SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2014 SPORTS Messi penalty propels Barcelona to the top MADRID: Barcelona rounded off a fine week chance as just two minutes later he fired to move top of La Liga as they overcame stiff over with just Pinto to beat from Sergio resistance from local rivals Espanyol to win Garcia’s inviting cross. 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Lionel Messi. Javier Mascherano was lucky not to con- The Argentine scored the only goal of the cede a penalty as he appeared to catch Javi game 14 minutes from time at Cornella El Lopez with a stray arm as the Espanyol full- Prat after Javi Lopez was adjudged to have back broke into the box. handled inside the area. Neymar came close to breaking the Espanyol were then reduced to 10 men deadlock once more before the break as he when goalkeeper Kiko Casilla saw a straight prodded Jordi Alba’s through ball beyond red card for blocking Messi’s goalbound Casilla but the ball rolled passed the far effort with his hands outside the area. post. Victory moves Barca two points clear of There was far less in the way of goal- Atletico Madrid and five ahead of Real mouth action in the second-half, but Barca Madrid with both sides from the capital in upped the pressure as Espanyol started to action later on Saturday against Athletic tire in the final 20 minutes and Gerard Pique Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano respectively. struck the crossbar from Sergio Busquets’ Knowing his side would be in for a difficult flick-on. afternoon, Barca boss Gerardo Martino Moments later Martino’s men did get the named almost his strongest side despite all-important goal as Lopez handled whilst Tuesday’s upcoming Champions League contesting a cross with Neymar at the far quarter-final clash with Atletico. Andres post and this time referee Clos Gomez did Iniesta was left on the bench after having to point to the spot. come off during Wednesday’s 3-0 won over Messi stepped up and, just as in scoring Celta Vigo with a slight muscular problem, twice from the spot in Barca’s 4-3 win over whilst Jose Manuel Pinto replaced the Real Madrid last weekend, showed no sign injured Victor Valdes in goal. of nerves as he calmly slotted home his The visitors started brightly and would 36th goal of the season. have been in front had their star forwards Espanyol finished the game with 10 men CHITTAGONG: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler (left) watches as South Africa batsman AB de Villiers plays a shot during the ICC been at their best as both Neymar and Messi as Casilla then saw red for handling outside World Twenty20 tournament cricket match. —AFP wasted good headed chances when well the area as he blocked a lob from Messi that placed inside the area. appeared to heading goalwards. Lopez Neymar then missed a glorious opportu- ended an eventful afternoon by going in nity on 19 minutes when he blazed Dani goal as the hosts had already made all three SA knock out England Alves’ cross over from point-blank range substitutions and made a fine save in stop- with an open goal to aim at. page time to prevent Alexis Sanchez dou- CHITTAGONG: South Africa produced another clinical per- Pizzi was next to pass up a wonderful bling Barca’s lead. —AFP formance to beat England by three runs in Chittagong to advance to the World Twenty20 semi-finals yesterday. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla hit half-centuries to anchor South Africa’s highest total of the tournament of 196- 5 before Wayne Parnell took 3-31 to keep England down to 193-7 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium. South Africa are the second team to qualify for the semis after 2007 champions India cruised to the last four from Group Two. The defeat-second in three Group One Super-10 matches- sent 2010 champions England out of the semi-final race. Sri Lanka meet New Zealand in their last Group One match on Monday and the winners will join South Africa in the last four. Pakistan meet Bangladesh in a Group Two match in Dhaka on Sunday and if the 2009 champions beat the hosts their last match against title holders the West Indies will decide the last semi-final berth. England, who chased down a 190-run target against Sri Lanka on Thursday, failed to match that performance with Alex Hales (38), Jos Buttler (34) and Ravi Bopara (31) unable to benefit from good starts. Parnell, who was released from the squad for two days to attend a court hearing relating to SCOREBOARD drug charges in the 2012 Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Friday, dismissed Michael Lumb (18), Hales and Moeen Ali CORNELLA: Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (center) vies with CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh: Scoreboard of the World Twenty20 Super-10 Group one match (10) to jolt England after they were off to a 46-run start by the Espanyol’s Mexican defender Hector Alfredo Moreno (left) and Espanyol’s between South Africa and England played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium yesterday. fifth over. Uruguayan forward Christian Stuani (right) during the Spanish League football Hales hit six boundaries and a six off 22 balls but once he match. —AFP South Africa England departed the target continued to climb on England with 45 Hashim Amla c Hales b Broad 56 M. Lumb c Miller b Parnell 18 needed off the last three overs and 22 off Dale Steyn’s final Q. de Kock st Buttler b Tredwell 29 A. Hales c Miller b Parnell 38 over. Moeen Ali c de Kock b Parnell 10 Bayern held by Hoffenheim AB de Villiers not out 69 South Africa’s total was built around a swashbuckling 28- E. Morgan c de Kock b Tahir 14 ball 69 not out by De Villiers and a 37-ball 56 by Amla. De JP Duminy run out 5 BERLIN: Champions Bayern Munich drew Bosnia midfielder Sejad Salihovic curled in J. Buttler c Morkel b Tahir 34 Villiers was ruthless in the final overs, taking 26 off Jade only their third Bundesliga match of the sea- a 44th-minute free-kick to make it 3-2 at the D. Miller c Ali b Jordan 19 R. Bopara c Miller b Steyn 31 Dernbach’s 18th over and reached his fifty with a towering six son yesterday when they were held 3-3 at break. Hoffenheim grabbed the crucial A. Morkel b Bresnan 3 C. Jordan c de Villiers b Hendricks 16 off just 23 balls. home to Hoffenheim. equaliser on 75 minutes when Brazilian left- Extras: (b4, lb2, nb1, w8) 15 T. Bresnan not out 17 In all he hit nine boundaries and three sixes to help South Bayern were confirmed German league wing Roberto Firmino darted onto a through S. Broad not out 1 Total: (for five wkts; 20 overs) 196 Africa during an innings stopped twice for floodlight failure. winners for the 24th time with a record seven ball and his shot beat both Bayern centre- Extras: (lb4, nb1, w9) 14 Did not bat: Farhan Behardien, W. Parnell, D. South Africa smashed 75 in the last five overs. Amla and games to spare after Tuesday’s 3-1 win at back Dante and goalkeeper Tom Starke. Total: (for seven wkts; 20 overs) 193 Quinton de Kock (29) helped South Africa to 90 without loss Hertha Berlin and after partying through the Despite the draw, Bayern still remain 22 Steyn, B. Hendricks, Imran Tahir. Did not bat: J. Tredwell, J. Dernbach. in the 11th over with the former in a punishing mood. night in the capital, they suffered a slight points clear in the table and extended their Fall of wickets: 1-90 (Amla), 2-98 (de Kock), 3- Fall of wickets: 1-46 (Lumb), 2-73 (Hales), 3-73 The bearded Amla hit six boundaries and two sixes before hangover in Munich. record unbeaten Bundesliga run to 53 match- 120 (Duminy), 4-174 (Miller), 5-196 (Morkel). (Ali), 4-105 (Morgan), 5-131 (Buttler), 6-167 he was caught at deep mid-wicket off Stuart Broad. South Hoffenheim ended Bayern’s record run of es. Bowling: Ali 2-0-17-0 (1w), Dernbach 3-0-44- (Jordan), 7-175 (Bopara) Africa made two changes from the line-up which beat the 19 consecutive Bundesliga wins before Germany winger Marco Reus netted a hat- Bowling: Duminy 2-0-18-0 (1w), Morkel 2-0- 0 (1nb, 3w), Bresnan 3-0-28-1, Netherlands in their last game, with Farhan Behardien and Munich head to England for Tuesday’s trick as Borussia Dortmund fought back from 19-0 (1nb, 1w), Hendricks 4-0-50-1 (2w), Steyn Parnell in for regular skipper Faf Du Plessis-suspended for Champions League quarter-final at 2-0 down to win 3-2 at ten-man VfB Stuttgart. Jordan 3-0-30-1 (3w), Tredwell 3-0-25-1, 4-0-44-1, Parnell 4-0-31-3 (3w), Tahir 4-0-27-2. one match due to a slow over-rate-and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Manchester United. Dortmund face Real Madrid away on Broad 4-0-33-1, Bopara 2-0-13-0 (1w) Result: South Africa won by three runs. New Zealand sent the Netherlands out of the tournament Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara will Wednesday in the Champions League quar- with a clinical six-wicket win earlier in the day. —AFP miss the Manchester match with a knee ter-finals and some woeful defending left injury after limping off after only 25 minutes them 2-0 down after just 20 minutes. against Hoffenheim, who matched Freiburg Stuttgart midfielders Christian Gentner and Bayer Leverkusen in holding Bayern to a and Martin Harnik took advantage with the NZ thump Netherlands league draw this season. guests’ defence in disarray. Reus pulled one A high-scoring tie was always on the cards back with a superb finish on 30 minutes, then between the league’s two highest scoring hit the equaliser when he converted a 68th- CHITTAGONG: Brendon McCullum hit a robust half-centu- sides: Bayern’s 82 goals compared to minute penalty after Stuttgart Georg ry to steer New Zealand to a comprehensive six-wicket Hoffenheim’s 63. Niedermeier was shown a red-card for bring- win over the Netherlands in a World Twenty20 Super-10 This was the first time Bayern have leaked ing down Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski game in Chittagong yesterday. three goals in a Bundesliga match this season in the area. McCullum hit a punishing 45-ball 65 with three sixes and having dropped just six points with three Reus saved his best for last when he com- and four boundaries to make easy work of a 152-run tar- draws, they are bidding to become the first pleted his hat-trick with a long-range shot get which New Zealand chased down in 19 overs. team to go through a Bundesliga season which took a deflection off defender Daniel McCullum also became the first man to reach 2,000 unbeaten. Schwaab on 83 minutes. runs in Twenty20 cricket when he cleared 21 in his 67th Bayern coach Pep Guardiola rested stars Bayer Leverkusen hold onto fourth in the match. The victory gives New Zealand their second win in Arjen Robben, Mario Mandzukic, Philipp league despite drawing 1-1 at home to bot- three games while the Netherlands, the only associate Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from his tom side Eintracht Braunschweig as Sami side to qualify for the second round, crashed out of the starting line-up, but still fielded nine interna- Hyypia’s side struggle for form with one win event with three defeats in as many games. tionals. in their last 11 games. McCullum added 42 for the second wicket with Kane Veteran striker Claudio Pizarro scored Braunschweig took a shock lead through Williamson (29) and another 46 for the fourth wicket with twice, while Swiss wing Xherdan Shaqiri also defender Ken Reichel just after the break Corey Anderson who made an unbeaten 20. got on the scoresheet in the first half after before former Germany striker Stefan McCullum holed out in the 17th over off paceman Hoffenheim took an early lead through striker Kiessling slotted home a 53rd-minute penalty Timm van der Gugten who took 3-30 in his four overs. But Anthony Modeste. to spare Bayer’s blushes. —AFP CHITTAGONG: New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum plays a shot during there was no support from any other Dutch bowler as the ICC World Twenty20 tournament cricket match against Netherlands. —AFP New Zealand’s strong batting line-up was too good for them. South Africa play England in the other Group One game later Saturday. Both South Africa and Sri Lanka have two wins in three games while England have one win in SCOREBOARD two matches. “Definitely, Netherlands put up a really good fight,” said CHITTAGONG: Scoreboard of the World Twenty20 Super-10 Group one match between New man-of-the-match McCullum. “There was a lot of talk Zealand and the Netherlands played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium yesterday. about their game against Sri Lanka (Netherlands out for 39), but we had a lot of respect for them and we were The Netherlands New Zealand focused.” S. Myburgh c Guptill b Boult 16 M. Guptill c Barresi b Gugten 9 The losing captain Peter Borren said McCullum made M. Swart st Ronchi b N. McCullum 26 K. Williamson c Barresi b van Beek 29 the chase easy. “Brendon got them through, but if we’d got W. Barresi c Ronchi b McClenaghan 4 B. McCullum c Bukhari b Gugten 65 him early something could have happened.” P. Borren c Williamson b Mills 49 R. Taylor c Barresi b Gugten 18 Earlier Borren made 49 and Tom Cooper an unbeaten 40 C. Anderson not out 20 T. Cooper not out 40 during their 60-run fourth wicket stand off just 35 balls to J. Neesham not out 7 steer their team to 151-4 in 20 overs. B. Cooper not out 1 Extras: (lb2, w2) 4 Borren hit seven boundaries and a six off 35 balls to Extras: (b8, lb4, nb1, w2) 15 Total: (for four wkts; 19 overs) 152 improve on his previous best T20 score of 38 not out made Total: (for four wkts; 20 overs) 151 Did not bat: L. Ronchi, N. McCullum, T. Boult, against Afghanistan at Sharjah last year. Did not bat: van Beek, Mudassar Bukhari, T. K. Mills, M. McClenaghan. Cooper knocked two sixes and four boundaries off 23 van der Gugten, P. Seelaar, Ahsan Malik. Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Guptill), 2-56 balls to help his team add 43 in the last five overs. The Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Myburgh), 2-42 (Barresi), (Williamson), 3-88 (Taylor), 4-134 (B. Netherlands were off to a steady 34-run start with opener McCullum) Stephan Myburgh hitting a boundary and a six before he 3-81 (Swart), 4-141 (Borren) holed out to paceman Trent Boult, who replaced Tim Bowling: Swart 1-0-6-0 (1w), Gugten 4-0-30- Bowling: Mills 3-0-20-1, Boult 4-0-25-1 (1nb), Southee in the team. New Zealand also brought in all- 3, Bukhari 4-0-31-0 (1w), Malik 4-0-43-0, Anderson 2-0-19-0 (1w), N. McCullum 4-0-20- rounder Jimmy Neesham for Colin Munro from the line-up 1, McClenaghan 4-0-29-1 (1w), Williamson 1- Borren 2-0-10-0, Seelaar 2-0-16-0, van Beek which beat England yesterday. 2-0-14-1 0-17-0, Neesham Michael Swart made a run-a-ball 26. The top two teams MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger controls Result: New Zealand won by six wickets. 2-0-9-0 from both groups will qualify for the semi-finals. India have the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match against already qualified for the last four from Group Two. —AFP Hoffenheim. —AFP