24-08-2020

MOnDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020
9
PSG star Mbappe hungry to make history
with Champions League win
James Anderson appeals successfully for lbw against Pakistan during 3rd Test in Southampton.
Photo: AP
SportS DeSk:
kylian Mbappe said he joined paris
Saint-Germain to make history by
winning the Champions League on the
eve of the final against Bayern Munich,
reports Ap.
pSG - who defeated rB Leipzig in the
last four to reach their first Champions
League final - go head-to-head with
Bundesliga giants Bayern in Lisbon on
Sunday.
Mbappe reached the semi-finals with
Monaco in 2017, before making a bigmoney
move to pSG.
the 21-year-old has looked sharp since
recovering from an ankle injury and is
determined to ensure pSG win the
biggest club competition in europe for
the first time this weekend.
"this is exactly the reason I am here,"
Mbappe told a news conference on
Saturday. "I always said I wanted to write
the history of French football. I have
another opportunity to do that tomorrow.
"When I arrived in 2017, pSG had
difficulties, now we're in the final. It
shows we never gave up and it will be an
amazing thing for a French team to win
the Champions League. It's why I signed.
"I have always dreamed of facing the
best players. You want to face and beat
the best. We need to play as we always do.
We hope to go back to paris with the cup.
It's the biggest club competition.
"obviously it's quite hard to play
behind closed doors. We would have
wanted the fans here but we know they
will be supporting us. It's still a
Champions League final. It is a very
special year."
Mbappe, who says he is in a relaxed
mood ahead of Sunday's showdown, also
confirmed he has fully recovered from the
injury he sustained in the Coupe de
France final last month.
"I feel even better the more days that
pass. I'm good," he said.
"I think the games have helped me
prepare for the final. Munich are a great
team but every team has flaws. We know
they don't like to change the game. We
look forward to playing tomorrow."
thomas tuchel's position as pSG's
coach has been under scrutiny at times
this season, but Mbappe believes the
club's run to the final has validated the
work of the former Borussia Dortmund
boss.
"Yes, of course. Completely, the players
are supporting the coach," Mbappe said
when asked if pSG's squad were behind
tuchel.
"I heard myself, and I know a lot of
people were hearing things about the
coach, about him not being able to
manage the stars.
"Honestly I think he's doing the best
season in the club's season. We are in the
Champions League final. He really
pushed us and we are in a good state of
mind.
"there were some exceptions during
the season, it can happen in every team,
but we really trust him and we will play
for him."
Crawley, Buttler, Anderson
pummel Pakistan
SportS DeSk:
"Don't worry, let him try and go for a
big shot," Mohammad rizwan
announced from behind the stumps.
Asad Shafiq bowled a loopy delivery
and Stuart Broad slogged it for a six. It
was just that kind of a day for pakistan.
By the 153rd over of the innings, there
was little that could've got them to drop
their shoulders any further. Not a
dropped catch. Not the reviews wasted.
Not the overexcited throw of the 12th
man Shadab khan which ended up
hurting rizwan's fingers. Such was the
decimation of the english fifth-wicket
pair - Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler,
reports Cricbuzz.
If they were to sit and analyse the
second day's play, pakistan would
struggle to wonder which session was
the worst of them all? Maybe the first
one, a good part of which was rained
out. that was the reprieve but that was
also the period in which the visitors
failed to bag a wicket. In the second,
even if they managed to dismiss
Crawley, it was not before the No 3 had
registered his double century and
paced away to 267, en route
outsmarting their legside trap, to
which he eventually fell when he
stepped down the track and was
stumped off a delivery bowled wide
outside leg. However, by then, the
damage was done. the last 66 runs
came off only 62 balls, a period in
which he overshadowed Buttler, who
failed to pick up a boundary in the
post-Lunch session. of the more
beautiful shots on display were the
flicks, the reverse sweeps and the pick
ups.
Crawley broke records, reached
milestones and was well on course for
more only if he was to adopt a more
cautious approach. Consciously, and
rather selflessly, he didn't, attempting
to get quick runs for his team. In the
process, he became Shafiq's only third
test victim. And then, there was also
Buttler, playing an able foil - if not
outdoing his partner's brilliance - who
brought up his second test century
Steven Smith speaks to the media at the Sydney airport on Sunday.
early in the day. the 'keeper-bat
registered his highest test score - 152 -
en route a 359-run partnership for the
fifth wicket. He was
uncharacteristically sedate in his
approach but played a handy role in
tiring out the pakistani bowlers with
his seven-plus hours of stay in the
middle. His end was also as anticlimatic
when he chipped the ball
straight to Fawad Alam's part-time
slow left-arm spin.
thereafter, it was just that long
english tail adding to the wounds. A
54-ball 40 for Chris Woakes, a 30-ball
27* for Dom Bess and an 18-ball 15 for
Stuart Broad to power the hosts to 583
(the highest they have scored since
2014) before Joe root declared the
innings. to pakistan's credit, even as
three of their frontline bowlers
conceded more than 100 runs, the
pacers kept running in hard. Behind
the stumps, rizwan urged his captain
to take some fancy reviews and even
hurt himself but remained brilliant in
ball collection.
'Super-fit' Australia ready to hit
ground running in England
SportS DeSk:
Justin Langer said his Australia
squad are super-fit and ready to hit the
ground running ahead of departing
Sunday for a white-ball tour of
england, their first cricket since
March, reports BSS.
the 21-man squad gathered in perth
before taking a direct flight after which
they will face several days of isolation
in Derby due to coronavirus
restrictions.
training will be permitted during
their lockdown and they will play four
inter-squad warm-up games to get
match-ready after nearly six months of
inaction since the pandemic brought
sport to a halt.
they will head to a bio-secure hub in
Southampton for the first of three
twenty20s on September 4 against an
england side who have been back in
action since early July.
three one-day internationals against
the 50-over world champions follow in
Manchester.
Australia are taking a larger-thannormal
squad, partly because they will
not be able to call up anyone into the
touring party under the bio-security
protocols, but also to ensure they have
enough players to field two teams in
warm-up games.
"the reason we're taking 21 is so we
can play some good practice games
over there," said Langer.
"the guys have done plenty of
technical work, they're all super-fit so
when we arrive in england, we get
straight into match practice.
"that's what we've asked the boys to
be ready for, that they can start playing
games and, hopefully, because we've
got 21 very good players coming with
us, we can have some really high
intensity practice games."
Skipper Aaron Finch, who will open
alongside David Warner, with Steve
Smith batting at three followed by
Marnus Labuschagne, said close
attention will be paid to mental health
inside the bio-secure bubble, with a
sports psychologist travelling with the
team.
"that's going to be something that's
going to be a real issue, it's going to be
something to monitor heavily," he said,
with players not allowed out even to go
for a meal.
Finch skippers a squad that includes
three uncapped players in Daniel
Sams, riley Meredith and Josh
philippe, with an eye on the t20 World
Cup next year in India then on home
soil in 2022, ahead of the 50-over
showpiece a year later.
Photo: AP
The forward said opportunities like Sunday's final against Bayern Munich are why he moved to the Ligue
1 giants. Photo: AP
India ready to host
England Tests in
February: Ganguly
SportS DeSk:
India are committed to
hosting england in
February next year ahead
of the 2021 Indian premier
League season, the
country's cricket chief
Sourav Ganguly said,
reports BSS.
england's original whiteball
tour to India in
September-october was a
casualty of the coronavirus
pandemic.
According to the
International cricket
Council's Future tours
programme (Ftp), India
are scheduled to tour
Australia in December and
host england for their last
five world test
championship matches in
early 2021.
Ganguly, president of the
Board of Control for
Cricket in India, said in an
email to state associations:
"the BCCI and the Indian
cricket team will continue
to fulfil its Ftp
commitments.
"the senior Indian men's
team will travel to Australia
for its series starting in
December this year, and
will come back to the
country for a series against
england starting February
next year," Ganguly said in
the letter seen by AFp.
"this will be followed by
IpL 2021 in April (the
normal month for it to
start)."
After many delays, the
13th edition of the IpL, the
world's richest twenty20
tournament, will now start
on September 19 in the
United Arab emirates with
the final on November 10.
Ganguly also confirmed
the BCCI's readiness to
host the 2021 t20 World
Cup, which was originally
scheduled for Australia this
year, and the 50-over
showpiece event in 2023.
Australia will host the
t20 World Cup in 2022.
Murray makes triumphant
start to year at
US Open tuneup
SportS DeSk:
Britain's Andy Murray
made a triumphant Atp
comeback Saturday,
defeating Frances tiafoe
7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-1 in his
first match of 2020 at the
Western and Southern
open, reports BSS.
the 33-year-old
Scotsman advanced in
hot and humid conditions
to a second-round date
with German fifth seed
Alexander Zverev at the
CoVID-19 quarantine
bubble that will also be
used for the US open,
which starts on August 31.
Murray won the 2012
US open as well as the
2013 and 2016
Wimbledon titles plus the
2012 and 2016 olympic
gold medals.
Former world number
one Murray, now ranked
129th, suffered a pelvic
injury at the Davis Cup
last November and that,
combined with the
pandemic shutdown, kept
him out of competition
until he faced 22-year-old
tiafoe in a meeting of
wildcard entrants.
"I thought I moved well
today," Murray said.
"that was probably the
thing I was most happy
with and probably the
thing I was most
apprehensive about going
into the match.
"My tennis could have
been better. I did some
things well at the end, but
I could definitely improve
in terms of my game."
Murray broke tiafoe for
a 2-0 lead in the third set
when the American
missed a volley, broke
again to 5-1 with a
backhand return winner
and held at love to finish
matters after two hours
and 28 minutes.
Murray was the 2008
and 2011 winner in this
Grand Slam tuneup
event, usually staged in
Cincinnati but moved to
New York due to the
CoVID-19 pandemic that
wiped out much of the
season, including
Wimbledon.
He rallied from 2-5
down in the first set
tiebreaker to gain the
upper hand. But tiafoe
gained the first break of
the match for a 5-3 lead in
the second and held to
force a third set.
the match was played
on the National tennis
Center Grandstand court,
the event's feature court
with no matches until the
US open scheduled at
Arthur Ashe Stadium or
Louis Armstrong
Stadium.
With no spectators in
attendance, Murray said
he missed the boost that
fans can provide, and he
had to make a conscious
effort to early in the third
set to energize himself
with fist pumps and the
like. "that helped a bit,"
he said.
Canadian Felix Auger-
Aliassime appeared to be
at a loss as his 6-4, 6-1
victory over Nikoloz
Basilashvili concluded,
with no crowd to cheer or
groan when Basilashvili
buried a forehand in the
net on match point.
"I actually threw a ball
at my coach," said Auger-
Aliassime, who usually
tosses a ball to a fan after
a win.
Auger-Aliassime had
the distinction of being
the first winner on the
Atp tour as it resumed
after a five-month
coronavirus shutdown.
Fellow Canadian Denis
Shapovalov, the 12th
seed, closed out the day's
action with a brisk 6-3, 6-
3 victory over former US
open champion Marin
Cilic.
on the women's side,
20-year-old 16th seed
Dayana Yastremska beat
seven-time Grand Slam
champion Venus williams
5-7, 6-2, 7-5. Facing the
elder Williams sister for
the first time, Yastremska
let a 4-2 first-set lead get
away after twisting her
ankle, but after having it
taped she rallied to win
the next two.
She gained the first
service break in the third
set for a 5-4 lead but was
broken as she served for
the match.
She responded by
breaking Williams to love
then saved three break
points to close out the
victory over the American
star who turned 40 in
June. "I really wanted to
withdraw because of the
pain," Yastremska said.
"But I played against
Venus Williams, so I
really wanted to finish
that match, even with the
pain.
"It wasn't matter for me
I'm going to win or I'm
going to lose, but I have to
give it everything I have,
even with the pain."
Greek 13th seed Maria
Sakkari defeated US teen
Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in 64
minutes. Sakkari could
face 23-time Grand Slam
winner Serena Williams
in the third round.