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SPORT Saturdayy 30 December 2017 PAGE | 21 PAGE | 22 PAGE | 23 Rain hits Ronaldo beatss Injury setback England’s hopes Messi to win puts Djokovic’s of Ashes win another awardrd ccomeback on hold 2017 GULF CUP: Bahrain hold Qatar in thriller January 2, 2018 FIRST SEMI-FINAL Bahrain vs Oman SECOND SEMI-FINAL to reach Gulf Cup semi-ﬁnals Iraq vs UAE Rizwan Rehmat Qatar’s Hassan Al Haydos (right) Kuwait City/The Peninsula celebrates with team-mates after scoring the opening goal of ahrain yesterday reached the yesterday’s match against Bahrain. semi-finals of the Gulf Cup following a thrilling 1-1 draw with defending champions Qatar. BA second-half strike by Ali Jafaar Madan helped Bahrain get the much- needed one point to finish above Qatar in the first phase of the Gulf Cup. For Qatar their goal was scored off a penalty kick by striker and captain Hassan Al Haydos in injury time of the first half at Jaber Al Ahmed Stadium. Bahrain finished the Group B stand- ings with five points while Iraq (7 points) sealed the top position with a 3-0 win over Iraq yesterday. Qatar, winners in 2014, finished in third place with 4 points from three matches. Yemen ended the tournament without a win in three matches. Qatar opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over Yemen but lost to Iraq 2-1 last Tuesday. A couple of tackles from both the teams in the first three minutes thrilled the fans in their thousands at the Jaber Al Ahmad Stadium. In one instance Bah- rain’s Sayed Mahdi Bager even sought medical assistance as players showed nerves in the key clash. In the fourth minute, Bahrain’s Jamal Rashed, after receiving a cross from eventual match hero Jaafar, broke free of his marker inside the Qatar box but his low shot was smartly gobbled up by Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb. near-perfect cross for Ismail Moham- well organised. We did some defend- In the next few minutes, Qatar sus- med whose snap-header from close ing mistakes. After the goal by Bahrain tained pressure with moves into the range narrowly missed the Bahrain it was difficult for us to come back. We Bahrain box but the Bahrain backline crossbar. tried. We were direct and we were in stood firm to keep their slate clean. Qatar’s brave show in the first half their box often. We are out of the com- In the 13th minute, Jaafar was bore fruit when Bahrain goalkeeper petition. We could have been in semis. brought down by a rough tackle from brought down Afif inside the box with We congratulate the other teams who Qatar’s Ahmed Fathy and promptly got the wiry Al Anabi striker ready to shoot. have reached the semi-finals,” Sanchez a yellow card, the first one of the Group Uzbek referee pointed to the spot before said. B clash. showing a yellow to keeper Ebrahim. “The reason we succeeded today Two minutes later, Qatar captain Al Haydos stepped up and went for was because we played the way we and feared striker Al Haydos nearly the top of the net for Qatar’s goal that played against Iraq. We fought very pulled off a stunner with a shot that silenced a big Bahrain crowd. It was Al hard. Qatar put a lot of pressure on us missed the target by inches off an indi- Haydos’ second goal of the in the last 10 minutes of the match. We rect free-kick. tournament. needed to stop the strong boys of Qatar. In the 18th minute, Bahrain star Jaa- With their tails up, Qatar launched They are tall and strong. They are a Qatar’s Pedro Miguel far - on the edge of the box - fired a attacks from the first minute of the sec- strong side. They were the champions (right) vies for the ball powerful shot that was flicked for a cor- ond half. Three minutes after the in 2014. It was difficult to cut their possession with a Bahraini ner by Qatar goalkeeper Al Sheeb to kill resumption of play, Al Haydos attempted angles in the last few minutes of the player during their 2017 the Bahrain move. a long-range shot to add more pressure match. We are happy now. I want to Gulf Cup match played in Seconds later, Qatar’s Pedro Miguel on the Bahrain backline. thank the fans also. They travel a great Kuwait City yesterday. - though perfectly positioned - misfired With Bahrain trailing in the do-or- distance to be here,” Bahrain coach Pictures: Hussain Sayed with a snap-header as his deflection off die game, player infraction started to Miroslav Soukup said after yesterday’s a corner kick sailed just about the Bah- increase with constant shoving and win. rain crossbar. pushing by the players on the pitch. In the 27th minute, Al Haydos - the In the 58th minute, Bahrain found team’s fittest athlete by far - covered the equaliser when Jaafar converted Iraq’s Mahdi Kamel (second left) amazing ground with a solo effort that from close range after a cross from the celebrates with team-mates after ended near the Bahrain box but surpris- flank. scoring against Yemen during the 2017 ingly his fellow strikers were not in In the 73rd minute, Qatar striker Gulf Cup match played at the Kuwait position to take the flying cross. Ali charged into the Bahrain box but Stadium in Kuwait City yesterday. In the 37th minute, Uzbek referee produced a fumbled shot with goal in Asimov Aziz clearly missed a handball sight. Moments later coach Felix infringement by Bahrain’s Ahmed Sanchez opted for a double substitu- Abdulla - standing inside his own box tion as Mohammed Muntari and Ali - following a crisp cross by Qatar’s Fereydoun were brought in to beef up Miguel on the flank. The referee waved Qatar attack. play on despite protests by the Qatar In the 80th minute, Afifi dribbled players. past a couple of Bahrain defenders but Two minutes later, Bahrain goal- failed to find the target from close range keeper Sayed Ebrahim emerged as a by smashing the ball wide. A minute hero by stopping a low shot by Al Hay- from the final whistle, Bahrain’s Abdulla dos who fired from close to the edge of Yusuf - with only Qatar goalkeeper to the Bahrain box. beat from close range - misfired with Seconds later striker Almoez Ali - his shot. one of Qatar’s brightest prospects from Al Annabi coach Felix Sanchez said the junior ranks - weaved his way into that his team played very well in the the Bahrain box but his deft low cross first half of yesterday’s match. “I think was missed by team mates Abdulakreem we played a very good first half as we and Akram Afif. dominated the game from the start. In Barely two minutes from the first- the second half we lacked in concen- half whistle, Qatar’s Pedro clipped a tration for some minutes as they were SPORT SATURDAY 30 DECEMBER 2017 21 Rain hits England’s hopes of Ashes win Melbourne bat again. TOP 10 SCORES FOR OPENERS WHO CARRIED BAT Reuters But even with the promise of List of top 10 scores by batsmen who carried their bat after Alastair Cook’s 244 not out reverse swing, Joe Root’s bowl- morning that brought ers face a big task on an against Australia in the fourth Ashes test at Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday two wickets for Eng- unresponsive pitch to prevent An opener carries his bat when he plays through an innings to remain as the not out batsman with land and a sniff of a Australia from batting them out the team all out. (player/runs/opposition/venue/year): drought-breaking of the game. Alastair Cook (England) 244* Australia Melbourne 2017 Ashes win gave way “Any time there’s a bit of rain Glenn Turner (New Zealand) 223* West Indies Kingston 1972 toA a bleak afternoon for the tour- and you’re on top in the game it’s Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka) 216* Zimbabwe Bulawayo 1999 ists as rain washed out most of a bit frustrating but we’ve got an Bill Brown (Australia) 206* England Lord’s 1938 day four yesterday and left Aus- opportunity tomorrow to win Len Hutton (England) 202* West Indies The Oval 1950 tralia well-placed to save the and that’s the attitude we’ve got Virender Sehwag (India) 201* Sri Lanka Galle 2008 fourth Test. to take into tomorrow,” England Warren Bardsley (Australia) 193* England Lord’s 1926 The home side were 103 for coach Trevor Bayliss told Frank Worrell (West Indies) 191* England Nottingham 1957 two in their second innings at the reporters. Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) 188* India Kolkata 1999 Melbourne Cricket Ground when “We’ve got to be very disci- Mark Taylor (Australia) 169* S. Africa Adelaide 1998 rain interrupted play before tea plined, there’s not a lot you can and the showers lingered long do on that type of wicket. “If we enough for umpires to abandon can get rid of those two guys match but no reports were made unbeaten on his overnight score, the day without another ball early on tomorrow and put some to the match referee. a record total among openers bowled. pressure on the opposition late “It’s a beat-up,” said who have carried their bat David Warner was 40 not order batters, as I said, anything’s Bayliss. through an innings. out, with captain Steve Smith on possible.” “As soon as I saw the head- Australia’s second innings 25 and Australia still needing His counterpart Darren Leh- lines I raced into the umpires and began brightly on a cloudy but another 61 runs to make England mann said the pitch was “tough England’s batsman Alastair Cook (left) walks off after that was their words.” dry morning, with England los- batting through the England innings on the fourth day Australia regained the Ashes ing a review for a caught behind SCOREBOARD after the third Test in Perth and decision when opener Bancroft of the fourth Ashes Test match against Australia at the Australia (I innings) .............................

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