180-5. Sharjeel Khan (47) gave his team a brisk start in their chase with New Zealand either bowling too short or too full on his pads as Pakistan raced to 61-0 in five overs. However, the rest of Pakistan’s batsmen found it hard to hit the boundaries after paceman Adam Milne dismissed the left-handed
opener, who struck nine fours and a six in his 25-ball knock. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who will retire from international cricket after the tournament, promoted himself to number
five in a bid to provide momentum but his vigil at the crease lasted nine balls in which he scored 19. It was New Zealand’s third straight win in Group Two after victories over hosts India and local rivals
Australia. Pakistan, who are in second place with one win from three matches, need to beat the Australians in their final game and hope other results go their way to reach the last four. Third-placed Australia and India in fourth each have one win from two matches, while bottom side Bangladesh, who came through the qualifiers to join the Super10 stage, have little chance of progressing after losing their first two games. TOUGH START “... the batting unit played their roles really nicely and after a tough start the bowlers pulled it back nicely,” said Williamson, after the Black Caps
Martin Guptill raises his bat after reaching his fifty.
successfully defended their score for the third time in the tournament. Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who was taken for 15 runs in the first over of the innings, came back superbly to finish with figures of 2-29 in his four overs and, along with leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, applied the brakes on Pakistan’s scoring. Milne also kept the batsmen on a tight leash with figures of 2-26 as Pakistan could manage only 158-5 in their 20 overs. “We played well in the first six (overs) but after that we didn’t,” Afridi said. “We tried to hit the ball, tried to go for the boundary and we played a lot of dot balls.” Earlier, Guptill also combined with Corey Anderson
(21) for a third-wicket stand of 52 that set the platform for Ross Taylor (36 not out) to finish with a flourish. Mohammad Amir gave away 16 runs in the final over, with Taylor hitting him for six and four to ensure that Pakistan would have to score over nine runs an over in their chase. Mohammad Sami and Afridi picked up two wickets apiece for Pakistan, who made two changes to the team that lost to arch-rivals India on Saturday. Mohammad Hafeez failed to recover from a knee injury while paceman Wahab Riaz was hit in the head by a ball during practice and they were replaced by batsman Khalid Latif and spin-bowling all-rounder Imad Wasim.
Kenya unlikely to beat April WADA deadline
- legislator
ELDORET, Kenya - Kenya is unlikely to beat the April 5 deadline set by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to put in place laws needed to make it “code-compliant”, a Kenyan legislator who is playing a key role in the process said yesterday. Kenya faces the threat of being ruled non-compliant with the WADA code and, although that could eventually lead to sanctions, the IAAF said this month that it is highly unlikely the distance running powerhouse would be suspended from this year’s Olympic Games. Wesley Korir, who has drafted a bill proscribing doping in the east African nation which has been hit by a wave of drug transgressions, said Kenyan authorities may seek an extension to the deadline to be able to complete the legislative process. “The Bill has not been brought to Parliament as we are speaking and even if it is brought today, we cannot complete the process in two days because we shall be going on recess on Friday and returning on April 6,” Korir told Reuters in this North Rift Valley town, a centre of excellence for distance running, yesterday.
Korir, who won the Boston marathon in 2012, said Parliament’s Committee for Labour, Social Welfare and Sports had summoned the Minister for Sport last week to impress upon him the importance of the process. “We also wanted to discuss how to merge the two
Olympic legend Kipchoge Keino bills, but he did not show up,” said Korir, a Member of Parliament for Cherangany Constituency in the North Rift, said before boarding a plane to the capital. He said the parliamentary committee had adopted his Bill, but was awaiting the one drafted by the Ministry’s consultants and the Anti-Doping Agency of
Kenya (ADAK). Korir’s Bill has different penalties to the one drafted by a government agency, capping fines for offenders at 3 million Kenyan shillings (£21 012) compared with ADAK’s proposed 1 million. National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Chairman Kipchoge Keino called for government intervention to salvage the situation. “I am requesting the President (Uhuru Kenyatta) to intervene in this matter to save the future of the youths of this country. These people (Ministry of Sport) don’t seem to care about the future of our youth,” Keino, winner of gold medals at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, said. ADAK CEO Japhter Rugut said last week the Bill was ready and was only awaiting ratification of a few aspects by WADA. Kenya failed to meet the first deadline of February 11 to prove it was doing enough to tackle doping. About 40 Kenyan athletes have failed drugs tests in recent years. The country has set up its own national anti-doping agency and WADA said on February 11 it had put Kenya on probation, adding that there was still a lot of work to do.