NHL | Page 5 FOOTBALL | Page 4 Kuznetsov Loew fumes leads Capitals as ‘sloppy’ past Knights Germany for 2-1 edge crash to Austria Monday, June 4, 2018 TENNIS Ramadan 19, 1439 AH Zverev on course GULF TIMES for semi-final clash with Djokovic SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL/ WORLD CUP WARM-UP Neymar back with a bang as Brazil star sinks Croatia Neymar needed just 23 minutes to prove how CRICKET important he is to Brazil’s hopes of a sixth world title England stop the rot with thumping win Pakistan captain Safraz Ahmed (L) and England captain Joe Root pose with the Natwest Test Series trophy after England win the second Test yesterday. AFP er Faheem Ashraf for six. Leeds But with Buttler fi ve runs short of equalling his Test-best 85, made on debut against India at Southampton in 2014, No ngland won their fi rst Test match 11 James Anderson was caught in the slips since September as they thrashed off Hasan Ali. Pakistan by an innings and 55 Buttler faced 101 balls, including 11 runs in the second Test at Head- fours and two sixes. Eingley yesterday. Pakistan had been behind in this game Victory, completed inside three days, ever since they were dismissed for 174 in saw England level the two-match series their fi rst innings after captain Sarfraz at 1-1 after Pakistan won the fi rst Test at Ahmed won the toss on a good pitch but Lord’s by nine wickets. saw his batsmen struggle in overcast, It was also England’s fi rst victory in a bowler-friendly, conditions. Test match since they beat the West In- Their second innings started in style dies at Lord’s in September last year, with when Azhar Ali drove the fi rst ball, from the side having endured a winless run of Anderson, for four. six defeats in eight Tests coming into this But Anderson, England’s all-time fi xture. leading Test wicket-taker, knocked over By sharing the spoils in this short cam- the middle stump of Azhar, who made 11. paign, England avoided a third successive Pakistan were 30 for two when Haris series loss after reverses in Australia and Sohail (eight) saw a hard-hit drive off An- Brazil striker Neymar celebrates after scoring against Croatia in their International friendly match at Anfield in Liverpool yesterday. New Zealand. derson brilliantly caught one-handed by Jos Buttler’s blistering 80 not out on a diving Bess at extra-cover. AFP front of Anfi eld’s legendary Kop of his concerns about winning that Chelsea’s Willian and Manchester Sunday saw England to a total of 363 and Liverpool End, and punched the air in obvious race and described his rehabilita- City’s Gabriel Jesus, who was named commanding fi rst-innings lead of 189. SCORECARD delight as he was mobbed by team- tion as the biggest challenge of his captain for the day, the 15th player to Pakistan then collapsed to 134, losing Pakistan 1st Innings 174 (Shadab Khan 56; S mates. career. wear the armband under the reign of their last seven wickets for just 50 runs. Broad 3-38, J Anderson 3-43, C Woakes 3-55) razil star Neymar made a The sublime strike leaves Neymar He also sat out training with the manager Tite. Stuart Broad took three for 28 and off - England 1st Innings (363 all out (J. Buttler 80, D. stunning return from injury on 54 goals for his national team, national team at Tottenham’s Lon- Despite the looming spectre of spinner Dominic Bess grabbed his fi rst Bess 49, A Cook 49; with a superb goal in their one behind Romario, who is third on don base on Thursday as a precau- the World Cup, now less than two Test wickets in a return of three for 33. Pakistan 2nd Innings B2-0 friendly victory over the country’s all-time list, and with tion. weeks away, the game proved a England resumed yesterday on 302 for Azhar Ali b Anderson ..................................................... 11 Croatia yesterday. only Pele and Ronaldo ahead of him But Brazil coach Tite had an- physical one. seven, with Buttler 44 not out and Sam Imam-ul-Haq lbw b Bess ............................................. 34 Just 98 days after suff ering an in- in the Brazil record books. nounced his intention to use Ney- Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric and Curran, unbeaten on 16. Haris Sohail c Bess b Anderson .................................8 jury he feared would keep him out Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, on mar against Croatia, with the Brazil- Ivan Perisic were both cautioned by Curran, however, was out for 20 on his Asad Shafiq c Bairstow b Broad ................................5 of the upcoming World Cup in Rus- his home ground, completed the ians having just one more warm-up English referee Michael Oliver in the 20th birthday when he was well caught Usman Salahuddin c Root b Bess ...........................33 sia, Neymar was back with a bang at victory in stoppage time when he game — against Austria in Vienna on fi rst half, along with Brazilian Fern- low down at second slip by Shafi q off Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Woakes .................................... 8 Anfi eld. controlled a through ball on his June 10 — in which his asset can gain andinho whose high-footed chal- man-of-the-series Mohammad Abbas, Shadab Khan c Cook b Curran ...................................4 The Paris Saint-Germain forward chest and calmly beat the advancing much-needed game-time. lenge left Vrsaljko needing a large who took eight for 64 at Lord’s. Faheem Ashraf c Malan b Bess .................................. 3 appeared as a half-time replacement keeper with a delicate lob. True to his word, Tite brought bandage to a head wound. At this stage, no batsman in the in- Mohamed Amir not out ................................................. 7 for Manchester City midfi elder Neymar, the world’s most expen- on Neymar at the interval and he Neymar’s introduction at the nings had scored a fi fty, although Bess Hasan Ali c Cook b Broad.............................................. 9 Fernandinho as the Selecao stepped sive player following his blockbuster appeared comfortable, steering an start of the second half drew an en- had made a commendable 49 in his role as Mohamed Abbas c Root b Broad ..............................1 up their World Cup preparations. move from Barcelona last year, had early shot, from a wide angle on the thusiastic reaction, from the Anfi eld nightwatchman to follow a fi fty on debut Extras (b5, lb5, n1) ..........................................................11 And Neymar needed just 23 min- been sidelined since the end of Feb- edge of the area, directly at goal- crowd and his team-mates alike. at Lord’s. Total (all out, 46 overs, 229 mins) .......................134 utes to prove how important he is to ruary when he fractured his foot keeper Danijel Subasic who saved He joined Jesus and Willian in at- Buttler, dropped on four on Saturday Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Azhar), 2-30 (Sohail), Brazil’s hopes of a sixth world title. playing for PSG in a league victory well. tack, with Coutinho dropping into when Hasan Ali failed to hold a routine 3-42 (Shafiq), 4-84 (Imam), 5-97 (Sarfraz), 6-102 Receiving a pass from Philippe against Marseille. It was a notable afternoon also for the midfi eld place vacated by Fern- chance at midwicket, soon altered that (Shadab), 7-111 (Ashraf), 8-115 (Salahuddin), 9-124 Coutinho, Neymar cut into the area, He sprained his ankle and frac- former Liverpool striker Coutinho, andinho. statistic. (Hasan), 10-134 (Abbas) beating Sime Vrsaljko and Duje Ca- tured his fi fth metatarsal, requir- who made his fi rst appearance at Brazil instantly appeared more He went to fi fty in style with two Bowling: Anderson 10-2-35-2; Broad 12-2-28-3 leta-Car with impressive close con- ing an operation which had left the Anfi eld since his transfer to Barcelo- threatening, with the PSG man link- boundaries in as many balls off Abbas -- (1nb); Curran 7-2-10-1; Woakes 6-0-18-1; Bess trol and dribbling, before burying a 26-year-old facing a battle to be fi t na in January, and received a smat- ing up quickly with Jesus. an extra-cover driven four followed by a 11-1-33-3 shot into the roof of the goal, via the in time for Brazil’s opening World tering of boos from some of his old Before Neymar’s brilliant opener, hooked six. Result: England won by an innings and 55 runs crossbar, from the edge of the six- Cup match with Switzerland in Ros- club’s supporters. Croatia might have struck fi rst when Buttler was missed in the deep by Us- Series: Two-match series ends level at 1-1 yard area. tov-on-Don on June 17. He formed part of a potent three- Ante Rebic’s header forced a fi ne man Salahuddin on 66 and the3 very next Man-of-the-match: Jos Buttler (ENG) Neymar ran behind the goal, in Neymar had spoken last month man forward line that also featured save from Alisson. ball saw him straight drive medium-pac- Man-of-the-series: Mohamed Abbas (PAK) Gulf Times 2 Monday, June 4, 2018 SPORT TENNIS SPOTLIGHT Beware of fl ying barbs as Serena Zverev and Djoko meets Sharapova edge closer to semi-fi nal clash ‘Well, I’m young, so I might as well stay on court, get some practice and entertain you...” In this combination of file photographs, Russia’s Maria Sharapova (L) and Serena Williams of the US in action at the French Open.