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.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
San Francisco Giants pitcher Teng Kai-wei impressed against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday despite an 8-1 loss in the opener of the team’s nine-game road trip. Teng, the only Taiwanese pitcher active in MLB, struck out five while allowing two hits and one walk over four innings at Chase Field to finish with a no decision, as the teams were tied 1-1 when he finished his outing. He surrendered the lone run of his outing in the bottom of the first, which began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts. Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Geraldo Perdomo advanced to third on
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