Al Tamimi to lead hosts’challenge at QSF No.1THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Home favourite Qatar’s World No.23 Abdulla Al Tamimi will lead the host nations’ challenge at this month’s QSF No.1, a PSA World Tour Bronze tournament, which will take place between November 10-14 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

Al Tamimi, will face either Spain’s Iker Pajares Bernabeu or France’s Auguste Dussourd for a place in the quarter-finals. Wildcards from Qatar, Rashid Al Harib and Hamad Al Amri will face England’s World No.53 Joshua Masters and Egypt’s World No.52 Mohamed Reda in the opening round.

Egypt’s former World No.3 Omar Mosaad is the top seed of the tournament and if results go his way according to the ranking hierarchy he could face Germany’s Raphael Kandra in the final.

The tournament will see a high quality draw battle it out for a share of the $51,000 prize purse.

Mosaad, who has never faced Kandra on the PSA Tour, is seeded on the same side of the draw as the likes of Spain’s former World No.5 Borja Golan, Australia’s Cameron Pilley and England’s Chris Simpson.

The Egyptian, along with the other top eight seeds, receives a bye into the second round and will face either Jamaica’s World No.81 Chris-topher Binnie or Welsh World No.50 Peter Creed for a place in the last eight.

Germany’s Kandra, mean-while, is seeded to meet Eng-land’s former World No.9 Daryl Selby in the semi-finals but will first have to navigate through a draw that also contains the likes of Qatar’s Al Tamimi and Scotland’s World No.32 Greg Lobban.

Former World No. 3 Mosaad top seed as organisers release main draw

SPORTTuesday 6 November 2018

PAGE | 27 PAGE | 29Chandimal seeks winning farewell

for Herath

Mayweather ready to face Tenshin in mystery fight

Djokovic to end year atop rankings as Nadal pulls out of ATP Finals REUTERS

LONDON: Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week’s ATP Tour Finals in London due to injury, so Novak Djokovic will end the year as world number one having returned to the top of the rankings yesterday.

F r e n c h O p e n champion Nadal announced that an

abdominal muscle problem, which

prevented him from playing in

t h e P a r i s Masters last week, and a n k l e surgery had forced him to pull out o f t h e s e a s o n -

ending event.“Unfortu-

nately I had the

abdominal problem in Paris last week and I also have an issue in the ankle joint that has to be removed in the operating room today,” the 17-times Grand Slam winner wrote on Twitter.

“This way I hope to be in full condition for next season.”

American John Isner will take the 32-year-old’s place in London when the Finals get underway on Sunday. Kei Nishikori has also been drafted in to replace Argentine Juan Martin del Potro who pulled out due to a knee injury.

Spaniard Nadal’s with-drawal in Paris meant Djokovic returned to the top of the world rankings. The Serbian will now become the first player since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973 to end the year at number one having started it outside the top 20.

“Reflecting on what I’ve been through in the last year, it’s quite a phenomenal achievement,” said Djokovic. “And, of course, I’m very, very happy and proud about it.

“Five months ago, if you told me that, I would be - I always believe in myself, but it was highly improbable at that time considering my ranking and the way I played and felt on the court.”

Having missed the second half of the 2017 season because of his troublesome elbow, Djokovic returned at the start of this year but the injury flared up again at the Australian Open and he decided to have surgery on it.

He was dumped out of the French Open as the 20th seed at the quarter-final stage before embarking on a fine run.

Djokovic beat Nadal in a Wimbledon semi-final thriller

before ending a two-year Grand Slam drought by defeating Kevin Anderson in the final.

A few weeks later he beat Del Potro in the final to win the US Open and last month claimed the Shanghai Masters title without dropping a set.

“What Novak has achieved this season has to go down as one of the great sporting comebacks. It’s been a phenomenal return to form that would have been hard to imagine just six months ago,” ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode said.

“He fully deserves his return to No.1 in the ATP Rankings and should be incredibly proud of his excep-tional season.”

Djokovic’s dominant run ended on Sunday when he was beaten 7-5 6-4 by Russian Kharen Khachanov in the Paris Masters final.

ATP RANKINGS

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 8045 points (+1)

2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7480 (-1)

3. Roger Federer (SUI) 6020

4. Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG) 5300

5. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5085

6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4310

7. Marin Cilic (CRO) 4050

8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3895

9. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 3390 (+2)

10. John Isner (USA) 3155 (-1)

11. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 2835 (+7)

12. Borna Coric (CRO) 2480 (+1)

13. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2315 (+1)

14. Kyle Edmund (GBR) 2150 (+1)

15. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 2095 (+1)

16. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 1977 (+1)

17. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 1880 (+2)

18. Milos Raonic (CAN) 1855 (+3)

19. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1835 (-9)

20. Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 1819

REUTERS

LONDON: Rafael pulled out of next wTour Finals in Londinjury, so Novak Djoend the year as worone having returnedof the rankings yes

F r e n c h championannounced

abdominaproblem

prevenfrom

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Novak Djokovic

Omar Mosaad 2018 QSF NO.1 MAIN DRAW

[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) [Bye] Christopher Binnie (JAM) vs [9/16] Peter Creed (WAL) [9/16] Joshua Masters (ENG) vs [WC] Rashid Al-Harib (QAT) [6] Borja Golan (ESP) [Bye] [8] Chris Simpson (ENG) [Bye] Bernat Jaume (ESP) vs [9/16] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) [9/16] George Parker (ENG) vs Tayyab Aslam (PAK) [4] Cameron Pilley (AUS) [Bye] [3] Daryl Selby (ENG) [Bye] Ivan Yuen (MAS) vs [9/16] Olli Tuominen (FIN) [9/16] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) vs Auguste Dussourd (FRA) [5] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) [Bye] [7] Greg Lobban (SCO) [Bye] Chris Hanson (USA) vs [9/16] Richie Fallows (ENG) [9/16] Mohamed Reda (EGY) vs [WC] Hamad Al-Amri (QAT) [2] Raphael Kandra (GER) [Bye]

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar’s Sarah Ghulam Mohammad won the bronze medal at the 8th Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait yesterday.

Sarah finished behind Thailand’s Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit and Kazakhstan’s Assem Orynbay who won the gold and silver medals respectively at the Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex.

Sarah shot down 37 clay pigeons in the medal round of the women’s skeet event.

The Thai shooter shot down 54 targets to emerge on top while Aseem brought down 46 targets.

Following her podium win yesterday, Sarah said that competing against the top shooters in Asia motivated her to achieve good results.

She also promised to do her best during the upcoming events. Her next competition will be the 14th Arab Cham-pionship which will be held in Doha from 16 to 26 of this month.

Meanwhile, the Qatari national team will be in action in the Team Skeet event today. The team which includes Saeed Abu Rashab, Masoud Saleh and Rashid Saleh, will participate in the second round of the tournament.

More than 600 shooters from 35 coun-tries are taking part in the championship which will conclude on November 11.

Qatar's Sarah wins bronze at Asian Shotgun ChampionshipsQatar’s Sarah

Ghulam Mohammad in

action during the 8th Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait yesterday. Sarah shot down

37 clay pigeons in the medal round of the

women’s skeet event to secure

the bronze medal at the Sheikh

Sabah Al Ahmad Olympic Shooting

Complex.

Abdulla Al Tamimi

28 TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

Giannis tallies triple-double for BucksAP

MIAMI: Giannis Antetokounmpo registered his second triple-double of the young season with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists on Sunday, helping the host Milwaukee Bucks get back on the winning track with a 144-109 victory over the Sacra-mento Kings.

The Bucks used an 18-1 run in the first quarter to take command in their first game since losing Thursday at Boston, their first defeat after opening the season 7-0.

Antetokounmpo, who had only one triple-double last season, hit eight of his 11 shots and nine of his 12 free throws. His other triple-double this season had come against Phila-delphia last month.

Justin Jackson had 22 points for the Kings, who had won five in a row and were looking to sweep a four-game trip that began with wins over Miami, Orlando and Atlanta.

Raptors 121, Lakers 107 Serge Ibaka scored a career-

best 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as visiting Toronto defeated Los Angeles.

Kyle Lowry added 21 points and matched his season best with 15 assists to set a club record of eight straight games with 10 or more assists. It was his seventh double-double this season.

Kyle Kuzma had 24 points for the Lakers while LeBron James had 18 points, Brandon Ingram 16, Lonzo Ball 12 and Rajon Rondo 10.

Wizards 108, Knicks 95 John Wall scored 26 points,

Bradley Beal added 22 and Washington Wizards beat New York in the nation’s capital to

snap a five-game losing streak.With the score tied at 86

early in the fourth quarter, the Wizards went on an extended 16-2 run that included seven points by Beal, who also blocked a Mitchell Robinson layup at the other end during that stretch.

Dwight Howard had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his second game with the Wizards and Markieff Morris scored 16 points. Beal, who added eight rebounds, scored 11 points in the

fourth quarter as the Wizards recorded their first home win.

Suns 102, Grizzlies 100 Devin Booker scored 25

points, including two key jump shots late in the game, as Phoenix ended a seven-game losing streak with a win over visiting Memphis.

Booker hit a 20-foot jump shot from the left wing with 1.7 seconds remaining over the Griz-zlies’ Garrett Temple to give the Suns the lead for good. He also

hit an 18-foot jumper from near the top of the key to give Phoenix a 100-98 lead with 29 seconds remaining.

Trevor Ariza scored 16 points and had nine rebounds for the Suns, and Mikal Bridges added 14 off the bench as the Suns won for the first time since defeating the Dallas Mavericks in their season opener.

Nets 122, 76ers 97 D’Angelo Russell scored 21

points and Caris LeVert added

20 points as Brooklyn pulled away in the third quarter to beat visiting Philadelphia, which committed 28 turnovers and remained winless on the road.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 21 points, while Jarrett Allen posted a double-double with 15 and 10 boards as the Nets shot 47.6 percent and overcame a 46-38 rebounding disparity by getting 11 steals and forcing the most turnovers in the NBA this season.

Ben Simmons led Phila-delphia with 20 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double.

Joel Embiid posted his league-leading 10th double-double with 16 and 15 rebounds.

Magic 117, Spurs 110 Aaron Gordon poured in 26

points as visiting Orlando, at least for one night, played to its promise in a win over San Antonio.

Orlando led by 17 points heading to the final quarter and seemed to have put the game on ice with 3-pointers by Jerian Grant and Gordon and a follow-up dunk by rookie Mohamed Bamba to make it 99-76.

San Antonio, playing the second game of a home back-to-back, finally got rolling late to cut the Orlando lead to five points with 1:41 to play.

But Nikola Vucevic hit a jumper and D.J. Augustin canned a pair of free throws with 16.2 remaining to repel the Spurs’ comeback bid.

Portland Trail Blazers 111, Timberwolves 81

Jusuf Nurkic scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Portland breezed to an easy win over visiting Minnesota.

Damian Lillard scored 18 points and CJ McCollum added 16 for the Trail Blazers, who were in front after the opening minutes and led by as many as 36 points.

Meyers Leonard came off the bench for season highs in scoring (15) and rebounds (12) and Zach Collins added 11 points for the Blazers.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 23 points while Andrew Wiggins added 17.

Brooklyn Nets guard Allen Crabbe (33) drives the ball past Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) in the fourth quarter of their NBA Game at Barclays Center.

Ducks end losing streak, beat Blue Jackets 3-2 in extra timeAP

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Cam Fowler joked it had been a long, long time between scoring hat tricks.

The Anaheim Ducks couldn’t have been blamed for feeling that way about winning, too.

Fowler completed his first career hat trick 36 seconds into overtime to help the Ducks end a seven-game losing streak, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

“It was a product of being in the right place at the right time tonight, and I’ll take it,” the defenseman said.

“I’m not complaining, but the main thing is our team found a way to win the game and kind of find a way to get off this losing streak. That was the main thing that came out of tonight’s game.”

John Gibson made 24 saves for the Ducks, who had been 0-5-2 since defeating the New York Islanders 4-1 on Oct. 17.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice for the Blue Jackets, who lost the final two games of their three-game California road trip. Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves.

Fowler scored on a one-timer from Adam Henrique to end Ana-heim’s losing skid. It was Fowler’s 56th career goal, tying Francois Beauchemin for second-most by a Anaheim defenseman all-time.

Fowler also became the seventh defenseman in NHL history to cap a hat trick with an overtime winner. Anaheim defensemen are responsible for the past three such hat tricks, with Hampus Lindholm doing so on Dec. 21, 2017 and Lubomir Vis-novsky on March 4, 2011.

Dubois earned a point for Columbus by scoring with 31.3 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game at 2, but Fowler said the Ducks did not get down on themselves after

conceding late. “It sounds silly, but it was pretty positive,” Fowler said.

“We’ve been through a lot as a team right now and I think it shows a lot about our group because we didn’t panic. We played a great hockey game, it would have been easy to get a little bit down after giving up a late goal like that. But luckily we regrouped and found a way to get a big two points.”

Henrique and Ducks coach Randy Carlyle each praised Fowler for his leadership and offensive contributions, which took on an added importance after captain Ryan Getzlaf was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury.

Fowler scored twice in the second period, tying it at 1 at 9:09 during 4-on-4 play and putting the Ducks ahead 2-1 at 18:26. He has three goals and two assists during a three-game point streak.

“You can’t put a bigger

exclamation mark on Cam Fowler than what he was able to accomplish tonight,” Carlyle said.

“I’m not saying he’s going to score three goals in every hockey game, but he drives a lot of puck possession and he’s got a lot of responsibility on the power play. On the other side, we ask him to play defense and defense is hard work.”

Getzlaf is considered day to day, but Carlyle did not know if he would be available to play at Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Blue Jackets ended up earning three of a possible six points during the road trip, which coach John Tortorella considered a positive result for a team he said is lacking in confidence right now.

“Anything offensively will help us, and that’s a big point,” Tortorella said. “We leave the California trip.500 with a team that has zero confidence, so we’ll take those points and just try to keep on building ourselves up.”

The power play has been the most visible representation of Columbus’ recent struggles, as the Blue Jackets went 0 for 6 with the man-advantage and are 2 for 38 in their past 10 games.

Artemin Panarin appeared to have scored a power-play goal early in the third period, but it came immediately after Alex-ander Wennberg tripped Ducks defenseman Jacob Larsson.

Tortorella thought it was a sign of progress that the Blue Jackets were able to put the puck in the net, even if it was waived off. “We had opportunities to score, had a couple of rebound chances that we just missed,” Tortorella said.

“Yeah, if they score a goal, sure it helps us. But we’ll take baby steps right now as far as just having them feel the puck and feel comfortable making plays. It’s a crazy dynamic with athletes. You just don’t know, so we got to try to help them.”

Ottawa Senators left wing Magnus Paajarvi (56) controls the puck with Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the second period of their NHL game at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Jones eager to see England face All BlacksAFP

TWICKENHAM: England coach Eddie Jones cannot wait to see how his side fare against the “benchmark for world rugby” when they take on New Zealand at Twickenham.

Jones’ injury-hit team launched their November cam-paign with a hard-fought 12-11 win at home to South Africa on Saturday and the Australian wants them to build on that result against the world cham-pions on November 10.

A curious quirk of the fixture list means it is four years since England last played New Zealand and Jones would love to get one over the All Blacks ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan.

“I said to the boys after South Africa that I can’t wait. I cannot wait,” Jones insisted.

“They are the benchmark for world rugby, the team you want to play against. Where are you in the world? You only know when you play against the All Blacks.

“Any team that wins 91 percent of their games is a great team. What other teams in world sport do that?” Jones, however, added: “You’ve got to believe you can beat them. You’ve got to understand where they’re weak, understand where they’re strong and be disciplined in your game plan. We will be well prepared for them.” England lost five Tests in a row earlier this year, a poor finish to the Six Nations fol-lowed by a 2-1 series loss in South Africa.

But a second straight win over the Springboks was achieved despite the absence of injured senior forwards Billy

and Mako Vunipola, Chris Robshaw and Joe Launchbury.

Yet the stark fact is that in 41 Tests stretching back over a hundred years, England have beaten New Zealand a mere seven times. But Jones was adamant he did not need Sat-urday’s success, which might so easily have ended in defeat had a stoppage-time penalty been awarded against fly-half Owen Farrell for what many observers felt was an illegal ‘no arms’ tackle on Springbok replacement Andre Ester-huizen, to bolster his confi-dence in England’s ability to defeat the All Blacks.

“I didn’t need this to make me believe we can beat the All Blacks -- I thought we could beat the All Blacks back in 2016. Nothing has changed there,” said Jones.

“But the win just makes eve-ryone feel a bit better. If you lose a game like that, it’s harder to pick the players up. Now we won’t have to pick them up,” the Australian, a former Wallaby and Japan coach, added.

“The belief you get from winning those tight games is enormous. That’s the big thing for us.” Farrell, who kicked three of England’s four suc-cessful penalties in a match where the Springboks scored the only try of the game, was in equally bullish mood.

The England co-captain highlighted South Africa’s 36-34 win in Wellington in Sep-tember -- the All Blacks’ only Test loss so far this year -- as proof New Zealand were far from invincible. “Anyone can be beaten,” Farrell said. “I don’t think any team is unbeatable. They got beat not so long ago, didn’t they?”

29TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Royal Air Maroc Series: Jordaan and Gilmour emerge winners of first legTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: South African Ruan Jordaan emerged Division One winner while Division Two was won by Kenza Gilmour at the first of a series of seven tourna-ments Sponsored by Royal Air Maroc, hosted by the Doha Golf Club on Saturday.

Jordaan shot a gross 69 playing off a handicap of -1 for a total of 38 stableford points. His round included 5 birdies which kept him two shots ahead of Mikkel Mathiesen who finished in second place.

In Division two, Gilmour scored a stunning 44 points to finish 5 points clear of Kevin Gaghan who finished in second place. This was Kenza’s second win in eight days as she continued her run of good form.

The series of seven tournaments will have an Order of Merit style format. Players have the opportunity to win prizes in each event whilst earning points in the race to be crowned as the champion for the entire series. Each event will be played under the stableford points format.

Kenza Gilmour, the Division two winner of the first leg of the Royal Air Moric tournament receiving her prize from Doha Golf Club’s Golf Operations Manager, Jordan Massey.

DeChambeau wins in Vegas with late eagle

REUTERS

LAS VEGAS: Bryson DeChambeau (pictured) drained a massive eagle putt on the way to winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas by one stroke on Sunday.

Locked in battle with defending champion Patrick Cantlay, DeChambeau’s putt from just inside 60 feet on 16 helped him to a final round of 66 and combined 21-under-par 263.

Cantlay (65) finished alone in second with Sam Ryder (62) in third a shot further back and Rickie Fowler (63) tied for fourth on 17-under. DeChambeau, 25, will climb to number five in the world after picking up his fifth PGA Tour win.

“I was just coming out here to try to kick the rust off. I was able to play some great golf,” DeChambeau told reporters. “I didn’t putt my best but I was still able to get it done. I’m pretty proud of that.”

Cantlay hit the front with a birdie on 16 but lost it with a bogey at the next coupled with DeChambeau’s eagle.

He lamented a poor bunker shot at 17 that hurt his chances.

“When I dug my foot in (the bunker) it didn’t have a bunch of sand. Obviously, when I hit my shot there was more sand under the ball,” Cantlay said.

“It was a tricky one, I just hit a poor shot.”Three-times major champion Jordan Spieth carded a

final round 72 to finish 14 strokes behind the winner.

Mayweather ready to face Tenshin in mystery fightREUTERS

TOKYO: Floyd Mayweather’s over-stated arrival to his unveiling as the new figurehead for a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion proved that no-matter what the event or the location, the American boxing legend will always be box office.

The undefeated 41-year-old announced he was coming out of a retirement on Monday and will top the bill at the Rizin Fighting Federation’s next card on Dec. 31, in a bout against a Jap-anese kickboxer with the rules yet to be determined.

With the logo for Mayweather’s ‘The Money Team’ brand ostentatiously embla-zoned across the room, there was a pal-pable sense of intrigue ahead of the American’s late arrival.

When Mayweather finally appeared in front of the media in Tokyo, the American, whose boxing record is an unblemished 50-0, was far more subdued than his noisy introduction, substituting his usual bravado with a serious business-like tone.

“We want to continue and I want to continue to build my relationship with Money Team Tokyo, I want to continue to come over here and bring other fighters over here,” Mayweather explained during a somewhat stilted news conference.

“My company have been making some huge fights happen in the U.S. but

we look forward to taking the Mayweather promotions banner and the TMT (The Money Team) banner worldwide and if it means working with a great guy like this (Rizin president Nobuyuki Sakakibara) then there is no problem.”

It seems for Mayweather, who won boxing world titles at five different weight divisions, this fight is about expanding his brand and business interests overseas.

“I wanted to do something different. I always wanted to display my skills outside the US and be in a special fight,” added Mayweather, who has fought every one of his professional bouts in the United States.

Mayweather’s latest move comes as a major shock after he announced his second retirement from the ring following his defeat of Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) star Conor McGregor in a crossover boxing match last year.

However, the most stunning aspect of Mayweather’s announcement is his decision to sign with an MMA brand, having never competed in the octagon before.

While boxing rules restrict bouts to the use of just punches, MMA also incor-porates kicks, knees and elbow strikes, as well as wrestling, joint locks and chokes.

Mayweather and his team said they were still in negotiations with Rizin over the rules and format of the fight, which should be “situated” in the coming weeks.

The identity of Mayweather’s opponent, Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa -- a fighter half the American’s

age -- muddies the waters yet further.Nasukawa competes in both MMA

and kickboxing, and has won all four of his cage fights.

Nasukawa’s comments caused May-weather and his business advisor Brent Johnson to break into beaming smiles but there was a sense that in the past the former world champion would not have taken this challenge so light-heartedly.

With fighting fans -- both boxing and MMA alike -- trying to process the latest twist in Mayweather’s career path, will primarily come down to the eventual decision over the rules of his next bout before any real judgement can be made.

If this move is a bid to stay rel-evant, then Mayweather, whose business acumen has been matched only by his performances in the ring, has certainly found a way to keep his name in lights.

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Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. attends a news conference to announce he is joining Japanese Mixed Martial Arts promotional company Rizin Fighting Federation, in Tokyo yesterday.

Desisa, Keitany seal NYC Marathon winsREUTERS

NEW YORK: Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa used a powerful surge to win his first New York City Marathon in five tries and Kenya’s Mary Keitany claimed a fourth women’s crown with a dominant victory on Sunday.

Desisa finally made it to the top of the podium with a strong closing mile to win in an unofficial two hours, five minutes and 59 seconds as he and fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata (2:06:01) passed defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor, who finished third in 2:06:26.

“Today is my day. I am very, very happy,” said Desisa, a two-time Boston Marathon winner who had finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 and 2017.

“I (was) thinking this year to be a champion,” Desisa said. “I’m very thirsty to be the champion. I’ve been second. I’ve been third. This year I decided to be champion because I had the training.”

Kitata, 22, led much of the race before Kamworor moved in front of the Ethiopians around the 23rd mile.

But his African challengers were not done with Desisa holding off Kitata in the final mile.

Keitany, second to American Shalane Flanagan in 2017 after three New York vic-tories, returned to the top with a runaway performance. The 36-year-old won by more

than three minutes in 2:22:48. “Last year I was second but I did not give up,” said Keitany, who returned home to train. “I worked very hard for the victory.

She had won in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before Flanagan ended the streak. London champion and fellow Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot was a distant second in 2:26:02 as Flanagan closed to third in 2:26:22 in what may have been her last competitive marathon.

“It’s such an honour being the defending champion,” Flanagan said. “I could not pass coming back.”

Molly Huddle was fourth in 2:26:44 and Boston Marathon winner Des Linden sixth (2:27:51) in a solid showing by American women.

American Daniel Romanchuk surprised three-time champion Marcel Hug of Swit-zerland for an historic men’s wheelchair win.

The 20-year-old Romanchuk became the youngest New York winner and the first American champion in clocking an unofficial 1:36:21 to nip Hug by one second.

The title was the second major win for Romanchuk, who also won Chicago in October.

Swiss Manuela Schar defended her women’s title, overtaking American Tatyana McFadden for the victory in 1:50.27. McFadden clocked 1:50:48.

Lelisa Desisa of Ethipoia crosses the finish line to win the Men’s Division of the 2018 New York City Marathon in New York on Sunday.

Taylor quits as Cricket Australia DirectorAP

SYDNEY: Ex-Test captain Mark Taylor has quit as a Director of Cricket Australia in the latest fallout from a ball-tampering scandal that has reverberated around the national team and its administration since March.

Taylor had been touted as a possible successor to Board Chairman David Peever, who relented last week to pressure to resign after a highly-critical report into the conduct and governance of Cricket Australia.

The report found CA shared some blame for the culture that led to the ball-tampering attempt in a Test against South Africa at Cape Town in March.

Test captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned from international or first-class cricket for 12 months and opening batsman Cameron Ban-croft was suspended for nine months after the clumsy plot to change the condition of the ball during the game against South Africa was captured by TV cameras.

During his time on the Cricket Australia board Taylor had acted as a conduit between adminis-trators and players, though he was recently critical of a call from the Players Association to reduce the bans on Smith and Warner.

30 TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2018SPORT

Wobbling Atletico Madrid aiming to bounce back against Dortmund AFP

MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s underwhelming start to the season might have been over-shadowed by the crisis envel-oping city rivals Real but there will be no place to hide against Borussia Dortmund today.

A fortnight ago Dortmund dealt Diego Simeone’s side a 4-0 drubbing, Atletico’s heaviest defeat since the coach took charge 392 matches ago, while on Saturday they were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Leganes, 18th in La Liga and with six defeats already to their name.

This was supposed to be Atletico’s year, primed for a title challenge by some impressive signings in the summer and eyeing a run at the Champions League, pumped by the prospect of a final inside their own Wanda Metropolitano in June.

Their failings against Dortmund and Leganes were more striking because they were caused by weaknesses in defence, their strong point under Simeone. Dortmund pounced on Atletico to hit three in 10 minutes at the Signal Iduna Park, while on Saturday Leganes equalised thanks to lax marking at a free-kick.

Atletico are cast in Simeone’s image and have rarely been easy on the eye during his tenure. After scoring from a nine-pass move against Huesca last month, the coach said: “I liked it because it ended with a goal.”

Their backline in recent years has been the hardest to breach in Europe. “Nobody has the perfect way of playing,” Simeone said last week.

“It is about a pursuit of winning.” Weaker defending has placed greater demand on the attack but Antoine Griezmann’s partnership with Diego Costa, so effective last season, appears to have lost its spark.

Costa has one goal all season and is yet to get off the mark in La Liga. After turning 30 last month, it is tempting to wonder if the Spaniard’s best days are now behind him.

Simeone remains loyal to Costa as he shares his best qual-ities -- grit, determination, an unrelenting will to win -- with

his striker. They also define Atletico at their best.

“He is an extraordinary player and very important to us,” Simeone said last month. “Not least because of what he con-tributes to the atmosphere in the dressing room.”

The rest of the team have not stepped in to fill the gap. Griezmann has five goals in 14, a decent return, but some way off the numbers needed.

Thomas Lemar, the club’s most exciting signing in the summer, has only two, and his unmistakeable talent has so far only been seen in fits and starts.

The overall sense is Atletico are under-delivering on expec-tations. Some have even sug-gested the message of Simeone, into his eighth year in charge, might have lost its punch. More likely, perhaps, is that they simply over-achieved before.

“The biggest plus of Simeone is he knows how to convince his players of his ideas,” former Bar-celona midfielder Xavi

Hernandez told Catalunya Radio on Saturday. “He believes it is the only way to compete with Barca and Real Madrid. And his players believe it as well.”

Five wins from 11 games is hardly the form of champions but Atletico still have all to play for thanks to their stumbling rivals. They sit third in the table, only four points adrift of leaders Barcelona and three ahead of Real.

In the Champions League, victory over Dortmund this week could seal qualification with two games to spare and put them level on points with the Bun-desliga leaders. Beating the Germans to top spot may be out of reach given their scintillating form at home and abroad but as Real Madrid.

Real’s success, though, par-ticularly in Europe, has come from a knack of casting off what has gone before and peaking when it matters most. Atletico need to take a leaf out of their rival’s book.

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Solari making his case to stay as Real Madrid coachAP

MADRID: After only two games, Santiago Solari is making Real Madrid fans forget about the search for a new coach.

And Madrid may very well give it up if he keeps succeeding.

Solari has done well since taking over from Julen Lopetegui, pleasing players and fans, and increasing his chances of taking over the squad permanently.

Discussions about Antonio Conte and Roberto Martinez have faded since Solari took control and quickly put Madrid back on track. In his short time in charge, Solari boosted the squad’s confidence and got the victories that had eluded the team.

The former Madrid player arrived with the club in crisis and enduring a run that included five losses in seven matches in all competitions, including a demoralizing 5-1 loss to Barcelona at Camp Nou.

The 2-0 win over Val-ladolid on Saturday halted the team’s five-match winless streak in the Spanish league. Madrid had entered the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium having lost four of its last five games in the competition, including three straight.

“Real Madrid needed the victory. It’s not easy to win when you are going through a difficult moment,” Solari said.

“Football is all about state of mind, emotions, self-confidence.”

In the Argentine’s first game in charge, Madrid routed third-division club Melilla 4-0 in the Copa del Rey, scoring the same number of goals that Lopetegui’s team had netted in the seven previous matches.

One of the right moves made by Solari was to give more playing time to Vinicius Junior, the young Brazilian forward who arrived amid high expectations but had been relegated to the “B’’ team under Lopetegui.

Vinicius Junior was the man of the match against Melilla and helped open up the game when Madrid struggled against Valladolid. He came off the bench in the 73rd minute and 10 minutes later scored the team’s opening goal.

“We’ll keep going step by step to try to get back to where we deserve to be,” Vinicius Junior said.

The decision to give more chances to Vinicius Junior was highly popular, helping Solari earn credit with the tough Madrid crowd and further increase his chances of staying on the job.

Solari also didn’t hes-itate to use young fullbacks Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilon in defense while the regular starters were injured. Lopetegui thought differently and often impro-vised players at the back when needed.

The defense improved under the Argentine coach, with two consecutive clean sheets. Madrid had con-ceded 10 goals in its last seven matches under Lopetegui.

From left: Atletico Madrid players Antoine Griezmann, Diego Godin and Angel Correa attend a training session at the Ciudad Deportiva Wanda training ground in Madrid on the eve of the UEFA Champions League group A match against Borussia Dortmund yesterday.

Rejuvenated Schalke eye last sixteen spotAFP

BERLIN: With both their strikers having ended goal droughts, Schalke are eyeing a Champions League win at home against Galatasaray today to edge them closer to a place in the last 16.

Despite losing their first five games this season in the Bundesliga, Schalke have showed far better form in Europe and sit second in Group D on five points, just two behind leaders Porto and one ahead of Galatasaray.

The home match presents a great chance for Schalke to edge closer to a first appearance in the knockout stages since losing to Real Madrid in the last 16 in 2014/15.

Having picked up a point with a goalless draw against Galatasaray in Istanbul two weeks ago, Schalke want to beat the Turkish giants by building on their improved domestic form under coach Domenico Tedesco (Pic-tured), 33.

Schalke beat Hanover 3-1 on Saturday in the Bun-desliga, lifting them to 14th, having progressed in the German Cup with a penalty shootout win against Cologne last Wednesday, which ended a three-match goalless run. “As the saying goes ‘The trend is your friend’ and that’s true for us,” said Schalke’s sports director Christian Heidel.

“We are on the right path. “On Tuesday, we have a huge chance, not just in terms of qualifying for the knockout stages, but also putting ourselves in a good position.” Crucially, both Schalke forwards Breel Embolo and Mark Uth

ended barren spells in front of goal at home to Hanover.

Swiss striker Embolo hit his first goal in 331 minutes, after missing four clear chances in the away match against Galatasaray.

Uth finally scored his first goal for Schalke after more than a thousand minutes in the Royal Blues shirt since joining from Hoffenheim.

“The fans were very patient with me,” said Uth. “It took a long time, much too long (to score).

“I am just happy that I can could finally give some-thing back -- there was a huge sense of relief after I scored,” he added.

UEFA Champions League fixtures for this week

Today fixtures (CET/GMT)

Monaco vs Club Brugge (1855/1755)

Crvena Zvezda vs Liverpool (1855/1755)

Atlético Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund (2100/2000)

Tottenham Hotspur vs PSV (2100/2000)

Internazionale vs Barcelona (2100/2000)

Napoli vs PSG (2100/2000)

Porto vs Lokomotiv Moskva (2100/2000)

Schalke 04 vs Galatasaray (2100/2000)

Tomorrow fixtures (CET/GMT)

CSKA Moskva vs Roma (1855/1755)

Valencia vs Young Boys (1855/1755)

Olympique Lyonnais vs Hoffenheim (2100/2000)

Manchester City vs Shakhtar Donetsk (2100/2000)

Viktoria Plzeň vs Real Madrid (2100/2000)

Juventus vs Manchester United (2100/2000)

Bayern München vs AEK Athens (2100/2000)

Benfica vs Ajax (2100/2000)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

31TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2018 SPORT

Sterling plans to give City fans more to sing aboutAFP

LONDON: Raheem Sterling (pictured) hopes to give Manchester City fans plenty more reason to chant his name after starring in Sunday’s demo-lition of Southampton.

Sterling scored two goals and provided two assists as City swatted aside Southampton 6-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

City manager Pep Guardiola praised the performance of the England attacker, talking about his “incredible form” as the crowd revelled in his performance.

Sterling said he loved it when the crowd sang his name.

“I’ve got to try to keep making them sing it,” he said. “I enjoy playing at the Etihad any time. It is an amazing stadium, coming out here and seeing my family and everyone.” Sterling’s

comments could be seen as a further sign of encouragement that he is close to agreeing a new contract with the defending champions, who are two points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.

The former Liverpool player’s current deal expires at the end of next season but there were reports last week that he had verbally agreed a new con-tract after months of talks.

City face a tough week, hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday before playing rivals Manchester United at home next Sunday.

“They’re going to be tough games,” Sterling said. “It’s a massive week ahead, starting with Shakhtar. That’s the most important game. We need to try to win that and then go in to the derby.” City were rampant

against Saints and all but wrapped up the game inside the opening 18 minutes. Wesley Hoedt turned Leroy Sane’s cross into his own net before Sergio Aguero tucked home his 150th Premier League goal and David Silva lashed in a third.

Sterling struck twice either side of the break and then passed up a hat-trick chance by teeing up Sane’s late sixth.

“It was a great team per-formance,” said Sterling.

“The boys started really well and we were fantastic without the ball, not just with the ball. We needed to capitalise on Liv-erpool dropping points and I thought we were brilliant at times.

“In football the hardest thing is to score goals and we have done that. We were ruthless and took our chances. That is what it is at this top level.”

Sevilla unable to keep pace with Barca in Spanish leagueAP

MADRID: Sevilla couldn’t manage more than a 0-0 draw at Real Sociedad on Sunday and lost ground to Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league.

The draw left second-place Sevilla four points behind Bar-celona, which rallied to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. Barcelona also gained from a draw by third-place Atletico Madrid at Leganes on Saturday and a loss by fourth-place Alaves at Eibar on Sunday.

“We went after the three points from the first minute but we lacked accuracy in the coun-terattacks,” Sevilla defender Daniel Carrico said. “It’s a pity we couldn’t leave with the three points.” Sevilla coach Pablo Machin was content with the away draw.

“I’m sure that by the end of the season there will be two teams fighting for the title and another very close to them,” Machin said. “Several teams will be fighting for fourth place and we are privileged to be in con-tention for these positions.” Bar-celona’s city rival Espanyol has a chance to get within three points of the lead if it defeats struggling Athletic Bilbao at home on Monday.

Real Madrid moved from ninth to sixth after a 2-0 win against Valladolid on Saturday, but it remains seven points behind Barcelona.

Real Sociedad, 13th in the standings, hasn’t won in five matches at its renovated Anoeta Stadium.

Sevilla rival Real Betis drew with Celta Vigo 3-3 in a thrilling game at Benito Villamarin Stadium.

Betis relinquished a two-goal

lead and then went behind in the 84th minute, but the hosts sal-vaged the draw with a superb free kick by Sergio Canales in the 87th.

Spain striker Iago Aspas nearly gave Celta the lead again a minute later when he struck the crossbar.

Celta dropped to 11th place and Betis is 14th.

Alaves missed a chance to stay in second place after a 2-1 loss at Eibar in a match marked by a series of video reviews.

Alaves’ goal by Manu Garcia

less than five minutes into the game was initially disallowed for offside but the call was changed by VAR.

VAR also reversed a penalty awarded to Eibar midway through the first half because the foul was committed outside the area, with Alaves defender Ruben Duarte red carded. In the second half, video review led to a red card for Eibar player Pablo De Blasis for a dangerous foul.

Eibar equalized with a goal by Joan Jordan in the 69th and

Pape Diop got the winner in stoppage time.

It was the first setback for Alaves after three straight wins.

Villarreal couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 draw against Levante at home, staying only one point away from the rele-gation zone.

Alfonso Pedraza scored the equalizer for Villarreal in stoppage time after Levante had taken the lead with an own-goal by defender Funes Mori in the 77th.

It was the sixth consecutive

league game without a win for Villarreal, which began the season with high expectations after a fifth-place finish last season.

Levante hasn’t lost in six straight matches in all competitions.

Promoted Huesca was set to leave last place but conceded a stoppage-time goal in a 1-1 home draw against Getafe.

Playing in the top tier for the first time, Huesca hasn’t won since the first round, a run of 10 straight matches.

Managing in England is ‘dream come true’ for City’s GuardiolaAFP

LONDON: Pep Guardiola said managing in England is a “dream come true” as he was honoured by the Football Writers’ Association fresh from a 6-1 Premier League victory against Southampton.

The Manchester City manager was recognised for his side’s Premier League title last season and the club are again setting the pace this season, with nine wins in 11 games.

Speaking at Sunday’s ceremony in Manchester, he said: “I’m fortunate to be here in your country, in England.

“It’s incredible. It was a dream from a little boy for a young manager to come here to your country and be a manager here. It’s a dream come true.”

“I want to share, of course, this award with the whole Manchester City family because I know it’s a real family,” said Guardiola.

“I know people say we have a lot of money. That’s true but despite that it’s incredible the people I’m working with and I’m a lucky guy to be here.

“Thank you so much to make me feel at home in your country here and in Manchester.”

The 47-year-old also made light of his outfit for the evening -- the event’s dress code was lounge suit and Guardiola accepted the award wearing a casual top.

Eriksson: I’ll outstay Butcher in Philippine jobAFP

MANILA: The Philippines’ freshly named head coach, ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, said yesterday he plans to stick around longer than his predecessor Terry Butcher, who quit before taking charge of a single game.

The Azkals, who are gearing up for their first Asian Cup berth, a n n o u n c e d E r i k s s o n ’ s appointment last week after the surprise departure of Three

Lions great Butcher in August. “I don’t know why he left in

such a short time,” Eriksson said in his first press conference in charge. “I am going to stay much longer than he did, that’s for sure.”

Butcher was named coach in June but lasted less than 50 days, saying he was not “able to make this work”.

Eriksson, who coached England to successive World Cup quarter-finals, said he will be at the helm for this month’s AFF

Suzuki Cup and the Asian Cup in January.

But what would happen after that was unclear, with Azkals’ manager Dan Palami saying Eriksson will initially handle the squad for the key tournaments and “a little bit after, maybe about six months”.

“But we are looking at dif-ferent areas where he can be part of the Philippine football scene even in a different capacity,” Palami said, adding that talks are ongoing.

Eriksson, a Swede, became in 2001 the first foreigner to head England’s football team, and has since also coached Mexico and the Ivory Coast as well as league clubs in Sweden, Portugal, Italy and China. He takes charge as the Philippine team enjoys unprecedented success, having jumped as high as 111 in the FIFA rankings in May 2018.

Eriksson said he took the Philippines job with an open mind: “I thought why not, why not do something a little bit

different from what I’ve done before.” The new coach began training with the Azkals, a slang term for stray dogs, on Sunday.

He and the team are focused on the AFF Suzuki Cup, the Southeast Asian championship, starting with a game against Sin-gapore on November 13.

“I think the pressure is on the whole team... to try to do better in the Suzuki Cup than the Philippines has done before. That means at least reaching the final,” he said.

Messi ‘icing on the cake’ for Barca: SpallettiAFP

MILAN: Lionel Messi is the icing on Barcelona’s cake, Inter Milan coach Luciano Spalletti said yesterday on the eve of the Champions League Group B game between the two teams.

Messi could make an earlier return than expected against Inter Milan in the San Siro today after breaking his arm on October 20, but the Catalans have shown some of their strongest form in his absence.

“Messi is the icing on the cake. His is the shirt that children who dream of being footballers ask for,” said Spal-letti, “but Barcelona have shown that even without him, they still have the mentality to develop their game, which is what makes the difference.

“It’s a worry for anyone if Messi plays, but the attitude doesn’t change.

“We’re facing one of the strongest clubs in the world in any case. We need to be better in our reading of the game, but we’re going to mark space, not men.” Bar-celona are top of Group B with maximum points from three games ahead of Inter Milan who lost 2-0 in Spain.

A draw against Inter would guarantee the Span-iards qualification to the last 16 while victory would secure top spot, with two games still to spare.

Inter need a win to all but book their passage to the last 16 in a group which also includes Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven.

“It’s the right time to show what we’re worth,” said Spalletti, whose side are coming off a seven-match winning streak in Serie A in which they are in second place, three points behind champions Juventus.

“We’ve always said we can play against anyone, and that still holds true.

“The latest results rein-force that and this will be a good opportunity to see if we really can play on a par with Barcelona, who represent the highest level of difficulty in football.

“In the first game we weren’t able to keep the ball after winning it back, which meant we couldn’t reverse the trend of the game.”

Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan could return after missing the first leg with an ankle injury after coming on to score in a 5-0 win over Genoa at the weekend.

“He has to be evaluated. We’ll know more after training,” added the Inter coach.

Meanwhile, Messi has travelled with the squad to the San Siro, and could yet be declared fully fit.

“He’s happy to be with us, and we’re happy to have him here in Milan. It’s always good to have Leo with us,” added Spanish defender Sergi Roberto.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and team-mates during a training at San Siro, Milan, Italy, yesterday.

SPORT 27TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2018

It’s partly our DNA. But our successes have a lot to do with skills and fitness. Pakistan is a

damn good team in this format, bowling out the opposition at will.

Pakistan’s former captain-turned-commentatorRamiz Raja

ZIMBABWE, 1st innings 282BANGLADESH, 1st innings 143ZIMBABWE, 2nd innings (overnight 0-1)H. Masakadza lbw b Mehidy ..........................48B. Chari b Mehidy .................................................4B. Taylor c Imrul. B. Taijul .................................24S. Williams b Taijul .............................................20S. Raza b Taijul ....................................................25P. Moor c Liton b Taijul......................................... 0R. Chakabva c Mahmudullah b Nazmul .....20W. Masakadza lbw b Mehidy ..........................17B. Mavuta c Ariful B Nazmul .............................6K. Jarvis not out .....................................................1T. Chatara lbw b Taijul ..........................................8Extra (b4, lb4) .......................................................8Total (all out, 65.4 overs) ............................181Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Chari), 2-47 (Taylor), 3-101 (Masakadza), 4-121 (Williams), 5-121 (Moor), 6-130 (Raza), 7-165 (W. Masakadza), 8-172 (Chakabva), 9-173 (Mavuta), 10-181 (Chatara)Bowling: Taijul 28.4-8-62-5, Nazmul 6-1-27-2, Jayed 7-1-25-0, Mehedi 19-7-48-3, Mahmudul-lah 4-1-7-0, Mominul 1-0-4-0 BANGLADESH, 2nd innings (target 321)Liton Das not out ................................................14Imrul Kayes not out ...........................................12Extras ...................................................................... 0Total (no loss; 10.1 overs) .............................26To bat: Nazmul Hossain, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Ariful Haque, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Is-lam, Abu JayedBowling: Jarvis 5-2-11-0, Chatara 5-1-15-0, Raza 0.1-0-0-0

SCOREBOARD

England vs Sri Lanka1st Test - Day 1

at Galle, Sri Lanka

Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe1st Test - Day 4 at Sylhet, Bangladesh

CRICKET CRICKET

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Chandimal seeks winning farewell for

Herath by putting England in a spinAFP

GALLE, SRI LANKA: Skipper Dinesh Chandimal yesterday said Sri Lanka’s spinners are ready to fire in the first Test against England in Galle as the hosts eye a winning farewell for the retiring Rangana Herath.

Sri Lanka, who went down to the tourists 3-1 in the five one-day inter-nationals and also lost a one-off Twenty20 match, are looking for redemption in the three-Test series starting today.

Spinners Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya are expected to partner Herath in his final interna-tional outing on a turning Galle track that has seen rain in the lead up to the match.

“When you look at the Galle pitch, it’s always turning and helpful to spinners,” Chandimal told reporters.

“When we play in Sri Lanka, it’s spinners who take charge. Then again, it’s all about weather and the condition of the pitch.”

But England are also ready with their battery of spinners led by Moeen Ali. Jack Leach, Joe Denly and Adil Rashid will also be fighting for a place in the starting line-up.

Skipper Joe Root also admitted on Monday that spin would “play a huge part” but said the was ready for anything.

“We’ve just got to adapt very well, very quickly and read the situation.

“We’ve got a very balanced squad with plenty of different options... From that point of view I feel we’ll be very well prepared for whatever surface is thrown at us.”

The match will also be England’s first Test since stalwart Alastair Cook hung up his bat in September fol-lowing the home side’s 4-1 drubbing of India.

“It will be my first Test match without playing with Alastair. It’s a big loss in terms of experience and everything he brings to the squad and the team,” said Root.

“Of course we miss him. But it’s a great opportunity for someone else to make that spot their own, stand up and do something special for England.”

Keaton Jennings is expected to open alongside Rory Burns, who is set for his Test debut as Cook’s replacement.

But the spotlight in Galle remains on the departing Herath, the most successful left-arm spinner in history, as he seeks a fairytale swansong.

Herath made his debut at Galle in 1999, got a hat-trick there in 2016 and is one scalp away from a century of wickets at the pictur-esque venue.

Only two other bowlers have achieved this feat -- compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan at Galle, Kandy and SSC Colombo, and England paceman James Anderson at Lord’s.

The 40-year-old Herath has taken 430 wickets in 92 Tests and is among the top 10 wicket-takers in five-day history.

“We have few things under the sleeve (for Herath). We don’t want to reveal all because we want him to be surprised,” said Chandimal.

“The main thing is, if we can win

this game and the series, that will be a really good farewell for him. That’s what the team is looking forward to,” he said.

Root said his team also wants to do something for Herath as he hailed his “phenomenal longevity” in a career spanning 19 years.

But Root warned his players against getting affected by the occasion.

“I’m very aware of how skillful he is and how he’ll try and get us out,” said Root.

“Of course there’ll be a lot of noise around him and it being his last game.

“But we’ve got to play 11 Sri Lankan players who could all equally affect the game and that respect has to be there for the whole team.”

England taking no chances with injured BairstowAFP

GALLE: England’s Jonny Bairstow is out of the first Test against Sri Lanka as he recovers after injuring himself playing football, coach Trevor Bayliss said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman hurt his ankle playing football in a training session and missed the last two games of the five-match ODI series, which England won 3-1.

“No, he’s not available for this Test match,” Bayliss told sports radio station talkSPORT.

“He has come on a long way in the last week or so but with another winter tour and a big summer we didn’t necessarily want to risk it.”

Jos Buttler or the uncapped Ben Foakes will take up the wicketkeeping duties for the opening Test of the three-match series starting today in Galle.

England played three wicketkeepers in their first two-day warm-up game in Colombo with Ollie Pope also rotating with Foakes and Buttler.

“They’re both (Buttler and Foakes) still very much in our thinking and that will probably come down to the combination we want to play,” said Bayliss.

“Definitely one of them will be keeping but how we structure the batting order and what combi-nation of bowlers we put in to the team could determine who eventually gets the gloves.”

It’s in our DNA: Youthful Pakistan race to Twenty20 dominationAFP

DUBAI: Brash young players, peak fitness and a winning mentality “in their DNA”, Pakistan are the current kings of international Twenty20 cricket.

The last two Sundays have seen Pakistan race to series whitewashes in the game’s shortest format against Australia and New Zealand.

They also have registered 11 consecutive series wins -- a world record.

The rapid-fire cricket of T20 mirrors the helter-skelter nature of life in the country of 220 million.

Former captain-turned-com-mentator Ramiz Raja believes Paki-stan’s Twenty20 flair comes naturally.

“It’s partly our DNA,” said Raja. “But our successes have a lot to do with skills and fitness. Pakistan is a damn good team in this format, bowling out the opposition at will.”

With their powerful and pene-trative bowling unit, Pakistan have dismissed rival teams the most times -- 31 in all -- while, in the last two

years, they have defended a total of under 150 on 40 occasions out of 44, with three failures and one tie.

Sunday’s win against New Zealand in Dubai was their ninth match victory in a row -- their longest winning streak.

“Pakistan take this format very seriously and play with regular players most of the time,” said Raja.

The greatest of all the surprises is Pakistan’s fielding -- not a strong point in the past. Their fielders have effected 25 run-outs in the last 28 matches.

Following their first-round exit from the 2016 World Twenty20, Pakistan have a new captain in Sarfraz Ahmed while the coaching reins were handed to South Africa’s Mickey Arthur, a former Australia coach.

Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, one of Pakistan’s greatest batsmen, had no reservations over selecting youngsters.

It completely changed the sce-nario as since September 2016, Pakistan have won 29 of 33 Twenty20 internationals with only four defeats.

The current year has been phe-nomenal for Sarfraz and his young side, winning 17 of their 19 matches with two losses.

So what has changed?

Analysts say it is linked to the youthful nature of the country.

According to the Election Com-mission of Pakistan figures, 42.4 million out of the nearly 97 million

registered voters in this year’s poll, which saw former cricket captain Imran Khan become prime minister, were between the ages of 18 and 35.

“The prime reason for the

success in Twenty20 is the power of youth,” ex-captain and coach Waqar Younis said.

“Young players are hungry for success, they do the hard work and want to achieve and that has changed the whole picture.”

Pakistan’s latest pace sensation, Shaheen Shah Afridi, is only 18. He became the youngest bowler to take three wickets in a Twenty20 inter-national against New Zealand in Dubai on Friday.

World number one Twenty20 batsman Babar Azam became the quickest to 1,000 runs in the shortest format in just 26 innings, one better than Indian maestro Virat Kohli’s record of 27.

Azam is only 24 and so are Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf, while leg-spinnner Shadab Khan is just 20.

“The key difference is that we are a very young team and our fielding stands out and that has made us a good team,” said Sarfraz.

“We have introduced youth and the results are obvious. We want to rise and rise and maintain that position.”

Taijul brings Bangladesh back into first TestAFP

SYLHET, BANGLADESH: Taijul Islam claimed 11 wickets to lead Bangladesh’s fightback in the first Test a g a i n s t Z i m b a b w e yesterday, but the hosts still need a record chase to win in Sylhet.

Bangladesh dismissed Zimbabwe for 181 in their second innings with Taijul returning impressive bowling figures of 5-62.

Taijul’s effort boosted Bangladesh after they were bowled out cheaply for just 143 in response to the tourists’ first innings haul of 282 runs.

The hosts were 26-0 in their chase of 321 when bad light stopped play on day three at the Sylhet Interna-tional Stadium.

Opener Liton Das and Imrul Kayes remained unbeaten on 14 and 12 respectively as Bangladesh head into day four with another 295 runs needed to re-write the record books.

Sri Lanka’s cricket captain

Dinesh Chandimal addressing

a media conference in

Galle yesterday.

Pakistani cricketers celebrate after defeating New Zealand in the third T20 match in Dubai on Sunday.

Sri Lankan cricketer Rangana Herath poses for a photo after a media conference at the Galle

International Cricket Stadium in Galle yesterday. Herath, who made his debut at Galle in 1999 is

one away from a century of wickets at this venue to emulate countrymate Muttiah Muralitharan and England’s James Anderson, who have got 100 or

more wickets each at one venue.