Faf du Plessis successfully reviewed an LBW decision against him before guiding South Africa to a series-clinching six-wicket victory in the fifth and final one-dayer against New Zealand at Eden Park yesterday.
Du Plessis was initially given out on 27 when trapped in front by Jeetan Patel, but had the decision overturned on review. He went on to finish unbeaten on 51 as the Proteas made 150-4 after bowling the hosts out for a paltry 149 in 41.1 overs.
David Miller produced a counter-attacking 45 not out to help the Test captain ensure a 3-2 series victory, which vaulted South Africa back to the top of the one-day rankings.
Photo: AFP
New Zealand had threatened to make the run chase much more difficult than it should have been, reducing the visitors to 88-4 when they captured the important wicket of A.B. de Villiers for 23.
However, Du Plessis and Miller shook off some nervous moments with a 62-run partnership that lefthander Miller dominated.
“They put us under pressure and asked a few good questions, but a fantastic knock by Faf and David at the end to take us across the line,” De Villiers said. “It was one of those totals that needed a bit of nit and grit and the two of them showed that.”
Photo: AP
New Zealand were never able to settle against a superb South Africa bowling attack, who created consistent pressure from both ends with numerous dot balls that was supported by strong work in the field.
Kagiso Rabada got South Africa going early by bowling Martin Guptill for 4. Six New Zealand batsmen were dismissed for single figures, with Colin de Grandhomme top scoring with 32.
Rabada, who was generating good bounce off a length and troubled the batsmen as the ball hurried through, finished with 3-25 from 7.1 overs and was named man of the match.
Photo: AFP
INDIA, AUSTRALIA
Reuters, BENGALURU, India
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed career-best figures of 8-50 to help Australia bundle out India for 189 on the first day of the second Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.
It was the third batting meltdown in a row for the hosts, who were dismissed for 105 and 107 in the opening Test in Pune during a 333-run loss inside three days. India had posted three consecutive totals of 600-plus before this series.
In a 16-over spell either side of lunch, Lyon dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara, India skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane on a pitch that had offered extra bounce and turn for the slow bowlers.
The 29-year-old returned for his second spell after tea and added five more wickets to finish with the best figures by a visiting bowler in India, whose hopes of leveling the series suffered a big setback.
Australia openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw were unbeaten on 23 and 15 respectively to take their side to 40-0 at the close.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier