SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015 SPORTS Leinster seeks to save Ireland’s honor in Europe PARIS: Three-time champions Leinster will look to English side on home turf. “As the season has qualify for the last eight of the European progressed, Wasps seem to be getting better Champions Cup this weekend and avoid Ireland and better. We’re certainly going to have to lift suffering the ignominy of being without a team in our game and take it to them at the weekend,” the knockout stages for the first time in 17 years. said Bent. “We know they’re going to be tough Ulster and two-time champions Munster fell by up front. We’ve just got to sort that out straight- the wayside last weekend leaving just Leinster in away. We’ll just be looking for a really good start contention. But they face a daunting trip to in- and to get points on the board early.” form English side Wasps in the final round of pool Wasps head coach Dai Young is looking for- matches. Their hosts also entertain hopes of ward to the clash but has urged his players to reaching the last eight as victory over fellow forget the win at Harlequins and finish off the Premiership side Harlequins last weekend left job against the Irish powerhouses. them just two points adrift of Leinster in Pool 2. “We’ve just got to back it up now, as we’ve Defeat for the Irish side would not be cata- given ourselves a real chance, and if we don’t strophic as a losing bonus point would still guar- back it up, beating Harlequins won’t have count- antee them one of the three allocated places in ed for anything,” said the 47-year-old former the quarter-finals for the best runners-up. Wales prop. “We’ve got a huge battle ahead of However, the players are not travelling to us against Leinster, who have had such success Coventry for the match with that in mind as tes- and a strong tradition in Europe, but we’re look- tified to by prop Michael Bent, who was part of ing forward to welcoming them to the Ricoh the team that destroyed Castres 50-8 last Arena next Saturday and I’m sure it’s going to be Saturday. a fantastic occasion and the boys are already “Wasps have different threats that we’ve got really excited about it.” Another top of the table to address,” Bent told the Leinster team website. decider on Saturday features Northampton at “It’s going to be quite a tough battle up front, so home to big-spending French side Racing-Metro we need to prepare for that. I think we just do with both sides locked on 19 points in Pool 5. our preparation right like we did last week, and “In order not to have to count on what other a couple of minor tweaks and a few areas that teams do, we will do what we need to at we want to improve on, and go from there,” Northampton,” said Racing-Metro coach Laurent added the 28-year-old New Zealand-born front Travers. “We are the only unbeaten side in the rower, who is a full Irish international having competition, and we are going to try and stay qualified through his Irish grandmother. that way, which will ensure we get a home quar- Leinster, though, will have to achieve some- ter-final.” Tomorrow, in-form English side Bath thing that only Harlequins back in October man- look to back up their impressive away win at aged-when Wasps were still playing their home four-time European champions Toulouse when games in Wycombe before their move to they host Glasgow, who thrashed them in the Coventry in December-and that is beat the first meeting. —AP HOBART: Australia’s Steven Smith raises his bat after scoring a century during the one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Australia and England. — AFP Smith guides Australian chase HOBART: Steve Smith’s incredible summer con- tinued when he produced an unbeaten century SCOREBOARD to guide Australia to a three-wicket victory over England in a tri-series one-day international in Hobart yesterday. Promoted to the captaincy HOBART, Australia: Scoreboard in the one-day international between Australia and England in with regular skipper George Bailey suspended Hobart yesterday: for a second slow over rate breach in 12 months, Australia England Smith’s unbeaten 102 enabled Australia to chase A. Finch b Ali 32 M. Ali c sub (Doherty) b Faulkner 46 down England’s imposing total of 303 for eight. S. Marsh c Bell b Finn 45 I. Bell c Starc b Sandhu 141 Australia, also missing the rested David S. Smith not out 102 J. Taylor c Faulkner b Henriques 5 Warner and Shane Watson, made 304 for seven C. White lbw Finn 0 J. Root c Finch b Cummins 69 to win with just one ball to spare and remain G. Maxwell c Root b Ali 37 E. Morgan c Haddin b Sandhu 0 undefeated in the competition, guaranteeing J. Buttler run out 25 themselves a berth in tomorrow’s final. J. Faulkner c Bell b Woakes 35 B. Haddin c Bell b Woakes 42 R. Bopara b Starc 7 Ian Bell’s brilliant 141 set up the England C. Woakes run out 0 M. Henriques run out 4 total, which appeared to be enough for much of S. Broad not out 0 M. Starc not out 1 the game. England was still in pole position Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 5) 10 when Brad Haddin strode to the wicket for Extras (lb3, w3) 6 Total (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 303 Australia with the home side at 216 for five. Total (7 wickets, 49.5 overs) 304 Fall of wickets: 1-113 (Ali), 2-132 (Taylor), 3-253 Another 88 runs were needed from 76 balls, Fall of wicket: 1-76 (Finch) 2-92 (Marsh), 3-92 (Bell), 4-254 (Morgan), 5-275 (Root), 6-303 but Haddin’s 42 off 29 balls as part of a quickfire (White), 4-161 (Maxwell), 5-216 (Faulkner), 6- (Bopara), 7-303 (Buttler), 8-303 (Woakes) 71-run stand turned the game. 297 (Haddin), 7-302 (Henriques) Bowling: Starc 10-0-60-1, Cummins 10-0-74-1, Smith, who hit four centuries in Australia’s Bowling: Woakes 9.5-0-58-2, Anderson 10-0- Sandhu 10-0-49-2, Maxwell 3-0-22-0, Faulkner four-Test series against India that finished earlier 56-0, Broad 9-0-61-0, Ali 10-0-50-2, Finn 10-0- 10-0-59-1, Henriques 7-0-34-1 in the month, faced 95 balls, hitting six fours and 65-2, Bopara 1-0-11-0. Australia won by three wickets. one six. He paid tribute to the efforts of Haddin and conceded his own confidence was sky high. “It’s nice to get a few runs again tonight and get wickets with more than 10 overs remaining. runs shy of becoming only the second the boys over the line,” Smith said. “I’ll never for- However, England bounced back with an Englishman to pass 5,000 one-day international get this summer. “I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve just impressive nine-wicket win over India in runs. In his 153rd one-day international, he got to try and keep going and score runs while Brisbane on Tuesday and carried that form into passed that mark in the third over, and later I’m going well. “I thought Haddin really took the Friday’s innings. After being sent in to bat, went on to overtake Paul Collingwood as pressure off me in the end today.” England got off to a great start through Bell and England’s highest-ever runs scorer in the format England captain Eoin Morgan said his team fellow opener Moeen Ali. Bell, who was unbeat- as he neared his century. didn’t make enough in the latter stages of their en on 88 against India, made his fourth one-day His opening partnership of 113 with Ali, who innings. “We played good cricket in stages,” he international century before being caught by scored 46, set up the English innings.It ended in said. “Ian Bell was magnificent but the last 10 Starc from the bowling of rookie paceman bizarre fashion, however, with Australia complet- overs let us down a little bit.”Credit to Australia Gurinder Sandhu, who finished with figures of 2- ing a team hat-trick in the last three balls. Two for how they bowled at the death.” 49. He faced 125 balls, hitting 15 fours and one batsmen, Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler, were run ASPEN: Yiwei Zhang, of China, competes in the snowboard superpipe men’s elimination When the two sides previously met earlier in six, and passed two significant milestones dur- out while Ravi Bopara was bowled by Mitchell round under a waxing crescent moon on Thursday during the winter X Games. — AP the tournament, England was beaten by four ing the innings. Bell started the innings just five Starc. — AFP Ronchi, Elliott record stand sets up New Zealand win DUNEDIN: A record batting blitz by Luke them out for under 200 but things went Ronchi and Grant Elliott set New Zealand wrong for us,” he admitted. Sri Lanka had up for an overwhelming 108-run win their own century-maker in Tillakaratne over Sri Lanka in their fifth one-day inter- Dilshan and looked to be in with a national in Dunedin yesterday.