14 FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2019 sports Osaka says US Open win has given her belief South Africa on top as AFP | Brisbane Osaka’s stunning victory over Serena Williams at New apanese star Naomi Osaka York’s Flushing Meadows in Jsaid her US Open victory in September sent her profile bowlers hurt Pakistan September had given her the into the stratosphere, although self-belief to be able to come her breakthrough win was par- Pakistan, first innings from behind and win tight tially overshadowed by Wil- Aiden Markram’s Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Philander 8 matches. liams’ furious tirade against half-century• give Fakhar Zaman c Bavuma b Steyn 1 Osaka was speaking after the umpire. South Africa control Shan Masood c De Kock b Rabada 44 recovering from losing the first Osaka dropped her opening Azhar Ali c Amla b Olivier 2 set of her Brisbane Interna- service game in Brisbane yes- Asad Shafiq c Elgar b Rabada 20 tional quarter-final to Latvia’s terday, and that was enough AFP| Cape Town, South Africa Babar Azam c Du Plessis b Olivier 2 Anastasija Sevastova yester- to surrender the first set to Sarfraz Ahmed c De Kock b Olivier 56 day. Sevastova. uanne Olivier led anoth- Mohammad Amir not out 22 The world number five over- But Osaka came storming er fast bowling assault Yasir Shah c Du Plessis b Olivier 5 hauled Sevastova to win 3-6, back to win the second with Don Pakistan’s batsmen Mohammad Abbas c De Kock b Steyn 0 6-0, 6-4 and reach the semi-fi- the loss of just five points. as South Africa took control on Shaheen Afridi c De Kock b Steyn 3 nals of the season-opening Osaka then broke Sevasto- the first day of the second Test Extras (b8, lb2, nb1, w3) 14 tournament. va’s serve to start the deciding at Newlands yesterday. Total (51.1 overs) 177 “I feel like right now I’m re- set and was able to hold the Olivier took four for 48 as Pa- South Africa, first innings ally confident in myself, and I advantage, sealing victory with kistan were bowled out for 177 A. Markram b Shan Masood 78 feel like the off-season training her 11th ace of the match. after being sent in on a hard, South Africa’s Aiden Markram plays a shot D. Elgar c S Ahmed b Mohd Amir 20 that I’ve been doing is really The 21-year-old has enor- green-tinged pitch. H. Amla not out 24 paying off,” she said. mous power but said she was Aiden Markram struck an as- er” tag given him by captain Faf third time in a row, fending Extras (lb1) 1 “And I’m not sure if I would tested by Sevastova, who fa- sured 78 as South Africa reached du Plessis, regularly landing the tamely to first slip. Five of his Total (2 wkts) 123 have had the same feeling six vours angles and deception 123 for two at the close. ball in his own half of the pitch teammates also were dismissed months ago. Six months ago I over brute force, and who de- Olivier followed up a and making it rear up towards by short deliveries. added another three fours and a hadn’t won the US Open.” feated her twice last year. match-winning performance the batsmen. Pakistan’s batting was put into straight six off leg-spinner Yasir in the first Test in Centurion, Unlike Centurion, the pitch perspective when Markram and Shah before being surprised by while Dale Steyn took three for itself was not a major factor in Dean Elgar put on 56 for the Masood at the end of the day 48. Pakistan’s collapse. It was hard first wicket at almost five runs after a 96-ball innings. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed hit 56 and there was some green grass an over. Sarfraz provided the bright- and Shan Masood made 44 to on the surface but the bounce Mohammad Amir put a brake est interlude for Pakistan after lift an otherwise poor Pakistan was largely true and there was on the scoring by having Elgar coming in with his team in dan- batting performance. no exaggerated sideways move- caught behind during a sec - ger of a total collapse at 54 for South Africa’s decision to ment. ond spell in which he conced- five. Looking to counter-attack pick an all-pace attack paid div- The only ball that misbehaved ed only eight runs in five overs at every opportunity, Sarfraz idends with all four fast bowlers markedly was the last of the day but Markram and Hashim Amla put on 60 for the sixth wick- picking up wickets, with most of when part-time seamer Shan steadily built a second wicket et with Shan Masood (44) and the Pakistan batsmen looking Masood bowled Markram with stand of 67 off 109 balls. 42 for the seventh wicket with vulnerable against fast, short- a ball which nipped back and Markram, who had not Mohammad Amir (22 not out). pitched deliveries. kept low. reached 20 in his previous six Sarfraz hit nine fours in an As at Centurion, where he Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s most Test innings, struck the ball 81-ball innings. Masood faced 71 Japan’s Naomi Osaka reacts after a point against Anastasija Sevastova of had match figures of 11 for 96, experienced batsman, fell to a firmly in reaching a half-centu- deliveries and hit five fours and Latvia during their women’s quarter final match at the Brisbane Olivier lived up to the “enforc- short ball from Olivier for the ry off 64 balls with 11 fours. He a hooked six off Kagiso Rabada. Nishikori back to best in win over Dimitrov AFP | Brisbane ei Nishikori showed he Kwas back to his best form as he downed Bulgaria’s Grig- or Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Brisbane International yesterday. Nishikori proved too con- sistent for the Bulgarian in a high-quality match, securing crucial breaks at 5-5 in both sets. Afterwards, the 29-year-old said his goal was to get back into the top five after seeing Japan’s Kei Nishikori hits a return against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov his ranking plummet to 39 in April last year due to persistent The match was a replay of the from 1-4 down in the second set. injuries. 2017 final, won by Dimitrov in “I was expecting to go to a “I’m trying to go top five, three sets. third set -- he started playing that’s my next goal,” Nishikori But Nishikori turned the better and I was down 4-1,” Ni- said. tables this year by returning shikori said. “The last couple of months the Bulgarian’s serve superbly “But I think the last couple of of last year I was playing great throughout, putting Dimitrov games I played very solid and tennis and I think I’m doing under pressure at key moments I’m very happy.” that now, this week.” and showing fight to come back He will now play Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in Sunday’s final and will go into the match as a favourite follow- ing Chardy’s three-set struggle over Yasutaka Uchiyama. Uchiyama, 26, had only won one match on the main ATP Tour before this week and pulled off a massive upset when he beat third seed Kyle Edmund in the second round. Chardy was not as sharp as he was during his win over Nick at Seef District too Kyrgios on Wednesday and was forced to battle for over two hours before beating Uchiyama Um al Hassan +973 17728699 Seef District +973 17364999 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4)..