CRICKET
De Silva leads strong reply
Dhananjaya de Silva yesterday struck a century and shared 187 runs in an unbroken second-wicket stand with Kushal Mendis as Sri Lanka gave a strong reply to hosts Bangladesh in the first Test in Chittagong. De Silva made an unbeaten 104 while Mendis hit 83 not out, guiding Sri Lanka to 187-1 at stumps on the second day. Earlier, Rangana Herath and Suranga Lakmal took three wickets each to help the visitors dismiss Bangladesh for 513 in their first innings. The pair came together after spinner Mehedi Hasan got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne for a duck shortly after Bangladesh’s innings ended with skipper Mahmudullah Riyad unbeaten on 83. De Silva led Sri Lanka’s batting charge with his aggressive approach and brought his fourth Test hundred off 122 balls with a cover drive off left-arm spinner Taijul Islam. This is De Silva’s second successive Test century after scoring an unbeaten 119 against India in December last year. Bangladesh, who lead Sri Lanka by 326 runs, resumed the day on 374-4, adding 139 runs to their overnight score, with Mahmudullah leading the charge on the second day.
GOLF
Paisley leads at Maybank
Englishman Chris Paisley yesterday struck a spotless seven-under-par 65 in hot and humid conditions to take the lead on a weather-hit opening day of the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. An hour and 50 minutes of play were lost due to the threat of storms in the afternoon, and 40 players will have to return to Saujana Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam to complete their first round today. Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera was on six-under with two holes left to complete, alongside another Englishman, David Horsey, who recovered from an opening bogey to end on six-under. Englishman Andrew Johnston, American David Lipksy, India’s Arjun Atwal, South Korean Lee Soo-min and French duo Alexander Levy and Romain Wattel completed their rounds to tie for fourth on 67. Taiwan’s Chan Shih-chang carded a four-under 68 for a share of 10th, while Lu Wei-chih finished in a group sharing 51st on two-under 70. Hung Chien-yao was on three-under with three holes left when play was suspended.
SOCCER
Leganes draw Sevilla 1-1
CD Leganes on Wednesday boosted their chances of reaching the Copa del Rey final for the first time by salvaging a 1-1 draw against Sevilla, netting the equalizer after a mistake by Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico. Sevilla opened the scoring in the first leg through Luis Muriel after a counterattack midway through the first half at Estadio Municipal de Butarque, before the hosts evened the match shortly after halftime. Rico missed the ball while trying to punch it away just in front of goal, allowing defender Dimitrios Siovas to easily find the net with a header. “The equalizer changed the game,” Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella said. “Everything was more complicated after the goal.” The ball went high in the air after being headed by a defender inside the area, and Rico seemed to have plenty of time as it came down near the goal line. However, the goalkeeper complained of a foul after apparent contact with Siovas and unsuccessfully appealed to the referee. “I don’t know if it was a foul or if it was a mistake,” Montella said. “We have to remember that Rico also made some good saves.”
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
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