CRICKET | Page 2 FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 4 Legends Neymar to ‘blown away’ return in ‘two, by Pakistani three weeks,’ child bowlers says PSG coach Saturday, March 31, 2018 GOLF Rajab 14, 1439 AH Tiger’s fi t, Rory, GULF TIMES Bubba hot as Masters excitement sizzles SPORT Page 6 BOXING CRICKET Joshua eager to ‘simplify Markram piles on the madness’ in title bout misery for Australia In an unusual move players of both teams lined up to exchange handshakes after the national anthems AFP SCORECARD Johannesburg South Africa, first innings D. Elgar c Sayers b Lyon ................................................................. 19 career-best century by Aiden Markram A. Markram c M. Marsh b Cummins ...............................152 added pain to an Australian side reel- H. Amla c Handscomb b Cummins ..................................27 ing from the ball tampering scandal on A. de Villiers c Paine b Sayers .................................................69 the first day of the fourth and final Test F. du Plessis lbw b Cummins ....................................................... 0 Aagainst Australia at the Wanderers Stadium yes- T. Bavuma not out ................................................................................25 terday. K. Rabada c Renshaw b Sayers ...............................................0 Markram made a flawless 152 before the be- Q. de Kock not out.................................................................................. 7 leaguered Australians fought back with four late Extras (b8, lb6) .......................................................................................14 strikes as South Africa finished on 313 for six on Total (6 wkts, 88 overs) ................................................................313 the best batting pitch of a series which South Af- To bat: V. Philander, K. Maharaj, M. Morkel Britain’s Anthony Joshua (L) and New rica lead 2-1. Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Elgar), 2-142 (Amla), 3-247 Zealand’s Joseph Parker attend a Markram, though, was the star on a day when (Markram), 4-247 (Du Plessis), 5-299 (De Villiers), weigh-in photocall at the Motorpoint players and spectators alike seemed to have tried 6-299 (Rabada) Arena in Cardiff yesterday. to move on from the controversy and bad feel- Bowling: Hazlewood 18-3-60-0, Sayers 26-6-64-2, ing which resulted in three Australian players, Cummins 19-3-53-3, Lyon 21-1-95-1, M. Marsh 3-0-23- AFP including sacked captain Steve Smith, being 0, Renshaw 1-0-4-0 Cardiff banned and banished for ball-tampering in the Australia: T. Paine, M. Renshaw, J. Burns, U. third Test at Cape Town last weekend. Khawaja, S. Marsh, P. Handscomb, M. Marsh, P. nthony Joshua believes he South African captain Faf du Plessis and new Cummins, N. Lyon, C. Sayers, J. Hazlewood must “simplify the mad- Australian skipper Tim Paine had a friendly chat Toss: South Africa ness” when he faces Joseph before the toss and in an unusual move players Umpires: Ian Gould, Nigel Llong (both ENG) AParker in their eagerly an- of both teams lined up to exchange handshakes TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG) ticipated world heavyweight title uni- after the national anthems. Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM) fi cation bout in Cardiff today. Some fans could not resist poking fun at the British fi ghter Joshua’s Interna- Australians’ fateful attempts to doctor the ball in tional Boxing Federation (IBF) and the third Test. temperament allied with clean drives off front World Boxing Association (WBA) title One banner among a group of spectators wear- and back foot and some strong pull shots. will be at stake, with New Zealand’s ing yellow read: “Sandpaper Special, Only R10 There were 11 fours and a straight six off Nath- Parker putting his World Boxing Or- (10 Rand)”. an Lyon as he reached his hundred off 216 balls. ganisation belt on the line. But with the main cuplrits in the sandpaper He added six more fours off another 64 balls Some 78,000 fans are expected at scandal banished, there seemed virtually no ani- before he was out. the Principality Stadium for the fi rst mosity towards the tourists. Cummins, Australia’s best bowler, made it a heavyweight title clash between two The only boos all day were directed at Paine double strike when Du Plessis padded up to the unbeaten champions staged in Brit- when he appeared to claim a catch behind the first ball he faced and was leg before wicket to ain. wicket before indicating that he was not sure one which swung back sharply. But while Joshua has experience whether an edge from Markram had carried to Cummins, who ran in hard all day, took three of fi ghting in front of a huge sell-out him. Replays showed the ball had bounced. for 53. crowd in Cardiff , the same cannot be The biggest problems for Australia were purely New cap Chadd Sayers, who replaced Starc, said for Parker, who has yet to com- cricket-related. toiled without success for much of the day be- pete in front of more than 10,000 Markram played a majestic innings against fore taking two wickets in three deliveries with spectators on any one night. a bowling attack missing spearhead Mitchell the second new ball. “If he loses composure in the ring, Starc, who was ruled out with a stress fracture He claimed the prize wicket of AB de Villiers, I will be able to tell,” Joshua told BBC of his lower right leg — an injury which will also caught off a faint inside edge, before having Radio on Friday. force him to miss a lucrative stint with Kolkata nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada caught at mid- “Even though it’s a phenomenal Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. off. atmosphere there is one ring, one Markram made his fourth century in ten Tests Sayers bowled 26 overs, more than anyone referee. If I’m in any arena, you just in what has been a remarkable debut season for else, and took two for 64. have to simplify the madness and the the 23-year-old opening batsman. Australia could feel reasonably satisfied with chaos.” Joshua weighed in at 17st 4lbs He already owned two scores of 143, most re- their performance but their challenge will come (110.4kgs) on Friday, well down from a cently in the first Test in Durban, but went past when three new batsmen, Matt Renshaw, Joe career high of 18st 2lbs (115.5) against that before a cramped cut against Pat Cummins Burns and Peter Handscomb have to face South Carlos Takam last time out, while was caught by Mitchell Marsh at gully. Africa’s fast bowlers in place of the banned South African batsman Aiden Markram raises his bat and helmet yesterday as he celebrates Parker came in at 16st 12lbs (102.3). He again showed sound technique and good Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. scoring a century against Australia at the Wanderers cricket ground in Johannesburg. BOTTOMLINESPOTLIGHT Workers’ Cup is Qatar’s ‘message to the world’ ‘The Workers’ Cup ing three matches to qualify for the knockout oach Sami Majzoub has described the has proven beyond doubt rounds. They beat Mowasalat on penalties in the Workers’ Cup as ‘the heart and soul’ of last 16 before easing past G4S in the quarter- Nakheel Landscapes after leading the that it is as important to fi nals. In the semi-fi nals, Nakheel beat Alysj on Ccompany to a second successive title football in Qatar as any penalties after the game ended 1-1 in normal last week. professional tournament’ time. Majzoub, a former player for QNB Stars League Thirty-six-year-old Majzoub, who also side Al Ahli, spoke of his delight after Nakheel that Qatar cares for its workers and that the turned out for local side Al Sailiya, said his squad claimed a 2-0 victory over Doha Pest Control in country opens up its fantastic sporting infra- had been boosted by Nakheel’s football culture. front of 7,600 fans at Al Duhail Sports Club. structure to everyone.” He also reserved praise for a trio of Moroccans – “The Workers’ Cup has been Nakheel’s heart Majzoub added: “Like the Asian Games in Imad Kairat, Mohamed Ait Braik and Othmane and soul over the last two years,” said Majzoub, 2006 and Asian Cup in 2011, the Workers’ Cup is Bendahan – who watched last year’s fi nal from who moved to Qatar from Sudan 18 years ago. proof that Qatar is made for football and sport. the stands before approaching Majzoub to take “We have been in training every day since Au- The country will send out another strong mes- part. gust for our title defence and the entire organi- sage to the world in 2022 and show it was the “This year, we changed our tactics a bit and sation has supported us, both before the tourna- perfect choice to host the World Cup.” included three Moroccan attackers who are all ment and during it.” The Workers’ Cup is jointly organised by the good on the ball,” Majzoub explained. “Imad has Majzoub, who also turned out for local side Al Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the been an outstanding performer this year, as have Sailiyah, said successfully defending the Work- organisation responsible for delivering the in- Mohammed and Othmane, who scored a great ers’ Cup was one of his proudest achievements. frastructure required for the 2022 FIFA World goal in the fi nal.” He went on to praise the impact of the competi- Cup, and the QNB Stars League. The sixth edi- Majzoub added: “Like last year, Ghassan Oue- tion in Qatar. tion included 32 teams – many from companies ijan [Nakheel’s Managing Director] has been our “The Workers’ Cup has proven beyond doubt involved in infrastructure projects related to the cheerleader. The past two years have boosted that it is as important to football in Qatar as any 2022 FIFA World Cup.