CRICKET
SA win Sheffield Shield
South Australia yesterday chased down a record 269 runs in an Australian first-class cricket final to win their first Sheffield Shield cricket title in 29 years. South Australia scored 270-6 in their second innings to beat Queensland by four wickets on the fourth day of the scheduled five-day final. Jason Sangha led South Australia with an unbeaten 126, while Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored 105. The two combined for a 202-run partnership. Several hundred fans ran on to the pitch at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide when the match ended. Queensland were bowled out for 95 in their first innings and South Australia posted 271 all out in reply. Queensland’s Jack Wildermuth (111) and Jack Clayton (100) led a comeback, with Queensland posting 445 in their second innings. The highest previous run chase to win a Shield final was Victoria’s 239-2 against New South Wales in 1990-1991.
Photo: AFP
CRICKET
Chapman ton leads NZ
Mark Chapman struck a sublime century and Nathan Smith claimed four wickets yesterday as New Zealand eased to a 73-run win over Pakistan in the first ODI in Napier. Chapman’s career-best 132 formed the foundation of an imposing 344-9 at McLean Park before Pakistan’s promising chase capitulated, to be all out for 271 in the 45th over.
Photo: EPA-EFE
CRICKET
Law named Nepal coach
Former Australia batter Stuart Law has been named coach of the Nepal men’s team on a two-year contract, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said on Friday. The 56-year-old replaces Monty Desai, whose two-year stint with the South Asian side ended after CAN did not renew his contract. Law, a 1996 Cricket World Cup runner-up with Australia, last coached the US, guiding them to the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup last year on home soil. The US announced his departure from his role after just six months in charge.
SOCCER
Leon urge FIFA U-turn
Leon captain James Rodriguez on Friday urged FIFA to reconsider booting the Liga MX team from the FIFA Club World Cup. Leon were axed last week for failing to comply with regulations regarding multi-club ownership. Leon and fellow Mexican club Pachuca both qualified, but have the same owner, Grupo Pachuca. “It’s a big injustice,” Rodriguez said at a media conference. “If they leave us out, it is not going to be fair and it will be a stain on soccer. There are fans that have bought tickets and are in debt to pay for them. How do you tell them now that they are not going to go?”
SOCCER
Brazil fire Dorival Junior
Brazil coach Dorival Junior was fired on Friday after 14 months in charge amid poor results and disappointing performances from the national team. Junior’s sacking by Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues came three days after a 4-1 defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires, Brazil’s heaviest defeat in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. “The confederation announces that Dorival Junior’s cycle is over,” Rodrigues told media in Rio de Janeiro. “From now on, we will work in the search for a substitute.” Under the 62-year-old Junior, Brazil won seven matches, drew seven and lost two, scoring 25 goals and conceding 17.
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
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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