TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014 SPORTS Magic snap losing streak

ORLANDO: Arron Afflalo had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Tobias Harris added 18 points as the Orlando Magic snapped a sea- son-high 10-game losing streak with a 93-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. After several ties in the fourth quarter, Harris hit a pair of free throws with 10.1 sec- onds remaining to give Orlando the victory. The win also ends 10-game reg- ular-season losing streak to the Celtics. Glen Davis added 17 points and Jameer Nelson 16 for Orlando. Boston has lost nine straight games on the road and 11 of 12 overall. Jeff Green led the Celtics with SHARJAH: Sri Lankan team Angelo Mathews (right) and ’s 22 points, and Avery Bradley and captain Misbah-ul-Haq (left) hold the series’ trophy at the Sharjah International Kris Humphries added 18 apiece. Cricket Stadium during the final day of their third and final cricket Test match. —AFP Rajon Rondo had six points and four assists in his second game Ali helps Pakistan to back from a torn ACL. SUNS 117, NUGGETS 103 Channing Frye scored a season- series-levelling win high 30 points before sitting out the final 91/2 minutes to watch SHARJAH: Azhar Ali hit a brilliant hundred as With the series tied, Pakistan also Phoenix wrap up its romp over Pakistan pulled off a thrilling win in the third remained unbeaten in five series in the Denver. Frye, who missed all of last and final Test against in Sharjah yes- United Arab Emirates, which has become season for treatment of an terday, levelling the series 1-1. their home since security fears-sparked in the enlarged heart, made 12 of 16 Set a daunting 302 to win in a possible 59 wake of attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in shots, 5 of 7 3-pointers, to fall three overs, Pakistan owed their successful chase to Lahore in 2009 — forced them to play at neu- points shy of his career high. Ali’s fifth Test century (103) as he and Misbah- tral venues. Markieff Morris scored 16 and Goran Dragic 15 for the Suns, who ul-Haq shared a 109-run stand for the fifth They twice drew series with South Africa ORLANDO: Boston Celtics’ Kris Humphries (left) blocks a shot by Orlando Magic’s Arron Afflalo (4) as Gerald never trailed and improved to 3-0 . (2010 and 2013) and beat Sri Lanka (2011) Wallace (45) looks on during the first half of an NBA game. —AP Misbah, who finished with 68 , hit and (2012). Misbah said Pakistan against Denver this season with the winning single with nine balls to spare in desperately wanted the win. one game to play. Young scored 14 points in the Patrick Patterson 17 for Toronto, added 11 points in fading light. Ali, ironically dropped for the “That was really a much wanted win. We Anthony Randolph scored a sea- fourth quarter as the Lakers over- which had won six straight at 21 minutes for San Antonio. first two Tests, hit paceman Suranga Lakmal wanted the win it for our coach Dav son-best 19 for the Nuggets, who came a 19-point first-half deficit. home. Brandon Knight scored 21 for a boundary, then twice took two to reach Whatmore and wanted to give him a winning have lost four of five and were They won back-to-back games for points, Giannis Antetokounmpo his hundred off 133 balls. He hit six bound- farewell,” said Misbah of the team coach who without guard Randy Foye because the first time since beating SPURS 110, BUCKS 82 added 11 points and John Henson aries before falling caught behind with just ends his two-year tenure with this match. of a stomach virus. Evan Fournier, Memphis on Dec. 17 and had 20 points and had 10 points and 11 rebounds for seven still needed to win. Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews and Wilson Chandler Minnesota on Dec. 20. Ryan Kelly had 11 points and 13 Milwaukee, which has lost nine Pakistan’s chances seemed to have faded regretted batting failure. “We dominated for added 17 points apiece for Denver. scored 17 in his first career start rebounds in limited action as San straight. away at 107-3 at tea, as they needed 195 in three-and-a-half days but unfortunately and Kendall Marshall had 10 Antonio kept Milwaukee winless San Antonio was without the last 35 overs. But Ali upped the tempo could not score big in the second innings and THUNDER 108, KINGS 93 points and 11 assists. The Lakers in the new year. starters and Tiago during a rapid 89-run partnership in 14.5 lost,” said Mathews, declared man-of-the- Kevin Durant scored 30 points are 16-25 at the season’s mid- scored 14 Splitter, former starter Danny overs with Sarfraz Ahmed (48) which left Sri series for his 412 runs in three Tests. to lead Oklahoma City past point. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Jeff Ayres and Nando De Green and 3-point specialist Matt Lanka on the defensive. Earlier, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 214 Sacramento. Durant, coming off a points, Kyle Lowry had 21 and Colo had 13 points apiece, and Bonner. —AP Even when Sarfraz was out, caught behind in their second innings, with left-arm spinner career-high 54 points Friday off paceman Shaminda Eranga, Pakistan Abdul Rehman finishing with 4-56 and off- against Golden State, shot 10 for needed 116. Sarfraz hit four boundaries and a spinner Saeed Ajmal taking 3-53, but not 15 from the field and had nine NBAresults/standings six off 46 balls. before their batsmen had kept Pakistan at assists. He scored at least 30 points But Misbah supported Ali as Pakistan bay on the morning of the fifth and final day. for the seventh straight game. LA Lakers 112, Toronto 106; Orlando 93, Boston 91; Oklahoma City 108, Sacramento 93; San Antonio 110, Milwaukee 82; Phoenix achieved their second best chase in all Test On an exciting day when both teams had Serge Ibaka added 20 points 117, Denver 103. cricket, behind the 314 they chased against a chance of victory, Mathews (31) and and Reggie Jackson had 16 for the Eastern Conference Western Conference Australia in in 1994. Sri Lanka had Prasanna Jayawardene (49) shared a 62-run Thunder, who won their third Atlantic Division Northwest Division won the second Test in Dubai by nine stand for the sixth wicket and batted positive- straight. Isaiah Thomas scored a W L PCT GB Portland 31 9 .775 - while the first Test ended in a draw in Abu ly to add 56 in the first hour after the tourists career-high 38 points for the Kings, Toronto 20 19 .513 - Oklahoma City 31 10 .756 0.5 Dhabi. resumed at 133-5. but he slowed in the second half as Brooklyn 16 22 .421 3.5 Denver 20 20 .500 11 Pakistan had lost (21), But Mohammad Talha gave Pakistan their the Thunder pulled away. NY Knicks 15 25 .375 5.5 Minnesota 19 21 .475 12 Boston 14 28 .333 7.5 DeMarcus Cousins added 16 Utah 14 28 .333 18 Khurram Manzoor (21) and Younis Khan (29) much-needed breakthrough when he had Philadelphia 13 27 .325 7.5 Pacific Division as they were derailed in their chase. Mathews caught off a miscued hook. Rehman points and 14 rebounds for Central Division Needing to score at a rate of more than then grabbed two quick wickets to put the Sacramento. Rudy Gay scored just Indiana 32 7 .821 - LA Clippers 28 14 .667 - five an over to win, Pakistan were given a rap- brakes on Sri Lanka, having Dilruwan Perera six points for the Kings and was Chicago 19 20 .487 13 Golden State 26 16 .619 2 id 35-run start by the sixth over but paceman caught at short-leg for eight before removing ejected after picking up two tech- Detroit 17 23 .425 15.5 Phoenix 23 17 .575 4 Suranga Lakmal (3-79) halted that progress Rangana Herath for a first-ball duck. Herath nical fouls in the fourth quarter. Cleveland 15 25 .375 17.5 LA Lakers 16 25 .390 11.5 by dismissing openers Shehzad and Manzoor recorded a golden pair in the match as he Milwaukee 7 33 .175 25.5 Sacramento 14 25 .359 12.5 within 13 runs. was also dismissed first ball in the first LAKERS 112, RAPTORS 106 Southeast Division Southwest Division Younis Khan tried to increase the pace innings. Prasanna hit six boundaries in his Nick Young returned from sus- Miami 29 11 .725 - San Antonio 32 9 .780 - pension to score 29 points and Atlanta 20 19 .513 8.5 Houston 27 15 .643 5.5 before being caught off Angelo Mathews two 88-ball knock before he was dismissed by Washington 19 20 .487 9.5 overs before tea, but the scenario changed in Ajmal, who also removed Shaminda Eranga Pau Gasol had 22 as Los Angeles Dallas 24 18 .571 8.5 Charlotte 17 25 .405 13 Memphis 20 19 .513 11 the last session. to wrap up the innings. —AFP beat Toronto for just its third win Orlando 11 30 .268 18.5 in 15 games. New Orleans 15 24 .385 16 SCOREBOARD

Scoreboard at the end of the third and final test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Sharjah yesterday. Sri Lanka first innings 428-9 dec (nb-2m w-1), Rehman 33-10-56-4, Ajmal 25.4-7- Ledecky wins 800m freestyle Pakistan first innings 341 53-3. Sri Lanka second innings (Overnight 133-5) D. Karunaratne b Talha 8 Pakistan second innings: AUSTIN: Olympian Katie Ledecky won the so I swam it tonight as a challenge, just for 15:19.09. In the 100 backstroke, reigning K. Silva b Rehman 36 Khurram Manzoor c Jayawardene b Lakmal 21 800-meter freestyle at the Austin Grand Prix something fun and different to do. I’m not Olympic champion Matt Grevers won in K. Sangakkara c Manzoor b Rehman 8 Ahmed Shehzad c Karunaratne b Lakmal 21 on Sunday about 10 minutes after she swam sure I’d ever do it again, but in January, 53.72. Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia was sec- M. Jayawardene c Azhar b Ajmal 46 Azhar Ali c P Jayawardene b Lakmal 103 in another event. there’s nothing to lose.” ond and Ryan Murphy was third. D. Chandimal b Talha 13 Younis Khan c Sangakkara b Mathews 29 Ledecky rallied to beat Danish Olympian Olympian Jessica Hardy won the 100 In other races, Caitlin Leverenz led all the A. Mathews c Manzoor b Talha 31 Sarfraz Ahmed c P. Jayawardene b Eranga 48 P. Jayawardene c Azhar b Ajmal 49 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 68 Lotte Friis by more than a body length in 8 breaststroke by about a body-length, hold- way to win the 200 individual medley; D. Perera c Azhar b Rehman 8 Asad Shafiq not out 1 minutes, 26.70 seconds. Friis, who led the ing off Laura Sogar over the final 10 meters Olympian Conor Dwyer won the men’s 200 R. Herath c Younus b Rehman 0 Extras (b-6, lb-1, w-3, nb-1) 11 first 600 meters, took second in 8:28.65. with a time of 1:07.05. Sogar was second in IM; Canadian Audrey LaCroix won the 200 S. Eranga c Rehman b Ajmal 3 Total (five wickets; 57.3 overs) 302 Savannah King was third at 8:39.87. Ledecky 1:07.76. Katie Meili was third. butterfly; Ross Murdoch of Britain won his S. Lakmal not out 2 Did not bat: Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Abdur finished fourth in the 200 individual medley Olympic champion Yannick Agnel of second event of the meet, taking the 100 Extras (b-2, lb-4, w-2, nb-2) 10 Rehman, Mohammad Talha shortly before she stepped on the blocks for France won his third event, taking the 1,500 breast; Canadian Hillary Caldwell completed Total (all out; 101.4 overs) 214 Fall of wickets: 1-35 2-48 3-97 4-186 5-295. Fall of wicket: 1-13 2-37 3-66 4-89 5-127 6-189 7- : Lakmal 12-0-79-3, Eranga 15.3-0-68-1 the 800 at the University of Texas. freestyle in 15:07.76. Michael McBroom was a sweep of the backstroke events with a win 203 8-203 9-209 (nb-1, w-1), Herath 19-0-100-0 (w-2), Mathews 11- “I swam the 200 IM this morning just for second in 15:16.72. Ous Mellouli of Tunisia, in the 100; Tom Luchsinger won the 200 but- Bowling: Junaid 20-6-34-0 (w-1), Talha 23-2-65-3 0-48-1. Series drawn 1-1. fun,” she said. “I swam it, and did pretty well, the 2008 Olympic champion, was third in terfly. —AP AUB, KFH and Boubyan Bank advance KBBC League inaugurated KUWAIT: In a glittering ceremony flanked Kuwait International Bank are participating designed Sulaibiya cricket ground. two wickets each for 20 & 16 runs respec- by many cricket lovers, Mahmoud Bastaki, in this prestigious tournament. In the inaugural match of the Kuwait tively. Despite the heavy outfield, Andrew Vice Chairman of Kuwait Banks Club, along The function was also graced by the Banks Club league 2014, both the teams Pinho, opening the batting for NBK with Asad Baig, Director General, Kuwait presence of other Directors of Kuwait locked horns and AUB holding their cracked a cameo 25 runs to put 42 runs on Cricket and members of Kuwait Cricket Cricket, Sudhakar Shetty, Technical Affairs nerves, lived up to their reputation of board along with Sarfaraz which gave NBK Executive Committee, officially inaugurat- Director, Riaz Choudhary, KCUP Director, being one of the top teams as they a flying start. Andrew was soon bowled by ed the Kuwait Banks Club League 2014 Mehboob Khan, Women’s Cricket Director, notched up a narrow 7 runs victory over a snorter from Nabeel and Dinesh sent cricket tournament by cutting a cake. Murali Kutticode, Director Junior and their arch rivals NBK. The clash of the titans back Ronald to the pavilion. As soon as the The KBC league has been exclusively Corporate Cricket, Deputy Directors Taher was witnessed by a large gathering of openers finished their spell, Mahmood designed for bank teams affiliated to Khan, Amanulah Palekar, Mohammed cricket lovers and members of the Kuwait Bastaki, the captain of AUB quickly Kuwait Banks Club and a total number of 8 Naeem Jaan and members of Kuwait National women’s team along with the imposed himself on and soon got rid of bank teams to the likes of Ahli United National women team. officials of Kuwait Cricket. Ian. Flighting the ball & maintaining accu- Bank, National Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait Ahli United Bank (AUB) & National Bank Winning a potentially valuable toss, rate line & length, Mahmoud lured the well KBC Trophy inauguration ceremony Finance House, Burgan Bank, Gulf Bank, of Kuwait (NBK) were the proud outfits to AUB skipper Mahmood Bastaki elected to settled Sarfaraz who was beaten in the air Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Boubyan Bank & have had the opportunity to use the newly bat first and soon lost their opener Dinesh only to be by Srikumar for a Arif who took 2-12 & 2-10 respectively to runs which enabled Boubyan to reach 161 caught in front of the wicket. Jagath dashing 25 runs. skittle the ABK line up. Abdulla of KFH was runs in 20 overs. Burgan skipper Ejaz, prob- Roshantha & Ghayoor Ahmed played sen- On a slower track, the spinners were declared Player of the match which was ably one of the senior most cricketer play- sible cricket by nudging singles & doubles more effective and Dinesh, Mahmoud & presented to him by Sameer Desai, ing in the bank league stamped his class and the pair put on 36 runs for the second Abdul Rashid ran through the NBK innings Director Coaching panel. Irfan of ABK with an outstanding spell with the ball, wicket. which folded to 128 runs. Ghayoor bowled his heart out to bag two wickets capturing 3-42 as Manohar 2-20 & Dilip 2- The stylish Ghayoor using his feet to Ahmed was rightly declared “Player of the for 18 runs. 29 bowled well too. the pitch of the deliveries soon settled to match for his excellent knock. In the late afternoon match, the new Chasing 162 to win the match, Burgan counter the NBK attack as he flicked, drove In the second match, Kuwait Finance look Boubyan Bank, flanked with the addi- were unable to master the bowling skills of and square cut with precise timing to play House, (KFH) last year’s Champions, began tion of a couple of youngsters, cracked a Hisham & Mazhar and were skittled out for a match winning knock of 68 runs which their hunt with a convincing 7 wickets win dashing 81 runs victory over Burgan Bank. 80 runs. Arther (19 runs) and Dilip (20 runs) had five well timed boundaries. Sajid pro- over Ahli Bank of Kuwait. Riding on a Batting first, Boubyan bank scored 161 were the only batsmen who countered the vided the much needed support to swashbuckling innings of 53 in just 33 ball runs, thanks to some enterprising batting Boubyan attack. Hisham bagged 3-12, Ghayoor by scoring a quick-fire 19 runs. by opener Abdulla, KFH completed the from opener Aamer who clouted 4 huge while Mazhar & Abdul Raheem chipped in The NBK unit had sufficient variety in proceedings in the 9th over by reaching sixes to score 47 runs in just 23 balls. with 2 wickets each. Hisham Mirza for his their as well as spin depart- the target of 70 runs. Earlier, ABK, winning Thereafter, Hisham Mirza and skipper all-round skills was presented with the ment and the balls variable movement, the toss & elected to bat first and were dis- Boubyan skipper Faraz carried the player of the match award. steady bowling and brilliant fielding missed for 69 runs. KFH captain Faraz him- onslaught with aggression and confidence All the matches were officiated by restricted the AUB total to 136 in 20 overs. self being the chief wicket taker (3-16) and as they scored freely on a dry and cracking Kuwait Umpires panel who did an out- Binu Mathew was the most successful extending the bowling options which surface. Hisham contributed a stylish 37 standing job and the scores were available KFH and ABK teams. bowler with 3-32 while Jalal & Kiran took enabled him to use Nizar & Mohammed runs while Faraaz scored a valuable 23 online throughout the day.