THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 15

Pakistan fight back Lakmal keeps Sri after Olivier takes six Lanka on top Southee, Lakmal heroics leave New Zealand-Sri Lanka Test evenly poised

Southee helps New Zealand first J. Raval c Chandimal b Lakmal 6 • Pakistan’s Imam Ul-Haq is trapped LBW from the bowling of South Africa’s New Zealand hit back T. Latham c Mendis b Lakmal 10 Kagiso Rabada (unseen) on 14- day K. Williamson c Dickwella b Lakmal 2 R. Taylor run out (Kumara) 27 AFP | Centurion, South Africa Sri Lanka trail by H. Nicholls b Lakmal 1 90• runs with 6 B. Watling c Perera b Kumara 46 C. de Grandhomme c Chameera b akistan fought back after remaining in the innings Kumara 1 Pbeing bowled out for 181 as T. Southee c Gunathilaka b Perera 68 bowlers dominated on the first KNOW WHAT AFP | Christchurch, New Zealand N. Wagner c Mendis b Lakmal 0 day of the first Test against A. Patel c Lakmal b Kumara 2 South Africa at SuperSport uranga Lakmal and Tim T. Boult 1 Park yesterday. Southee vied for early hon- Extras: (b6, lb7, nb1) 14 Duanne Olivier took six for Olivier stole the lime- Sours as 14 wickets fell to Total: (all out, 50 overs) 178 37 as the hosts subjected Paki- light for South Africa on leave the deciding second Test stan to an onslaught of aggres- a day when Dale Steyn between New Zealand and Sri Sri Lanka first innings sive, short-pitched bowling. became South Africa’s Lanka evenly poised on day one D. Karunaratne c William b Southee 7 South Africa struggled in leading all-time wick- in Christchurch yesterday. D. Gunathilaka c Raval b Southee 8 reply, reaching 127 for five at “The first session (today) will D Chandimal c Watling b Southee 6 the close, with left-armers Mo- et-taker be important for both teams,” K. Mendis c Watling b de Grandhomme hammad Amir and Shaheen caught behind off Amir late Southee said at the end of a day 15 Shah Afridi both taking two in the day to leave the match in which he top-scored for New A. Mathews not out 27 wickets. evenly poised. Zealand with 68 and then took R. Silva not out 15 Teenager Afridi struck with three quick Sri Lankan wickets. Extras: (b 5, lb 5) 10 successive deliveries, dismiss- Consistently hostile After Sri Lanka won the toss Total: (for 4 wickets; 32 overs) 88 ing and captain Faf Olivier, effectively South Af- and opted to bowl, Lakmal pro- du Plessis as South Africa lost rica’s fifth-choice fast bowl- duced a career-best five for 54 while Ross Taylor (27) was the three wickets without scoring er, gained his sixth Test cap as New Zealand crumbled and only other home batsman to a run to sink to 43 for four. following injuries to Vernon were all out for 178 in 50 overs. Tom Latham of New Zealand bats during day one of the Second Test match in the score more than 10. Theunis de Bruyn (29) and Philander and Lungi Ngidi. At stumps, Sri Lanka were 88 series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka Southee, at better Temba Bavuma (38 not out) He was consistently hostile, for four in reply with Angelo best of five for 63 against South than a run a ball, hit three sixes seemed to be regaining the especially in a seven-over spell Mathews not out 27 and Roshen First blood Africa two years ago. and six fours in his innings and ascendancy for South Afri- after lunch when he ripped Silva on 15 while Southee had New Zealand knew they were in Southee and BJ Watling (46) brought up the New Zealand ca as they added 69 for the through Pakistan’s middle or- three for 29. for a tough time when they lost offered spirited resistance for hundred with a thunderous fifth wicket but De Bruyn was der, taking three for 17. “I’d say it’s evenly poised,” Sri the toss, with Southee feeling New Zealand with a 108-run stroke which Silva managed to Olivier stole the limelight Lankan bowling coach Rumesh their fortunes improved after stand for the seventh wicket get a hand to but both ball and Pakistan first innings for South Africa on a day when Ratnayake said, as he praised he took 14 off one Lakmal over fielder ended up over the rope. Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Rabada 0 Dale Steyn became South Af- Lakmal’s vital contribution. to put the star Sri Lankan per- After the drawn first Test in Fakhar Zaman c Elgar b Steyn 2 rica’s leading all-time wick- The 31-year-old right-arm former out of the attack. Wellington, New Zealand need Shan Masood b Olivier 19 et-taker. quick rarely gets a chance to “They then changed the to win in Christchurch to secure Azhar Ali c De Bruyn b Olivier 36 Steyn took the second wick- shine in the sub-continent length that had worked so well In the fourth over, a fourth consecutive series win Asad Shafiq lbw b Olivier 7 et of the match, having Fakhar where spinners dominate, but for them and it worked in our Lakmal got the line for the first time. Babar Azam c Du Plessis b Rabada 71 Zaman caught at second slip, the green Hagley Oval wicket favour,” he said. and length spot on Sri Lanka are pushing to end Sarfraz Ahmed b Olivier 0 to claim the South African re- and heavy cloud cover were ripe In a marathon opening ses- and from there he a run of six consecutive Tests Mohammad Amir b Olivier 1 cord with 422 Test scalps but to be exploited. sion, Lakmal bowled unchanged was exceptional. The against New Zealand without Yasir Shah lbw b Rabada 4 had no further success. He was “In the fourth over, he got the for 16 overs as he tore New Zea- a win. Hasan Ali not out 21 punished for 40 runs in four line and length spot on and from land apart with figures at one wicket was conducive They drew first blood by win- Shaheen Afridi c De Kock b Olivier 0 overs in his third spell of the there he was exceptional,” the stage of four for 11. enough for him to do ning the toss and predictably Extras (b7, lb2, w1) 10 day as Babar Azam went on coach said. He returned late in the in - with the ball what he bowled first, giving Lakmal the Total (47 overs) 181 the attack while batting with “The wicket was conducive nings to remove Neil Wagner wanted to opportunity to put his full rep- Match situation: Pakistan are all out the tail. Azam hit 10 of his 15 enough for him to do with the to eclipse his RUMESH RATNAYAKE ertoire on display as he moved for 181 in the first innings fours off Steyn, who finished ball what he wanted to.” previous the ball both ways. with one for 66.

Modric adds Croatian sportsman Ronaldo rescues Juventus after the half-hour mark as the of the year to his Cristiano Ronaldo visitors looked to restore their • advantage, but the Turin giants springs from bench were reduced to 10 men eight 2018 collection to rescue 10-man minutes after half-time when AFP | Zagreb Juventus at Atalanta Rodrigo Bentancur was shown a second yellow card for a poor uka Modric added to his collection of AFP | Milan tackle on Timothy Castagne. Lawards after a successful 2018 when he Colombian striker Zapata was named Croatian sportsman of the year wasted little time in making yesterday. ristiano Ronaldo came off Bentancur pay, bundling in from Sandra Perkovic, five times European cham- Cthe bench to score a late almost on the goalline to put At- pion in discus, won the women’s award. The equaliser as 10-man Juventus alanta ahead and score his ninth football squad, runners-up in the World Cup, salvaged a 2-2 draw at Atalanta league goal of the season. were named Croatian team of the year after a yesterday to move nine points Allegri sent on Ronaldo with vote by 322 journalists. clear of Napoli at the top of Se- Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (C) eyes the ball being centred 25 minutes remaining, and less Modric led his country to the final in Russia in rie A. than 60 seconds after Robin July and played a key role as Real Madrid won a Juventus coach Massimiliano front following Berat Djimsiti’s centre-back Djimsiti completely Gosens wasted a golden oppor- third straight Champions League title in May. Allegri decided to rest Ronaldo own goal. miskicked Alex Sandro’s deflect- tunity to seal victory for Atalan- The midfielder was rewarded with the as the former Real Madrid man Ronaldo’s efforts keep Juven- ed cross into his own net. ta, the Portuguese star pounced Golden Ball for best player at the World Cup, did not start a league game for tus unbeaten in Serie A, ahead of But Zapata put a spanner in to nod home from close range. the Best Men’s Player award by FIFA in Sep- the first time since moving the final game before the win- the Juve works with a fantastic Pressure mounts on Gattuso tember, and the Ballon d’Or as the world’s to Italy, but the 33-year-old ter break against Sampdoria on individual goal midway through Earlier yesterday, AC Milan’s best player at the start of December. was needed to level in the Saturday. the first half, spinning cen - push for a top-four finish in He ended a decade of domination by 78th minute after Duvan Everything appeared to be go- tre-back Leonardo Bonucci with Serie A took a hit as Gennaro Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in Zapata’s dou- ing to plan for Juve when they ease before drilling a left-footed Gattuso’s side were held to an the world player of the year awards. Luka Modric ble had put grabbed the lead in only the strike into the far corner. uneventful 0-0 draw at strug- the hosts in second minute when Atalanta Douglas Costa fired wide just gling Frosinone.