■CRICKET
Zimbabwe top Kenya in ODI
Zimbabwe beat Kenya by 66 runs to secure a fourth consecutive victory in their one-day international series in Nairobi on Sunday after some punishing displays by batsmen Forster Mutizwa and Hamilton Masakadza. Masakadza opened up with a 58-run knock which included eight fours off 56 balls, while Mutizwa rounded off the Zimbabwe innings with 61 as the visitors rattled up a total of 285-8 off 50 overs at Nairobi’s Gymkhana Club Ground. Kenya replied with a fighting 219 all out, thanks to an outstanding unbeaten 96 from batsmen Alex Obanda. The five-match ODI series finishes at the Gymkhana Club Ground tomorrow.
■CYCLING
Wiggins takes yellow jersey
Bradley Wiggins of Britain took the yellow jersey and his team, Garmin Slipstream, won the time trial in Doha on Sunday on the opening day of the Tour of Qatar. Wiggins finished the 6km race in six minutes, 34 seconds. Seventeen teams are taking part in the six-day race, which ends on Friday.
■GOLF
Perry wins FBR Open title
US Ryder Cup player Kenny Perry survived a scare on Sunday, winning at the third playoff hole to top Charley Hoffman for the title at the US$6 million FBR Open in Scottsdale, Arizona. Perry had a chance to win in regulation but bogeyed from a bunker at the 72nd hole for a 69 that saw him join Hoffman (67) on 14-under 270. Perry salvaged the win with a 20-foot birdie putt at the third hole of sudden death, the par-four 17th. “Those are the putts you think about when you’re a kid — you’re on the putting green saying, ‘This is to win the Masters’ or whatever, and I finally made one. It took me a long time to do it,” Perry said.
Perry, 48, captured his 13th USPGA Tour title. Three of them came last year as he played his way onto the US Ryder Cup team that triumphed over Europe in September in his native Kentucky.
■RUGBY UNION
Dan Carter’s season finished
All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter was on Sunday ruled out for the rest of the French season because of an Achilles tendon injury, having played just five matches for Perpignan. “It is a partial tear of the Achilles tendon, which means he will be unavailable for around six months,” spokesman Benoit Brazes said. The 26-year-old Carter, who was signed by the Catalan club on a lucrative six-month deal worth a reported 35,000 euros (US$45,000) a match was hurt in Saturday’s 13-13 draw with Stade Francais. His brief stay with the French side, which began in December, was plagued by injury and his time on the pitch amounted to just 361 playing minutes.
■BASEBALL
Caribbean Series opens
San Diego Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez was to lead Mexico against the winter league champions of Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the annual Caribbean Series that began in Mexicali, Mexico, yesterday. Gonzalez won the Mexican winter league tournament with Mazatlan’s Venados and the team is seeking its second Caribbean Series title. “I came to have a good time with my teammates,” said Gonzalez, who led the Padres with 36 home runs and 119 RBI’s in 2008. The Dominican Republic’s Licey Tigers are the defending champions. Licey is the all-time leader with 10 Caribbean tittles, and the Dominican Republic leads all countries with 17 crowns.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
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