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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
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