The West Indies had victory tantalizingly in sight at the close on Saturday on the third day of the second Test as they stood 71 runs short of victory with six wickets remaining against New Zealand.
With bowler Narsingh Deonarine on a hot streak, the hosts bowled out the Black Caps for just 154 — leaving the West Indies requiring only 206 and by the close in Kingston, they had made 134 for four as they looked to seal a 2-0 series win.
Despite cheaply losing the wickets of Kieran Powell — trapped LBW by Tim Southee for six — and Chris Gayle — LBW to Trent Boult for just eight — they were well on their way as Assad Fudadin and first innings centurion Martin Samuels took them to 56 for two before Neil Wagner bowled Fudadin for 27 with the score on 94.
Doug Bracewell then forced an edge from Samuels, who departed for 52 having been spilled by B.J. Watling when on 20.
Overnight, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kemar Roach were still there on 20 and 10 respectively as the winning target began to swim into view.
However, it was an onslaught of spin in the morning session that left the Kiwis reeling after they had set up a 51-run lead after the first innings.
Deonarine posted figures of four for 37 as he and Tino Best conspired to rip the Kiwi middle order after the tourists had been 110 ahead overnight at 59 for two.
By lunch, that had become 109 for seven, as part time offspinner Deonarine — posting pre-lunch innings figures of 4/24 — and Best went to town.
After Deonarine had seen off openers Martin Guptill and B.J. Watling Best had Neil Wagner caught for six in the 32nd over and two balls later had skipper Ross Taylor removed in similar vein as wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin took the catch.
Deonarine was at it again as he had Brendon McCullum offer a bat-pad catch to forward short leg on 19 before also claiming Williamson’s scalp as he drove to Darren Sammy.
Sunil Narine then bagged the wicket of Kruger Van Wyk, who holed out to deep square leg after making five, before ending what resistance there had been since Guptill’s departure in the person of Dean Brownlie, who made a battling 35 before Narine had him caught by Deonarine to finish up with figures of three for 19.
Although Gayle and Powell then failed to blaze a batting trail, those who came to the crease in their stead, most notably Samuels, looked to have done enough to set up a platform for victory.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS