Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan surpassed 400 wickets in one-day internationals yesterday, but couldn't prevent South Africa from beating Sri Lanka by nine runs to keep alive its chances of winning cricket's limited-overs tri-series.
Opener Boeta Dippenaar carried his bat for 125 to anchor South Africa's innings of 263 for five and Sri Lanka were 254-8 when their overs dwindled away, with Tillakaratne Dilshan on strike and stranded on 83.
The win compacted standings at the midpoint of the three-nation series, leaving Australia in the lead with 10 points, Sri Lanka with nine and South Africa, back in the hunt, with eight. Sri Lanka plays Australia in the next match tomorrow.
PHOTO: AFP
Murali took two wickets within two balls in his opening over yesterday to pass 400 wickets in his 263rd limited-overs match, setting that mark alongside his 584 wickets in tests.
He became only the third player after the Pakistan pace duo of Wasim Akram (502) and Waqar Younis (416) to reach 400 wickets in limited overs games, on the ground on which he was called for throwing by umpire Ross Emerson in 1999.
Dippenaar reached his highest one-day score, carrying his bat through a 50-overs innings for the second time in his one-day career and becoming the second South African after Gary Kirsten to do so more than once.
His innings and Herschelle Gibb's 68 allowed South Africa to reach a competitive total after Sri Lanka shackled their scoring through the early part of their innings. South Africa went 23 overs, between the 13th and 36th overs, without hitting a boundary but Dippenaar's steady accumulation and Gibbs' sprightly innings of 65 balls lifted their run rate.
The second cricket Test between Pakistan and India moved toward a tame draw yesterday as the bat continued to dominate the ball on a heartbreaking pitch for bowlers.
Younis Khan (64) and Kamran Akmal (59) carried Pakistan to 152-1 at stumps on the fourth day, a lead of 137 and with little to play for on the fifth and final day today.
India scored 603 in their first innings to gain a slender 15-run lead over Pakistan's 588 on a day when bowlers toiled in search of wickets for the second successive Test in the series.
The high-scoring first Test ended in a draw in Lahore. The final Test starts in Karachi on Sunday.
For India, Mahendra Dhoni (148) and Irfan Pathan (90) dashed Pakistan's hopes of gaining a first-innings lead. The hosts could not contain the Indians on the easy-paced pitch.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was