Australia recovered from a shaky start as they finished the first day of their Ashes tour opener against Sussex on 349 for seven on Wednesday.
Australia had been in trouble at 114 for five after South African seamer Pepler Sandri marked his Sussex debut with three top-order wickets, having failed to take one in three games for Sussex club side Hastings.
But a sixth-wicket stand of 114 between wicket-keeper Brad Haddin (69) and Michael Clarke (45) checked Sussex’s progress.
Both men fell in the space of four balls but bowlers Brett Lee (47 not out) and Nathan Hauritz (65 not out) then added an unbroken 117 against a tiring Sussex attack.
Haddin showed his class as a batsman by striking spinner Ollie Rayner for a straight six, but the bowler had the last laugh when Haddin was caught by Sandri at mid-on. And soon afterwards Rayner dismissed Clarke caught and bowled.
Sandri, having removed Phil Hughes before lunch, accounted for Simon Katich shortly afterwards as Australia lost three wickets for one run in 10 balls.
Left-hander Katich was on course for a half-century when he edged a cut off a full-length Sandri delivery and was taken at slip by Michael Yardy for 49.
Two balls later Michael Hussey (32) was lbw to James Kirtley and, in Sandri’s next over, Marcus North, on one, nicked one to wicket-keeper Andrew Hodd.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who won the toss, saw opener Hughes plunder three off-side fours in the first over of the match from Kirtley.
Australia have one more tour match, against the England Lions, before the first Ashes Test starts in Cardiff on July 8.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ¥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ¥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,