Australia ended England’s record eight-match winning streak yesterday with a four-run victory in the second Twenty20 international that was again decided on the final ball.
Paceman Chris Woakes, who scored the winning runs in the first match, gave the visitors hope of another last-gasp victory when he smashed a huge six off Brett Lee over long-on.
England needed seven runs off the final two balls, but Woakes and Tim Bresnan could add only a single each to leave England on 143 for six in reply to Australia’s 147 for seven.
PHOTO: AFP
Man-of-the match Aaron Finch took a catch and smashed an unbeaten 53 from 33 balls for Australia for his maiden half-century.
Finch’s innings helped Australia recover after spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy took three wickets in three overs to leave the hosts reeling at 80-5.
England appeared set to romp to their target when Ian Bell smashed 11 off the first over and England reached 60 without loss. Bell was bowled for 39, attempting to charge paceman Mitchell Johnson.
PHOTO: AFP
Johnson removed Kevin Pietersen three balls later for one, when the England No. 3 smashed the ball straight to cover where Cameron White dived for a sharp low catch.
David Warner took two catches off the bowling of Shane Watson to remove captain Paul Collingwood removed for six and opener Steve Davies for 29.
Shaun Tait dismissed Luke Wright for 18, with Steve Smith taking a sharp catch at mid-off. Johnson finished with 3-29 after removing dangerman Eoin Morgan for 14 in the 18th over.
Australia’s openers made a brisk start, piling on 37 runs in the first four overs before Watson hit a Chris Woakes ball straight to Morgan at deep square-leg and was out for 17.
Off-spinner Swann then dismissed Tim Paine 21 with his fifth delivery, the batsman skying a catch to short mid-wicket where Collingwood juggled the ball once before securing the catch.
Warner was out for 30, caught by Pietersen on the boundary when attempting to loft a delivery from left-arm spinner Yardy down the ground.
Swann trapped Australia captain Cameron White lbw for a duck in the next over and Yardy induced David Hussey (8) to slap a poor shot straight to Woakes at deep mid-wicket to make it three in three overs.
Ajmal Shahzad took Smith’s wicket for 13, the all-rounder hitting to Collingwood at short cover, while Steve O’Keefe was bowled by Tim Bresnan for one in the last over in a clumsy attempt to scoop behind the wicket.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite