FOOTBALL | Page 4 BADMINTON | Page 6 I tried to copy India’s Sindhu Messi and aims higher LeBron, says aft er breaking Griezmann gold jinx Tuesday, August 27, 2019 CRICKET Dhul-Hijja 26, 1440 AH New Zealand GULF TIMES thrash Sri Lanka to level series 1-1 SPORT Page 2 AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Al Sadd have work to do aft er Al Nassr record fi rst leg win The match opened up in the second half with Akram Afif and Hassan threatening the hosts Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez gestures during match yesterday. plying the ball to Saleh Al Ab- their opponents as they chased of his skill to fi nd space down the bas who beat Al Sadd goalkeeper the equaliser and were fi nally able left and crossed for substitute Saad al-Sheeb from an angle, be- to restore parity a minute be- Feras al-Biraikan at the far post. fore watching his ball bounce off fore the half-time break. The Al Al-Biraikan set up Giuliano the upright and away. Sadd defence failed to deal with with a header across the mouth When the stalemate was bro- Giuliano’s cross from the corner, of goal and the Brazilian applied ken in the 21st minute, it was Ali allowing Al Dossari to pounce on a headed fi nish for his sixth goal Asad sending the fans into com- the loose ball, drilling home the of the 2019 AFC Champions Sadd’s players celebrate their goal during their AFC Champions League quarter-finals first leg match against Saudi’s Al Nassr in Riyadh. plete silence. Hassan al-Haydos leveller. The match opened up in League. failed to control Abdelkarim the second half with Akram Afi f The large crowd at King Fahd AFC fi rst leg of the 2019 AFC Cham- in the competition, but had their secutive semi-fi nal. Hassan’s cross on the edge of the and Hassan threatening for the International Stadium left Riyadh pions League quarter-fi nal at work cut out for them by a late After a strong spell of domi- box, but the visitors caught a visitors and Fahad bin Jumayah pleased with the result, but their King Fahd International Stadium injury to star striker Abdelrazzaq nance early on, the home crowd lucky break as the ball fell to Asad drawing a fi ne refl ex save out of task in Doha in three weeks’ time yesterday. Hamdallah. thought their side had taken the who swept it with a fi rst-time al-Sheeb, all within 15 minutes of is complicated by Asad’s away audi Arabia’s Al Nassr Making their fi rst-ever quar- In turn, Al Sadd needed a lead in the 14th minute when strike into the top corner to open the restart. strike for Al Sadd. The aggregate came from behind to seal ter-fi nal appearance, Al Nassr positive result from Riyadh to Abdulrahman al-Dawsari dis- the scoring for Al Sadd against Giuliano turned from provider winners will face the winners be- a valuable 2-1 win over were hopeful of securing their set them up for an easier task at possessed Gabi inside the centre the run of play. to scorer in the 72nd minute. Nor- tween Saudi rivals Al Hilal and Al SQatar’s Al Sadd in the fi rst win over Qatari opponents home as they chase a second con- circle and broke free before sup- Al Nassr piled the pressure on din Amarabat showed glimpses Ittihad. CRICKET Former captain Misbah applies England hail ‘Special One’ Stokes aft er Ashes miracle for Pakistan head coach role Reuters Matt Dickinson in The Times compared London Stokes’s ability to produce his best just when the situation demanded it to Ar- gentine footballing great Diego Maradona ngland hailed a new Ashes hero and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. for the ages yesterday after Ben “Of more than seven billion people, Stokes dragged his country from it felt as if only one ginger-haired left- the point of defeat to a narrow hander from Cockermouth could muster Evictory over Australia with an innings all the truly extraordinary mental and that almost defi ed belief. physical abilities, not only to save a Test All the English newspapers carried a match, and an Ashes series, but to make picture of the all-rounder celebrating his us wonder if, among us, there are very rare winning runs at a sun-bathed Headingley folk who have a superpower.” on their front pages, with The Sun splash- Stokes’s performance was all the more ing “Go Urn My Son!” and the Daily Tel- notable for coming only 44 days after his egraph “Howzat!”. Man of the Match display helped England Ian Botham’s unbeaten 149 at the same win the 50-overs World Cup for the fi rst ground 38 years ago has long stood as the time in another extraordinary contest. Lahore: Misbah-ul-Haq was “It has been interesting to see my gold standard of an English Ashes per- Botham is now Sir Ian Botham of playing professional cricket name being mentioned as a fu- formance but there were plenty of sug- course and there were no shortage of sug- barely five months ago but the ture head coach of the Pakistan gestions that it had been eclipsed. gestions on social media that Stokes, who former captain yesterday put cricket team, but the fact is I only Former Test opener turned pundit Ge- arrived in England from New Zealand as his name in the hat to become made the decision today,” the off rey Boycott, never one to readily sug- a 12-year-old, should be similarly deco- Pakistan’s head coach. 45-year-old Misbah said in a PCB gest the game was better now than it was rated. Misbah, Pakistan’s most suc- statement. in his heyday, certainly thought so and England’s Ben Stokes reacts as he leaves the pitch after England won the third Ashes The punches he threw outside a Bris- cessful and longest serving “I am applying for the head described Sunday as the best cricketing Test at Headingley in Leeds, northern England, on Sunday. tol nightclub two years ago that resulted test captain, retired from coach’s role fully aware that the moment he had witnessed in half a cen- in him missing England’s last Ashes tour international cricket in 2017 competition will be tough as tury. Lawrence Booth, the Wisden editor, daunting odds”. might delay that honour, however, even if after a distinguished career but I envisage there will be a few Botham himself described Stokes as ranked it in the top fi ve innings in the 137- “Britain’s rich sporting heritage has he was eventually acquitted of aff ray. played for Peshawar Zalmi in this more very competent and highly “The Special One” and Michael Atherton, year history of the Ashes, while former produced many uplifting moments, from Despite Sunday’s fi reworks, Joe Root’s year’s Pakistan Super League qualified people applying for one another former England captain, said the Guardian cricket correspondent and Test the World Cup triumph of 1966 to the glut team still have plenty to do in the fi nal Twenty20 tournament. of the most challenging jobs in unbeaten 135 was “one of the greatest Test cricketer Mike Selvey admitted it had re- of gold medals at the 2012 London Olym- two Ashes Tests with the series tied at 1-1. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) the game. innings”. duced him to tears. pics,” he wrote. Australia only need to draw the series to this month decided not to renew “I have to admit it is everyone’s “It was a combination of all sorts of Some in the media were not happy “But ranking with them, surely, is the retain the urn. head coach Mickey Arthur’s dream to coach Pakistan cricket things, craft, skill, versatility and most of restricting themselves to cricket, with England cricket team’s heart-stopping For Stokes, though, a spot in the pan- contract following the team’s team, which has tremendous all, an ‘over my dead body’ attitude with- Leo McKinstry in The Daily Mail saying victory at Leeds yesterday in the third theon of great English cricketers appears failure to reach the World Cup potential to be a force to be reck- out which you are not a great player,” he the victory highlighted “timeless Brit- Test against Australia by a single wicket, to be already assured on the back of his semi-finals. oned with across all formats.” added. ish virtues, such as stoicism in the face of the narrowest of margins.” heroics over one long, hot summer. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, August 27, 2019 CRICKET COLOMBO TEST SPOTLIGHT New Zealand India rout Windies in thrash Sri Lanka fi rst Test to level series 1-1 NZ bowlers hurried through their deliveries knowing they were racing against time Reuters respectability. Earlier, Ajinkya North Sound Rahane notched his 10th career century, scoring 102, while Ha- numa Vihari added 93 before In- ast bowler Jasprit Bum- dia captain Virat Kohli declared rah took fi ve wickets for at 347-7. After destroying West seven runs as India re- Indies, Bumrah said he had added corded their biggest ever more variety to his bowling re- Faway victory by runs, thrashing cently. “I am feeling very good,” West Indies by 318 runs in the he said. “A lot of hard work goes fi rst Test in Antigua on Sunday. into my delivery. I used to bowl After setting West Indies an the inswinger earlier, but the unlikely target of 419 for victory more Test matches I’ve played, on the fourth day, India bowled I’ve gotten more confi dent to out the hosts for 100 in their sec- bowl the outswinger.” ond innings in North Sound.