WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015 SPORTS Steyn will not bowl for rest of Test DURBAN: South African fast bowler Dale Monday and although a scan on his right layoff he’s had, coupled with the fact there his shoulder on his follow-through after two After his scan during the afternoon ses- Steyn will not bowl again in the opening shoulder revealed no tear, he was ruled out was a great bowling load on him on the first balls of his fourth over in England’s second sion, he returned to field until the close of test against England at Kingsmead after his after experiencing discomfort before the day,” explained team manager Mohammed innings and was sent off the field by his play, limiting his time off the pitch in case shoulder spasm failed to clear up overnight, start of the fourth day’s play. Steyn had Moosajee. Hashim Amla for treatment. He he was passed fit to bowl on Tuesday, which officials said yesterday. twice left the field at Kingsmead in mid- “We took him for a precautionary scan, came back out 50 minutes later and was did not happen. The decision is a further blow to the over in obvious pain on Monday as England which was inconclusive. There were no tears brought on to bowl again but managed just The absence of Steyn, who took four home side, who have their backs to the wall built a potentially match-wining lead. to any muscles, tendons or ligaments.” The three balls before departing the arena, in the first innings, was keenly felt as they seek to avoid defeat in the first of “Dale experienced some discomfort in world’s top-ranked test bowler, only just throwing an object to the ground in obvi- as England built up a 261-run lead over the four-test series. Steyn bowled just under his right shoulder after the first day’s play back after a groin injury which kept him out ous frustration as he walked to the dressing- South Africa overnight and took a firm grip four overs in England’s second innings on and lot was probably because of the long of three tests in India last month, clasped room. on the test match. — Reuters Finn strikes as England push for win in first Test

DURBAN: Steven Finn took three crucial wick- ing. Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl put on 53 for ets, including two in successive overs, as South Africa’s first before Ben Stokes England pushed for victory on the fourth day bowled Van Zyl for 33. of the first Test against South Africa at The left-handed Van Zyl played some hand- Kingsmead yesterday. some strokes before he fell in similar fashion to Set to make 416 to win, South Africa were his first innings duck against Stuart Broad, mis- 136 for four at the close of play, facing a long judging a ball bowled from around the wicket struggle to bat out the final day to earn a draw which hit his off stump. England were bowled and prevent England from going ahead in the out for 326 in their second innings just under four-match series. an hour after lunch. England hopes soared when the tall Finn Bairstow hit an aggressive 79 off 76 balls to had South African captain Hashim Amla provide impetus to the England innings as caught behind for 12 before removing the they sought to score quickly to give them- limpet-like Dean Elgar for 40. Elgar, who car- selves time to bowl out South Africa. ried his bat for 118 in the first innings, Bairstow hit nine fours and three sixes was caught at second slip by . He had before he was last man out, caught at long-off, been on the field for the entire match up to after he provided a rare example of a batsman that point. AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis bat- scoring freely on a dry, slow pitch. ted through 103 minutes and 23.5 overs to With fast bowler Dale Steyn missing raise hopes that South Africa might pull off because of a shoulder strain, off-spinner Dane another rearguard action to save the game as Piedt bowled 18 overs unchanged from the they have done against Australia, India and Sri start of play. He finished with five for 153 in 36 Lanka in recent seasons. overs, his first five-wicket haul in Tests. South But, in what proved to be the last over of Africa struck two blows early in the day, dis- the day, Finn struck again, having Du Plessis missing Joe Root for 73 and Stokes for five. caught by England captain Alastair Cook at But Bairstow followed up a first innings of first slip off a ball that kicked viciously to 41 with another fluent performance, with glance off the shoulder of the bat. Finn fin- James Taylor (41), (16) and Chris ished the day with three for 27. Du Plessis nine Woakes (23) all providing support. Steyn, who off 66 balls. only bowled 3.5 overs on Monday, including a De Villiers, who made 37 not out off 83 second spell of just three balls, again felt dis- MELBOURNE: Australia’s Usman Khawaja, left, avoids a shot from West Indies’ , right, during their test match in balls, escaped with his score on 33 when he comfort in his right shoulder and it was decid- Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. — AP went down the pitch to off-spinner Moeen Ali ed he should not take the field. The injury puts and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow failed to him in doubt for the second Test starting in catch a sharply-turning ball to make a stump- Cape Town on Saturday. — AFP Lyon, Marsh bowl Aussies to SCOREBOARD big series win over Windies DURBAN, South Africa: Scores at close of play on the fourth day of the first Test between South Africa and England at Kingsmead yesterday: MELBOURNE: Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Marsh bowled Australia to a 177-run victory over the SCOREBOARD England, first innings, 303 (Woakes), 9-315 (Broad) West Indies in the second Test yesterday, to win South Africa, first innings, 214 Bowling: Steyn 3.5-0-10-0, Morkel 20.3-5- the series and retain the Frank Worrell Trophy. England, second innings 38-1, Abbott 21.4-3-62-1, Piedt 36-4-153-5, The Australians, who won the first Test in MELBOURNE: Scores after the fourth and final day of the second Test between Australia and the West (overnight 172-3) Elgar 9-0-32-0, Van Zyl 10.1-3-20-3, Duminy Hobart by an innings and 212 runs, dismissed Indies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday: A. Cook lbw b Piedt 7 1-0-5-0 the visitors for 282 in the final overs of the fourth A. Hales c Abbott b Piedt 26 South Africa, second innings Australia 1st innings 551-3 declared (U. R. Chandrika lbw b Pattinson 37 day after declaring their second innings on their Khawaja 144, S. Smith 134 not out, J. Burns 128, D. Bravo c Nevill b Siddle 21 N. Compton c De Villiers b Morkel 49 D. Elgar c Root b Finn 40 overnight 179 for three with a 459-run lead. J. Root c Van Zyl b Abbott 73 S. van Zyl b Stokes 33 A. Voges 106 not out) M. Samuels c Nevill b Marsh 19 The embattled Caribbean tourists resisted the West Indies 1st innings 271 (D. Bravo 81, C. J. Blackwood lbw b Lyon 20 J. Taylor st De Villiers b Piedt 42 H. Amla c Bairstow b Finn 12 Australian push with a spirited 100-run sixth- B. Stokes c Elgar b Piedt 5 A. de Villiers not out 37 Brathwaite 59; N. Lyon 4-66, J. Pattinson 4-72). D. Ramdin c Nevill b Marsh 59 wicket stand between skipper and J. Holder c Hazlewood b Marsh 68 J. Bairstow c Duminy b Van Zyl 79 F. du Plessis c Cook b Finn 9 former captain . But they quickly M. Ali lbw b Piedt 16 D. Steyn not out 0 Australia 2nd innings C. Brathwaite b Lyon 2 lost their remaining four wickets to crash to J. Burns c K. Brathwaite b Holder 5 K. Roach c Warner b Pattinson 11 C. Woakes c Duminy b Van Zyl 23 Extras (b2, lb3) 5 defeat 1.3 overs before the scheduled close. S. Broad c De Villiers b Van Zyl 0 Total (4 wkts, 47 overs) 136 D. Warner c Holding b C. Brathwaite 17 J. Taylor c Pattinson b Marsh 0 Holder was out for 68 off 86 balls, while U. Khawaja c Ramdin b Holder 56 J. Warrican not out 4 S. Finn not out 0 Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Van Zyl), 2-85 (Amla), Ramdin chipped in with 59 off 90 balls in his Extras (b3, lb3) 6 3-88 (Elgar), 4-136 (Du Plessis) S. Smith not out 70 Extras (lb7, w1, nb2) 10 best Test score for two years. Lyon, Australia’s all- M. Marsh not out 18 Total (all out; 88.3 overs) 282 Total (102.1 overs) 326 Bowling: Broad 11-4-25-0, Woakes 6-2-17-0, time leading off-spin wicket-taker with 182, was Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Cook), 2-48 (Hales), 3- Finn 8-3-27-3, Stokes 7-1-26-1, Ali 15-3-36-0 Extras (lb6, w2, nb5) 13 Fall of wickets: 1-35 (K. Brathwaite), 2-83 (Bravo), named man of the match with seven match Total (3 wickets declared; 32 overs) 179 3-91 (Chandrika), 4-118 (Samuels), 5-150 119 (Compton), 4-192 (Root), 5-197 Match situation: South Africa need 280 runs wickets, while all-rounder Marsh finished with (Stokes), 6-224 (Taylor), 7-272 (Ali), 8-315 to win with six wickets remaining. Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Burns), 2-46 (Warner), 3-123 (Blackwood), 6-250 (Ramdin), 7-253 (C. four for 61 in the second innings. (Khawaja) Brathwaite), 8-274 (Holder), 9-278 (Roach), 10- “‘Lyono’ did what he’s done so well for us this Bowling: Taylor 3-0-25-0, Holder 11-1-49-2 (1nb), 282 (Taylor) summer, got wickets for us at crucial times. He’s C. Brathwaite 6-1-30-1 (1w), Roach 4-0-22-0 (1w), Bowling: Hazlewood 20-6-40-0 (1nb, 1w), bowled beautifully,” said Australia skipper Steve Warrican 8-0-47-0 Pattinson 17-4-49-2, Lyon 23-7-85-3, Siddle 9-2- Smith. West Indies 2nd innings 35-1, Marsh 17.3-2-61-4 (1nb), Smith 2-1-5-0. Smith said of Marsh: “I think when he’s in a K. Brathwaite c Smith b Lyon 31 Result: Australia win by 177 runs good rhythm he’s as good as any of the bowlers around the country at the moment, and he hit that rhythm today.” Ramdin and Holder held the fine leg. It was an improved effort by the out- all that in the field was probably as good as it’s Australians at bay for 21 overs until Ramdin was gunned West Indies. The last time they batted been this summer.” caught behind by Peter Nevill off Marsh. It was for more than 80 overs in both innings of an Australia dismissed top order batsmen Bravo, the first century of the series for the overseas Test was against England at Lord’s in Rajendra Chandrika and Marlon Samuels after embattled Windies. May 2012. lunch. Bravo, the first-innings top-scorer with 81, “I’m obviously proud of the way the guys Yet they have still failed to pass 300 in eight was caught behind off Peter Siddle for 21, and showed some fight in this game,” Holder said. Test innings against Australia this year. Earlier, Chandrika’s 130-ball vigil ended when he was “I’m still disappointed we didn’t put up a better Australia’s no-ball wicket curse continued when trapped leg before wicket to Pattinson for 37. fight but still credit to the way the guys played, Bravo survived on 12 after he was given out Senior batsman Samuels continued his dis- especially Darren Bravo in the first innings and caught behind, only to be saved by a front-foot mal tour when he prodded at Marsh and was Denesh Ramdin in the second innings. I thought no-ball by Hazlewood. snapped up by Nevill for 19. Smith was on 70 not the bowlers tried (too).” Pattinson had two wickets denied to him for out when he declared at the start of the fourth overstepping on Sunday’s third day, and it was day. He finished the year with the most Test runs A BETTER EFFORT IN THIS GAME the wicketless Hazlewood’s turn on day four. “We of 1,474 at an average of 73.70. Skipper Holder’s resistance ended in the final probably let ourselves down a little bit with the Only Joe Root (1,372) was in a position, in overs of the day as he drove Marsh straight to couple of no-balls taking the extra three wickets, England’s current Test against South Africa in Josh Hazlewood at mid-off. The wickets then probably takes a bit of time out of the game,” Durban, to overtake him in the final Test of the DURBAN: South Africa’s Batsman AB de Villiers (R) plays a shot during the fourth day quickly tumbled. went for 11 and Smith said. “I was glad the way we finished off. year. The final Test of the three-match Australia- of the first Test match between England and South Africa at Kingsmead stadium yes- was last man out for a duck after Taking that wicket just before the new ball was West Indies series gets under way in Sydney on terday in Durban. — AFP skying Marsh to a sprawling James Pattinson at crucial for us. “I thought our energy, intent and Sunday. — AFP Court clears Amir’s path to return to Pakistan team

LAHORE: A Pakistani court yesterday rejected a petition against the inclusion of convicted spot-fixer Mohammad Amir in the national cricket team, clearing the last hurdle to his predicted comeback after a five-year ban. Amir, 23, was one of three Pakistan players banned for arrang- ing deliberate no-balls as part of a betting scam during a Test match in England 2010. The two other were the then-Test cap- tain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif. All three were also sentenced to six months in prison in Britain. The prospect of the trio returning to national colours after serving their bans has polarised opinions, with one lawyer petitioning the Lahore High Court to issue a stay order against a recall for Amir. Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan rejected the petition, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi. “I pleaded the case on behalf of the PCB and our opinion is that Amir completed his ban and as per country’s constitution he has every right to play crick- et,” Rizvi told AFP. “The judge on hearing the arguments rejected the petition filed by a lawyer, Munsif Awan,” he added. Pakistan’s selectors included Amir in a fitness camp staged to select the squad for next month’s tour of New Zealand. Because of his extraordinary wicket-taking form Amir is tipped to be in the squad. The squad for the three one-dayers and three internationals is likely to be announced in the next couple of days. Amir, who was 18 at the time of his conviction, pleaded guilty to spot-fixing in 2011, while Butt and Asif maintained their innocence until all their appeals were exhausted. Legendary Pakistan pacemen Imran Khan and Wasim Akram have also backed Amir’s return to international cricket. “We also informed the court that Amir will play under the microscopic eyes of the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the PCB,” said LAHORE: Pakistani cricketers warm-up during a practice session in Lahore yesterday. Pakistan’s cricket chief yesterday, said he had refused to accept one-day captain Azhar Rizvi. — AFP Ali’s resignation over the widely-tipped selection of convicted spot-fixer Mohammad Amir, saying the team could not afford a crisis at this time. — AFP