MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016 SPORTS Amla insists current SA stars can still win a global title NEW DELHI: South Africa batsman Hashim jinx striking again. “Well listen, this team will Amla. With Amla, AB de VIlliers and Dale fit and healthy, scoring runs and the form is 230 runs to win. Amla insisted his team’s World Cup dream win a World Cup or ICC tournament at some Steyn, the Proteas have seen the ‘golden gen- good and you want to perform for the team They survived a scare to beat minnows lives on, saying the top Proteas stars are still stage, I think we have won one in 1998,” Amla eration’ fail to claim a global title. Amla then you can make it,” he added. Afghanistan by 37 runs, but lost a thriller hoping for glory in the near future. told reporters at New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla. assures the big boys will hang around for a With the chokers tag hanging around their when the West Indies successfully chased 123 Apart from their Champions Trophy tri- South Africa haven’t enjoyed much success while. necks after a series of narrow defeats in the with just two balls to spare, and Sri Lanka’s umph in 1998, South Africa have never won a of late, with a T20 series loss against Australia “Lot of us feel we have a few more years last two decades, South Africa didn’t do their defeat to England on Saturday sealed their major International Cricket Council event heading into the world event, where the side left in us, so the Champions Trophy is next reputation any good after going down in fate. since their post-apartheid return in 1991. have lost two of their three matches so far. year and it would be great if we could make crunch games this time around. “We haven’t had a game where our batting Faf du Plessis’ side have already exited the “It’s an unfortunate situation that we have to the next World Cup, that will be ideal,” said The Proteas’ hopes of clinching a first inter- and our bowling has clicked in the same World Twenty20, even before their final group found ourselves in. Certainly as a team we Amla. national trophy were dented in their opening game consistently enough and that has been game against Sri Lanka today, their World Cup haven’t played our best cricket,” admitted “We take it as it comes. As long as you are match, when England chased down a record our biggest downfall,” Amla said. — AFP Mathews urges patience after S Lanka T20 exit NEW DELHI: Skipper Angelo Mathews with in term of performances.” pleaded for patience from Sri Lankan crick- et fans and administrators after the reign- MALINGA IRREPLACEABLE ing champions crashed out of the World Sri Lanka’s selectors were all sacked just Twenty20 at the group stages. Sri Lanka’s ahead of the tournament, adding to the surrender of the trophy they won in 2014 is sense of turmoil within Sri Lankan cricket further evidence of their decline in the last after South African Graham Ford returned two years, a process accelerated by the last month to take over as team coach. retirements of batting legends Kumar Ford has warned that Sri Lanka faces a Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. “huge” rebuilding task with other veteran Now down at eight in the T20 rankings, Sri match-winners such as spinner Rangana Lanka had a disastrous showing at the Herath, 38, and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, recent Asia Cup and came into the sixth 39, also expected to step away in the near edition of the World T20 tournament after future. The retirements of Jayawardene recently changing their coach and captain. and Sangakkara, the two highest run-scor- Following a less than convincing win over ers in the history of Sri Lankan Test cricket, minnows Afghanistan in their opening have added to the burden on Mathews match, they were then badly beaten by the who is now the team’s premier batsman. West Indies before Saturday’s narrow 10- After playing a brave innings of 73 in the run defeat to England. defeat against England after seeing his Mathews, who is already Sri Lanka’s Test side reduced to 15 for 4, Mathews said that captain, was appointed skipper of the T20 everyone had to accept that it would take team on the eve of the tournament after time to fill such a big void. veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga failed to “Hasty decisions will not solve this mat- shake off a knee injury. ter, so we have got to try and be patient,” “It’s been a disappointing few months he said. All-rounder Thisara Perera said on for all of us. We have let down our fans, we Friday that Sri Lanka could take years to get let down the whole country. And we over the retirement of Sangakkara and haven’t played good cricket at all. We are Jayawardene while warning that Malinga really disappointed,” he said at a press con- was irreplaceable. ference after Saturday’s defeat. Perera described the slingy Malinga as a “All we can do is stick to the combina- one of a kind, saying a player such as him tion, not try and change the team too would “never, never come” again. Although NAGPUR: Afghanistan’s cricketers celebrate their win over West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket match in Nagpur, India, yester- much. Try to pick about 20 players and, you they are out of the running for the semi- day. — AP know, revalue then after six months, give finals, Sri Lanka still have one last group them the opportunity to settle down and match against South Africa, who are also then try and see what they have come up eliminated in New Delhi. —AFP Afghanistan’s Stanikzai hails historic win over Windies NAGPUR: Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghanistan had lost all of their previous made a handy 16. The skipper shuffled down Stanikzai hailed his underdog side after their Super 10 matches, but they have won new the wicket to smash a six over long on, but historic six-run victory over the powerful West admirers in India with their aggressive and was caught the next ball by Dwayne Bravo off Indies at the World Twenty20 match in carefree brand of cricket that has caused Badree attempting the same shot. Nagpur yesterday. Afghanistan had failed to some anxious moments for their opponents. As the wickets started to tumble thanks to qualify for the semi-finals heading into Opener Mohammad Shahzad made a confi- some strong fielding, 23-year-old Najibullah Sunday’s match, but were determined to take dent 24, but was caught off leg-spinner held his nerve, guiding Afghanistan past the home a consolation victory against the West Badree, trying to heave over the infield, just as 120 mark and to what proved a winning total. Indies, who had already made the final four. he was looking exciting. Asghar Stanikzai also — AFP Stanikzai paid credit to his never-say-die charges especially batsman Najibullah Zadran, named man-of-the-match, after SCOREBOARD Afghanistan notched up their first ever Super NAGPUR, India: Scoreboard Sunday from the World Twenty20 Group 1 game between West Indies and Afghanistan 10 victory at a World T20. at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium: Stanikzai said his side, who had lost three straight group stage matches, had learnt “so Afghanistan Evin Lewis c Khan b Hamza 0 Mohammad Shahzad c Benn b Badree 24 much” at the T20 and would now head home Andre Fletcher not out 11 Usman Ghani b Badree 4 Marlon Samuels b Khan 5 and “work on our weaknesses”. Asghar Stanikzai c Bravo b Badree 16 Denesh Ramdin st Shahzad b Khan 18 “We knew the conditions but the bowlers Gulbadin Naib c Bravo b Sammy 8 Dwayne Bravo lbw b Nabi 28 and fielders played very well. We know about Samiullah Shenwari c Sammy b Benn 1 Andre Russell run out 7 Najibullah Zadran not out 48 our team’s strengths, we have experienced so Darren Sammy c Sami b Naib 6 Mohammad Nabi c Samuels b Russell 9 much at this WT20.” After being sent into bat, Carlos Brathwaite c Zadran b Nabi 13 Shafiqullah Shafaq c Fletcher b Russell 4 Stanikzai’s side posted a respectable 123/7, Rashid Khan not out 6 Samuel Badree not out 2 with Najibullah smashing an unbeaten 48 Extras: (2lb, 1w) 3 Extras: (1lb, 2w, 2nb) 5 against the 2012 World T20 champions. The TOTAL: (for 7 wickets) 123 TOTAL: (for 8 wickets) 117 West Indies, who had a perfect record head- Overs: 20. Overs: 20. ing into the match with three straight wins, Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-50, 4-52, 5-56, 6-90, 7-103 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-33, 3-38, 4-79, 5-89, 6-98, 7-107, 8- warned that they were not going to let up Did not bat: Amir Hamza, Hamid Hassan. 114. Bowling: Andre Russell 4-0-23-2 (1w), Samuel Badree 4- against Afghanistan. But their run chase got Did not bat: Sulieman Benn. 0-14-3, Carlos Brathwaite 2-0-21-0, Sulieman Benn 4-0- Bowling: Amir Hamza 4-0-9-1, Mohammad Nabi 4-0-26- off to a shaky start, with opener Evin Lewis 18-1, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-28-0, Darren Sammy 2-0-17-1. 2, Hamid Hassan 2.4-0-19-1 (2nb), Rashid Khan 4-0-26-2, dismissed for a duck, and some excellent Samiullah Shenwari 4-0-22-0 (1w), Gulbadin Naib 1.2-0- Afghanistan spin bowling led by 17-year-old West Indies 14-1.