SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019 16

Djokovic beats Pouille to reach Cincinnati semis Liverpool extend perfect start Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino shoot Liverpool to victory at Southampton

Burnley on the opening week- Pierre-Emerick end of the season, Klopp’s • men were in Istanbul, playing Aubameyang sinks extra-time against Chelsea in Burnley to maintain Wednesday’s European Super Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns Arsenal’s winning start Cup victory. a shot to Lucas Pouille of France That gruelling trip seemed to AFP | London take its toll against Southampton Reuters | Cincinnati and Liverpool, who also faced Manchester City at Wembley in ovak Djokovic wore iverpool made it two the Community Shield 13 days Ndown Lucas Pouille successive wins to start ago, looked out on their feet at after an even first set, dis- Ltheir Premier League title times. patching the Frenchman bid as goals from Sadio Mane Liverpool soon began to strug- 7-6(2) 6-1 in a Cincinnati and Roberto Firmino clinched gle against a lively home side, Masters quarter-final in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over who should have gone ahead Ohio on Friday. Southampton yesterday. after 21 minutes when Maya The match was much Jurgen Klopp’s tired team Yoshida got above Virgil Van closer than when the pair were ragged in their passing and Dijk to reach a corner from met in the Australian Open lacked organisation in defence, James Ward-Prowse, only to semi-finals in January, but still showed enough men- see Adrian parry his header to when Djokovic conceded tal strength to come away with safety. only four games before go- three points. The Spanish goalkeeper was ing on to win the title. It was completely against the in action again just short of the It took Djokovic nearly run of play when Senegal wing- half-hour, pushing out a low an hour to prevail in the er Mane put Liverpool ahead cross from Ryan Bertrand and Roberto Firmino of Liverpool vies for the ball with Oriol Romeu of Southampton first set but he closed out against his former club just be- for a few seconds all was chaos a one-sided tiebreak with a fore half time at St Mary’s. in the Liverpool penalty area as the far post. he faded a shot just over the left-back’s volley after a quick deft backhand passing shot. Brazil forward Firmino scored defenders tried in vain to clear That and the interval seemed crossbar from distance. exchange of passes with Mane. The second was one-way a clinical second but a dreadful the ball. to give Liverpool their second But after 70 minutes Liver- Adrian had to save well when traffic as the world num- error by Reds goalkeeper Adrian And neither Joel Matip nor wind. pool showed again how deadly Matip deflected Stuart Arm- ber one played with relent- gifted a goal to Danny Ings that Van Dijk dealt with a first-time Mohamed Salah had an excel- they can be when teams relax strong’s cross towards the cor- less efficiency against an set up a tense finish cross by Ward-Prowse from the lent chance to double their lead against them even for a second. ner of his own net. opponent who ran out of Former Liverpool forward right, Che Adams getting be - 10 minutes after half-time when Mane won the ball from But the goalkeeper blundered answers. Ings should really have equal- tween them to nod the ball over he raced clear of defenders, but Southampton’s own throw-in badly with seven minutes left, Perhaps the only concern ised to give Southampton what the crossbar. the Egypt striker failed to dis- and found Firmino, who danced hitting an attempted clearance for Djokovic with the U.S. would have been a well-de - guise his shot, allowing Angus inside along the edge of the pen- against Ings’ right foot and back Open looming in less than served point. Second wind Gunn to spread himself and save. alty area, waited his moment into goal under no pressure at two weeks was a sore elbow The reason for the Champions Mane gave Liverpool the lead Firmino sliced the ball wide and shot low past Gunn. all. which required brief treat- League winners’ lacklustre dis- in first half stoppage-time when of goal after Mane had outpaced Andrew Robertson was de- And Ings miskicked from six ment by his trainer late in play was not hard to find. he took a pass inside from James the defence and swept the ball in nied a goal-of-the-month con- yards when any sort of contact the match. While Southampton were re- Milner before sidestepping a de- low from the left. tender when Gunn dived to would have produced an equal- “I managed to finish covering from their defeat at fender and curling a shot inside Southampton sent on Ings and his right to block the Scotland iser in the closing moments. the match, had a little bit of tightness in my elbow but hopefully everything will be fine for tomorrow,” Sri Lanka set up final day Djokovic said in an on-court Brave Smith out for 92 after being interview. thriller against New Zealand hit in head by Archer bouncer AFP | London I managed to finish the match, ustralia batsman Steve had a little bit of Smith just missed his tightness in my Athird Ashes hundred in elbow but hopefully as many innings after returning everything will be following a sickening blow to the neck from a Jofra Archer fine for tomorrow bouncer on the fourth day of NOVAK DJOKOVIC the second Test against Eng- land at Lord’s yesterday. Smith left the field during the He will have less than day’s second session. He came Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne plays a shot 24 hours to recover for a back and was eventually out leg semi-final against Daniil before wicket for 92, the first AFP | Galle, Sri Lanka held together and there wer- Medvedev, who continued time this series he had failed to en’t any demons for batsmen his recent hot form, ousting make three figures ri Lanka’s batters set the making life difficult. Russian compatriot Andrey The star batsman was on 80 Sstage yesterday for a thrill- Both openers were slow Rublev 6-2 6-3 in barely an when he turned away from an Australia’s Steve Smith plays a shot ing final day, reaching 133 off the blocks with the first hour. express delivery from England without loss at stumps on day boundary coming in the 22nd Medvedev, a career-high fast bowler Archer timed at 92.4 nings 258. pavilion, signalling that he was four as they chased 268 to beat over. Karunaratne was the first eighth in the rankings, faced mph. The ball struck him on the World Cup-winner Archer, reviewing umpire Chris Gaf- New Zealand in the first Test to reach half-century with a only one break point. side of the neck and head. making his Test debut, had pre- faney’s decision almost as an in Galle. cut shot off William Somer- He has made two finals in Smith, fell face forward onto viously struck Smith on his un- after-thought. Openers Dimuth Karuna- ville. It was the Sri Lankan the past two weeks, losing the ground. He was wearing a protected forearm with another Replays confirmed his dis- ratne and Lahiru Thirimanne skipper’s 23rd Test fifty. to Nick Kyrgios in Wash- helmet without the additional bouncer during a fiery eight- missal, with Smith receiving were involved in a record Thirimanne reached his ington and Rafa Nadal in neck protection that was intro- over spell that cost 31 runs. more applause from the MCC opening stand of 133 runs and sixth half-century with a flick Montreal. duced following the death of Smith resumed his innings members in the pavilion as he benefited from some sloppy for four off Ajaz Patel. After a In other quarter-final Phillip Hughes after his former as soon as he could. After 46 walked back in. fielding by the tourists. series of low scores, he was un- action, Frenchman Rich- Australia team-mate died af- minutes off the field, he came A Cricket Australia spokes- It leaves Sri Lanka needing der pressure to post a decent ard Gasquet continued ter being hit by a bouncer in a back in when Peter Siddle was man, explaining how Smith had a further 135 runs to record figure and the half-century his comeback from groin 2014 domestic Sheffield Shield caught behind off Chris Woakes been allowed to resume his in- their first win in the World will have saved his place for surgery by defeating 11th match in Sydney. to leave Australia 218-7. nings, said: “Steve was hit on Test Championship. the next Test in Colombo. seeded Spaniard Roberto Smith received several min- From the second and third the neck below the left ear. Karunaratne was unbeaten A bat pad chance off Bautista Agut 7-6(2) 3-6 6-2. utes of on-field treatment in- balls he faced on his return, “He was assessed lying on the on 71 off 168 balls with two Thirimanne when he was Gasquet, who defeated volving both Australian and Smith hit two fours off Woakes: pitch at the instructions of team boundaries while Thirimanne on 29 fell just short of short Andy Murray in the open- English medical staff. a slammed shot over mid-on doctor Richard Saw. was on 57 having faced 132 leg fielder Tom Latham. But ing round, set up a semi-fi- He got to his feet but, after a followed by a backfoot drive “Dr Saw made the precau- deliveries and hit four fours. the luckier of the two open- nal clash with Belgian 16th prolonged conversation with through the covers. tionary decision to remove Ste- They were in no mood to with- ers was Karunaratne, who seed David Goffin. Australia team doctor Richard But on 92, facing his ninth ve from the field of play to have draw to the dressing room but was put down twice. Latham Goffin advanced when Saw, decided to retire hurt. ball after resuming, Smith him further assessed under bad light ended play 34 min- spilled a chance at short leg his quarter-final opponent, Smith received a generous shouldered arms to a Woakes Cricket Australia’s head impact utes before schedule. when he was on 58 off the Japan’s Yoshihito Nishio- round of applause as he walked delivery that nipped back and protocol. Steve then passed his Batting fourth in Galle is not bowling of Patel and in the ka, pulled out before their back into the pavilion. was plumb lbw to leave Aus- assessments and will now be the prettiest thing for batsmen very next over B.J. Watling match on Friday due to Australia were then 203-6, 55 tralia 234-8. monitored on an ongoing basis, and the highest successful run missed a stumping chance off illness. runs behind England’s first-in- Smith turned towards the as is routine.” chase here is 99. But this track Somerville.