14 Established 1961 Sports Sunday, May 13, 2018 Shadab, Faheem revive Pakistan in Ireland’s inaugural Test Rain brings second day at Malahide to a premature close DUBLIN: Shadab Khan and debutant Faheem Ashraf both scored maiden Test fifties as Pakistan fought back in Ireland’s SCOREBOARD inaugural Test match in Dublin yesterday. Pakistan were 268 for six when bad light and then rain DUBLIN: Scoreboard at stumps on the second day brought the second day at Malahide to a premature close. of the only Test between Ireland and Pakistan at Shadab, in just his second Test, was 52 not out and left-han- Malahide yesterday: der Faheem 61 not out, with their unbroken seventh-wicket stand so far worth 109 runs after they had come together at Pakistan 1st Innings 159 for six. Azhar Ali c Porterfield b Rankin 4 Pakistan, sent into bat by Ireland captain William Porterfield, lost two wickets in successive balls to be 13 for Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Murtagh 7 two, but concerns that Ireland would pay for doing without a Haris Sohail c Porterfield b Thompson 31 specialist spinner were eventually proved to be well-founded. Middlesex paceman Tim Murtagh led Ireland’s attack with Asad Shafiq c Balbirnie b Rankin 62 two wickets for 33 runs from 17 overs, with Boyd Rankin tak- Babar Azam c Stirling b Murtagh 14 Sarfraz Ahmed c Stirling b Thompson 20 Shadab Khan not out 52 Faheem Ashraf not out 61 Paceman Tim Extras (b1, lb10, nb4, w2) 17 Total (6 wkts, 76 overs, 327 mins) 268 Murtagh leads To bat: Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Abbas, Rahat Ireland’s attack DUBLIN: (L-R) Ireland’s William Porterfield, Ireland’s Andrew Balbirnie and Ireland’s Paul Stirling appeal Ali unsuccessfully for a wicket during play on day two of Ireland’s inaugural Test match against Pakistan at Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Azhar), 2-13 (Imam), 3-71 (Haris), Malahide cricket club, in Dublin yesterday. — AFP 4-104 (Babar), 5-153 (Shafiq), 6-159 (Sarfraz) Test batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq, scored a hundred on his one- few near run-outs, Pakistan’s third-wicket duo settled in. day international debut against Sri Lanka last year. The left- Shafiq square-cut Kane for four, with left-hander Haris Sohail Bowling: Murtagh 17-4-33-2; Rankin 17-3-58-2 ing two for 58 in 17 overs. hander, who came into this match following fifties in Pakistan’s glancing Stuart Thompson for a legside boundary. Pakistan, There was drama at an initially sun-drenched Malahide two warm-up fixtures, against Kent and Northamptonshire, 67 for two at lunch, lost their third wicket soon afterwards (1nb); Kane 18-2-84-0 (1nb); Thompson 16-2-51-2 right from Saturday’s first ball of this stand-alone match. square-drove Murtagh for a stylish four. But it did not take when Haris was caught in the gully by Porterfield off (2nb, 1w); K O’Brien 6-1-20-0 (1w); Stirling 2-0-11-0; Azhar Ali dug out a Murtagh delivery and called for a quick long for Ireland to make a stunning double strike on a pitch Thompson. Babar Azam (14), pushing hard at a Murtagh legside single. offering some sideways movement. Rankin, the 15th man ever, delivery that left him off the pitch, was well-held by Paul Non-striker Imam-ul-Haq, like Faheem making his Test and the first since Kepler Wessels (Australia and South Stirling at second slip. Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Ed Joyce, Andrew debut, found himself sandwiched between wicket-keeper Africa) 25 years ago, to play Test cricket for two nations after Shafiq went on to complete a 107-ball fifty when he pulled Niall O’Brien and Kane in a heavy collision as he scrambled making a lone appearance for England in 2014, had an uncer- Rankin for a single. But with the towering Rankin, bowling Balbirnie, Niall O’Brien (wkt), Paul Stirling, Kevin to complete the run. The 22-year-old was left flat on the tain Azhar (four) edging to Porterfield at second slip. from around the wicket, a similar shot proved Shafiq’s undo- O’Brien, Gary Wilson, Stuart Thompson, Tyrone ground and needed several minutes’ treatment on the field, That left Pakistan 13 for one off the last ball of the eighth ing when he found Andrew Balbirnie at square leg. but he recovered to face the second ball of the match, with over. Barely had the crowd’s cheers subsided, then Pakistan And when Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed (20) was Kane, Boyd Rankin, Tim Murtagh. Imam playing and missing. were 13 for two off the very next ball, with Imam lbw for sev- caught by Stirling in the slips off Thompson, the tourists were Imam, the nephew of Pakistan selection chief and former en to a Murtagh delivery that came back into him. After a 159 for six. —AFP Capitals cruise Stokes goes from past Lightning MVP to Royal to win NHL disappointment series opener LOS ANGELES: Alex Ovechkin and Jay Beagle scored NEW DELHI: Fourth months after splashing out in a three-minute span straddling the first and second $1.97 million to secure the services of Ben Stokes, periods as the Washington Capitals manhandled the Rajasthan Royals cannot be faulted for regretting Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 in the opening game of the the splurge as they struggle to stay afloat in this Eastern Conference finals. year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The Capitals seized control of Friday’s contest on a Stokes, then with Rising Pune Supergiant, set bizarre sequence that included a Tampa goal waived off alight last year’s tournament with his scintillating for a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty. Just two sec- batting, crafty bowling and electric fielding, mak- onds later, the Capitals scored on the powerplay in front ing him the obvious choice for the league’s Most of a crowd of 19,090 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. Valuable Player (MVP) honour. So instead of the game being tied 1-1, Washington England and world cricket’s premier all- took a 2-0 lead into the intermission on Ovechkin’s TAMPA: Ryan Callahan #24 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the Washington Capitals in Game rounder’s Midas touch has deserted him since powerplay goal and then jumped out to a 3-0 cushion One of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Amalie Arena on joining Rajasthan, however, with the 26-year-old when Beagle scored, only 2:40 into the second period. Friday in Tampa, Florida. The Capitals defeated the Lightning 4-2. — AFP “We had a good start. We didn’t give them much,” said still looking for his first fifty in this year’s tourna- Ovechkin, who is playing in the first Conference finals of ment, while the wickets have also dried up. But it his storied career. “All four lines played well in the first getting to this stage of the playoffs by eliminating dethroned the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh may still not to be too late for Stokes, according period and we need to do the same in the next game Boston and New Jersey in just five games each. Penguins in six games to advance to the final four. “We to England team mate Chris Woakes. and the rest of the series.” Stamkos said there were no excuses for coming out flat just carried it over from the Pittsburgh series,” said “He is a world class player,” Woakes, who is Game two of the best-of-seven NHL series is today in game one after a long layoff between series. “For Beagle. “Obviously we wanted to go after them in the among a dozen English players in this year’s IPL, in Tampa. Czech defenceman Michal Kempny, with the whatever reason they were quicker to the pucks, better first period. “We tried to take it to them in their building told reporters on Friday. “Probably has not played first of the game and his first of the postseason, and Lars disciplined and better on special teams and that is a and carry that momentum throughout the game.” as well as he would have liked throughout the Eller, of Denmark, also scored for Washington, a team good recipe for success,” Canadian forward Stamkos The Lightning had a highlight-reel goal disallowed tournament but I never write him off. playing their first NHL semi-final series in two decades. said. “We were a step behind and you can’t do that with seven seconds left in the first that would have tied “Still four games left and more if they qualify. The Lightning are in the Conference final for the third against a quality opponent at this time of the year.” the game. Russian forward Nikita Kucherov took a long He’s a fantastic player. If you slip off your game time in four years but it didn’t look like it Friday as they pass at the blueline and broke in alone and then, as he against him, he will punish you,” the Royal pulled starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at the end of QUICK START was falling, somehow chipped the puck over a sprawling Challengers Bangalore player added. Stokes did the second period with the score 4-0. Steven Stamkos, Goaltender Braden Holtby made 19 stops for Holtby. Television replays clearly showed the Lightning suffer a setback off the pitch when he was on the power play, and Ondrej Palat scored goals in the Washington, facing a meagre two shots in the first peri- had an extra skater on the ice which allowed Kucherov charged with affray following an incident in third period for the Lightning, who had an easier time od from the lacklustre Lightning team.