MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2019 16 Japan enter last 16 , United Arab under minimal contact from Asian Cup Emirates Oman Ahmed Al-Ma- haijri. Group E enki Haraguchi smashed Oman had extra reason to feel Qatar 6 0 North Korea home a controversial aggrieved when their own pen- Group F penalty as former cham- alty claims were waved away G Japan 1 0 Oman pions Japan scraped a 1-0 win just before half-time after Yuto over Oman to book their place Nagatomo looked to have han- Uzbekistan 4 0 Turkmenistan in the last 16 of the Asian Cup on dled a Salaah Al-Yahyaei drive. *Scores as of closing yesterday. Japan reached the knock- Earlier, Almoez Ali plun - out stages of last year’s arrival of Tottenham forward the fourth player to score four dered four goals for Qatar as World Cup but they squeaked Son Heung-min. goals in one game. the 2022 World Cup hosts hit past Turkmenistan 3-2 in their Qatar, who beat Lebanon 2-0 North Korea for six to progress opening Group F game and Sound of silence in their opening game, top the from Group E. were poor against Oman, who Qatar’s 6-0 romp over North group on goal difference from Japan, who have scooped almost equalised when Raed Korea was played in an almost three-time champions Saudi Asian football’s biggest prize Saleh’s acrobatic late volley eery silence in front of barely Arabia. on four occasions, enjoyed their flashed wide. 300 spectators in Al Ain. North Korea have failed to share of good fortune against But the Japanese remain un- The long-running blockade find the net once and conced- Oman in Abu Dhabi. beaten in seven matches since of Qatar by Gulf neighbours ed 10 times in a pair of per - Haraguchi clipped the cross- took charge who accuse Doha of support- formances that will not please bar after just two minutes be- after the World Cup and have ing terrorism largely pro - Pyongyang. fore fluffed now lost just one of their last 30 hibits Qataris from entering The Saudis have also sealed a handful of golden opportu- games at the Asian Cup, exclud- the UAE. their place in the knockout nities. ing penalty shootouts. Ali nonetheless took his tal- stage from Group E after two That profligacy almost came Japan are seeking to make ly to a tournament-high five straight wins. back to haunt the Blue Samurai up for their Asian Cup flop four goals with two in each half, Uzbekistan were playing as Oman flooded forward and years ago when they lost on completing the tournament’s Turkmenistan in a clash of for- Muhsen Al-Ghassani shaved penalties to the United Arab first hat-trick by coolly dinking mer Soviet republics in Dubai the post from an acute angle. Emirates in the quarter-finals. the ball over goalkeeper Kim later on Sunday. But Haraguchi settled Japan’s But they will need to find an- Myong Guk 10 minutes after Japan will take on either Sau- nerves in the 28th minute, con- other gear if they are to threat- the interval. di Arabia or Qatar after qual- verting from the spot after he en Iran, who are purring, and a His salvo equalled an ifying for the knockout stage Japan’s defender (L) heads the ball during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group F had appeared to go down easily South Korea side boosted by the Asian Cup record as he became for the eighth consecutive time. football match between Oman and Japan at in Abu Dhabi De Kock, Steyn put S. Africa on course , . Both batsmen looked southern, Corlett Drive end comfortable on a pitch which for the first time in the match, by Quinton de played easier on Sunday than he had Imam caught behind AKock and a double strike the first two days. for 35 with a superb by kept South Af- But a change of ends which moved away from the rica on course to complete a brought immediate results batsman just enough to find series clean sweep on the third for Steyn. from the the edge. day of the third and final Test Four overs later Steyn against at the Wan- South Africa, first innings, 262 claimed the wicket of Masood derers Stadium yesterday. Pakistan, first innings, 185 after umpire Joel Wilson orig- Set to make a daunting 381 South Africa, second innings 303 inally gave him . A suc- to win, Pakistan were 153 for Pakistan, second innings cessful review by South Africa three at the close, needing an- Imam c De Kock b Steyn 35 showed a faint inside edge onto other 228 runs. c De Kock b Steyn 37 Masood’s thigh pad before the De Kock made an imperious c De Kock b Olivier 15 ball carried through to wicket- 129, equalling his highest Test not out 48 keeper De Kock.       score, before South Africa were not out 17 Duanne Olivier dismissed        out for 303. Extras (lb1) 1 Azhar Ali for the fourth time Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Total (3 wkts, 40 overs) 153 in the series when the batsman Masood got Pakistan off to Match situation: Pakistan need gloved a to De Kock. their best start of the series, 228 runs to win with seven Asad Shafiq (48 not out) and putting on 67 for the first remaining Babar Azam (17 not out) saw Pakistan through to the close with an unbeaten stand of 49. De Kock and were mainly responsible for South Africa posting a target likely to be beyond Pakistan’s reach. They came together on Saturday when their side were 93 for five, at which stage their lead was a modest 170. Shadab finished with three for 41 while medium-pacer Fa- heem Ashraf took three for 42. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed set a record for a Pakistan wicket- keeper by taking five catches in each innings. His total of ten dismissals in the match was one better than the record pre- viously shared by and . Pakistan only made one to- tal over 200 in their first five innings in the series and had not batted for longer than 70.4 overs. Steyn’s two wickets took his total in Tests to 433, bringing him level with ’s Ran- gana Herath and South African batsman (R) celebrates his century (100 runs) of England in joint eighth place during the third day of the third Cricket Test match between South Africa on the all-time Test wicket-tak- and Pakistan at Wanderers cricket stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa ers list.