Download Report

SPORT
Email: [email protected]
Gulf Daily News Sunday, 1st February 2015
29
Kiwis cruise to comfortable victory over Pakistan
well planned by Grant
a competitive total.
SCOREBOARD
and Ross.”
“In the first 10 overs we
Boult 9-0-25-2 (2w), Milne 10-0The comfortable vic- Pakistan
were nowhere, we had no
M Hafeez b Mills
0
43-1 (3w), N McCullum 6-0-37-0,
tory for New Zealand A Shehzad c Ronchi b Boult
momentum,” he said.
15
Anderson 6-0-47-2 (2w), Elliott
underscored Pakistan’s Y Khan lbw Mills
“They bowled really
9
4.3-0-26-3 (1w).
58
lack of preparation two Misbah c Latham b Elliott
well and we just kept on
New Zealand
Sohail c Guptill b Anderson
23
M Guptill c Bhatti b Irfan
39
weeks away from the H
losing wickets. I think
U Akmal b Elliott
13
B McCullum c Shehzad b Bhatti 17
start of the World Cup.
280-290 could have
S Ahmed c Latham b Anderson 5
T Latham c Ahmed b Afridi
23
67
It was their first ODI S Afridi c Guptill b Milne
been a competitive total
R Taylor not out
59
0
since they were beaten B Bhatti c Guptill b Boult
on this pitch.”
G
Elliott
not
out
64
c B. McCullum b Elliott
6
Extras (lb3, w8)
11
3-2 in a home series EMAdil
Irfan not out
1
Chase
Total (for 3 wkts, 39.3 overs) 213
against New Zealand Extras (lb3, w9, nb1)
13
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-75, 3-101.
210
before Christmas, and Total (all out, 45.3 overs)
New
Zealand
Bowling: Irfan 10-2-60-1 (5w),
of wickets: 1-0, 2-29, 3-32,
the lack of match play Fall
launched
into
their
chase
Bhatti
8-0-51-1
(1w),
Adil
7.3-04-81, 5-113, 6-127, 7-198, 8-203,
was evident from the 9-203.
at more than six an over
44-0, Afridi 10-0-39-1 (2w), Sohail
4-0-16-0.
moment they lost the Bowling: Mills 10-2-29-2 (1w, 1nb),
with McCullum, returntoss and were put in to
ing to the line-up after
bat.
just completed a 4-2 series win over sitting out the last game against Sri
The batsmen lacked timing and later Sri Lanka.
Lanka, blasting a rapid 17 before he
the bowlers struggled with direction
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq be- was gone in the fourth over.
against a New Zealand side which had lieved they were about 70 runs short of
Tom Latham fell for 23 and Martin
WELLINGTON: New Zea-
land cruised to a seven-wicket win over an underdone Pakistan in the first of their two
one-day internationals in Wellington
yesterday.
After removing Pakistan for 210 in
the 46th over, New Zealand reached
their target in the 40th over with Grant
Elliott not out 64 and Ross Taylor unbeaten on 59.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum credited his side’s tight fielding with setting the platform for victory.
“It was probably the best we’ve seen
all summer and that creates so much
intensity and allows the seamers to be
able to really get into the game,” he
said.
“Obviously the run chase was very
Guptill, who struggled against the Sri
Lankans, found the less pressured Pakistani bowling more to his liking as
he posted 39.
He was gone just after New Zealand
passed the 100 mark in the 18th over,
11 overs quicker than it took Pakistan
to reach three figures.
Elliott and Taylor then led New Zealand home, adding 112 in an unbeaten
fourth wicket stand.
Pakistan’s innings only nudged
over the 200 mark thanks to a 71-run
partnership in 38 balls by Misbah and
all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
Kyle Mills bowled Mohammad Hafeez with the fifth ball of the match
which started a slide that saw Pakistan
at 127 for six in the 36th over before
Misbah (58) and Afridi (67) provided
a little backbone.
Wizards of Oz!
l Aussies pip South Korea for maiden soccer title
Substitute
James Troisi smashed
home a dramatic extratime winner as Australia
beat South Korea 2-1 to
win their first Asian Cup title in an
electrifying final yesterday.
SYDNEY:
Troisi broke Korean hearts with the
very last kick in the first extra period after
Son Heung-Min had snatched a magical
injury-time equaliser at the end of normal
time.
Australia’s triumph gave them a first
title since defecting from Oceania nine
years ago, while South Korea’s anguish
continued after they failed to break a hoodoo in the tournament stretching back to
1960.
“It was a super effort from everyone,”
said Australia coach Ange Postecoglou.
“It was a final, it never goes to script. It
was tough, you’ve got to grind it out and
the courage the players showed tonight
was enormous.”
“I knew we’d finish stronger,” he added, before shaking the hands of the devastated Korean players.
“We pride ourselves on being very
fit and it was just a matter of taking our
chance. I’m super-proud of them. Hopefully from now on, us Aussies can take on
the world because I have a real belief in
these guys.”
Australia’s historical triumph vindicated Postecoglou’s decision to overhaul the
team after its “golden generation” passed
their prime.
It could also further antagonise countries said to be behind a movement to oust
n Fifa president Sepp Blatter and AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa present the Asian Cup to Australia
Australia from the Asian confederation
after shock revelations in the build-up to
the final.
The Socceroos, runners-up to Japan
in 2011, had been on the brink of victory thanks to a fierce strike from Massimo Luongo on the stroke of half-time,
which triggered wild celebrations from
the waves of fans in green and gold in a
crowd of 76,000.
But South Korea’s superstar Son produced a moment of sheer brilliance in
injury time, bursting through to fire past
goalkeeper Mathew Ryan after a clever
flick from captain Ki Sung-Yueng.
Australia, the Asian Cup’s top scorers
with 14 goals, were forced to dig deep in a
reversal of the group meeting between the
two sides earlier in the tournament, which
was dominated by Australia but won 1-0
by the Koreans.
Australian captain Mile Jedinak set
the tone for a bruising final when he clattered Son during the early skirmishes, and
right-back Ivan Franjic was then booked
for a crude foul on Park Joo-Ho.
Wastefully
Defender Kwak Tae-Hwi headed a Ki
free kick wastefully wide after 24 minutes before Tim Cahill, making possibly
his last appearance in a Socceroos shirt,
forced a smart save from goalkeeper Kim
Jin-Hyeon as both teams came out of their
shell.
Son, Australia’s tormentor-in-chief, almost broke the deadlock when he lashed a
left-foot volley just over the bar as South
Al Hidd put Malkiya down
AL HIDD needed an extra
time to beat Malkiya 3-1 in
their last 16 round match
of the King Cup Football
Championship last night at the Bahrain National Stadium.
It was the first match for Al Hidd
new coach Salman Sharida, who
succeeded in his first task to score
a tough victory over Malkiya. Sharida’s team needed an extra time to
win.
Al Hidd scored in the 11th minute
through Ahmed Al Khattal as they
went on to lead after the first half.
Malkiya equalised in the 56th minute through Hassan Sayed Isa.
Al Hidd’s new signing Brazilian
forward Ricko scored two goals in
the 111th and 117th minutes of extra
time to seal the victory.
In the quarter-final round, Al
Hidd will take on Al Shabab who
defeated Galali 3-1.
Al Shabab surged ahead through
Rodriguez Silva who scored a goal
in the 45th minute. Galali equalised
in the 67th minute through Essam
Al Tawoosi who hit another goal in
the 70th minute.
Equalised
However, Al Shabab equalised
in the 76th minute through Hussain
Ali, before his teammate Mohammed Al Fakak scored the winning
goal four minutes before the final
whistle.
In another match, Riffa needed
penalty shootout to beat Sitra 4-2 in
their match played at Khalifa Sports
City Stadium.
The full time ended 1-1 with Riffa scoring first in the 9th minute
through Sayed Deya Sayed Saeed.
Sitra equalised in the 81st minute
through Ali Al Asfoor.
Both teams had to go through
penalty shootout.
Riffa scored through Ozia, Lopez
Ramiz, Kameel Al Aswad, while
Sitra scored through Ahmed Al Karani.
Sitra, however, wasted two shots
from Ali Al Asfoor and Hussain Al
Safi.
Riffa qualified for the quarter-finals to take on Isa Town who defeated Al Hala 2-1 in another match
held at Khalifa Sports City Stadium.
Isa Town went into the lead 2-0
with second half goals from Isa
Khalil Salman in the 50th and 65th
minutes. Al Hala’s goal was scored
in the 86th minute by Isa Town defender Hassan Yahya.
Korea pushed hard for the opening goal.
But then Luongo, who has been a revelation for the Australians and was deservedly voted player-of-the-tournament,
wriggled free to blast a long-range drive
past Kim’s despairing dive.
It was the first goal South Korea had
conceded in the tournament on their way
to a first final in 27 years.
Korean pin-up Son pounced in
show-stopping fashion, drilling a left-foot
shot past Ryan before celebrating with the
massed ranks of “Red Devils” fans behind the Australian goal.
But in extra-time, Tomi Juric picked
Kim Jin-Su’s pocket and when his cross
was pushed out by Kim Jin-Hyeon, fellow substitute Troisi belted the ball into
the roof of the net.
n Action from
Al Hidd v
Malkiya match
Clarke is back
in action and
denies any rift
SYDNEY:
Australia
captain Michael Clarke
shrugged off speculation
of rifts with Cricket Australia and his international team
mates after making a successful
comeback from injury in a club
game on yesterday.
The 33-year-old batsman, who
underwent surgery on a troublesome hamstring in December,
made 51 on his return for side
Western Suburbs against Gordon.
Reports in the Sydney Morning
Herald said Clarke had clashed
with his country’s selectors over
the deadline they had given him
to prove his fitness for the World
Cup, which Australia are co-hosting with New Zealand from February 14.
Even if he did return to health,
the newspaper reported that his
team mates had turned their back
on the captain in favour of stand-in
Steve Smith but Clarke said there
were no problems.
“I’m not going to get into it. It
seems like some people in particular are going to write what they’re
going to write,” Clarke told reporters.
“I’m really happy and comfortable with my relationship with
Cricket Australia firstly, certainly
with my team mates so whatever.
“It’s water off a duck’s back
for me. I’ve copped it my whole
career so it’s another day, another
newspaper sold. I don’t really care.
My job is to get fit and healthy and
I can’t wait to get back on the park
and play for Australia again.”
Clarke has been given until Australia’s second World Cup match
against Bangladesh on February
21 to prove he is fit to play.