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C C OMANDAILYOBSERVER SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2017 18 CRICKET SPORTS Tahir weaves spell as SOUTH AFRICA beat New Zealand Tahir, who was on a hattrick in his second over, had his figures ruined by successive sixes from Colin de Grandhomme but still finished with 5-24 in 3.5 overs, with the New Zealanders unable to pick his googly Imran Tahir of South Africa fields off his own bowling during the Twenty20 international against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday. — AFP AUCKLAND: Leg spinner Imran Tahir underlined why he is the world’s top-ranked bowler in limited overs cricket as he bamboozled New Zealand’s batsmen to help South Africa to a 78-run victory in their only Twenty20 match at Eden Park on Friday. Tahir, who was on a hat-trick in his second over, had his figures ruined by successive sixes from Colin de Grandhomme but still finished with 5-24 in 3.5 overs, with the New Zealanders unable to pick his googly. The 37-year-old did reap the benefits of a superb bowling performance by the rest of the team with Chris Morris, who was also denied a hat-trick, having figures of 2-10 in his opening three-over spell. Andile Phehlukwayo took three wickets, including the important wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, as the hosts crumbled to 107 in 14.5 overs while chasing South Africa’s 185-6. The loss was New Zealand’s first at home this summer. Both sides had said beforehand they felt just having one Twenty20 clash before the five-match one-day series did not have much meaning and more games should have been scheduled. The South African top order, however, underlined how dangerous they would be in the one-day series with nearly all making telling contributions. While Quinton de Kock fell for a duck in the third over, Hashim Amla (62), captain Faf du Plessis (36), AB de Villiers (26) and JP Duminy (29) all scored quickly. Amla’s innings was particularly impressive as he played just pure cricket shots to hit nine boundaries and a six in his 43-ball innings. The opener also combined with du Plessis in an 87-run partnership from 8.3 overs and the visitors looked well set to score in excess of 200 if the pair could stay at the crease. De Grandhomme, however, dismissed both du Plessis and de Villiers to leave their side on 145-4 in the 16th over ensuring the all-rounders needed to push the innings on. Opening bowler Trent Boult finished with an impressive 2-8 from four overs. The first one-day international is at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday. — AFP SCOREBOARD South Africa H Amla c Bruce b Wheeler ----------------------------------62 Q de Kock c Santner b Boult ----------------------------------0 F du Plessis lbw De Grandhomme ----------------------36 AB de Villiers c Wheeler b de Grandhomme -------26 JP Duminy (run out) -------------------------------------------29 F Behardien c Anderson b Boult----------------------------8 C Morris (not out) --------------------------------------------------9 W Parnell (not out) ------------------------------------------------4 Extras: (B-4, LB-4, W-3)11 Total: (For 6 wkts, 20 overs)185 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-102, 3-123, 4-145, 5-171, 6-181. Bowling: T Boult 4-0-8-2, B Wheeler 4-0-49-1, T Southee 4-0-47-0, M Santner 4-0-40-0, C de Grandhomme 3-0-22-2, C Munro 1-0-11-0. New Zealand G Phillips c de Kock b Morris ---------------------------------5 K Williamson c Parnell b Phehlukwayo ---------------13 C Munro b Morris --------------------------------------------------0 T Bruce b I Tahir ---------------------------------------------------33 C Anderson c de Kock b Phehlukwayo ------------------6 C de Grandhomme c Duminy b I Tahir ----------------15 L Ronchi c de Kock b I Tahir -----------------------------------0 M Santner c Amla b Phehlukwayo ------------------------5 B Wheeler b I Tahir ------------------------------------------------6 T Southee b I Tahir -----------------------------------------------20 T Boult (not out) ----------------------------------------------------1 Extras: (LB-1, W-2) -----------------------------------------------3 Total: (all out, 14.5 overs)107 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-10, 3-38, 4-55, 5-60, 6-60, 7-68, 8-80, 9-106. Bowling: C Morris 3-1-10-2, D Paterson 2-0-13- 0, W Parnell 3-0-40-0, A Phehlukwayo 3-0-19-3, I Tahir 3.5-0-24-5. Marin Cilic Cilic downs Coric to make Rotterdam last-eight ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Top seed Marin Cilic reached his first quarterfinal of 2017 on Thursday when he overcame Croatian compatriot Borna Coric 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 at the Rotterdam World Tennis event. Cilic, who had just one victory this year going into the Ahoy Stadium tournament, improved to a perfect 3-0 over Coric, whose career was sidelined last autumn by injury. “It’s always tough to play a countryman and Borna has been doing well in his comeback. It was not an easy match, even after winning the first set fast,” said former US Open champion Cilic. “Borna has proved himself as a ‘next-gen’ player. Maybe he didn’t have the best season due to his knee surgery, but he’s playing quite consistently.” Following his first-set thrashing, where he trailed 5-0, Coric steadied to square the match at a set each. However, a break in the third by Cilic handed the top seed a crucial 4-3 lead. Tomas Berdych, seeded fourth, hit 10 aces to defeat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 and advance into a contest against defending champion Martin Klizan of Slovakia. Belgian third seed Dàvid Goffin earned a comeback win over Robin Haase, the last Dutchman in the field, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. “It’s always nice to play these tournaments. They are smaller draws than Masters or Grand Slams, but the matches are always tough,” said Goffin. Second seed Dominic Thiem defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) as the top five seeds all reached the last-eight. Simon, a three-time semifinalist, went down as Thiem finally made a Rotterdam quarterfinal on his third attempt. Fifth seed and last weekend’s Sofia champion Grigor Dimitrov put out Denis Istomin — the shock conqueror of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open — 7-6 (9/7), 6-1. — AFP Sri Lanka beat Australia off MELBOURNE: Chamara Kapugedera smashed a four off the last ball to give Sri Lanka a thrilling five-wicket victory over Australia in their first Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. The win kept Sri Lanka unbeaten in four T20 internationals in Australia and followed their 2-1 series win over South Africa last month. The pulsating win was made possible by a dashing 52 off 37 balls by Asela Gunaratne, who was named man-of-the-match for his matchturning innings. Gunaratne slammed seven fours to share in a decisive 60-run stand with Milinda Siriwardana to put the Sri Lankans just 18 runs short of victory with 17 balls remaining. It was a tense finish with skipper Aaron Finch making fielding changes before every ball to prevent Sri Lanka from getting home. But it was Kapugedera who stood up to the pressure and slammed fast bowler Andrew Tye’s final delivery through the covers to the boundary rope for the winning hit. The win put Sri Lanka one up in the series with two matches to play in Geelong on Sunday and Adelaide on Wednesday. For a time it looked as though the Australians, playing without their leading stars, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all on tour in India, would hold off the fast-finishing Sri Lankans. The home side posted a competitive total of 168 for six off their 20 overs with skipper Finch smashing two sixes and two fours in his top scoring 43 off 34 balls. Finch shared in an opening SCOREBOARD Australia A Finch c Malinga b Gunaratne ----------------43 M Klinger c Malinga b Sandakan -------------38 T Head c Prasanna b Malinga -------------------31 M Henriques c Kapugedera b Bandara ----17 A Turner c Prasanna b Malinga -----------------18 J Faulkner (not out) ----------------------------------14 T Paine (run out) ----------------------------------------- 0 P Cummins (not out)---------------------------------- 0 Extras: (B-1, LB-1, W-4, NB-1) -------------------- 7 Total: (For 6 wkts, 20 overs) ------------------168 Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-86, 3-116, 4-153, 5-153, 6-162. Bowling: L Malinga 4-0-29-2, N Kulasekara 4-0-38-0, V Sanjaya 3-0-35-1, S Prasanna 4-0-23-0, L Sandakan 4-0-30-1, A Gunaratne 1-0-11-1. Sri Lanka N Dickwella c Klinger b Zampa ----------------30 U Tharanga c Paine b Cummins ----------------- 0 D Munaweera c Finch b Zampa ----------------44 A Gunaratne st Paine b Turner ------------------52 M Siriwardana lbw Turner ------------------------15 C Kapugedera (not out)----------------------------10 S Prasanna (not out) ----------------------------------- 8 Extras: (B-1, LB-3, W-9) ---------------------------13 Total: (For 5 wkts, 20 overs) ------------------172 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-79, 3-91, 4-151, 5-152. Bowling: P Cummins 4-0-29-1, B Stanlake 3-0-42-0, J Faulkner 4-0-27-0, A Tye 3-0-32- 0, A Zampa 4-0-26-2, A Turner 2-0-12-2. stand of 76 with T20I debutant Michael Klinger. Klinger, making his debut at the age of 36 after starring with the Perth Scorchers in the domestic Big Bash League, hammered 38 off 32 balls with four boundaries. Lasith Malinga, who has played virtually no cricket for nearly a year due to injuries, was an influential figure taking two wickets in two balls and taking two catches. Malinga claimed the wickets of Travis Head for 31 off 24 balls and debutant Ashton Turner for 18 off 13 balls, both caught by Seekkugge Prasanna at deep mid-wicket. Malinga finished with two wickets for 29 off his four overs. Paceman Pat Cummins struck with the last ball of his opening over getting skipper Upul Tharanga to edge to wicket-keeper Tim Paine for a duck in the first over of the Sri Lanka innings. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa claimed the big wicket of free-scoring opener Niroshan Dickwella for 30 off 25 balls. — AFP Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka schedule COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s cricket board on Friday announced the schedule for a series of Test matches and limited overs internationals against Bangladesh who begin a tour of the island next month. The teams will play two Tests at the start of the tour, one in the capital Colombo and another at Galle on Sri Lanka’s southern coast. They then play three 50 over internationals before facing off for two Twenty20 matches. Sri Lanka have a formidable record at home and beat Australia 3-0 in the last series that they hosted in August 2016. Bangladesh by contrast have only won three of their Test matches on the road since gaining full status 17 years ago although they have shown recent signs of improvement and beat England in a home Test late last year. The last series between the two sides in Sri Lanka in 2014 saw the hosts win one of the Tests by 248 runs while the second was a draw. First Test: March 7 - 11 at the Galle International Stadium Second Test: March 15 - 19 at the Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo First ODI: March 25 day and night at Dambulla Second ODI: March 28 day and night at Dambulla Third ODI: April 1 at Sinhalese Sports Club grounds, Colombo First T20: April 4 at Premadasa Stadium Colombo Second T20: April 6 at Premadasa Stadium Colombo.
OO 19 SATURDAY I FEBRUARY 18 I 2017 SPORTS OMANDAILYOBSERVER Hat-tricks for United’s IBRAHIMOVIC, Roma’s DZEKO Manchester United’s striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic shoots from the penalty spot to score his team’s third goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first-leg match. — AFP Roma’s Edin Dzeko (left) vies with Villarreal’s Manu Trigueros during the Europa League round of 32 first leg match at El Ceramica stadium in Vila-real. — AFP LONDON: The goals continued to flow for Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AS Roma’s Edin Dzeko as they bagged hattricks to help their teams take commanding leads in the first legs of their Europa League last 32 ties on Thursday. United swept aside St Etienne 3-0 at Old Trafford and Roma made light work of last season’s semifinalists Villarreal with a 4-0 win in Spain, leaving their sides with little work to do in next week’s return encounters. Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League campaign, however, got off to a frustrating start as they were beaten 1-0 at mid-table Belgian outfit Gent, while Olympique Lyonnais beat AZ Alkmaar 4-1 away and Fiorentina edged Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0. St Etienne will be totally sick of the sight of Ibrahimovic as the Swede took his tally against the Ligue 1 side to 17 goals in 14 games, having terrorised Les Verts during his four years at Paris St Germain. “Every time I’ve played against St Etienne, with hard work there has been a couple of goals. I’ve scored a couple of goals tonight and hopefully I can do the same next week,” Ibrahimovic told BT Sport. He opened the scoring with a deflected free kick in the first half and added two more — a tap-in and a late penalty — after the break as United quelled the visitors’ early enthusiasm. The match was billed as a battle of the Pogba brothers with younger sibling Paul facing St Etienne’s Florentin for the first time in a competitive encounter. It was the 35-year-old Ibrahimovic who stole the show, however, grabbing his first United hat-trick and taking his tally in a remarkable maiden season at Old Trafford to 23. RICH VEIN Dzeko is in a similarly rich vein of form at Roma, who swatted aside a Villarreal team United swept aside St Etienne 3-0 at Old Trafford and Roma made light work of last year’s semifinalists Villarreal with a 4-0 win in Spain, leaving their sides with little work to do who are in freefall having now won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions. Emerson Palmieri gave Roma the lead after 32 minutes and then Dzeko took over after the break, netting for the seventh straight game to double the lead in the 65th minute before adding two more goals to take his tally for the campaign to 28. Spurs, who have dropped into the competition from the Champions League, were off colour throughout in Belgium and were undone in the second half when journeyman French striker Jeremy Perbet stroked home at the second attempt on the hour. Spurs had arrived looking to restore pride in north London football after Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday but were stifled in a poor performance and were lucky to escape with a one-goal deficit. After Perbet scored, Gent, eighth in the Belgian league, had a golden chance to double their lead but Danijel Milicevic’s effort was tipped onto the post by keeper Hugo Lloris. Gladbach came into their encounter with Fiorentina on a hot streak having won their last four games and they dominated possession and made several chances against the Italians. The Serie A side were resilient at the back, however, and grabbed the only goal when Federico Bernardeschi fired home a fine free kick in the dying seconds of the first half. Lyon will take a commanding lead into their second leg against AZ Alkmaar after teenager Lucas Tousart scored his first senior goal and Jordan Ferri rounded off the scoring in stoppage time either side of Alexandre Lacazette’s double. Alireza Jahanbakhsh had reduced the deficit for AZ with a 68th-minute penalty. Schalke 04’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted his 50th European goal to round off a 3-0 win at PAOK Salonika while Anderlecht overcame a sluggish Zenit St Petersburg, playing their first competitive game in 10 weeks, to win 2-0 in Belgium. — Reuters Arsenal boss Wenger says future will be settled soon Fifa boss unworried about Russia 2018 hooligans LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his future would probably be decided “in March or April” as he pondered whether to take up the offer of a contract extension or leave the club he has managed for 20 years at the end of the season. The Frenchman was speaking to German television station ZDF before Arsenal’s 5-1 Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but details of the interview emerged only on Thursday as speculation intensified about Wenger’s intention. Asked when he would decide whether to continue next season, he said: “March, April probably.” Separately, the BBC reported, without sources, on Thursday that his future would be determined at the end of the season, when his existing deal expires. The 67-year-old Frenchman was stunned almost into silence after Wednesday’s game, answering just three questions in a press conference that lasted under three minutes. Wenger is due to speak publicly again on Friday, by which time he will have had time not only to digest the 5-1 defeat but also the hostile reaction from pundits and former Arsenal players who lined up to predict his demise when his contract expires this summer. Such is Wenger’s standing at the club, he will effectively decide his Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin (left) and manager Arsene Wenger (right) speak together during the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen match against Bayern Munich in Munich. — AFP own fate. British media reported that a new two-year deal had been offered but Arsenal legends Lee Dixon, Ian Wright and Bob Wilson all said they felt Wenger might decide to walk away. “I doubt he will sleep very much between now and a horrible (FA Cup) game on an artificial pitch at Sutton on Monday night,” said Wilson. “He might say enough is enough.” Critics were quick to point out that Wenger’s explanation for the Munich mauling — that his players were “jaded and lacking organisation” — reflected his own managerial shortcomings, and almost mirrored his remarks the last time his side were thumped, also 5-1, by the same opponents 18 months earlier. The only support seemed to come from Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti. “This is football,” he said. “I think Arsene has a lot of experience, the experience to manage this moment, this result and look forward to the next game. It’s only one game.” The trouble is, it isn’t. Six successive eliminations at the same stage of the knockout phase do not suggest coincidence and a tactically disjointed Arsenal side I doubt he will sleep very much between now and a horrible (FA Cup) game on an artificial pitch at Sutton on Monday night BOB WILSON Arsenal legend were well beaten by opponents below their best. Arsenal’s two biggest stars Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, underperformed in wildly contrasting fashion and did little to suggest either is worth the enhanced new contracts they seek. While Ozil was anonymous, confirming the critical view that he goes missing in the big games, Sanchez got visibly agitated in chasing the ball, often on his own. NON-LEAGUE CHALLENGE It was unclear whether his solo defiance accorded to a game plan that he had just invented, or one put in place by Wenger which his teammates were ignoring. Either way, it did not reflect well on the manager at the heart of it all. — Reuters Fifa president Gianni Infantino (centre) cuts the ribbon as part of a ceremony to open the national football academy in Yangon. The opening is part of a push to reinvigorate grassroots football in Myanmar. — AFP DOHA: Fifa president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday he was not worried about hooliganism at next year’s Russia World Cup, amid growing fears the tournament could be blighted by fan violence. Speaking in Qatar following a Fifa executive summit meeting, Infantino also said that football’s governing body has not asked Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko to resign as the tournament’s chief organiser. “I am not concerned about trouble and violence in 2018,” Infantino told AFP and a small group of reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. “I have full confidence in the Russian authorities, they are taking this matter very, very seriously.” He added that Russian organisers had been in touch with Fifa, UEFA and the organisers of Euro 2016 in France, where Russian and English fans clashed in bloody street battles, especially in Marseille, leading to the expulsion of several Russians. He added that Russia was a “welcoming country, which wants to celebrate football”. Infantino’s comments came ahead of the broadcast of a television documentary in Britain on Thursday in which Russian hardline fans are said to threaten trouble against English fans who go to the World Cup. Hardline hooligans warned that the 2018 World Cup would be a “festival of violence”. — AFP
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Page 3 and 4: ENTERTAINMENT 3 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY
Page 5 and 6: LEISURE 5 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l
Page 7 and 8: ASIA 7 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 201
Page 9 and 10: ANALYSIS SS 9 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 1
Page 11 and 12: WORLD 11 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2
Page 13 and 14: AMERICAS 13 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18
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Page 17: FOOTBALL 17 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18

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