7 SPORTSBEAT // 27 AUGUST 2015
general sport
Root rested for limited-overs series
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ngland has rested Ashes-winning star batsman Joe Root from their squads for both the upcoming lone Twenty20 international and five one-day internationals against Australia.
Eoin Morgan will again captain both squads, having led England in their miserable first-round exit from the World Cup before overseeing a thrilling one-day series win at home to New Zealand.
Root, the Ashes player of the series after his 460 runs played a central role in England’s 3-2 win over the five Tests, has been a key player in all three international formats in recent times.
Essex left-arm seamer Reece Topley was the only uncapped player in either squad after being named in the Twenty20 party.
However, with England facing tough Test series away to Pakistan and South Africa later this year, England’s selectors have decided to give the 24 year-old a break from international duty. Also omitted are senior bowlers James Anderson, currently out with a side strain, and Stuart Broad, whose stunning eight for 15 at his Trent Bridge home ground saw Australia skittled for 60 in the third Ashes Test. Neither Anderson nor Broad, as well as veteran batsman Ian Bell, have played a 50over one-day international since this year’s World Cup in March. Test skipper Alastair Cook, dropped from England’s squad before the global showpiece, was again omitted from white-ball duty.
Moeen Ali was restored to both squads after being injured at the start of the season, with fit-again fellow all-rounder Chris Woakes also selected. “We have made some significant progress in our limited-overs cricket this summer, and the next six games allow these players to continue testing themselves against one of the very best sides in the world,” England national selector James Whitaker said. “This is primarily a young group of players, and the next three weeks will provide them with valuable experience as we continue to identify those who can take our limited-overs cricket forward over the next four years.” The lone Twenty20 clash takes place in Cardiff on 31 August, with the one-day series starting at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl headquarters on 3 September.
England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wkt), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Essex), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wkt), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales, (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham) Australian squad: Steve Smith (c), Ashton Agar, George Bailey, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron Boyce (T20I only). BY JULIAN GUYER – AFP
Kokkinakis, Groth down in ATP Top 15 us open seeds
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ustralians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Sam Groth were eliminated in the second round of the final ATP tournament before the US Open (Seedings at right). Russia’s world No.53 Teymuraz Gabashvili held his nerve to beat Kokkinakis 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) in a tight match at the WinstonSalem Open in North Carolina on Tuesday. Kokkinakis couldn’t back up one of the biggest wins of his career in the opening round when he accounted for world No.39 Alexandr Dolgopolov. Groth lost in three sets to American Steve Johnson 6-4 6-7 (7-4) 6-1. Johnson, the world No.49 and tournament 13th seed, sent down 15 aces to Groth’s 13 in a battle of the big servers.
Kokkinakis and Groth will now head to New York to prepare for the US Open starting next week while Johnson will meet the winner of the clash between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Denis Istomin in the third round.
MEN
WOMEN
1 Novak Djokovic (SER) Serena Williams (USA) 2 Roger Federer (SUI)
Simona Halep (ROM)
3 Andy Murray (GBR)
Maria Sharapova (RUS)
4 Kei Nishikori (JAP)
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Gabashvili will next play either Viktor Troicki or Malek Jaziri.
5 Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Meanwhile, top seed Gilles Simon of France was upset by Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene, while South Africa’s second seed Kevin Anderson battled through.
7 David Ferrer (ESP)
10 Milos Raonic (CAN)
Carla Surez Navarro (ESP)
Bedene, ranked 58th in the world, battled through tiebreakers in all three sets and match point in the third set against the 11th-ranked Simon to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6).
11 Gilles Simon (FRA)
Angelique Kerber (GER)
Anderson beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6 6-2 6-3.
6 Tomas Berdych (CZE) Lucie Safarova (CZE) Ana Ivanovic (SER)
8 Raphael Nadal (ESP) Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 9 Marin Cilic (CRO)
Garbie Muguruza (ESP)
12 Richard Gasquet (FRA) Belinda Bencic (SUI) 13 John Isner (USA)
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
14 David Goffin (BEL)
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
15 Kevin Anderson (RSA) AgnieszkaRadwanska(POL)