Captain Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds hit 58 runs each as Australia recovered from a disastrous start to post 240-9 in the Champions Trophy semi-final against New Zealand yesterday.
Australia, sent in to bat on a seamers' wicket, were reduced to 4-2 by Kyle Mills before the world champions pulled themselves out of a deep hole at the Punjab Cricket Association ground.
Mills, the 27-year-old from Auckland, finished with 4-38 as the Kiwis were set a target of 4.8 runs an over to make the final with an upset win.
Mills struck twice in the third over of the innings when he had Shane Watson caught at mid-off with the second ball and Adam Gilchrist was snapped up at square-leg off the fifth.
Damien Martyn (26) helped Ponting add 66 for the third wicket when he fell to a marginal leg-before decision off spinner Daniel Vettori in the 20th over.
Ponting moved to his 55th one-day 50 in the 27th over, but fell two overs later when he holed out to mid-on against Mills.
Michael Hussey, who put on 65 for the fifth wicket with Symonds, went in the 41st over when he slashed left-arm seamer James Franklin to Hamish Marshall at point.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB