26 Sports Sunday, January 6, 2019 Struggling throw away in big run chase Another top order collapse in Sydney

SYDNEY: Australia blew a strong 79, senior players , 622 for seven declared on the back start with yet another top order Shaun Marsh and skipper of centuries from irrepressible batting collapse in Sydney yester- all failed to deliver when needed Cheteshwar Pujara and livewire day, leaving themselves a mountain most. “I got a start and a few of us Rishabh Pant. to climb to stay in the fourth and got a start but none of us went on They lead 2-1 after victories in final Test against India. When play to get a big score so it’s pretty sim- Adelaide and Melbourne and are was abandoned half an hour early ple to work out what went wrong,” fast closing in on a historic first- due to rain, they were 236 for six, said Harris. ever series win since they first still 386 behind with Peter “We’re a young group and we’re toured Australia in 1947-48. Yadav Handscomb (28) and trying to work it out and think on said India’s fielding and catching (25) fighting a rearguard action our feet but we’re playing against practice was paying off. after some soft dismissals plunged the number one side in the world, so “I feel like we are the best side in the hosts into deep trouble. it’s not like it’s an easy thing to do.” the world now when it comes to Australia went to lunch at 122 for Despite the task ahead, Harris fielding,” he said. Skipper Virat one but meekly surrendered soon remained optimistic. Kohli’s declaration left Khawaja and afterwards, losing three wickets for “Obviously 600 is a big score to Harris to face 10 nervous overs 24 runs, with spinners Ravindra chase down or get a close deficit, before stumps on Friday, when they Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav doing but I think the more time we can crawled to 24 without loss. the damage. Yadav ended with 3-71 occupy the crease, you never know Khawaja was dropped on nought and Jadeja 2-62. what can happen.” India took a but failed to make the most of his While aggressive rookie opener stranglehold on the match over the second life. On a day when the Marcus Harris blazed a career-best opening two days, compiling a huge Sydney Ground was a sea of pink to mark a breast cancer awareness initiative, he was dis- SCOREBOARD missed for 27 after mistiming a shot off Yadav with Pujara taking an Scorecard at stumps on day three of the fourth and final Test between Australia and India at easy catch. the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday: SYDNEY: India’s Kuldeep Yadav (L) celebrates with teammates after dismissing Australia’s Tim Paine India first innings 622-7 declared (C. Pujara 193, R. Pant 159 no, R Jadeja 81; N. Lyon 4-178) STUCK IN TWO FIGURES (C) during the third day’s play of the fourth and final cricket Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Australia 1st innings (overnight 24-0) At the other end the diminutive Cricket Ground YESTERDAY. — AFP M. Harris b Jadeja 79 Harris, who has shown flashes of U. Khawaja c Pujara b K. Yadav 27 brilliance in his short four-Test M. Labuschagne c Rahane b Shami 38 S. Marsh c Rahane b Jadeja 8 career, quickly found a groove with to press on and make Australia’s three and he settled in well, crack- worse when Travis Head was caught T. Head c & b K. Yadav 20 some crisp shots. He survived a first of the series. So far, ing seven boundaries in a stylish 38. and bowled by Yadav just before P. Handscomb 28 close call on 24 when a diving KL none of Australia’s batsmen has But he was sent packing by a blind- tea for 20 and as storm clouds T. Paine b Yadav 5 Rahul narrowly missed a catch and reached three figures over the four ing reflex catch from Ajinkya gathered overhead Yadav clean P. Cummins not out 25 reached his second Test 50 with a Tests, with Harris’ 79 the highest Rahane at mid- off bowled Paine for five. Extras (b4, lb2) 6 single before smacking three fours Total (6 wickets, 83.3 overs) 236 anyone has scored. In contrast, Mohammed Shami’s bowling. It was left to Handscomb, To bat: , , in one Yadav over. India have had a field day, compil- Marsh scored a century in recalled as a specialist in tackling Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Khawaja), 2-128 (Harris), 3-144 (S.Marsh), 4-152 (Labuschagne), 5-192 Harris went to lunch on 77 but ing five centuries. Sydney against England this time spin, and paceman Cummins, who (Head), 6-198 (Paine). added just two more before chop- Australia gambled by picking last year, but was out for eight, tick- made a gutsy 63 in the third Bowling: Shami 16-1-51-1, Bumrah 16-4-42-0, Jadeja 27.3-9-62-2, Yadav 24-6-71-3. ping a Jadeja onto his inexperienced allrounder Marnus ling an edge to Rahane at slip from Melbourne Test, to try and repair stumps, blowing a glorious chance Labuschagne to come in at number a turning Jadeja ball. The day got the damage. —AFP

Celtics rip Mavs wire-to-wire Masood, Shafiq fight back for BOSTON: Jaylen Brown scored a game- Dedmon, and 13 points and 10 assists from high 21 points to lead the Boston Celtics Trae Young. to a 114-93, wire-to-wire victory over the Pakistan visiting Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. CLIPPERS 121, SUNS 111 Jayson Tatum added 18 points and Marcin Gortat had season highs of 18 Marcus Smart had 17, including five 3- points and 13 rebounds, and visiting Los CAPE TOWN: Shan Masood and shared a pointers, to pick up the scoring slack for Angeles extended its head-to-head win- century as Pakistan fought to avoid an Boston with leading scorer Kyrie Irving ning streak over Phoenix to 11 games. innings defeat on the third day of the second Test missing a second consecutive game with Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams scored against South Africa at Newlands yesterday. eye irritation. Gordon Hayward added 16 21 points each, Tobias Harris and Patrick Facing a first innings deficit of 254 runs, Pakistan points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. The Beverley each had 16, and Montrezl were 177 for three in their second innings at tea, 77 Celtics also played without forward Harrell scored 15 for the Clippers. Devin runs short of making South Africa bat again. The left- Marcus Morris, who hurt his neck after a Booker scored 23 points and T.J. Warren handed Masood made 61 and Shafiq was 73 not out. scary fall during a Wednesday game had 20 for the Suns, who dropped their The pair put on 132 for the third wicket after against the Minnesota Timberwolves. fifth game in a row-all five at the start of a Pakistan had been reduced to 27 for two after strikes CAPE TOWN: Pakistan batsman Shan Masood plays a shot during the third day of the Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points. season-high, seven-game homestand. by Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada. Masood, who was Boston was challenged only once, when Richaun Holmes scored 16 points off the second match between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands Cricket promoted to open the batting in place of the struggling Stadium in Cape Town yesterday. — AFP its 53-36 second-quarter lead got whit- bench, and Mikal Bridges, Jamal Crawford Fakhar Zaman, again looked the most organised of the tled down to 58-57 early in the third. But and Josh Jackson finished with 10 points Pakistan batsmen before he was caught behind off after Mavs rookie sensation Luka Doncic apiece for Phoenix. Steyn shortly before tea. drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point SCOREBOARD game, his 3-point attempt to grab the lead TIMBERWOLVES 120, MAGIC 103 The slightly-built Shafiq played a wide variety of missed everything. The Celtics answered Jeff Teague’s return from an ankle attacking strokes as he hurried to a half-century off 56 Brief scores at tea on the third day of the second Test between South Africa and with a 21-6 run. injury boosted Minnesota to a win over balls with seven fours and a six. Pakistan added 140 Orlando in Minneapolis. Teague was back runs for the loss of Masood’s wicket in 25 overs Pakistan coach at Newlands on Saturday. KNICKS 119, LAKERS 112 in the starting lineup after a nine-game between lunch and tea. Pakistan 177 and 177-3 (Shan Masood 61, Asad Shafiq 73 not out; D. Steyn 2-49) Kevin Knox gave New York the lead absence, and he had 23 points and 10 Earlier, Mohammad Amir took three wickets for 19 South Africa 431 (A. Markram 78, F. du Plessis 103, T. Bavuma 75, Q. de Kock 59; for good by sinking two free throws with assists in 28 minutes. Karl-Anthony Towns runs as South Africa were bowled out for 431, losing Mohammad Amir 4-88, Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-123) 3:45 remaining, and the Knicks held host added 29 points and 15 rebounds for their last four wickets while adding 49 runs in 8.1 overs. Match situation: Pakistan trail by 77 runs with seven wickets remaining in the sec- Los Angeles without a field goal for the Minnesota. Towns is averaging 28.3 points The left-armed Amir took the first three wickets of the ond innings. next 2 1/2 minutes en route to a victory and 16.8 rebounds over his past six morning and finished with four for 88. — AFP that snapped an eight-game losing games. Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with streak. New York’s Tim Hardaway Jr. led 22 points and seven rebounds, and Evan all scorers with 22 points, and he made Fournier added 21 points. Orlando has lost three 3-pointers in a 22-5, game-open- two of its past three and is 3-6 in its past Thisara’s 140 in ing flurry. Brandon Ingram had 21 points nine games. The Timberwolves are 5-9 in and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who their past 14 games but have now won lost for the fourth time in five games four of their past seven. vain as N Zealand since LeBron James sustained a groin injury on Christmas Day. The Lakers PACERS 119, BULLS 116 (OT) announced before the game that James Victor Oladipo scored a game-high 36 snatch ODI series also will not travel with the team for points, including a 3-pointer from the top games at Minnesota on Sunday and at of the key with 1.2 seconds remaining in Dallas and Monday. overtime, and visiting Indiana held on to MOUNT MAUNGANUI: A rollicking maiden win over Chicago. Oladipo banked in the century by ’s Thisara Perera was THUNDER 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 109 go-ahead shot to give Indiana its sixth ultimately in vain as New Zealand wrapped Paul George and Russell Westbrook win in a row. Domantas Sabonis con- up the one-day series with a 21-run victory in combined for 68 points to lift Oklahoma tributed a double-double with 23 points the second ODI at Mount Maunganui. City to a victory at Portland. George and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Thaddeus With Sri Lanka chasing New Zealand’s 319 scored 37 points and Westbrook added 31 Young (16 points), Bojan Bogdanovic (13) for seven, they were on the ropes at 128 for as the Thunder snapped a six-game losing and Tyreke Evans (10) also scored in dou- seven when Perera opened up. He faced 74 streak in their series with the Trail Blazers. ble digits. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with deliveries and cracked 13 sixes and eight Oklahoma City earned its third consecu- 31 points. Lauri Markkanen added 27 fours before he was the last wicket to fall and tive victory. Damian Lillard finished with points and nine rebounds and Kris Dunn Sri Lanka were out for 298 with 22 balls 23 points and eight assists, and Jusuf finished with 16 points and 17 assists for remaining. Sri Lanka reached 112 for two Nurkic collected 22 points and eight Chicago, which dropped its third in a row. when Ish Sodhi captured the wicket of Kusal rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who had LaVine drilled a 3-pointer with 3.9 sec- Mendis for 20 to trigger a collapse which saw won two straight. onds remaining in the fourth quarter to five wickets fall in six overs. But Perera force OT, and he sank another that could refused to give up as he bludgeoned the New BUCKS 144, HAWKS 112 have tied the game at the end of overtime, Zealand attack with brute force. All five Milwaukee starters scored in but it came just after the buzzer. He made 58 in a 75-run stand with Lasith MOUNT MAUGANUI: Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera celebrates scoring a century (100 runs) during double figures, and the Bucks presented Malinga for the eighth wicket, and scored 45 the second one-day international cricket match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Bay coach Mike Budenholzer with a resound- HEAT 115, WIZARDS 109 of the 51 runs for the ninth wicket with Oval in Mount Maunganui yesterday. — AFP ing win over his former team, thumping Hassan Whiteside posted 21 points, 18 visiting Atlanta. The Bucks got 19 points rebounds and two blocks, leading host Lakshan Sandakan. But when an seemingly each from Khris Middleton and Atlanta Miami to a win over Washington. impossible victory seemed on the cards Matt ODI by 45 runs. When New Zealand won the while all-rounder James Neesham lit up the native Malcolm Brogdon, 16 points from Whiteside helped the Heat enjoy a 62-46 Henry had Perera caught by Trent Boult at toss and elected to bat, Sri Lanka had their tail with a whirlwind 64. Lasith Malinga was Giannis Antetokounmpo, 14 from Eric edge in paint points. Bradley Beal, who long-on. tails up when they removed first-match cen- the pick of Sri Lankan bowlers with two for Bledsoe and 10 from Brook Lopez. None scored a game-high 33 points, closed the Opener Danushka Gunathilaka played his turion Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson 45 while bowling for New Zealand Sodhi of the starters played more than 22 min- Wizards’ deficit to 110-109 on a 3-pointer part at the top of the order with 71 but else- cheaply to have New Zealand at 39 for two. took three for 55. The final match in the utes. Atlanta lost its third straight game. with 67 seconds left. Beal added nine where the Sri Lankan batsmen failed to fire. But Ross Taylor (90)and Colin Munro series is in Nelson next Tuesday and the The Hawks got 19 points from DeAndre’ rebounds and seven assists in a stellar all- It continued a dismal tour for Sri Lanka who (87) swung momentum New Zealand’s way tour closes with a Twenty 20 match in Bembry, 14 points from Dewayne around effort. —Reuters also lost the Test series 1-0 and lost the first with a 112-run stand for the third wicket, Auckland on Friday.—AFP