A century stand from Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis led South Africa to 145 for three at tea on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at St George’s Park yesterday.
Elgar, who took 42 minutes to get off the mark at the start, was unbeaten on 61 at the interval, with A.B. de Villiers 13 not out.
Opener Elgar and Du Plessis (55) dug South Africa out of early trouble as the side teetered on 11 for two. The pair added 112 for the third wicket before the latter was caught at short leg off the bowling of spinner Nathan Lyon.
The pitch does not have the pace and bounce of Pretoria, where Mitchell Johnson ripped through the South African order to finish with 12 wickets as the tourists recorded a crushing 281-run win in the first Test.
Johnson still managed to land some early body blows in Port Elizabeth, but the Australian pace attack has generally bowled a fuller length, hoping to utilize the swing on offer under overcast conditions.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, captain Graeme Smith (nine) was struck on the back leg by Ryan Harris with the total on 10 and the umpire had no hesitation in giving him out LBW.
In the next over, and with one run added, Johnson breached the defense of Hashim Amla, who was also trapped LBW for a duck.
The home team made three changes to their team, handing a debut to 21-year-old Quinton de Kock, who will bat at No. 7 in place of all-rounder Ryan McLaren.
Elgar returned after Alviro Petersen was ruled out through illness and Wayne Parnell was brought in for spinner Robin Peterson, as South Africa opted for a four-pronged pace attack.
IRELAND VS WINDIES
AFP, KINGSTON
Ireland added to their list of giant-killing victories with a six-wicket win over World Twenty20 champions the West Indies in the first T20 international at Jamaica’s Sabina Park on Wednesday.
It was at the Kingston venue where Ireland dramatically defeated Pakistan in a St Patrick’s Day 50-over World Cup match back in 2007.
And seven years on from that success, Ireland — the leading non-Test cricket nation — upset one of the sport’s “big boys” once again, with former England batsman Ed Joyce making a decisive 40 not out.
After the West Indies won the toss and batted, a good all-round Ireland effort in the field saw the hosts restricted to 116 for eight in their 20 overs.
West Indies and Ireland meet again over 20 overs at Sabina Park today, before contesting a one-off one-day international at the same ground on Sunday.
Next month sees the West Indies defend their global title at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
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