WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015 SPORTS Bell and Root rescue England in first Test ANTIGUA: A fine innings of 143 from Ian Bell helped England to recover from a terrible start and finish the first day of the first test against West Indies on 341 for five in Antigua on Monday. After being put into bat, England made a shaky start at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and stumbled to 34 for three before lunch. But Bell and Joe Root (83) took control in the afternoon session with their 177 run part- nership killing West Indies’ early momentum and then moving England into a strong posi- tion. Although Bell was removed late in the day MONACO: Serbian Novak Djokovic hits a return to Spanish Albert Ramos-Vinolas after the hosts took the second new ball, during the Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament tennis match. —AFP England will still be satisfied by their day’s work. West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin was rewarded for his decision to make the visitors Djokovic in bat as his seamers got the early break- throughs he was hoping for. Jonathan Trott, returning to test cricket for third round the first time since quitting the 2013-14 Ashes Tour with stress-related problems, went in the first over. Trott, winning his 50th cap, edged a good Monte Carlo Masters delivery from Jerome Taylor to Darren Bravo who pocketed the straightforward catch at MONACO: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic Frenchman in the second round in straight slip. strolled into the third round of the Monte sets. The 14th-seeded Monfils, who recently England skipper Alastair Cook made 11 Carlo Masters with a 6-1, 6-4 win over quali- returned to the tour after a knee injury, before he was bowled by Kemar Roach, get- fier Albert Ramos-Vinolas yesterday. struggled with his serve early before finding ting an inside edge on a delivery that cut In a match that sometimes resembled a his range. back. practice session, Djokovic never looked Monfils’ display on the Country Club’s The West Indies opening pair bowled a troubled, although he dropped his serve center court was not as flashy as his green- consistent full length and tight line, making it once in the middle of the opening set. and-yellow outfit. But despite the numerous tough for England’s batsmen, but it was a The win over the Spanish clay-court spe- unforced errors and the erratic tennis, the wider ball from Jason Holder that removed cialist extended Djokovic’s winning streak to Frenchman was satisfied. number three Gary Ballance. The 13 matches following back-to-back titles at “I often struggled at this tournament. It’s Zimbabwean-born batsman reached at Indian Wells and Miami. always a difficult period of the year for me, Holder’s full delivery and flashed a high catch “I’m really pleased with my performance and I’m really happy I got through this one,” for my first match on clay against an experi- Monfils said. “I’ve lost similar matches here to Bravo who again captured it gleefully. enced player on this surface,” Djokovic said. before.” Monfils received a wild card from England badly needed a solid partnership “There was a good intensity.” the organizers after deciding to play in the to steady the ship and Bell and Root delivered The Serb is off to his best start since 2011 first clay-court Masters of the season at the exactly that, picking off the looser balls from a and hopes he can carry his hardcourt form last minute. He came back from a three- West Indies attack that had lost its earlier pre- into the clay season, which will climax at the week absence in Miami, where he reached cision. French Open. Roland Garros is the only the fourth round but retired with a right hip With signs of tiredness creeping into the ANTIGUA: England’s Ben Stokes plays a shot bowled by West Indies’ Jerome Taylor during the Grand Slam title missing from Djokovic’s col- problem. “The early images were not so Caribbean team’s play, the England pair opening day of their first cricket Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground. —AP lection, but Rafael Nadal’s current struggles good, but I recovered sooner than expect- stepped up the run-rate, Sulieman Benn might help him to fill the void this year. ed,” Monfils said. “And the training I did over dropped Root, spilling out a routine catch The French Open starts on May 24. the past couple of days certainly paid off.” when the England man was on 61. SCOREBOARD Djokovic, who lives in Monaco, showed no Up a break in the opener, Monfils lost 12 Bell brought up his century with an edge problem adjusting to the dust and raced to of the last 14 points as Kuznetsov took con- past slip off Marlon Samuels but West Indies NORTH SOUND: Scoreboard at stumps on the opening day of the first Test between the West Indies and England at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday. a 4-0 lead in the opening set, perfectly read- trol with a brilliant display at the net. But the finally brought the partnership to an end ing Ramos-Vinolas’ serve to break him twice. Russian could not build on the momentum, when Root played on from Taylor. England 1st Innings 211 (Root), 5-341 (Bell). A double-fault and two consecutive back- dropping his serve twice in the second set. A. Cook b Roach 11 To bat: Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, James Ben Stokes, unbeaten on 71 at the close, J. Trott c Bravo b Taylor 0 Anderson. hand mistakes in the next game, however, Serving for the match at 5-4, Monfils hit two quickly restored England’s dominance howev- G. Ballance c Bravo b Holder 10 Bowling: Taylor 15-2-79-2 (1nb, 1w), Roach 21-4-66-2 gave some hope to his opponent, who big serves to fend off break points and er, taking an aggressive approach. Bell looked I. Bell c wkpr Ramdin b Roach 143 (3nb, 2w), Holder 18-7-55-1 (2nb), Benn 26-3-85-0, J. Root b Taylor 83 Samuels 10-0-46-0. could not build on the momentum and closed out the match. Wild-card entry Lucas distraught at edging a beautiful rising and dropped his serve immediately after he Pouille also advanced and will next face B. Stokes not out 71 West Indies: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Kraigg moving delivery from Roach to wicketkeeper J. Tredwell not out 0 Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Marlon broke. Also, Gael Monfils overcame a shaky eight-time champion Rafael Nadal, while Ramdin, but the standing ovation he received Extras (b-7, lb-3, w-7, nb-6) 23 Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine start to rally past Russian qualifier Andrey Juan Monaco will be up against defending Total (5 wickets, 90 overs) 341 Blackwood, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Kuznetsov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Gilles Simon champion Stan Wawrinka after defeating Jiri indicated the value of his innings to his Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Trott), 2-22 (Cook) 3-34 (Ballance), 4- Sulieman Benn. and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined the Vesely 6-4, 6-2.—AP team.—Reuters Pelicans thrash T’wolves MINNEAPOLIS: Anthony Davis had 24 points, 11 the undermanned Grizzlies. Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds as the rebounds and six blocks to move the New Thompson finished 15 of 21 from the floor, Bulls clinched home-court advantage in the Orleans Pelicans one step closer to a playoff including 8 of 10 from 3-point range, to help the first round of the playoffs with a victory over berth with a 100-88 victory over the Minnesota top-seeded Warriors tune up for the NBA play- the Nets. The Nets fell into ninth place in the Timberwolves on Monday. Tyreke Evans added offs with another impressive performance. Eastern Conference and will need a win 22 points and five assists and Eric Gordon scored Golden State led by 32 points in the third Wednesday and a loss by Indiana in at least one 22 for the Pelicans (44-37). They only need one quarter before resting its regulars. The Grizzlies of its final two games to reach the postseason. more win - or an Oklahoma City loss - to clinch a slipped to sixth in the Western Conference Jimmy Butler shot 7 for 10 and scored 17 playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference. standings, a game behind San Antonio and points for the Bulls, who moved a half-game They have the same record as Oklahoma City, Houston in the Southwest Division. All-Star cen- ahead of Toronto into sole possession of third but hold the tiebreaker heading into the season ter Marc Gasol (sprained left ankle) and forward place in the East. They dominated the Nets for finale Wednesday against San Antonio. Zach Jeff Green (lower-back tightness) played through the third time this season. Derrick Rose had 13 LaVine had 24 points, seven assists and five injuries, while point guard Mike Conley (sprained points and seven assists but only played 23 rebounds for the Timberwolves. After the New right foot) and swingman Tony Allen (strained minutes because the Bulls were already too far York Knicks beat Atlanta on Monday, the Wolves left hamstring) sat out. ahead by the time he would’ve gone back for now have the worst record in the NBA. the fourth quarter. CLIPPERS 110, NUGGETS 103 THUNDER 101, BLAZERS 90 Blake Griffin scored 22 points and DeAndre CAVALIERS 109, PISTONS 97 Russell Westbrook scored 36 points as the Jordan had a double-double as the Clippers LeBron James returned from a day off to Thunder beat the Trail Blazers to keep their play- eked out a victory over the Nuggets, moving Los record a triple-double as the Cavaliers got off hopes alive.