CRICKET
Faf du Plessis hits 185
A career-best innings of 185 from Faf du Plessis led South Africa to a 40-run victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international at Newlands on Tuesday, putting them on the brink of claiming the No. 1 ranking in ODI cricket. Du Plessis’ phenomenal knock helped the home side to 367-5, the highest ODI total in the ground’s history, after they won the toss and elected to bat. In reply, Sri Lanka produced their best batting performance of an otherwise disappointing tour, with Upul Tharanga hitting 119, but that was still not enough as they were bowled out for 327. With South Africa taking a 4-0 lead in the five-match series, they will have the opportunity to rise above Australia in the International Cricket Council rankings and claim top spot by winning the final game at Centurion tomorrow. Du Plessis fell three runs short of Gary Kirsten’s record for the highest score by a South Africa batsman in ODI cricket. Du Plessis put on century stands with Quinton de Kock (55) and A.B. de Villiers (64) as he went past his previous top score of 133 not out, and then ramped up the onslaught in the final 10 overs, when South Africa added 106. He was eventually out in the final over when he was caught on the boundary, attempting a six that would have taken him past Kirsten’s record.
ATHLETICS
Harper-Nelson banned
Beijing Olympics 100m hurdles champion Dawn Harper-Nelson has been banned for three months after she tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Tuesday. The ban is effective from Dec. 1 last year. USADA said it had accepted Harper-Nelson’s explanation that her positive test was caused by medication she was prescribed by a physician to treat hypertension. “Harper-Nelson further explained that she made efforts to determine if the medication contained prohibited substances; however, due to using partial search terms, those efforts were unsuccessful,” USADA said in a statement. Harper-Nelson said the medication had been prescribed after she was taken to hospital with high blood pressure. “As a result my physician prescribed a non-performance enhancing medication for high blood pressure that contained hydrochlorothiazide, water pill,” she wrote on Twitter. “I never hid my use of this required medication, but did fail to fully understand how its administration was governed by current doping protocols.”
BASEBALL
Puerto Rico win series
Puerto Rico won the Caribbean Series for the first time since 2000 with a 1-0 victory over Mexico in 10 innings on Tuesday night. Jonathan Morales’ sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th brought in the only run. Yadiel Rivera doubled to start the rally and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jesmuel Valentin against reliever Jake Sanchez. After going 1-3 in the first round of the tournament, the Criollos de Caguas earned their fourth Caribbean Series championship and first since 1987. Puerto Rico have 15 titles in the series, second to the Dominican Republic with 19. “This is incredible. The biggest moment of my life,” Morales said. “Sixteen years since the last time we won it. Sixteen years ago, I was a kid with no clue of what I wanted to do for a living. This is unreal.”
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