Captain Joe Root and prodigy Ollie Pope both hit half-centuries yesterday, putting together a 101-run partnership that took England to 300-7 at lunch on the second day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Root scored 59 and Pope 56 as England moved quickly on from their overnight score of 192-4 before three quick wickets for Anrich Nortje slowed the march.
Pope’s third Test half-century came up in 61 balls before he played on to a delivery from Nortje.
Photo: Reuters
Root was dropped by Proteas captain Faf du Plessis in Nortje’s next over, but it did not prove costly as the England skipper was out soon after for the addition of 5 more runs when he got a healthy edge to Nortje and was taken by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
Sam Curran followed next ball, swinging wildly at the first delivery he faced.
Jos Buttler (16) and Chris Woakes (19) were not out at lunch.
Earlier on Friday, Ben Stokes apologized for his angry exchange with a fan, but claimed that he was the victim of “repeated abuse.”
Stokes described his reaction at the Wanderers as “unprofessional,” but English cricket chiefs claimed that staff and players were also subjected to “personal abuse during and after the day’s play.”
Stokes stopped briefly as he left the field after being dismissed for 2 and appeared to challenge a spectator, who evidently insulted him.
“Come say that to me outside the ground, you fucking four-eyed c**t,” Stokes said.
Witnesses told the Guardian that a middle-aged man had targeted Stokes, allegedly calling him a “ginger c**t” and likening him to pop star Ed Sheeran.
“I wish to apologise for my language that was heard on the live broadcast today after my dismissal. I should not have reacted in that way,” Stokes said in a statement released on Twitter. “As I was leaving the playing area, I was subjected to repeated abuse from the crowd. I admit that my reaction was unprofessional, and I sincerely apologise for the language I used, especially to the many young fans watching the live telecast around the world.”
Stokes could face disciplinary action for uttering an audible obscenity, which is a level 1 offense in the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
FOCUS: ‘We came out here with a goal in mind ... to keep our foot on their throat and on their neck, and continue to play 48 minutes of basketball,’ Donovan Mitchell said The Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday thrashed the Miami Heat to cruise into the next round of the NBA playoffs as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory. After pounding Miami 124-87 in game three on Saturday, No.1 Eastern Conference seeds Cleveland once again piled on the misery for their outclassed opponents with a crushing 138-83 victory to complete a 4-0 series win. The 55-point drubbing was the largest series-clinching victory in NBA playoff history and sets up a series against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks in
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
RSS