TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2015 SPORTS India set for Sangakkara’s farewell party

GALLE: India hope to end a 22-year wait get him out cheaply.” The tourists will Kohli, regarded as one of the most execute our skills and have a really com- making the difference for Pakistan, but for a Test series win in Sri Lanka when not be distracted by the hype over accomplished batsmen in the modern petitive side.” Like India, Sri Lanka too are hoped his team was prepared to face the three-match rubber marking Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell series as they bid game, is determined to make a winning rebuilding following the retirement of what the Indians had in store. Sangakkara’s farewell opens in Galle to end a barren phase in Sri Lanka since start in his first full series as after greats such as and “Ours is a young side and learning all tomorrow. the 1-0 victory by Mohammad taking over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni Mahela Jayawardene, leaving the time,” he said. “It’s unfair to measure The Sri Lankan great, whose Azharuddin’s men in 1993. in Australia last year. Sangakkara to hold fort in his last two these youngsters against the likes of 12,305 runs make him Test ’s lead- India have played four series on the India will be relieved at playing Test Tests. Mahela and Sangakkara. “We have to be ing scorer among those still playing, is island since, losing in 2001 and 2008 cricket in familiar sub-continental condi- Sri Lanka were undone by Pakistani patient with this side. The best farewell due to quit international cricket after while drawing in 1997 and 2010. The tions after losing four series in a row in leg-spinner Yasir Shah during the recent we can give Sanga is by being competi- playing in the first two Tests. five-year gap since their last series South Africa, New Zealand, England and home series where his 24 in tive and playing to the best of our abili- Indian captain Virat Kohli said his means that 11 of the 15 tourists, includ- Australia. three matches fashioned a 2-1 win for ties. The results will take care of them- team plans to give 37-year-old ing skipper Kohli, have not played a Test “We are here to play good cricket,” the tourists. selves.” The first Test at the Galle Sangakkara a fond farewell-but also match on Sri Lankan soil before. Kohli said, downplaying India’s poor Yasir’s success prompted the Indian International Stadium and the second at make sure they do not allow the prolific Opening batsman Murali Vijay and overseas record. “History and records are selectors to recall leggie Amit Mishra the P. Sara Oval in Colombo from August left-hander to pile up big scores. bowlers, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant sidelined when the focus is on playing after a four-year absence to bolster a 20 will be played on either side of Sri “Great man and a great cricketer, he Sharma and Amit Mishra, are the excep- good cricket. “For us, every series is part spin attack that comprises two seasoned Lanka’s parliamentary elections on deserves a very good farewell and we tions, although several others in the of the plan to build a really strong unit off-spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin August 17.The third and final Test will be will prepare accordingly,” Kohli said of squad have played limited-overs games that will continue to play for a long time. and Harbhajan Singh. Sri Lanka captain held at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Sangakkara. “But hopefully we will also in Sri Lanka. The prime focus is to back ourselves to Angelo Mathews acknowledged Yasir as Colombo from August 28. —AFP Sky down Mercury

ROSEMONT: Elena Delle Donne came and returned at the end of July. back from an ankle injury to lead a sec- Nneka Ogwumike led the Sparks (7-5) ond-half surge and finish with 33 points with 18 points. The Western Conference- in the Chicago Sky’s 74-64 victory over leading Lynx lost back-to-back games at the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. Los Angeles and Phoenix before coming Chicago (14-9), swept by Phoenix (14- home for the rematch with the Sparks. 8) last year in the WNBA Finals, beat the Mercury for the first time in seven meet- MYSTICS 84, SUN 73 ings. Phoenix’s winning streak ended at Stefanie Dolson scored 21 points and five games. Tayler Hill added a career-high 20 as the Delle Donne sat out nearly 6 minutes Washington Mystics beat the in the second quarter after turning her Connecticut Sun 84-73 on Sunday. left ankle and Chicago trailed 37-33 at Dolson was 6 of 9 from the floor and the half. She scored 13 of her 16 third- made all nine of her free throws, and Hill quarter points during a 19-2 run to open was 7 of 10 from the field, including 4 of the second half and the Sky finished the 5 from 3-point range. Washington (13-8) quarter leading 57-43. Phoenix wasn’t made 28 of 33 free throws. able to get closer than seven. Delle Kelsey Bone led the Sun (11-10) with Donne was 11 of 18 from the floor, 19 points. Shekinna Stricklen had 16, and including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Alyssa Thomas added 14 points and tied Phoenix’s Brittney Griner had 21 her career high with 11 rebounds. points on 9-of-14 shooting and added 14 rebounds for her sixth double-double DREAM 98, SHOCK 90 this season. Angel McCoughtry had 23 points and nine rebounds, and Damiris Dantas LYNX 72, SPARKS 64 added a career-high 18 points to help Maya Moore scored 20 points and Atlanta beat Tulsa to end a six-game los- Sylvia Fowles added 15 as Minnesota ing streak. Roneeka Hodges had 14 beat Los Angeles to end a two-game los- points for Atlanta (8-14). Riquna Williams ing streak. hit a 3 with 7:24 left in the third to pull The Sparks were without four-time Tulsa (10-13) within one, but the Dream WNBA All-Star Alana Beard, who left the scored 15 of the next 21 points to make NOTTINGHAM: England’s Mark Wood celebrates on the pitch in this file photo after beating Australia by an and 78 runs toretain the 8 eight minutes into the first quarter and it 69-59 about 3 minutes later. Williams Ashes. —AP did not return. Beard was sidelined two scored 35 points for Tulsa. The Shock games into the season by plantar fasciitis have lost nine in a row.—AP England selector Fraser reveals Ashes ‘anger’

LONDON: England selector Angus Fraser said he 18-month period in English cricket history. After their counties in this week’s domestic Twenty20 still felt a “bit of anger” following the team’s England were whitewashed 5-0 in Australia, quarter-finals, the England and Wales Cricket Ashes series win over Australia because of the Pietersen’s international career was controver- Board announced Monday. stinging criticism that had previously come the sially brought to an end, with Cook retaining his The advent of an increasingly packed interna- way of management and senior players. position as Test captain. tional programme and ECB central contracts Last season saw England captain Alastair However, Cook was axed entirely from the mean leading England players are rarely sighted Cook face repeated calls to resign, while national one-day squad on the eve of the World Cup, at county level now. selector James Whitaker had his position called although the decision did not spare England But that could change this week, although it into question as well. from an embarrassing first-round exit. is their respective counties who will have the Meanwhile this year saw , England managing director Paul Downton, a final say on whether Essex’s Cook, England’s incoming director of cricket, face former team-mate of Fraser’s at Middlesex, and Worcestershire’s Ali, Warwickshire’s Bell and widespread flak both for his refusal to end the coach Peter Moores were both sacked, with ex- Lancashire’s Buttler take part in their respective international exile of star batsman Kevin England captain Strauss’s appointment leading last-eight Twenty20 clashes ahead of the fifth Pietersen and for saying the decision was a mat- to renewed speculation about Whitaker’s role. and final Ashes Test at The Oval on August 20. ter of “trust”. “Jimmy is the one at the front so he gets However, batting all-rounder Ali is set to feature But last Saturday an England side captained named-checked all the time,” said Middlesex for Worcestershire at home to Hampshire on by Cook and, in part, selected by Whitaker, beat director of cricket Fraser, who sits on a selection Friday, with Buttler-a renowned limited overs Australia by an innings and 78 runs at Trent panel with Whitaker, England coach Trevor batsman likely to play for Lancashire away to Bridge in the fourth Test to take an unbeatable Bayliss and Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell. Kent on Saturday as their respective teams aim 3-1 lead in the five-match Ashes series. “Quite rightly you are under inspection, to make it through to the last four, who will fea- “What has been said or written about Cook, because you are there to do a job properly. But ture in the tournament’s finals day at Edgbaston Strauss and Whitaker has been harsh and per- when people are making judgements on your on August 29. sonal,” former England seamer Fraser told BBC character, knowledge and whether you are in “I’m really pleased that I can play in the Blast Radio on Monday. touch with the game, you sit there and seethe. quarter-final at Worcester on Friday,” Ali wrote in “There’s a bit of anger. But there is also huge “Sometimes success brings more relief than joy, his blog on ecb.co.uk. “We’ve never had a home satisfaction. I’m delighted for Cook and Strauss, or satisfaction from proving people wrong.” quarter-final before, and it’s a great chance to who took a lot of stick for the decisions he Meanwhile, England captain Alastair Cook get back to Edgbaston for finals day. I can’t wait made.” and fellow Ashes-winners Moeen Ali, Ian Bell to play again.”—AFP Last weekend’s victory capped a turbulent and Jos Buttler have all been cleared to play for Marquez bags Indianapolis GP

INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez found the Instead, Marquez lost his balance going MINNEAPOLIS: Los Angeles Sparks Candace Parker (left) blocks a shot attempt by perfect ending to an imperfect weekend - into the 10th turn in Sunday morning’s Minnesota’s Maya Moore (right) in the second half of an WNBA basketball game. —AP another trip to victory lane. After starting warmup, sending both rider and bike skid- Sunday with a shocking spill, dealing with ding across the track. Neither Marquez nor light rain before the race and giving away the bike was seriously damaged. the lead to the more aggressive Jorge Lorenzo, the 2009 race winner, wasn’t as Chou first casualty in Jakarta Lorenzo in the first turn, Marquez made a fortunate when he fell. The damage to his JAKARTA: Chou Tien Chen became the experience,” he told reporters after his stun- beautiful inside move to sweep past Lorenzo bike forced to use a different one in the race. first seeded casualty of the badminton ning upset. for the lead with less than three laps to go “It did not grip enough, suddenly the bike world championships in Indonesia yester- “The pressure was on him (Chou). I just and held on for his third consecutive pulled me away,” Lorenzo said, describing the day, just weeks after staging a major upset played my normal game.” The Malaysian Indianapolis Grand Prix. crash. “It was a little difficult to fight against of his own at the Taiwan Open. will now play Ireland’s Scott Evans, who The 0.688-second gap was the narrowest my mind to recover the confidence and start The Taiwanese sixth seed was crushed in defeated Finnish shuttler Eetu Heino earlier in the race’s eight-year history. Points leader a race full of confidence.” He succeeded any- the opening round of badminton’s most Monday, in his second-round match.Home Valentino Rossi of Italy finished third, nearly way. prestigious event in less than 40 minutes favourite Tommy Sugiarto earlier cruised 6 seconds back. Lorenzo made a daring move by ducking by unseeded Malaysian shuttler Zulfadli into the second round of the world cham- “At the beginning I was able to follow inside Marquez and his Repsol Honda team- Zulkiffli 21-5, 22-20. pionships with a two-set victory over him. But later in the race I was straddling a mate, two-time Indy winner Dani Pedrosa, His shock exit comes less than a month European Games victor Pablo Abian as the little bit, I was a half second, six-tenths and beat the other two Spaniards into the after Chou dismissed world number two tournament got under way in Jakarta. behind him,” Marquez. “At the end, I saw the first turn to grab the lead. Jan O. Jorgensen at the Taiwan Open Sugiarto, Indonesia’s top medal hopeful, only chance to attack.” When Marquez accel- He stayed in front for 24 laps, until the before prevailing over five-time world defeated the Spaniard 21-16, 21-13 and will erated, Lorenzo had no chance of stopping patient Marquez used the momentum from champion Lin Dan in a marathon contest to now face unseeded Hong Kong shuttler the fearless 22-year-old Spanish star. the fastest lap of the race to sneak by as the book a spot in the finals. Wei Nan. As Marquez extended his winning streak two headed into the first turn. Chou was forced to settle for silver The 15th seed looked a little unsteady in on American soil to seven straight, he won Lorenzo didn’t have enough left to catch against Chen Long but walked away having the first set, with Abian taking an early lead his fifth in a row at the Brickyard including him. “My lack of energy at the end of the race won a set against the world number one-a and threatening to upstage the Indonesian Moto2 victories he had in 2011 and 2012. was key,” Lorenzo said. “So when he passed career first. champion before a rowdy home crowd. Formula One star Michael Schumacher me I made some mistakes.” The question now None of that impressive form was on But Sugiarto recovered with a string of (2003-06) was the only other driver in a is whether Marquez has enough momentum display in Jakarta as Zulkiffli, a former world quick points to claim the first set, before major series to win four straight at Indy. to contend for a third consecutive points junior champion 30 rankings behind his overpowering the visitor in routine fashion But as good as Marquez was late, he did title. Taiwanese opponent, demolished Chou in in the second. not follow his traditionally flawless script at He heads to next week’s race in the Czech the first set. “I rushed to attack early on, and did not Indy. Lorenzo took the top spot in practice Republic with back-to-back wins and a sec- Zulkiffli, 22, had not been expected to relax,” he told a post-match press confer- Friday morning and Friday afternoon. ond-place finish in his past three starts. And survive his opening match and approached ence. “I tried to get the confidence back to When Marquez rallied Saturday to post the latest win left him in third place in the his formidable opponent with low expecta- reverse the situation.” Abian said he started the fastest laps in both practice sessions and points, trailing the Movistar Yamaha team- INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez, of Spain celebrates tions. “I just played as an underdog, to gain well but could not maintain the form that earn his third straight Indy pole, it looked as mates - Rossi and Lorenzo - by 56 and 47 after winning the Indianapolis Grand Prix at if he was destined to make history. points, respectively.—AP Indianapolis Motor Speedway. —AP