WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015 SPORTS Warner walks the line as Ashes start

CARDIFF: After what seems an even longer Strauss was confident series favourites than usual ‘phoney war’, and Australia would not have things all their own Australia will get down to the actual business way. “I think if Australia do win, they’ll have to of contesting the Ashes when the first Test in play some outstanding to do so,” he Cardiff starts today. said. Australia had several players who Australia may have won 5-0 on home soil impressed during the 2013 Ashes in England, when they last faced England in a Test series yet they still lost the series 3-0 and Strauss in 2013/14 but it is 14 years since they last was clear on what both sides needed to do if tasted Ashes glory in Britain. they were to triumph this time. “Win the big Much of the build-up has focused on the moments...There are times when you need to vexed issue of ‘’ or verbal abuse of grab the game by the scruff of the neck. opponents, which is something the Pretty simple in theory, in practice a bit more International Cricket Council (ICC) are deter- difficult,” added Strauss. It is one of the tru- mined to eradicate from the sport. isms of that the team with the bet- That Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief ter fast bowlers usually wins. A measure of the match referee, will be overseeing proceedings depth Australia’s pace reserves is that Ryan in Cardiff, suggests no let-up in the crack- Harris, who announced his retirement last down from the global governing body in week because of a persistent knee injury, was what remains cricket’s showpiece series. Hard- by no means a certainty to play at Cardiff. hitting Australia opener David Warner, fined Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc believes twice by the ICC in the last 18 months, is walk- the fact that England’s top order is set to con- ing an especially fine line. “I’m on my last tain seven southpaws could work in his favour warning (before possible suspension) from and that of fellow ‘lefty’ Mitchell Johnson. the ICC,” Warner said last week. “These rules “I have worked a long time for my stock are being clamped down on now. “If you walk being at a left-hander,” said Starc. towards a player, the umpires are going to “The consistency is getting to where it needs fine you.” to be and I’m starting to see results.” But England director of cricket Andrew When Cardiff staged its first Test, in 2009, Strauss, a former Ashes-winning , England’s last- pair of James Anderson stressed there was more to being competitive and Monty Panesar clung on to salvage an than ‘mouthing off’ at the opposition. improbable draw against Australia. There : cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (left) plays a shot as the wicketkeeper (right) looks on “I think we can -hype an Ashes series, have been suggestions home groundsmen during the second T20 cricket match. — AFP which maybe puts the players under more should prepare lifeless pitches to nullify pressure to be really aggressive,” Strauss told Australia’s pace threat but England great Ian BBC Radio Five. Botham said: “We don’t want flat . Proteas cruise home in “You can be very aggressive with the way “If you do, we might as well send the Ashes you play, you don’t necessarily need to do it, back now because that’ll play right into with the way you speak to the opposition.” For Australia’s hands,” the legendary all-rounder Australia captain Michael Clarke, winning an added at a sponsor’s event. With England’s away Ashes series after three losing tours attack set to feature the likes of Durham quick second Bangladesh T20 would fill a gap in his illustrious CV. Mark Wood, Botham also urged Cook to be Meanwhile for England, in their first series pro-active in the field. under new Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, the “Teams have worked out England used to DHAKA: Spinners Eddie Leie and Aaron Phangiso challenge is to see if they can continue to play sit back with defensive fields and wait for shared six wickets between them as South Africa SCOREBOARD the aggressive brand of cricket that served sides to make mistakes,” Botham said. “Don’t thrashed Bangladesh by 31 runs in the second them so well during their recent one-day do that now. This Australian team will go at international to take the two-match series win over New Zealand-the team that you hard so I think England have got to come series 2-0 in Dhaka yesterday. DHAKA: Scoreboard of the second between Bangladesh and South Africa Australia beat in this year’s World Cup final. back hard.” — AFP Debutant leg-spinner Leie claimed 3-16 and at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka yesterday: left-arm spinner Phangiso took 3-30, as South Africa: c Rossouw b Phangiso 8 Bangladesh were all out for 138 runs with five balls Q. de Kock c Sabbir b Sunny 44 c Rossouw c Leie 19 remaining in reply to South Africa’s 169-4. Cricket oasis for and put on 46 runs A. de Villiers c Rahim b Nasir 40 c Miller b Leie 1 in the opening stand to give Bangladesh a strong J. Duminy c Shakib b Nasir 6 c Rossouw b Phangiso 0 start before removed Tamim for 13. F. du Plessis c Rahim b Mustafizur 16 Rony Talukdar b Abbott 21 Leie struck in his first over to drag Sarkar (37) D. Miller 30 Litton Das c Weise b Phangiso 10 Asian laborers out of his crease and had him and then R. Rossouw not out 19 b Abbot 17 dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim (19) and Sabbir Extras (b4, lb1, w9) 14 not out 5 Rahman (one) in successive balls. Total (four wickets; 20 overs) 169 b Abbott 0 Colorful place for cricket enthusiasts in Qatar Phangiso removed Shakib Al Hasan (eight) off Did not bat: D. Wiese, W. Parnell, A. Phangiso, K. Extras (w6, nb1) 7 his first ball before taking the wicket of Nasir Abbott, E. Leie Total (all out; 19.2 overs) 138 DOHA: In a nondescript corner of Doha’s watching, especially the teams’ supporters Hossain who fell for a and Litton Das (10) in Fall of wickets: 1-95 (de Kock), 2-102 (Duminy), 3- Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Tamim), 2-55 (Soumya), 3-69 Industrial Area, sandwiched between build- and friends, and especially people who have his next two overs to put South Africa in control. 102 (de Villiers), 4-136 (du Plessis). (Shakib), 4-82(Sabbir), 5-82 ing works, a dusty landscape and overused spent a long time in Qatar, who haven’t seen South Africa captain hailed his team’s : Sunny 4-0-31-1 (w2), Nasir 4-0-26- (Rahim), 6-82 (Nasir), 7-103 (Das), 8-125 roads, sits a green oasis for Asian laborers and this kind of facilities.” performance. “We had all the answers from a bowl- 2(w6), Mustafizur 4-0-34-1(w1), Shakib 4-0-37-0, (Mortaza), 9-137 (Rony), 10-138 (Mustafizur) cricket enthusiasts. One of those who attends a game every ing point of view,” he said. “So really proud of the Mortaza 3-0-25-0, Sarkar 1-0-11-0 Bowling: Abbott 3.2-0-20-3 (w3), Duminy 4-0-26- boys. Extremely tough conditions to beat The Asian Town Cricket Stadium is a color- night is mechanic Nitiss Sikder, a 35-year-old Bangladesh: 0 (nb1, w1), Parnell 3-0-29-1 (w2), Weise 2-0-17-0, Bangladesh 2-0 like that. Great job,” du Plessis ful place of rest and recreation in a mostly from Kolkata in eastern . He has been liv- Tamim Iqbal c Wiese b Parnell 13 Leie 3-0-16-3, Phangiso 4-0-30-3. added. Paceman , who claimed three Soumya Sarkar st de Kock b Leie 37 : South Africa won 31 runs. grey-looking part of Qatar’s capital that ing in Doha for eight years and is a self-con- wickets for 20 runs, completed the rout with wick- serves as the engine room of the country’s fessed cricket lover. ets off his last two balls. Earlier, Quinton de Kock booming economy, full of small industrial Sikder is among the few regulars at the and AB de Villiers put 95 runs for South Africa in workshops, factories and laborers. moment but that might be about to change. the opening stand after du Plessis won the toss made a double strike in the next over to put a 32 runs in the last two overs to give South Africa a A large orange and blue-seated amphithe- A far bigger building has been completed and elected to bat. brake on the flow. JP Duminy got a leading respectable total. Nasir finished with 2-26 for atre, the stadium’s capacity-14,000 — seems nearby. “Labor City”-Qatari place names may De Kock top-scored with 44 runs and de Villiers edge off the second ball of the over to hoist a Bangladesh. even more remarkable considering Qataris do not be imaginative but are accurate a vast added 40 as the visitors looked for a series sweep catch which Shakib gleefully took at short mid- “There are some positives. And we have to learn not play cricket and it is used mostly by ama- sand-colored housing complex for 70,000 after winning Sunday’s opening game by 52 runs. wicket to remove him for six. from our mistakes too,” Bangladesh captain teurs. The ground is actually larger than the workers is just opening its doors. Seven such Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny forced de Kock De Villiers gloved the next ball to wicketkeeper Mashrafe Mortaza said. “So hopefully, we’ll come stadium housing Qatar’s current football “cities” will in total house 258,000 laborers as into chipping a catch to Sabbir at midwicket to Rahim to end his 34-ball innings which included back in the one-dayers. “We haven’t played too champions, Lekhwiya, and rivals Al-Sadd, Qatar attempts to build a better reputation earn Bangladesh’s first breakthrough in the 11th six sixes. David Miller survived a strong many T20s recently. Not an excuse. We just have to where Xavi Hernandez, formerly of Barcelona, on accommodation for foreign laborers. It over. Left-handed de Kock faced 31 balls and hit behind appeal in the same over to put on 34 runs improve,” he added. The two teams will now play a will play next season. could also provide a boon for Asian Town four fours and two sixes in his innings. Bangladesh for the fourth wicket with du Plessis (16). Miller (30 three-match one-day international series, begin- Asian Town is less than 2,000 seats short of Cricket Stadium. Shah Zaleri Sikka, an Indian were immediately back in the contest as Nasir not out) and (19 not out) then took ning on July 10 at the same ground. —AFP the SWALEC stadium capacity where this cricket supporter, was one of the first to move summer’s first Ashes test between England into Labor City. and Australia, arguably the fiercest rivalry in Brilliant Younus guides cricket, starts today. Like many things in QATAR PREMIER LEAGUE? Qatar, the stadium owes its existence to the “The atmosphere is really good in Labour phenomenal change the energy-rich country City,” he said. “We get a good chance to rest in has undergone in recent years. our rooms as they are really nice and most Pakistan to series win It was built specifically for the vast number evenings we come here to pass the time and of laborers who have poured into Qatar, par- get a chance to watch a match as well.” ticularly from countries such as India, Chaudhry believes that with Labour City COLOMBO: Younus Khan’s epic unbeaten 171 guid- Pakistan, Bangladesh and . nearby and the riches of Qatar, there is scope ed Pakistan to their highest successful run chase Between them, migrants from these four for bigger and better tournaments in Doha. yesterday, the tourists easing to a seven-wicket vic- countries account for almost one million of The Ramadan Tournament, made up of 18 tory over Sri Lanka to clinch the three-match series the 2.3 million people in Qatar, which has sides, awards 50,000 Qatari riyals ($13,500) to by a 2-1 margin. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (59 not faced criticism for the treatment of foreign the winning team, enough to encourage out) blasted Jehan Mubarak for a six to seal workers. some to draft in professional players from Pakistan’s first test series win in Sri Lanka since 2006 overseas. But Chaudhry said organisers as the visitors chased down a daunting 377-run tar- HIGH STANDARD should aim higher and try to replicate the get in the second session of the final day. Shan On the night AFP visited, a T20 match was success of the popular T20 Indian Premier Masood (125) was the only Pakistani batsman to being held under floodlights between the League. “We are planning a Qatari Premier fall on Tuesday, having added a remarkable 242 “Shah XI”, mostly made up of players from League or Doha Premier League,” he said. runs with Younus to turn the match on its head Pakistan, and the eventual victors “Al Zaman “We are planning (a launch) for the first of after Sri Lanka had seized control. Exchange”, drawn largely from India. The stan- September. We are working on that. Inshallah, Shot out for 215 in the first innings and reeling dard was high though there was a sparse inshallah... we hope.” Whoever plays, it is likely at 13-2 in the second, Pakistan’s stunning victory Asian crowd-it was the middle of the week Sikder will be there watching and larger also saw them jump three places up to third in the and during the Muslim fasting month of crowds are expected. “Last time there was a test rankings. “This series means a lot to me. It was Ramadan. (big) match here a lot of people came to see a dream, after losing two-three series here,” Misbah “The laborers are living very near that’s it. The stadium was packed. If there are more said at the presentation ceremony. why they come,” said tournament organiser, matches like that in the future, a lot of people “The way they (Younus and Masood) played, Sajjad Chaudhry. “They are coming and will come,” he said. — AFP they almost took the game away from Sri Lanka. And once you have this sort of at the top, it was an easy job for us,” he added. Pakistan began the final day needing 147 for a memorable win and off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal drew Masood out of his crease with flight and turn to have him stumped. The opener had earlier survived a strong caught-behind appeal when he was on 120 with bowler and wicketkeeper convinced he had edged it. Umpire Ian SRI LANKA: Pakistan cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq poses with the trophy after his team’s Gould, however, deemed otherwise and Sri Lanka series victory following the third and final Test cricketmatch against Sri Lanka. — AFP moved on having exhausted both of their review opportunities. Younus continued to play with his characteristic fluency and was unbeaten after regis- tering his 11th 150-plus score in test cricket, the SCOREBOARD most by any batsman from his country. The 37-year-old batted for more than seven PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Final scoreboard on day five of the third Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka hours in a man-of-the-match display, also becom- at the Pallekele International Stadium yesterday: ing the first batsman to score five fourth innings centuries in test cricket. “It was not easy,” Younus Sri Lanka 1st innings: 278 (D. Karunaratne 130, Azhar Ali c Chandimal b Prasad 5 said. “But I have my own expectations from myself, U. Tharanga 46; Yasir Shah Younis Khan not out 171 to do well when the team is under pressure. I take 5-78, Rahat Ali 3-74) Misbah-ul Haq not out 59 the onus on myself to take my team to victory.” Pakistan 1st innings: 215 (Azhar Ali 52, Sarfraz Extras: (b5, lb10, w2, nb5) 22 Mathews, who struck a defiant in Sri Ahmed 78 not out, D. Prasad 3-78, N. Pradeep 3- Total (for three wickets, 103.1 overs) 382 Lanka’s second innings, did not hide his disappoint- 29, T. Kaushal 3-37) Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Shehzad), 2-13 (Azhar), 3-255 ment. “I thought at 376, we were sitting pretty but Sri Lanka 2nd innings: 313 (U. Tharanga 48, A. (Masood). that was not the case. We’ll take definitely a lot of Mathews 122, D. Chandimal 67, Imran Khan 5-58) Bowling: Prasad 20-2-65-1 (nb1, w1), Lakmal 19- time to digest this defeat,” the all-rounder said. 5-48-1 (nb3), Pradeep 17-3-51-0 (w1), Mathews Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 230-2): 13-2-34-0 (nb1) Kaushal 31-1-153-1, Mubarak QATAR: Asian laborers play cricket at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium in the Qatari Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who claimed 24 wickets in three matches, won the man-of-the- Shan Masood st Chandimal b Kaushal 125 3.1-0-16-0. capital Doha. The Asian Town Cricket Stadium is a colorful place of rest and recre- Ahmed Shehzad b Lakmal 0 Pakistan won by seven wickets, clinch series 2-1. ation in a mostly grey-looking part of Qatar’s capital. — AFP series award. — Reuters