Sports44 FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 Ferrari under no illusions about task ahead

LONDON: Despite winning two out of 10 races so far, Ferrari have no illusions about how tough it will be to match Mercedes when they return for the second half of the Formula One season after the August break. The Italian team, who failed to win a race last season for the first time since 1993, go into the factory shutdown on a high after Sebastian Vettel’s victory in Hungary last weekend. That was the German’s second win since he moved to Maranello from Red Bull and left the four times champion 42 points adrift of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and 21 behind the Briton’s team mate Nico Rosberg. With 25 points for a win, any failure to score by the leaders could throw Vettel more into the mix-reviving memories of his 2010 season when the only time he led the championship was after the final race. Vettel said in Hungary that Ferrari would “try to make the impossible possible” in the remaining races but team bosses still played down the chances of reeling in their rivals. “The season as a whole, I think we can be happy that we’ve demon- strated that we’ve stepped up from last year,” said technical director James Allison. “But there’s an awful lot more for us to do as a team before we can feel that we are really showing a Ferrari that everyone can be completely proud of. “We’ve said throughout, our car isn’t good enough to challenge for any sort of championship this year,” added the Briton. “We will do our best to get more and more competitive race by race but you have to be realistic about where we are working from.” Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, speaking to reporters after the race, agreed that Mercedes-winners of the other eight grands prix-remained in a class of their own even if nei- ther Hamilton or Rosberg were on the podium in Hungary. “Mercedes is strong everywhere. We expect to have good races, bad races,” he said. “At the beginning of the season (the gap) was quite big then we were able to nearly catch up, we continued our development, but they also developed their cars so they fly away again. “I think the story of this season is DHAKA: South Africa cricketer Dale Steyn (2nd left) celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of Bangladesh bats- going to be that one. They are the strongest team, I recognize man Mohammad Mahmudullah (unseen) during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and that, sometimes we are able to catch up...but sometimes they South Africa at The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka yesterday. — AFP fly away.”—Reuters Swimming - Schooling Steyn, Duminy put South flying the flag for the small ponds Africa on top in 2nd Test DHAKA: Dale Steyn claimed his 400th ing 35. Rahim had been looking solid SINGAPORE: As the biggest fish in one of world swimming’s small- Test scalp as he shared six wickets with Success after lunch until occasional left-arm spinner Elgar est ponds, Singapore’s Joseph Schooling has set his sights on mak- JP Duminy, giving South Africa the edge Duminy struck twice in successive spun one sharply to take his glove and ing a huge splash on the global stage for his tiny Southeast Asian yesterday on the first day of the second overs following lunch after Mominul the ball carried to wicketkeeper Dane nation. Singapore has never won a swimming medal at the and final Test against Bangladesh in Haque and Imrul Kayes had helped Vilas. Olympics or world championships but the 20-year-old is the coun- Dhaka. Paceman Steyn claimed 3-30 Bangladesh stage something of a recov- Elgar then pouched Liton Das at try’s best prospect to do so in years. Schooling won a silver medal in while off-spinner Duminy took 3-27, as a ery from the early loss of Tamim. short midwicket as Duminy claimed his the 100 meters butterfly at last year’s Commonwealth Games in mini collapse in the final session restrict- Duminy forced an edge from Mominul third wicket. Shakib Al Hasan edged Scotland when he finished just behind South Africa’s Olympic ed Bangladesh to 246-8 at stumps. for 40, ending the batsman’s 69-run sec- Morne Morkel to Elgar at gully for 35 champion Chad le Clos. A few months later he became the first Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim scored the ond wicket stand with Kayes.Kayes fol- before Steyn bowled Mohammad Singaporean man in 32 years to win a gold medal in swimming at lone half-century for Bangladesh and lowed Mominul, who hit six fours off 87 Shahid in the last ball of the day to com- the Asian Games, beating the best from the region’s superpowers made a 94-run partnership with balls, when Duminy struck in his next plete Bangladesh’s misery. South Africa China and Japan. Earlier this year, he completely dominated the Mahmudullah for the fourth wicket after over, trapping the left-hander leg- handed wicketkeeper-batsman Vilas a Southeast Asian Games in his homeland, winning gold medals in he won the toss and elected to bat. before for 30. Test debut in the match, replacing each of the nine events he entered to climb up the world rankings. Rahim hit 65 off 125 balls, his 15th Test Mahmudullah was given out leg- Quinton de Kock. The 30-year-old He was able to dominate despite not having fully tapered for the fifty and first in 12 innings as before on 18 off Steyn but the decision became South Africa’s sixth new cap in meet and embarking on a gruelling schedule that he has no inten- Bangladesh made slow progress before was overturned on review as a replay the last 18 months. Bangladesh brought tions of trying to match at the world championships in Kazan, South Africa took control of the game in showed a big inside edge. Steyn later back Nasir in place of left-arm spinner Russia. “For Joseph to come in, not fully rested and make a state- the final session at the Sher-e-Bangla broke his partnership with Rahim as the Taijul Islam. The first Test ended in a ment like that, I take my hat off to him,” Singapore’s new national National Stadium. Steyn struck early in right-hander flicked a catch to Temba draw after rain washed out the last two head coach Sergio Lopez said. “But for Joseph, being the best in the day making opener Tamim Iqbal his Bavuma at short midwicket after reach- days in Chittagong. —AFP Southeast Asia is not his goal. He wants to win a medal at the world 400th Test scalp. championships and the Olympics.” The 32-year-old Steyn almost reached the landmark in his second over SCOREBOARD ‘Looking for leaders’ of the day but Dean Elgar dropped Lopez knows what it takes to get to the top, winning medals for Tamim at second slip. Skipper Hashim DHAKA: Scoreboard at stumps on the opening day of the second Test between Spain at the Olympics, world and European championships before Amla made no mistake in Steyn’s next Bangladesh and South Africa in Dhaka yesterday: hanging up his goggles and switching to coaching. He coached over when he took a chest-high catch at Schooling in Florida for five years when the Singaporean first first slip. Shaun Pollock is the only other Bangladesh 1st innings: Extras (b5, lb11, nb2) 18 moved to the United States to train with the best and remains in South African to pass the 400-mark, tak- Tamim Iqbal c Amla b Steyn 6 Total (for eight wickets; 88.1 overs) 246 close contact with him. Schooling now studies and trains in Texas ing 421 wickets before retiring in 2008. Imrul Kayes lbw b Duminy 30 To bat: Mustafizur Rahman and Jubair Hossain while Lopez has taken on a new role in charge of the Singaporean Steyn, who is playing his 80th Test, Mominul Haque c Vilas b Duminy 40 Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Tamim), 2-81 (Mominul), national team, a job he took partly because he was impressed by became the 13th cricketer to take 400 or Mahmudullah Riyad c Bavuma b Steyn 35 3-86 (Kayes), 4-180 (Mahmudullah), 5-215 what he saw in Schooling. “We’re a small country, five million peo- more wickets in Test matches. He is one Mushfiqur Rahim c Vials b Elgar 65 (Rahim), 6-220 (Das), 7-245 (Shakib), 8-246 ple, but if we work together we can be one of the best small coun- of only three currently active cricketers Shakib Al Hasan c Elgar b Morkel 35 (Shahid) tries in the world,” he said. “The kids in Singapore are really hungry to achieve the feat, joining India spinner Liton Das c Elgar b Duminy 3 Bowling: Steyn 16.1-4-30-3, Philander 11-2-25-0 to be good. Everyone knows they excel at school and now that Harbhajan Singh and England paceman Nasir Hossain not out 13 (nb2), Morkel 14-2-45-1, Harmer 23-3-76-0, van have a chance to be excellent in something they are passionate James Anderson. Mohammad Shahid b Steyn 1 Zyl 2-1-5-0, Elgar 7-0-22-1, Duminy 15-4-27-3. about.—Reuters