Established 1961 Sport WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 NBA will not ‘jump the Milan clubs jostle to end Abraham hits double as 14line’ for COVID vaccine 15 the year on top of Serie A 15 Chelsea sink West Ham Pittsburgh Bengals stun Steelers Bernard scores two touchdowns in a 27-17 victory CINCINNATI: Avery Williamson #51 and Minkah Fitzpatrick #39 of the Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Samaje Perine #34 of the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on December 21, 2020. — AFP LOS ANGELES: Cincinnati Bengals run- throughout as the Pittsburgh offense quarter after rushing into the end zone points in the third quarter, Roethlisberger touchdown with just over five minutes ning back Giovani Bernard scored two combined for a paltry 40 yards in the first from four yards. Roethlisberger then picking out Diontae Johnson for 23 yards remaining, Pittsburgh’s chances of forcing touchdowns in a 27-17 victory as the two quarters with three turnovers and coughed up an interception on the and a touchdown before Chris Boswell’s overtime vanished when they turned over Pittsburgh Steelers slid to a third consec- only two first downs. Steelers’ next possession, when his pass field goal from 25 yards made it 17-10. on downs with just under two minutes utive defeat in a hardfought divisional The Bengals, meanwhile, long since intended for Juju Smith-Schuster was But Cincinnati continued to cause prob- left. Seibert’s second field goal of the battle on Monday. The Steelers, looking eliminated from playoff contention with picked off by Cincinnati cornerback lems for the Steelers defense, and a clever night with 12 seconds remaining sealed for a win to clinch the AFC North after only two wins against 10 losses heading Mackensie Alexander. play fake sent the entire Pittsburgh cover the win. The defeat means the Steelers suffering back-to-back defeats, never into Monday’s game, were on the front From the ensuing drive, Bengals quar- the wrong way to allow Finley to sprint now face a nervous finale to the regular recovered after a disastrous first half foot from the outset. An Austin Seibert terback Ryan Finley connected with clear into the end zone for a 23-yard rush season, with the Cleveland Browns just which saw the Bengals race into a 17-0 field goal put the Bengals ahead in the Bernard for a 14-yard touchdown to make that made it 24-10. one game behind in the divisional stand- lead. Steelers quarterback Ben first quarter, before Bernard scored the it 17-0 at halftime. The Steelers rallied Although Benny Snell Jr. cut the ings on 10-4. The Steelers lead the divi- Roethlisberger looked out of sorts first of his two touchdowns in the second after the interval with 10 unanswered Bengals lead to seven points with a sion on 11-3. — AFP pandemic and spared the England and Will cricket’s Wales Cricket Board, one of the wealthier national governing bodies, from a crippling financial hit. But the bubble burst ECB still postponed its new domestic Hundred tournament, a 100 balls per in 2021? side competition for men and women, while announcing 62 redundancies and LONDON: International cricket found pay cuts for players. a way through this year’s coronavirus The ECB also forecast a loss of pandemic but the strain of ‘bubble life’ more than £100 million ($135 million) was evident by the end of 2020. The this year, potentially rising to £200 women’s Twenty20 World Cup, won by million in 2021. West Indies won the NAPIER: Pakistan batsman Mohammad Rizwan gains his ground to avoid a run-out during the third T20 cricket match Australia in front of a Melbourne first Test but lost the series. Together between New Zealand and Pakistan at McLean Park in Napier yesterday. — AFP crowd of more than 86,000 on March with Pakistan, another of world crick- 8, escaped the ravages of Covid-19 but et’s financially poorer leading sides, the the men’s game soon ground to a halt West Indies spent much of 2020 on the want to take momentum from this into the during an Australia-New Zealand road, the two teams travelling to both Rizwan-inspired Pakistan Test match, so this is very important for us,” series. England and New Zealand. West Indies he said. After two losses when batting first, In a perfect summary of the topsy- captain Jason Holder, who played in Pakistan changed tactics and opted to bowl turvy cricket year, India eventually another bubble during a lucrative stop New Zealand sweep when they won the toss, restricting New went to Australia and were bowled out Indian Premier League moved to the Zealand to 173 for seven, with Devon for 36 in a humiliating first Test defeat. United Arab Emirates on health NAPIER: Mohammad Rizwan celebrated that included Covid-19 quarantine in Conway top-scoring on 63. Faheem Ashraf After the March lockdown, internation- grounds, articulated the stresses of his elevation to the Pakistan Test captaincy in Christchurch with no training. The win was was the pick of the Pakistan attack, taking al cricket, sustained by the broadcast cricket in confinement. style yesterday, smashing a career-best 89 to particularly sweet for Rizwan, who was three for 20. The strategy of chasing down income from tours and tournaments, ‘ stop New Zealand claiming a series sweep in named on Monday as captain for the first New Zealand’s total paid off as Rizwan and did not resume again until the Room gets smaller’ the third Twenty20 in Napier. Pakistan Test against New Zealand starting Hafeez forged a 72-run partnership that laid England-West Indies Test series in “Going from bubble to bubble, reached New Zealand’s target of 174 with December 26 after regular skipper Babar the foundation for the win. July. That month also saw the being isolated in a room, sometimes the two balls to spare, ending on 177 after Azam was ruled out with a broken thumb. “I Hafeez, who was stranded on 99 in International Cricket Council announce room just gets smaller and smaller by Iftikhar Ahmed sealed the win with a six in never thought I’d be made the captain of Hamilton, made 41 from 29 balls including it was postponing this year’s men’s the second,” said Holder following the the final over. But it was Rizwan’s 89 from 59 Pakistan and I can’t explain my happiness,” three sixes. Rizwan’s innings, the sixth- World Twenty20 in Australia until second of West Indies’ two innings balls, with support from 41-run Mohammad he said after his man-of-the-match T20 highest by a Pakistan batsman in T20s, 2022. defeats in New Zealand earlier this Hafeez, that inspired the victory. performance. included a booming six that bounced off The England-West Indies series, month. Meanwhile England’s Tom It was a hard-fought win for the tourists, Rizwan said the T20 victory was an the roof of a stand and out of the ground, played at the ‘bio-secure’ venues of Banton and Tom Curran both withdrew who suffered heavy defeats in the two important morale booster ahead of the two- forcing the umpires to select a replace- Southampton and Manchester, estab- from Australia’s Big Bash League after opening matches after a rocky preparation Test series against the Black Caps. “We ment ball. — AFP lished a template for cricket amid the citing bubble fatigue. —AFP.