SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2016 SPORTS Waghorn saves Rangers blushes on Premiership return

GLASGOW: A Martin Waghorn goal Substitute Harry Forrester set up announced their return with a goal Hamilton soaked up all the pressure equaliser. Forrester had been on the midway through the second-half sal- Waghorn to fire home the equaliser in within the first minute when Waghorn before Crawford handed them a sur- pitch for only a matter of seconds vaged a point for Scottish giants the 62nd minute before the goalscorer drove along the byline before cutting prise lead. The forward collected a pass before he floated a pass with the inside Rangers as they drew 1-1 with Hamilton was forced to limp off in the 85th back for 36-year-old veteran Kenny on the right of the box before turning of his right foot to Waghorn who slotted on their return to the Scottish minute leaving Rangers, who had used Miller to tap in but the ball had gone Kranjcar and curling a shot into the top the ball under Matthews to the relief of Premiership at Ibrox. Rangers, who all their substitutes, to play the final out of play in the build-up. corner. the home support. Forrester had the gained promotion at the end of last sea- minutes with 10 men. A minute later former Croatian inter- Rangers were stunned but came fans on their feet moments later when son after a four-year hiatus following a It was not the signal of intent Mark national Niko Kranjcar picked out Andy close to responding as Waghorn’s free- he burst into the box from the right and financial meltdown, found themselves Warburton’s side would have wanted to Halliday at the edge of the box with a kick from the edge of the box clipped drilled an arrowed shot just wide of the behind in the 30th minute when Alister send to Old Firm rivals Celtic, who open high ball over the top and Hamilton the outside of the far post. It took a far post. However, despite their late Crawford sent a superb strike past Wes their title defence away to Hearts today. goalkeeper Remi Matthews did well to double substitution in the 61st minute pressure the hosts were unable to mark Foderingham. Rangers thought they had push away his fierce strike. to provide the inspiration for Rangers’ their return with a win. —AFP Hurricanes beat Lions in Super Rugby final

WELLINGTON: A year after a painful defeat in the final and after 21 years of unrewarded effort, the Hurricanes won the Super Rugby title for the first time yesterday, beating South Africa’s Lions 20-3 in a final played in frigid conditions. Flyhalf Beauden Barrett scored a try among 15 points for the Hurricanes to surpass his own season points-scoring record and to lead the Hurricanes to a title victory which overcame years of disappointments. The Wellington-based Hurricanes played in the first-ever Super Rugby match in March 1996 and had played in two finals in two decades before Saturday’s match, falling short in losses to the Crusaders in 2006 and the Highlanders last year. The defeat by the Highlanders hit the Hurricanes hard as they entered that match as GALLE: Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews, (C) and teammates Rangana Herath (L) favorites, playing on their home ground, only to and Dilruwan Perera leave the grounds with the stumps after victory in the second go down 21-14. Bitter memories of that as moti- Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia at The Galle International vation this season as they reached the final Stadium in Galle yesterday. — AFP again as the tournament’s top-ranked team, against the Lions who were also seeking their first title. The Hurricanes and Lions compiled the Perera wrecks Australia best attacking records in Super Rugby this sea- son as they ended their regular season in first as S Lanka seal series and second places, then swept imperiously through the quarterfinals and semifinals. GALLE: Dilruwan Perera laid bare . The batsman reviewed the deci- But they were forced to diverge from their Australia’s spin frailties again yesterday to sion but could not get it overturned. usual attacking plans in a match played in rain spin Sri Lanka to a series-clinching 229-run The spinner then returned to induce and in wind which chilled the air temperature victory inside three days of the second test Smith into giving a bat-pad catch to Kausal below freezing. The Hurricanes also denied the in Galle. The 34-year-old claimed 6-70 as Silva at forward short leg and went on to Lions with stifling defense, holding an opponent the world’s top-ranked test team folded for complete his five- haul when Adam tryless for the fourth match in succession. 183 in their pursuit of an improbable 413- Voges (28) attempted a reverse sweep only While they didn’t achieve their best rugby, run victory target. to have his leg stump pegged back. the Hurricanes still managed a try in each half. The off-spinner became the first Sri Mendis displayed tremendous reflexes as After having one try disallowed, winger Cory Lankan player to score a fifty and claim 10 he stopped a Peter Nevill shot at forward Jane scored another to contribute to the in the same match as the hosts short leg and flicked it back on the stumps Hurricanes’ 10-3 halftime lead. clinched their first test series victory over to run out the batsman and trigger wild The match remained in the balance at 13-3 Australia since 1999. celebrations at the Galle International until the 68th minute when, in a moment of bril- Perera also became the fastest Sri Stadium. liant opportunism, Barrett pounced on a loose Lankan to claim 50 test wickets, achieving Sri Lankan spinners claimed 18 of the 20 ball knocked back over the Lions’ goalline for the the feat in his 11th match, and won the Australian wickets to fall in the contest, decisive try. man-of-the-match award for his all-round underlying the tourists’ struggle on turning The contest between Barrett and his Lions brilliance. “Not too many teams do this to tracks. opposite Elton Jantjies - likely to be renewed when the All Blacks play the Springboks in this the number-one team,” home captain “It’s incredibly hard to play against WELLINGTON: The Hurricanes’ captain, Dane Coles, center celebrates with teammates after Angelo Mathews said after his team pre- (spin), particularly (coming) from Australia. season’s Rugby Championship - seemed likely to be a key to the match and it was. While Barrett their victory over the Lions of South Africa in the Super Rugby final in Wellington, New vailed in the bowler-dominated contest We are not accustomed to that. It’s very for- Zealand, yesterday. The Hurricanes won the final 20-3. — AP that saw 33 wickets tumble on the first two eign,” Smith admitted. played with the poise that has distinguished his days. “Our record shows that we’ve won a play all season, Jantjies appeared to lose his neither side excelled in that area. Jantjies’ kick- minute before the flyhalf capped an outstanding “After winning the toss, we had to put a game in about 15 or 16 in the sub-conti- nerve in the face of the Hurricanes’ rush defense. ing game was off but the Hurricanes were also season with the try that won the final. decent score on the board and once again nent. We certainly have a lot of work to less efficient that they needed to be in their kick While the Lions were beaten in their first it was a special effort by Kusal Mendis and do. We have to find ways to score and find NERVOUS reception. finals appearance, they were still able to look what a performance Dilruwan came up ways to take wickets and keep the runs Jantjies started nervously, sending the first Barrett put the Hurricanes ahead with a 10th- back on their best-ever Super Rugby season and with,” he said. Resuming day three on 25 dry,” added the Australia captain. Among kickoff of the match dead in goal and when the minute penalty, then Jane made up for his early look forward to further improvement under for three, Australia captain Steve Smith (30) the visitors, only paceman Mitchell Starc Hurricanes continually rushed up to sever the misfortune when he snatched out of the air a coach Johan Ackermann. “It’s been a phenome- and deputy David Warner (41) showed pos- redeemed himself with a match haul of 11 link to his outside backs and he began to rush failed clearing kick from Lionel Mapoe and raced nal season and I’m really proud of every single itive intent, frequently using their feet wickets on a spin-friendly track, while his kicks and passing. over. The Lions’ only points came from a penalty player,” said captain Warren Whiteley, who also against the spinners even though they none of the Australian batsmen managed Kicking became a vital part of the match to Jantjies in the 25th minute. The Hurricanes played with an injury. “The Hurricanes thorough- were merely delaying a defeat that looked a fifty. The teams now move to Colombo because of the cold and slippery conditions and edged ahead with a Barrett penalty in the 51st ly deserved it tonight.” — AP inevitable. Perera separated them when he for the third and final test from next trapped Warner leg-before with a straight Saturday. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD Latham ton helps Black

Scoreboard at close of play on the third day in the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia yester- day in Galle, Sri Lanka. Caps dominate Zimbabwe Sri Lanka 1st innings 281 (K. Mendis 86, A. M. Marsh lbw b Sandakan 18 Mathews 54; M. Starc 5-44) P. Nevill run out (K. Mendis) 24 BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe: Opener Tom Latham peaceful protest against President Robert was initiated by the #ThisFlag citizen movement Australia 1st innings 106 (D. Perera 4-29, R. M. Starc b Herath 26 Herath 4-35) J. Hazlewood c&b D. Perera 7 scored his second consecutive century in Mugabe’s government when they rose as one at that has brought stayaways and public demonstra- Sri Lanka 2nd innings 237 (D. Perera 64; M. Starc J. Holland 0 Zimbabwe as New Zealand’s batsmen dominated the end of the 36th over to sing the national tions across the country over the past six weeks. 6-50) Extras (lb-7) 7 the opening day of the second Test at Queens anthem. The number signified the number of years Their call to action drew the biggest crowd that Australia 2nd innings (Overnight: 25-3; Target: Total (all out, 50.1 overs) 183 Sports Club yesterday. Latham’s 105 set New that Mugabe has been in power, and the action Queens had seen during the series. — AFP 413 runs) Fall of wickets: 1-3 J. Burns, 2-10 N. Lyon, 3-10 U. Zealand up for a mammoth total and crushing vic- D. Warner lbw b D. Perera 41 Khawaja, 4-61 D. Warner, 5-80 S. Smith, 6-119 J. Burns c D. de Silva b Herath 2 M.Marsh, 7-123 A. Voges, 8-164 M. Starc, 9-181 J. tory in the first Test, and he bettered that score to SCOREBOARD N. Lyon c K. Silva b D. Perera 0 Hazlewood, 10-183 P. Nevill. give the Black Caps a commanding platform. The U. Khawaja b D. Perera 0 Bowling: R. Herath 19.1-1-74-2, D. Perera 23-5-70- 24-year-old recorded his fifth Test century and BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe: Scoreboard at the close of play on the first day of the second Test between Zimbabwe and S. Smith c K. Mendis b D. Perera 30 6, L. Sandakan 6-1-30-1, D. de Silva 2-0-2-0. went on to make 136, before succumbing to what New Zealand yesterday: A. Voges b D. Perera 28 Result: Sri Lanka won by 229 runs. proved to be the final ball of the day as New New Zealand first innings: Boult. Zealand closed on 329 for two. M. Guptill lbw b Tiripano 87 Bowling: Tiripano 14-3-58-1, Chinouya 15-5-43-0, Zimbabwe’s bowlers claimed just six wickets in T. Latham c and b Williams 136 Chibhabha 9-2-30-0, Cremer 25-1-108-0, Nyumbu 22-1- a horribly one-sided first Test, and endured a simi- K. Williamson not out 95 63-0, Williams 2.5-0-15-1, 2-0-8-0. Extras (4b, 7nb) 11 Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mawoyo, Craig larly frustrating day on another docile pitch yester- Total (for 2 wkts, 89.5 overs) 329 Ervine, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza Butt, Prince day. With the seamers lacking in pace, Latham and Still to bat: Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Masvaure, , , Donald Tiripano, Martin Guptill had no trouble seeing off the new BJ Watling, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent John Nyumbu, Mike Chinouya. ball and went on to construct an opening stand of 169. “We complement each other well,” said Guptill. “Tommy is good square of the wickets and I am strong down the ground. “We were able to get our partnership off to a strong start which helped towards the middle of the day. “They couldn’t put enough pressure on us - taking 20 wickets in a Test is no easy feat but this is going to be even harder.” Guptill was eventually dismissed in the hour before tea when Donald Tiripano snuck a straight delivery through his defences to trap him lbw for 87. But any joy for Zimbabwe was short-lived, as Latham went on to add 160 for the second wicket with . “This is my home ground, and I was having a chuckle with the coach upstairs because Queens has never been this flat ever, in my 10 years of playing here,” said offspinner John Nyumbu, who came into the Zimbabwe side as one of three changes. “The lack of assistance in the wicket was difficult. We knew it was going to be like that and we knew we had to apply ourselves. We let it slip here and there.” Latham failed to see out the day when he was caught and bowled by BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir (R) celebrates taking the wicket of left-arm spinner Sean Williams, but Williamson England’s James Vince (L) on the fourth day of the third match between went to stumps unbeaten on 95, within touching England and Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham, yesterday. At lunch, England distance of becoming the first New Zealand bats- BULAWAYO: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (back R) tries to catch the ball during the were 183 for two in their second innings — a lead of 80 runs — after losing openers man to score a century against all nine Test nations. first day of the second test in a series of two matches between Zimbabwe and New Zealand at Alastair Cook and Alex Hales. — AFP The day also saw Zimbabwe’s fans stage a the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, yesterday. — AFP