CRICKET
Test ends in tame draw
The first Test yesterday ended in a predictable draw in Kandy, Sri Lanka, with batsmen from both sides taking advantage of a placid pitch. Sri Lanka batted once and batted big to rack up 648-8 declared, although captain Dimuth Karunaratne (244) and Dhananjaya de Silva (166) did not add much to their overnight scores. Facing a deficit of 107, Bangladesh had a few early hiccups in their second innings, but Tamim Iqbal (74 not out) had guided them to 100-2 when rain stopped play. The second Test starts at the same Pallekele venue on Thursday.
RALLY
Evans takes Croatia lead
Elfyn Evans yesterday morning took the lead of the Croatia Rally after his Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier had an accident on the way to the start. “Seb and Julien were involved in a traffic incident on the road section from service to the first stage this morning. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and their Yaris WRC is OK to continue on the stages,” the team wrote on Twitter. Ogier, the seven-time world champion, was leading on Saturday night, but drove the two morning stages with visible damage to the passenger door and with codriver Julien Ingrassia wearing goggles as they raced. The World Rally Championship site reported that video footage showed Ogier in a collision on the road section heading toward the start of the day’s first stage.
SNOOKER
Robertson reaches quarters
Australia’s Neil Roberston on Saturday kept his form going as he reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship with a 13-9 victory over Jack Lisowski. Robertson, the 2010 world champion, already led 9-7 overnight and he wasted little time as breaks of 126, 87 and 70 saw him to a second-round success at the Crucible in Sheffield. In the 11 years since he won snooker’s biggest prize, he has reached the semi-finals of the tournament just once. Robertson came into this year’s edition in fine form after beating six-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in last month’s Tour Championship final.
FORMULA E
Racers run out of juice
Electric-powered racing fell flat on Saturday when 12 of 24 cars in the Valencia Grand Prix ran out of energy and failed to finish. On a wet track where collisions were frequent, the safety car was called upon five times. The regulations provide that the level of energy available to the single-seaters is recalculated downwards during such pauses in racing. Having underestimated the distance of the race — the regulations provide for 45 minutes plus one lap — and therefore the amount of energy needed to complete it, half of the field ground to a halt on the last lap. Race leader Antonio Felix da Costa of Portugal, in a DS Techeetah, was the most notable victim, as Dutch driver Nyck de Vries in a Mercedes overtook him for victory. “I wasn’t expecting this,” said De Vries, who started the race with a five-place grid penalty. “This may look silly. However, it was also just well-played by our teams and others kind of missed some information. Credit to the work they put into and clearly they were on the ball, but not necessarily a mistake of the championship in my opinion.”
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
HISTORIC VICTORY: Botafogo are the last of the four big Rio clubs to win the Copa Libertadores and they earned a spot in next year’s FIFA Club World Cup Botafogo on Saturday overcame playing with 10 men to win their first Copa Libertadores title after beating fellow Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in the final at Estadio Monumental. After just 30 seconds, midfielder Gregore, one of Botafogo’s best players, hit the head of Fausto Vera with his foot and was given a straight red card. “It was so hard to have one less so early in a final. It was an unfortunate move,” Botafogo defender Alexander Barboza said. “But Gregore deserves this title as much as we do. We made history and that won’t ever be erased.” Winger Luiz
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