CRICKET
Super 11 win in Taipei
Taipei Super 11 yesterday won their opening match in Group A of the Taiwan Premier League, beating the Taipei Indians by three wickets at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. The Indians reached 136-8 batting first and had their eye on two points for the win when they had reduced Super 11 to 99-6 on the fifth ball of the 16th over in the T20 tournament. However, Sathishkumar Chinnapaiyan walked to the crease and smacked 30 not out from just 11 deliveries, four of which went for six, to guide his team home with one ball to spare. In the afternoon game, the Taiwan Stars’ Adeel Ahmad Jamil struck 86 not out from 38 deliveries to lead his side to a three-wicket win over Formosa in Group B.
CRICKET
US reach Super Eight
The US on Friday made history by reaching the second round in their debut at the T20 World Cup after their last group game against Ireland was washed out. Rain meant the match at Broward County Stadium was abandoned without a ball bowled, advancing the US to the Super Eight stage and automatically qualifying them for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. In other games, New Zealand thrashed Uganda by nine wickets in a Group C clash of already-eliminated teams in Trinidad, while South Africa survived a scare from Nepal in scrambling a one-run victory in their final Group D match in St Vincent.
SOCCER
Messi scores brace
Lionel Messi on Friday scored twice and assisted on another goal in his first international start since November last year as Argentina outclassed Guatemala 4-1 to complete their Copa America preparations. Messi played the full 90 minutes for manager Lionel Scaloni after playing 35 minutes off the bench in a 1-0 win over fellow Copa America contenders Ecuador in Chicago last weekend. He previously missed a pair of international friendlies in March with a hamstring issue. His sharp performance on Friday should ease Argentine concerns ahead of their Group A opener against Canada in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Tests deem Seine unsafe
Water in the Seine River had unsafe elevated levels of Escherichia coli less than two months before swimming competitions are scheduled to take place in it during the Paris Olympics, test results published on Friday showed. Contamination levels in the first eight days of this month, after persistent heavy rain in Paris, showed bacteria such as E. coli and enterococci beyond limits judged safe for athletes. The report was published by monitoring group Eau de Paris one day after a senior International Olympic Committee executive said there were “no reasons to doubt” races would go ahead as scheduled in a historic downtown stretch of the Seine near the Eiffel Tower. The final decision on approving the events safe for athletes rests with the governing bodies of individual sports. According to European standards, the safe limit for E coli is 900 colony-forming units per 100ml. During the first eight days of this month, test results showed that E coli levels frequently exceeded the threshold. Enterococci levels were better, mostly staying within safe limits.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Stade Rennais, four days after firing coach Habib Beye, stunned Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Friday, snapping the defending champions’ seven-match winning run in French Ligue 1. Second-placed RC Lens could leapfrog the champions and retake top spot last night after press time if they beat Paris FC in the capital. PSG started brightly, with Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue carving openings to no avail. Rennes fired Beye on Monday and promoted his assistant Sebastien Tambouret, and the same players who had lost four games on the bounce seemed transformed. Jordanian forward Mousa al-Tamari bagged the opener, unleashing a fierce strike
Manchester City FC halved Arsenal FC’s lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home defeat of Fulham FC, and Aston Villa FC stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC on Wednesday. Nottingham Forest FC squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Second-from-bottom Burnley FC pulled off a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace FC to boost their slender survival hopes. City have little margin for error in their pursuit
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