An undefeated 88 from skipper Hashim Amla led South Africa to a 39-run victory over Bangladesh on Tuesday in the second match of a non-cap Twenty20 tri-nations tournament.
South Africa made 209-3 off 20 overs in cool, partly cloudy conditions at Harare Sports Club and Bangladesh reached 170-8 in reply to suffer a second defeat in three days after failing by 11 runs against hosts Zimbabwe.
Amla, elevated to captain in the absence of injured Johan Botha, began slowly with opening partner Richard Levi (37) claiming most of the early runs, but once he got going the Bangladeshi Tigers’ bowlers suffered.
Photo: AFP
His chance-less knock after a two-month close-season lay-off included three sixes and nine fours off 53 balls, while Levi banged two sixes and six fours in his 30-minute stay at the crease.
“We did quite well to make a below par, sorry, above par score as it put pressure on the Bangladeshis,” Amla said at the presentation ceremony with his slip of the tongue giving the crowd cause to chuckle.
Ziaur Rahman (1-28) was the best of the Bangladesh bowlers, none of whom got to grips with opponents whose total included eight sixes and 23 fours on a firm, run-friendly wicket devoid of grass.
Set a target of 10.50 runs an over for victory, the Tigers had only 19 on the scoreboard when opener Anamul Haque (1) departed and a good knock from Mohammad Ashraful (33) ended in the eighth over when he skied one to Amla.
Jahurul Islam (12) and Nasir Hossain (0) were dismissed in the following over and at 49-4, mission improbable quickly became mission impossible, with only skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (50 not out) defying the Proteas bowlers.
“We have got to do the little things right when we play the big boys,” Rahim said. “Our bowlers let us down as we had to restrict South Africa to about 180 to have any chance of winning.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set