A 126-run opening stand between David Warner and Chris Rogers gave Australia an excellent start to their pursuit of a record 448 for victory on the fourth day of the second Test against South Africa yesterday.
The touring side went to tea on 141 for one after the dismissal of Warner for 66 was South Africa’s only success during an afternoon session in which the batsmen looked largely untroubled and scored at nearly four runs to the over.
Chris Rogers, coming off three successive failures, was not out on 69 and will resume after the break with Alex Doolan (one).
South Africa had declared their second innings on 270 for five with Hashim Amla striking an elegant unbeaten 127.
Rogers and Warner smashed the ball to all parts, the latter hitting four successive boundaries off Morne Morkel, as Australia took a positive attitude toward their daunting chase.
The breakthrough for the home side came when J.P. Duminy trapped Warner LBW. The batsman reviewed the decision, but it was upheld by third umpire Aleem Dar.
The pitch still looks good for batting, though there is turn and the South African bowlers are beginning to generate reverse swing.
Amla plundered an unbeaten 127 before the home side declared 40 minutes before lunch.
Amla reached his 21st test century to move joint third on South Africa’s all-time list with Gary Kirsten, still behind Graeme Smith (27) and Jacques Kallis (45).
The 30-year-old brought up the milestone off 139 balls with 14 fours, most of them caressed through the covers.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but