SUNDAY-MARCH 14, 2021 Sport 05 Afghan MMA fighter Lewis Sean Williams counterattacks after Hamilton knocked out Azerbaijani rival delivers Javed Ahmadi, Rashid Khan strike KABUL: Afghanistan are KABUL: Abdul Azim Bada- verdict on eight wickets away from winning khshi, the country’s top Mixed the second Test against Zimbabwe Martial Arts (MMA) fighter with in Abu Dhabi and sharing the se- 10 wins and 3 losses in interna- 'difficult' ries, with Zimbabwe chipping tional competitions, knocked out away at a deficit that remains sig- his Azerbaijani rival in a competi- first day of nificant. Zimbabwe are 168 runs tion held in Bahrain. behind and have already lost both The Afghan martial arts fight- F1 Testing as opening batsmen, on a surface er Abdul-Azim Badakhshi defeat- that is now taking significant turn. ed his rival Agshin Babayev from Mercedes Unlike the first Test, which Azerbaijan in first round (KO) of was over in two days on a green- a BRAVE Combat Federation bout play catch-up tinged pitch, this strip has played in Bahrain. The competition was to reputation. With little in it for held on 11 March in the respec- seam and spin for most of the first tive country. Lewis Hamilton has admitted three days, runs flowed and Af- It is worth mentioning that Mercedes' start to 2021 pre-sea- ghanistan racked up the fifth-high- Badakhshi, representing Afghani- son testing was "difficult" but is est score at this venue. Zimbabwe stan and a member of World Gold- backing his team - who are unex- should have batted with more dis- en Championship (WGC), en- pectedly playing catch-up after cipline on the third day but were tered the competition. He had fol- the first day in Bahrain - to "find bowled out with a deficit of 258 lowed his standard training under solutions". Mercedes, Formula 1's and forced to follow-on, and now the supervision of Ustad Musa world champions who are so of- find themselves in trouble as they Afghan. ten unflappable in testing with seek a first Test series win since After knocking out his Azer- their reliability and speed, com- 2004. baijani rival, Abdul Azim Bada- pleted the fewest amount of laps Kevin Kasuza and Prince khshi said he wanted to deliver of any of the 10 teams on Day Masvaure started the day cau- his peace message though sports One - with a gearbox glitch in the tiously, against a tight Afghan at- and he was very happy about morning particularly costly - tack. They managed just 10 runs winning the competition and while they were also conspicuous- in the 11 overs before Masvaure Equine herpes virus bringing honor to his country. ly low on the timesheets. decided to take on offspinner Jav- Nangyali Osmani Hamilton finished the day ed Ahmadi, who continued a spell 10th, over two seconds off the that started on the third evening forces cancellation of leading pace set by Red Bull's and stretched to 12 overs. Mas- Max Verstappen, while Valtteri vuare found boundaries behind World Cup finals - FEI The Players Championship: Lee Bottas, who only managed six laps square on the on and offside as in the opening session, was the Ahmadi tossed it up, which end- The show jumping and dressage World Cup finals in Gothenburg, slowest of all 17 drivers. ed up working to his advantage. Sweden, have been cancelled in a bid to contain the spread of the Westwood leads Matt Fitzpatrick as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff In his next over, Ahmadi offered Equine herpes virus, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) admitted it was a "stumbling similar deliveries on all six balls, announced on Friday. English duo set pace at TPC Sawgrass block" while Hamilton, aiming for ending with a full toss that Mas- The virus, which does not affect humans, can cause respiratory an unprecedented eighth F1 title vuare drove straight back to him. infection and fever, and in some cases neurological symptoms can this season, said: "These things appear and lead to the horse’s death. The 47-year-old Englishman a 30-footer for birdie at the third night after his 65 on Thursday, Four balls later, Kasuza played are sent to try us. Today definite- “The FEI has today extended the shutdown of international events took advantage of the easier scor- and followed that up from 12 feet but could only add a level-par 72 inside the line trying to defend a ly wasn't the cleanest of days that in mainland Europe for a further two weeks, up to and including 11 ing conditions at the Florida ven- at the fourth before completing an to his total, although it was still a Rashid Khan googly and found the we had." Lewis Hamilton makes April 2021, in order to contain the spread of the Equine Herpes Virus ue to card a six-under 66 which excellent day's work with his sixth outside edge. Rahmat Shah at first lively outing for the Spaniard. his first on-track appearance of (EHV-1 – neurological form) outbreak,” the FEI said in a statement. lifted him to nine-under 135 at the birdie at his closing ninth. slip took the catch. Rashid could The highlight of his round F1 2021 in very challenging windy “Sadly the shutdown means cancellation of the Longines FEI halfway stage of the PGA Tour's Westwood, who shared the have had a wicket with his next came at the par-five 11th where and sandy conditions at Bahrain Jumping World Cup Final & FEI Dressage World Cup Final 2021 in flagship event. halfway lead at TPC Sawgrass ball when Sean Williams poked at he was only a couple of inches testing. Gothenburg, which were due to be held from 31 March – 4 April He leads by one from Fitz- with Luke Donald in 2005 before a delivery that took the shoulder away from making an albatross Hamilton's afternoon session 2021.” patrick with Sergio Garcia and finishing tied-22nd following an of the bat and fell short of first with his second shot from 222 wasn't without its trips to the ga- Chris Kirk one shot further back, 80 in the third round, now has six slip. yards. rage, either. while Bryson DeChambeau is in bogey-free rounds in the tourna- With two new batsmen at the But there were also some low- "Everybody's worked incred- a group of six tied for fifth place ment since 2000, the most of any crease and men around the bat, lights with four three-putts, in- ibly hard to get us here, to be on six under. player. Afghanistan continued to apply cluding a miss from around a foot where to are," he added. "Obvi- But there was no Friday Fitzpatrick posted a second pressure on Zimbabwe, and Will- as he made his fifth bogey of the ously we had that mishap in the fightback from defending champi- successive 68 and spent all day at iams' approach was to counterat- day at the 15th. morning which was really unfor- on Rory McIlroy as he could only or near the top of the leaderboard tack. When Ahmadi gave him a He shrugged that off, though, tunate for Valtteri in terms of los- add a three-over 75 to his horror after matching Westwood's start half-tracker, Williams dispatched to birdie both the 16th and 18th ing his time on track. 79 on Thursday as he finished on with birdies at the 10th and 11th it through wide long-on for four, to keep tabs on Westwood. "The guys are trying to figure 10 over and missed the cut by 10. with another following at the 15th. when Ahmadi offered width, he Kirk, who has found his form out what that was and I think they Westwood, runner-up to De- The 26-year-old was putting drove square for four more and in recent weeks, went one better did a great job to turn that around Chambeau at last week's Arnold excellently and, after another bird- when Amir Hamza tossed it up, and then we had a difficult second Palmer Invitational, started four ie at the second, he rattled in a 32- than Westwood as he matched Williams slog-swept over mid- session. "It definitely wasn't with- behind Garcia after an opening 69 footer to par the fourth. Garcia's opening 65, his round fea- wicket for six. Tarisai Musakan- out its challenges but we exist to but made good early progress by His good work was undone by turing a six-hole stretch from the da attempted something similar find the solutions to the problems holing putts from 16 and nine feet a poor second which cost him a 15th where he made five birdies but only got a top-edge that evad- we're facing. We just had a good to birdie his first two holes - the bogey at the fifth and he dropped and a hole-out eagle at the par- ed Asghar Afghan at mid-on. Af- debrief and we'll keep churning 10th and 11th. another shot at the eighth but he four first. ghanistan would not have minded away." Watch Season 1 and 2 of He then played some solid par showed his mettle by replying DeChambeau made a poor that too much, knowing that if the Netflix Original Series, For- golf for the next eight holes before with birdies both times to secure start with a double-bogey at the Zimbabwe continue to take risks, mula 1: Drive to Survive, with two birdieing the par-five second after a place alongside Westwood in the 10th but rallied with five birdies the opportunity to take wickets episodes a night on Sky Sports hitting his approach to eight feet. final group on Saturday. for a 69, although he admitted he will remain. F1 from 9.30pm from Sunday, The world No 31 then drained Garcia had led by two over- had rode his luck at times. The Kabul Times March 14.

to make him a better cricketer." Jofra Archer is in complete control of his game and Broad also thinks that some IOC is no 'super world of the criticism that Archer has received, particularly over his red- government' to solve only getting better, say Stuart Broad and Rob Key ball form since his stunning debut series against Australia in 2019, ball and bowlers are so important, could help fuel the Bridgetown- China issues, says Bach especially when you've got the born pacer's desire to keep im- The International Olympic Committee said on Friday it is not a pace that he has. proving. “super world government” that can resolve political issues in China "Here he did it with the new "I think Jofra does read a lot; ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games even though activists say ball, so he can attack with it and he is very aware of what has been the IOC has ignored Tibetan and Uighur claims of human rights look to get wickets, he's not just said about him, whether that is violations. going to stop you from scoring positive or negative," he added. Beijing will become the first city to host summer and winter runs; he can bowl in the middle "Gone are the days of the Andy Games next year after also staging the 2008 summer Games. But the when nothing is going on and he Flower era, where we banned IOC has been criticised for awarding the 2022 winter Olympics to can also bowl at the death." newspapers from the changing China given the country’s human rights record. As well as Archer has bowled, room. Representatives of Tibetan and Hong Kong groups as well as especially in white-ball cricket, his "It's quite easy to ban a news- the world’s largest group of exiled ethnic Uighurs said earlier on Test team-mate Broad thinks there paper, because you just don't buy Friday the IOC had not acted on their concerns after meeting them in is plenty more to come from his it in the morning, but it's another October. fellow seamer. Although he thing to ban social media - because They also said any assurances from China to the IOC were of no warned against expecting too it's there, available on your phone. value. much, too soon. "He is someone who is aware, “We are taking this very seriously,” IOC President Thomas Bach "He has got so many at- but I've not seen that knock his told a news conference when asked specifically about claims of tributes to make him a match-win- confidence particularly. He has got rights violations in China. “Human rights and labour rights and oth- ner," Broad told Sky Sports. "And that character you need at inter- ers are and will be part of the host city contract.” his confidence is building through national level to want to prove “We are working very closely with the organising committee. experience in international crick- people wrong. We are monitoring supply chains, labour rights, freedom of press et. "If someone criticises him, he Archer was the standout per- times in his short international Sports pundit said. and many other issues. This is our responsibility,” he said at the end "Everyone has to be careful will make it his mission to prove former in a superb England bowl- career, Rob Key thinks that it is "If you had to start from of a virtual IOC session. of not expecting him to do it in that person wrong. I don't see that ing effort, taking 3-23 as Eoin in T20 cricket that the 25-year- scratch and build a team, you had The United States earlier on Friday condemned China’s abuse of every format, every day, because as a negative thing, as long as he Morgan's side claimed a compre- old really excels. an auction and all of that, would ethnic and religious minorities, including what it called “crimes against he is a very talented cricketer but keeps taking wickets." hensive eight-wicket win in the "In this format, I reckon he is you go for Archer or (Jasprit) humanity and genocide” in Xinjiang against Muslim Uighurs and he is not superhuman. As for Archer himself, speak- opening game of the five-match in complete control of his game, Bumrah? severe restrictions in Tibet. "He is still really young and ing to reporters after the game, he T20I series against India. much more so than 50 overs and "I think I'd just go for Archer, “We are not a super world government where the IOC could still learning. But the experience said of his performance: "I'm just While Archer has enjoyed suc- certainly more so than Test crick- at the moment because he can do solve or even address issues for which not a United Nations security of playing in India, in the IPL, in glad to help in a win, to be honest. cess in all formats at different et. He's a rare talent," the Sky every phase of the game with the council, no G7, no G20 has a solution,” Bach said. Reuters pressure scenarios, is only going skysport