Top swimmers challenge FINA with lawsuit

SPORTMonday 10 December 2018

PAGE | 07 PAGE | 10Australia

wobble in tough run chase as

India sniff win

Battle for EPL crown heats up as Liverpool leapfrog City

Al Sadd, Al Duhail in battle for supremacyTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Al Sadd play host to Al Duhail tomorrow in a QNB Stars League match rescheduled from Week 9 due to the former’s AFC Champions League semi-final against Iran’s Persepolis.

The kick-off is at the Al Sadd Stadium at 6:30pm.

All eyes are on the game as it is going to be fought between the two best teams around. Al Duhail are the defending champions and league leaders with 36 points, while Al Sadd are close behind with one goal less.

Al Sadd are coming off a 4-1 victory over Al Shahania, while Al Duhail were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar SC in Week 15.

It was the third time that The Red Knights were dropping points this season and second successive time they were held to a draw, having had to play out a 2-2 draw with Al Rayyan in the previous round.

Nevertheless, they maintained their unbeaten run, the only team to do so this season.

Interestingly, Al Duhail’s first-leg game against Al Rayyan had also ended in a draw.

Both Al Sadd and Al Duhail are level on the number of victories (11). Al Duhail have a goal difference of +26 (36 goals for and 10 against).

However, The Wolves have the best goal difference among the 12 teams – +49 (62 goals for and 13 against). Al Sadd also have one defeat (against Al Ahli in the first leg) and two draws against their name.

The contest will also be noted on the tactical front.

Al Sadd’s Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira has had over 30 years’ experience in the game, and has managed a host of top European sides including the likes of Malaga in Spain and Panathinaikos in Greece.

Al Duhail’s master Nabil Maaloul, who replaced Algerian Djamel Belmadi ahead of the 2018-19 season QNB Stars League, has an impressive track record in coaching. He guided his country Tunisia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Al Sadd’s attacks will be led by Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah, who last week became the Qatar league’s all-time top scorer in a single season when he took his personal tally to 28 goals after scoring twice against Al Shahania. He surpassed Bra-zilian striker Clem-erson Soares’ record of 27 goals set in the 2007-08 season for Al Gharafa.

Al Sadd also have Hassan Al Haydous and Akram Afif in attack, while their midfield will be held

together by Spaniards Xavi Hern-andez and Gabi Fernandez.

In defence, they have Asia’s best player Abdelkarim Hassan among others.

Moroccan striker Yousef El Arabi will spearhead Al Duhail’s offence, in the company of Almoez Ali and Paolo Edmilson.

Though they will continue to miss injured midfielder Nam Tae-Hee, they have the services of the likes of Karim Boudiaf and Luis Martin in the middle, and Lucas Mendes, Mohammed Mousa and Murad Naji at the rear.

Bale snaps goal drought as Real edge past HuescaAFP MADRID

Gareth Bale ended a three-month goal drought in La Liga to give Real Madrid a nervy 1-0 win away to basement club Huesca yesterday, taking his side back into the top four at the expense of Alaves.

The Wales forward, who had not found the net in the league since Sept. 1 but had scored in the Champions League, gave Real an ideal start by volleying home a cross from Alvaro Odriozola in the eighth minute.

Huesca, bottom of the table with a meagre seven points and without a win since the opening day of the season, did not lay down against the European champions though, and it took a flying save from Thibaut Courtois to prevent Ezequiel A v i l a l e v e l l i n g s o o n afterwards.

Bale was denied another goal in the second half by Huesca’s keeper and the home side laid siege to Real’s area in the final stages but fell short of an equaliser as Courtois tipped a dangerous free kick over the bar in stoppage time and Dani Carvajal made a frantic clearance.

Real’s eighth win in nine games in all competitions under coach Santiago Solari saw them climb above Alaves into fourth in the standings on 26 points after 15 games, five behind leaders Barcelona.

I t was a marked improvement from Real’s dire form earlier in the campaign which saw the club dispense

with coach Julen Lopetegui but Real are still struggling to dom-inate games, even against seemingly weak opposition such as Huesca.

They have made significant advances in defence, though, and this was their sixth clean sheet under Argentine Solari.

Courtois admitted his side had p er for med badly ,

particularly after the break. “In the first half we played well, we controlled the game and we did things the right way,” he said.

“In the second half it was complicated, we had the wind against us and it was difficult to play properly; we did almost nothing in the second half.”

Solari, though, praised his

side for digging in and seeing out the result.

“We knew how to defend our goal until the end,” added the coach.

“Bale scored a great goal which earned us the three points, as did the team’s character. If we want to compete for La Liga we have to win these type of matches too.”

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale (centre) celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Spanish league match against SD Huesca at the El Alcoraz Stadium yesterday.

REUTERS MIAMI

Three world-class swimmers have filed a lawsuit in the United States, challenging what they allege is the monopoly world governing body FINA has over the control of international competitions.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of three-times Olympic gold medallist Katinka Hosszu (pictured) of Hungary and US world champions Tom Shields and Michael Andrew, followed the cancellation of a new professional swimming event scheduled for December 20-21 in Turin.

“FINA’s insistence that the world’s best swimmers may compete only on FINA’s terms and its efforts to enforce that rule are nakedly anti-compet-itive,” said the lawsuit which the trio said was filed “on behalf of elite swimmers around the world”.

The Italian federation said

FINA had threatened sanc-tions against those swimmers taking part in the event, which was put together by organ-isers of the International Swimming League (ISL). The world governing body, in a statement, said it had taken note of the filings in California.

“As world and Olympic champions, the swimmers in question will understand that FINA’s attention is focused on the 950 swimmers, including two of the athletes in question, from 180 member federations taking part in the 14th World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou,” FINA said.

“FINA will nonetheless give the filings our full attention and mount a robust defense if required to do so. Meanwhile in Hangzhou, the FINA Athletes Committee will consult with aquatics athletes to continue its work of making sure athlete voices are clearly heard within FINA’s decision-making bodies.

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M W L D GF GA PAl Duhail 14 11 0 3 36 10 36Al Sadd 14 11 1 2 62 13 35Al Sailiya 15 9 5 1 27 16 28Al Rayyan 15 7 2 6 22 14 27Al Ahli 15 8 5 2 25 22 26Al Arabi 15 7 8 0 17 27 21Al Gharafa 15 5 7 3 27 28 18Umm Salal 15 4 6 5 17 27 17Al Shahania 15 4 7 4 14 28 16Qatar SC 15 4 8 3 14 23 15Al Khor 15 2 10 3 11 27 9Al Kharaitiyat 15 1 14 0 10 47 3

QNB STARS LEAGUE STANDINGS

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M W L D GF GA PAl Duhail 14 11 0 3 36 10 36Al Sadd 14 11 1 2 62 13 35Al Sailiya 15 9 5 1 27 16 28Al Rayyan 15 7 2 6 22 14 27Al Ahli 15 8 5 2 25 22 26Al Arabi 15 7 8 0 17 27 21Al Gharafa 15 5 7 3 27 28 18Umm Salal 15 4 6 5 17 27 17Al Shahania 15 4 7 4 14 28 16Qatar SC 15 4 8 3 14 23 15Al Khor 15 2 10 3 11 27 9Al Kharaitiyat 15 1 14 0 10 47 3

QNB STARS LEAGUE STANDINGS

Al Sadd striker Baghdad Bounedjah (left)celebrates after scoring a goal in this file picture.

AGENCIES CHICAGO

Daniel Theis scored a career-high 22 points, and the Boston Celtics opened the game with 17 consecutive points while rolling to an easy 133-77 victory over the host Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. It was the Celtics’ largest margin of victory in franchise history.

Jaylen Brown scored a team-best 23 points off the bench, and Jayson Tatum made all four 3-point attempts while scoring 18 points as the Celtics won their season-best fifth straight contest. Terry Rozier added 15 points, Kyrie Irving and Semi Ojeleye each scored 13 and Marcus Morris tallied 12 for Boston.

Shaquille Harrison scored a career-best 20 points, Zach LaVine added 11 and Cameron Payne had 10 for the Bulls, who have lost eight of their last nine. The franchise-worst 56-point defeat occurred in Jim Boylen’s third game as coach after replacing the fired Fred Hoiberg.

Boston was 22 of 43 from 3-point range as Brown, Ojeleye and Rozier each knocked down three. The Celtics shot 53.8 percent overall.

Mavericks 107, Rockets 104Rookie forward Luka Doncic authored a

late-game comeback with an individual scoring surge, and Dallas extended its home-court winning streak to nine games with a victory over Houston.

Doncic finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, scoring 11 consecutive points down the stretch after the Rockets secured their largest lead of the game at 102-94.

Doncic converted all three of his 3-point attempts plus a driving layup during the out-burst, his final trey providing the Mavericks the lead for good at 105-102 with 57.5 seconds remaining. Rookie point guard Jalen Brunson, making his second career start in place of injured guard Dennis Smith Jr. (wrist), added a late layup while producing 14 points, three assists and three steals.

Lakers 111, Grizzlies 88LeBron James scored 20 points, and Josh

Hart and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each made four 3-pointers as Los Angeles built a big lead early and cruised to a road victory over Memphis.

James finished with eight rebounds, nine assists and a thunderous third-period dunk that halted any hopes the Grizzlies might have had about making a big comeback.

The Lakers connected on 16 3-pointers.

Hawks 106, Nuggets 98John Collins scored a career-high 30 points

and helped Atlanta break its four-game losing streak by defeating visiting Denver.

Collins was 12-for-20 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and added 12 rebounds and five assists. Atlanta’s DeAndre’ Bembry also contributed 18 points and five assists, while Vince Carter added 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Dewayne Dedmon added 11 rebounds.

The Nuggets were led by center Nikola Jokic, who had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Denver also got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Juancho Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley came off the bench to scored 19 points.

Nets 112, Knicks 104Reserve Spencer Dinwiddie scored 17 of

his 25 points after halftime as Brooklyn ended a dubious road losing streak with a victory over New York.

Dinwiddie constantly reached the rim unimpeded and shot 10-for-17 from the field. His latest productive outing helped the Nets get a road win on the second night of a back-to-back, ending a 33-game skid in that department that tied an NBA record and dated back to Dec. 21, 2015, at Chicago.

Pacers 107, Kings 97Doug McDermott thwarted two Sacra-

mento challenges in the fourth quarter with 3-pointers, and host Indiana finished with the most energy between two teams playing the second night of back-to-backs to earn a victory.

Thaddeus Young had a game-high-tying 20 points to lead seven players in double figures for the Pacers, who backed up Friday’s 112-90 romp at Orlando with a third straight win.

Buddy Hield equaled Young’s point total with 20 for the Kings, whose three-game winning streak came to an end, one that included a 129-110 triumph at Cleveland on Friday.

NBA RESULTS

LA Clippers 98, Miami 121Atlanta 106, Denver 98

Cleveland 116, Washington 101New York 104, Brooklyn 112Portland 113, Minnesota 105

Chicago 77, Boston 133Memphis 88, LA Lakers 111Indiana 107, Sacramento 97

Dallas 107, Houston 104

08 MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2018SPORT

Venezuelan baseball fans mourn death of former stars

AP BARQUISIMETO, VENEZUELA

Dozens of Venezuelans waited in line outside a chapel in the state of Lara on Saturday, hoping to bid farewell to former major league baseball player Luis Valbuena, who was killed in a car accident along with team-mate Jose Castillo.

The corpse of Castillo was moved earlier in the morning to a different central-west state.

The 33-year-old Val-buena and 37-year-old Castillo were both former players for the Houston Astros.

They died late Thursday when their SUV crashed as it tried to veer around an object put on the road. Officials said some bandits place or throw objects on highways to force vehicles to stop so they can rob the occupants.

Yaracuy state Gov. Julio Leon Heredia said four people were detained after being found with property of the athletes.

Valbuena and Cas-tillo were teammates on the Cardenales de Lara team in the Venezuelan winter league and were returning from a game in the capital when the crash occurred en route to the city of Barqui-simeto in Lara.

No others details about the incident were available. On Saturday, their deaths caused an outpouring of grief as fellow teammates, family members and fans wore shirts from the winter league and lined up to say goodbye.

Retired Cardenales player Robert Perez and Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera were both in attendance.

Cardenales third baseman Carlos Rivero, who survived the crash, visited the chapel wearing dark sunglasses and bearing a small bruise on his forehead.

Valbuena hit .226 with 114 home runs over 11 big league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.

Castillo played five seasons with the Pitts-burgh Pirates, San Fran-cisco Giants and Houston Astros. He had a .254 average with 39 home runs.

Wade scores 25 in his 1,000th game as Heat beat ClippersAGENCIES LOS ANGELES

Dwyane Wade showed he still has his scoring touch.

Wade scored 25 points in his 1,000th career game, leading the Miami Heat to a 121-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.

The veteran guard was 8 for 21 from the field and 5 for 10 from 3-point range en route to his second-highest scoring total of the season. It came nearly two weeks after he had a season-high 35 points at Toronto on Nov. 25, and one day after he had two points in a win over Phoenix.

The Heat were down to

eight players on the second night of back-to-back games on the road, but still had plenty to beat the Clippers, who would have moved into sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference with a victory.

Justise Winslow scored 21 points and James Johnson added 18 points for the Heat, while Kelly Olynyk added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Derrick Jones Jr. had 11 rebounds.

Miami was without guard Josh Richardson, who was a late scratch because of a shoulder impingement.

They also lost guard Tyler Johnson early in the first with a left hip contusion. Johnson had scored eight points in the

opening five minutes. Goran Dragic was out because of rest.

The Heat finished strong despite playing Friday night at Phoenix when they defeated the Suns. Miami has won four of its past five games and is 2-0 to start a season-high six-game road trip.

Tobias Harris scored 20 points and Williams added 18 for the Clippers, who were just 7 of 29 from 3-point range and 33 for 89 from the field. Danilo Gallinari had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who saw their NBA-best nine-game home win streak end. The Clippers entered having won 10 of their past 13 games.

Celtics hammer Bulls for record 56-point win

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics goes up for a dunk against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (left) and Los Angeles Clippers guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in action.

All Blacks avoid shock Sevens exit with late triesAFP CAPE TOWN

Two tries in the last minute enabled New Zealand to stay in contention for the title on the first day of the World Rugby Cape Town Sevens tournament at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

New Zealand, winners of the opening tournament of the 2018/2019 season in Dubai last weekend, faced elimination before the quarter-final stage for the first time in their history until they rallied to beat hosts South Africa 26-21 in the final match of the day.

An injury-hit New Zealand side needed to win to qualify for the knockout stage after suffering a shock 21-17 defeat against Samoa in an earlier Pool A match.

Inside the last minute, South Africa’s

Blitzboks led 21-14 but Sione Molia scored a late converted try to draw the teams level.

There was just enough time for New Zealand to kick off, South Africa were unable to secure possession and Vilimoni Koroi scored in the left corner.

South Africa, New Zealand and Samoa were tied at the top of the table but South Africa, the defending series champions, won the group ahead of New Zealand on points difference.

“The belief was always there,” said New Zealand captain Andrew Knewstubb. “It was a matter of taking it on to the park. It was lucky we pulled up our socks in the last couple of minutes.”

South Africa captain Philip Snyman, wearing a special multi-coloured jersey to mark the 100th anniversary of the

birth of former president Nelson Mandela, said: “New Zealand kept their composure.

South Africa met Scotland in the quarter-finals while New Zealand played against Australia later yesterday.

New Zealand’s win over South Africa was a reverse of their defeat against Samoa, for whom Tula Maloi came off the bench to score the winning try after the final hooter.

The United States, runners-up in Dubai, won all three matches against Japan, Spain and Argentina to top Pool B and qualify to play England at the last-eight stage.

Spain gained a surprise 35-12 win over Argentina to earn a place in the quarter-finals and condemn Argentina to the Challenge competition.

South Africa’s Justin Geduld

(right) tackles New Zealand’s Andrew Knewstubb during

the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Cape

Town Stadium, on Saturday.

09MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2018 SPORT

Oosthuizen ends winless run by lifting SA Open trophyAFP JOHANNESBURG

Louis Oosthuizen ended a 33-month winless run by lifting the South African Open trophy for the first time yesterday after a six-shot victory at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg.

The 2010 British Open champion last triumphed on the European Tour in 2016 when he won the Perth International in western Australia.

The 36-year-old South African closed with a four-under-par 67, shrugging off a poor start to eagle 14 and finish well clear of runner-up Romain Langasque from France.

Schedule clashes meant Oosthuizen was playing in the South African Open for the first time since 2010 and he wept after clinching an ultimately comfortable victory.

“This is a very special victory for me as I become only the sixth golfer to win the two oldest national golf championships, the

British Open and the South African Open.”

Fellow South Africans Ernie Els, Bobby Locke and Gary Player, Swede Henrik Stenson and New Zealander Bob Charles previously achieved the ‘double’.

“I did not start well today,

scrambling a par at one and dropping shots at two and three before recovering with four birdies to turn two under for the round,” said Oosthuizen.

“For the second successive round I struggled off the tee early on and had to bite the bullet before coming good as the round progressed.

“While realising that I was building a good lead, it was not until 14 that I could relax a little bit.

“My nine-iron second at that par-five hole was a perfect shot, leaving me with a short putt for an eagle.”

Oosthuizen opened with a 62 for the first-round lead, but trailed fellow South African Charl Schwartzel by two shots at the halfway mark having carded a 70.

A third-round 67 gave him a three-stroke advantage and the expected final-round challenges from Schwartzel and in-form Matt Wallace of England never materialised.

Lomachenko beats Pedraza to unify lightweight beltsAFP NEW YORK

Vasiliy Lomachenko added the World Boxing Organization lightweight world title to his World Boxing Association belt with a unanimous 12-round decision over Jose Pedraza on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Lomachenko, a three-weight world champion who had never before unified two titles in the same class, knocked down Pedraza twice in an explosive 11th round.

Two judges saw it 117-109 for Lomachenko while a third made it 119-107 for the 30-year-old who was fighting for the first time since having shoulder surgery in the wake of his 10th-round technical knockout of Jorge Linares on May 12.

“Everything is good -- I’m healthy 100 percent,” Lomachenko declared after wrapping up the victory to improve to 12-1 with nine wins inside the distance.

“I am happy,” he said. “I (moved) a little closer to my dream, to my goal.” That’s to unify all of the major lightweight belts.

“Two more belts, and maybe we can make in the next year a fight with Mikey Garcia,” he said.

Garcia is the unbeaten World Boxing Council 135-pound champion.

Pedraza, making his first defense of the WBO title he won with a unanimous decision over Ray Beltran on August 25, was the first fighter to go the distance against Lomachenko since Suriya Tatakhun in a featherweight world title bout in 2014.

Lomachenko had stopped eight fighters inside the distance since then.

“He did a very good job,” Lomachenko said of Pedraza’s staying power. “I respect Pedraza, the Pedraza team -- very good job.” On the undercard, Mexico’s Emanuel Navarrete battered previously unbeaten Isaac Dogboe to seize Dogboe’s World Boxing Organization super bantamweight world title.

Navarrete rocked Dogboe in the 10th round and dominated the rest of the way with two judges awarding him the fight by scores of 116-112 and a third making it 115-113.

Navarrete, an underdog against the London-based Ghanaian champion, made the most of his

height and reach advantage.Dogboe, his face bloodied and swollen, had to

dig deep to avoid a knockout over the final two rounds.

“It was a great fight, and Emanuel Navarrete fought like a true Mexican warrior,” said Dogboe, who fell to 20-1 with 14 knockouts.

He was making the second defense of the title he won with an 11th-round knockout of Jessie Magdaleno on April 28. On August 25 in Arizona he stopped Japan’s Hidenori Otake.

Navarrete, 23, improved to 26-1 with 22 knockouts.

Teofimo Lopez celebrates after knocking out Mason Menard in the first round during their lightweight fight at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday.

Vasiliy Lomachenko punches Jose Pedraza during their WBA/WBO lightweight unification bout at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday.

Woodland, Hoffman share lead in MiamiAFP MIAMI

Gary Woodland and Charley Hoffman had eight birdies in their eight-under 64 on Saturday to join a three-way tie for the lead after the modified alternate-shot second round of the QBE Shootout.

Americans Woodland and Hoffman had the round of the day at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. It was good enough for a share of the lead on 19-under 125 alongside two teams who shared the overnight lead.

Northern Ireland’s McDowell and Argentina’s Grillo had eight birdies, including five in a row from the 10th through the 14th. That stretched ended with their second bogey at 15, but their six-under 66 kept them in a strong position going into Sunday’s four-ball final round.

Leading final round scores in the EPGA

South African Open at Randpark Golf Club in

Johannesburg yesterday (par-71, RSA unless

noted):

266 - Louis Oosthuizen 62-70-67-67 272 - Ro-

main Langasque (FRA) 69-68-69-66 274 - Tho-

mas Aiken 67-68-72-67, Bruce Easton 68-69-71-

66, Charl Schwartzel 67-63-72-72, Oliver Wilson

(ENG) 73-66-68-67 275 - Yikeun Chang (KOR) 70-

65-72-68, Branden Grace 66-68-71-70, Jbe

Kruger 66-67-72-70, Anthony Michael 67-71-69-

68, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 63-68-71-73, Haydn

Porteous 68-70-68-69, Brandon Stone 71-67-71-

66, Jeff Winther (DEN) 68-69-68-70 276 - Ernie

Els 66-71-68-71, Robert McIntyre (SCO) 70-67-

68-71, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 63-69-74-70, Zander

Lombard 64-68-74-70, Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN)

69-69-68-70, Matt Wallace (ENG) 65-69-68-74

SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN

Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa poses with the winner’s trophy after winning the Perth International in Perth, in this 2016 file picture.

Germany top group; Netherlands trounce PakistanAGENCIES BHUBANESWAR

A defiant Malaysia gave a tough, spirited fight before Germany managed to carve out a hard-earned 5-3 victory in a Pool D match of the men’s hockey World Cup here yesterday.

Christopher Ruhr (14th, 18th minutes) and Timm Herzbruch (2nd, 59th) struck twice each for the title contenders from Europe while Marco Miltkau (39th) scored a field goal with an excellent finish off a fast, s u p e r b l y o r c h e s t r a t e d counter-attack.

All the Malaysian goals came from penalty corners. The veteran Razie Rahim (26th, 42nd) bagged a brace while Nabil Noor (28th) scored with a deflection afer a clever penalty corner variation.

The Germans thus earned a direct entry into the quarter-finals as they topped Pool D with the full nine points from their

three matches. The Malaysians crashed out of the tournament as they finished at the bottom of

the group with a mere one point.“We are happy that we could

win against Malaysia”, said

Germany’s Tobias Hauke, who yesterday made his 300th inter-national appearance for Die

Honamas, after the game. “It was a tough game. We

started really well with 3-0 up in the beginning of the second quarter, but then we got a little bit in trouble. But I think Malaysia played quite nice today, they had good counter-attacks and good penalty-corners.”

In the second match of the day, Netherlands outplayed Pakistan 5-1.

For Netherlands, Thierry Brinkman, Valentin Verga, Jeroen Hertzberger, Croon Though, Van Der Weeden scored while Umar Bhutta scored for Pakistan.

Pakistan will now face Belgium in the crossover match, while Netherlands will face Canada tomorrow.

The Netherlands were first to make a mark on the score-board when Thierry Brinkman netted from close range just seven minutes into the contest, but two minutes later Pakistan’s Umar Bhutta restored parity

from a second phase penalty corner situation, sliding the ball under the body of onrushing Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak from a tight angle.

Pakistan gave an excellent showing in the second period, but it was the Dutch who took a 2-1 lead into half time when a beautiful interchange between Valentin Verga and Odisha Player of the Match Seve Van Ass ended with the former firing a cool finish between the legs of Green Shirts shot-stopper Imran Butt.

The Netherlands confirmed a second-place finish in Pool D with three goals in the second half, with Jeroen Hertzberger supplying Bob de Voogd for an easy finish before Jorrit Croon forced home a penalty corner from close range.

A 5-1 score-line was com-pleted by Mink van der Weerden, who slammed a stunning penalty corner into the roof of the net.

Pakistan’s Abu Mahmood fights for the ball with Netherlands’ Sander de Wijn during the 2018 hockey World Cup group stage match against Netherlands in Bhubaneswar yesterday.

10 MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2018SPORT

EPL: Battle for crown heats up as Liverpool leapfrog Man CityAFP LONDON

Manchester City -- the Premier League champions-elect in the eyes of many -- now know they are in a real scrap after Liverpool leapfrogged them to the top of the table on a telling day in the title race.

Both sides started Saturday unbeaten after 15 matches with an impressive 25 wins between them -- but it was Pep Guardi-ola’s champions who blinked first.

Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick for Jurgen Klopp’s side as they romped to a 4-0 win at Bournemouth in the early kick-off, taking them to 42 points, one clear of City.

City had the tougher task of taking on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge later in the day and despite dominating the first half they ended up losing 2-0 -- their first league defeat since April.

City remain firm favourites to win their second consecutive title but their aura of invincibility has been shaken and a hungry Liverpool are not in the mood to back off.

Guardiola took pride in his team’s performance despite the defeat, saying he never felt they were going to match the Arsenal Invincibles, who went through an entire Premier League season unbeaten in 2003-04.

“We are going to try to be champions,” he said. “In a season like this, with a lot of games -- plus after last season -- eve-rybody wants to beat us. They put in something extra.

“What is important is how we react. Even if we would have won today, it’s still only the beginning of December. There are still a lot of points to play for.”

For all of City’s much-vaunted squad depth, they sorely missed the injured Sergio Aguero at Stamford Bridge, mustering 14 shots but managing just four on target.

Kevin De Bruyne -- last sea-son’s club player of the year -- has barely featured during this campaign because of injury and

although City have an enviable supply of creative players, it is difficult to replace a player of that standard.

Liverpool have not been playing with the same fluency as they did last season but they have added steel to their game and boast a phenomenal defensive record, with just six goals conceded in 16 Premier League matches.

The addition of centre-back Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker has made an enormous difference at the back and at the other end of the pitch, Salah has started firing again.

The Egyptian forward had a quiet start to the campaign by the standards of last season, in which he scored 44 goals in total, but is now the Premier League’s joint-leading scorer, with 10 goals.

The manner in which he

took his third goal yesterday in particular showed a player who is back to his best after a nasty shoulder injury in the Champions League final appeared to knock his confidence.

Liverpool are also showing the resilience of would-be cham-pions -- scoring deep into injury time last week to beat Everton and battling back from a goal behind against Burnley in midweek.

It is almost impossible to overestimate what winning the Premier League would mean to Liverpool fans.

Last crowned champions of England in 1990 -- before the birth of the Premier League -- they had to stand by and watch as Manchester United over-hauled their proud record of 18 top-flight titles.

Klopp said: “The thing is that

we just really want to be as suc-cessful as possible. Nobody knows what that means, nobody.

“This league is so difficult to play in, but 42 points I usually had in April and now it is December. That’s massive and it’s exceptional and it is all to the boys, they deserve all the credit for that because they really fight for each yard.”

Guardiola does not think it is going to be just a two-horse race.

Arsenal, under new manager Unai Emery, are on a 21-game unbeaten run in all competitions and Tottenham are only six points off top spot while Chelsea are still in the mix.

“We are only in December,” said the City boss. Can Liverpool win the Premier League? Yes. Ask me if Tottenham, Arsenal or Chelsea can -- yes, of course.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the match against Chelsea on Saturday. RIGHT: Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after a win over Bournemouth.

City remain firm

favourites to win their

second consecutive

title but their aura of

invincibility has been

shaken and a hungry

Liverpool are not in

the mood to back off.

Atlanta United’s players celebrate with the MLS Cup.

Atlanta defeat Portland to seize MLS Cup title in second season

AFP ATLANTA

Atlanta United won the Major League Soccer title in its second season of existence, defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0 in the MLS Cup final on Saturday.

Atlanta’s MLS Most Valuable Player Josef Mar-tinez led the way in front of a league-record crowd of 73,019 at Mercedes Benz Stadium, opening the scoring in the 39th minute with his 35th goal of the 2018 campaign.

Argentine defender Franco Escobar doubled the score in the 54th minute as Atlanta made coach Gerardo “Tata” Mar-tino’s last match at the

helm a victory before he departs to take over as coach of Mexico.

Atlanta pressed from the beginning. Martinez was sent tumbling by a challenge from Larrys Mabiala in the penalty area but play was waved on and VAR backed up the call.

Atlanta’s Miguel Almiron had a clear chance in the 29th minute from a cross from Greg Garza but Portland goalkeeper Jeff Attinella dived right to swat the shot away.

Ten minutes later Atlanta seized the lead as a sliding Michael Parkhurst sent the ball toward the penalty area and Martinez beat Liam Ridgewell at the top of the box then rounded Attinella to slot

the ball into an empty net. Four minutes later Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan denied Portland’s first real chance, set up by Sebastian Blanco’s cross to Jeremy Ebobisse. Ebobisse’s close-range header was pushed away by Guzan to keep it 1-0 at the interval.

The Timbers pushed forward early in the seocnd half, but found themselves 2-0 down after 54 minutes.

Martinez won a free kick, then appeared at the near post to flick on Almi-ron’s service into the path of Franco Escobar, who fired into the bottom corner.

The contest boasted a distinctly South American flavor. Martino’s opposite number at Portland was former Venezuelan

international Giovanni Savarese. Atlanta’s squad featured eight players from South American and Port-land’s nine.

Atlanta, who finished second in the Eastern Con-ference in the regular season -- denied the Sup-porter’s Shield by Eastern rivals New York Red Bulls -- eliminated New York City FC in the quarter-finals and the Red Bulls in the conference final to reach the championship match.

The club created by billionaire Arthur Blank, co-founder of the Home Depot DIY chain and owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL team, suc-ceeds Toronto as MLS champions.

Serie A throws up more late drama as Fiorentina draw 3-3REUTERS MILAN

Serie A’s remarkable weekend of dramatic finishes continued yesterday as Fiorentina equalised in the sixth minute of stoppage time to draw 3-3 at Sassuolo after trailing 3-1.

The six goals all came in the last half hour of a remarkable game as did two sendings-off, one for each side.

On Saturday, Sampdoria scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time -- the latest goal in Serie A history -- to draw 2-2 at Lazio while Cagliari held AS Roma to another 2-2 draw with a 95th-minute goal, despite being down to nine men.

Alfred Duncan blasted Sassuolo ahead in the 62nd minute and the Gha-naian midfielder set up the second for Khouma Babacar to score against his old club five minutes later.

Fiorentina, without a win in their last seven league games, pulled one back in the 70th minute when Giovanni Simeone, dropped from the starting lineup, turned in a rebound after Edimilson Fernandes hit the post.

Stefano Sensi restored Sassuolo’s two-goal lead with a swerving long-range shot but the hosts then had Filip Djuricic sent off as he was booked for a foul and then given a second

yellow for protesting the original decision.

Marco Benassi pulled another goal back in the 89th minute, tapping-in from close range, before Fiorentina had Nikola Milenkovic sent off for dissent in stoppage time.

Yet they grabbed a point when Kevin Mirallas ran onto German Pez-zella’s through ball and scored with an angled shot, the Belgian’s first Serie A goal, in the 96th minute.

Meanwhile, Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti said his side were “ready for Liverpool” after warming up for next week’s Champions League clash at Anfield with a 4-0 win over Frosinone in Serie A on Saturday, but Roma threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with nine-man Cagliari in a chaotic final ten minutes in Sardinia.

Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring after just seven minutes at the Stadio San Paolo for Napoli with Algerian Adam Ounas adding a stunning second five minutes prior to the break, before Arkadiusz Milik’s second-half double.

Ancelotti’s team closed the gap on Juventus to eight points after the seven-time reigning champions continued their unbeaten run with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan on Friday. Napoli are six points ahead of third-placed Inter.

“Games like today have all the ingredients of a trap, especially ahead of a Champions League game,” said former Chelsea boss Ancelotti.

“We can start thinking about Liv-erpool now.”

“The new entrants have done well,” said Ancelotti.

“I’ve had positive feedback from everyone and I think the team is ready to face the challenge on Tuesday.

“I have fond memories of Anfield, as I won the Premier League there with Chelsea.”

Sassuolo 3 (Duncan 62, Babacar 67, Sensi 80) Fiorentina 3 (Simeone 70, Benassi 89, Mirallas90+6)

Empoli 2 (Caputo 10, La Gumina 80) Bologna 1(Poli 41)

Parma 1 (Bruno Alves 53) Chievo 1 (Stepinski46)

Udinese 1 (Lasagna 12) Atalanta 3 (Zapata 2, 62,80)

SERIE A RESULTS

REUTERS LONDON

Ten-man Newcastle United were beaten 2-1 by W o l v e r h a m p t o n Wanderers in the Premier League yesterday when Matt Doherty (pictured)scored in the fifth minute of added time.

The home side suf-fered from having United States international defender DeAndre Yedlin sent off for a professional foul with more than half an hour to play. Manager Rafa Benitez was furious, apparently believing a cov-ering defender was in position to prevent an attempt on goal. Promoted Wolves, who had beaten Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday after six games without a win, went ahead in the 17th minute with Diogo Jota’s second goal of the week.

Newcastle equalised six minutes later when Salomon Rondon, having crashed a free kick against the bar, crossed for Ayoze Perez to score.

But Doherty’s last-gasp header from close range pushed Wolves into the top half of the table and left Ben-itez’s side 15th, three points above the bottom three.

Doherty’s last-gasp header gives Wolves win

11MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2018 SPORT

Dominant Al Khelaifi bags wins in first roundTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Defending champion Abdulla Al Khelaifi continued with his good form, clinching victories in both the races of the opening round of Qatar Touring Car Champi-onship (QTCC) at Losail Interna-tional Circuit this weekend.

In the first race, the Qatari driver took the lead starting from pole position and crossed the checkered flag clocking 24:32.701 with his new champi-onship’s car, Honda S2000.

“(Ahmed) Al Asiri was pushing very hard in the first three laps and I tried to get rid of him because as long as he caught me in the straight I am done, so I had to build a big gap,” Al Khe-liafi said after the win.

“I managed to do that by the fifth lap and by that time Al Asiri pace came down so I was in the safe zone and managed to win,” he added.

New talent Ahmed Al Asiri driving a Honda Civic, and Hamad Al Sulaiti in a Toyota GT86 secured second and third positions respectively.

“The race was good for me considering it was my firs race. I had to push 120% behind the champion and it was very hard,” said Al Asiri. Al Sulaiti was also content with his first podium of the season.

“This is great, I am very happy with my result, first time racing in the championship and getting the third place is amazing for me. Hope I can stay like this and be back in the podium,” he said.

The second race had to be re-started due to a red flag in the

first lap as drivers Ibrahim Al Mannai and Nasser Al Ahbabi crashed in turn 7 and their cars got stuck in the gravel.

After the green flag and the reverse grid in race two, Al Khelaifi took only three laps to regain the lead and claim another victory. Mohammad Al Khaiat came second in the podium driving a Toyota GT86 while Al Asiri took third position.

“Race 2 was a bit difficult after the crash and the re-start of the race but I managed to overtake Al Khaiat who was leading the race by the fourth lap. Al Khaiat kept the pressure on me really hard, he is a really good

driver and I didn’t expect him to be so good in the first race,” said Al Khelaifi.

Al Khaiat, who got the second place in the second race, was happy with the results.

“Overall I am very happy, being my first time in this cham-pionship and my car did it very well and didn’t face any mechanical failure with the car,” he said.

Trophies were presented by Khalid Al Remaihi, LCSC Vice President and General Manager and Juan Baquero, LCSC CEO.

The next round of Qatar Touring Car Championship will be held on December 14 and 15, 2018.

Qatar Touring Car Championship begins at Losail Circuit

Race 1

1st: Abdulla Al Khelaifi 24:32.701

2nd: Ahmed Al Asiri 24:37.041

3rd: Hamad Al Sulaiti 24:53.578

Race 2

1st: Abdulla Al Khelaifi 24:38.598

2nd: Mohamad Al Khaiat 24:39.792

3rd: Ahmed Al Asiri 24.46.840

QTCC: FIRST ROUND

LEFT: Qatar’s Abdulla Al Khelaifi (centre) poses on

the podium along with 2nd-placed Ahmed Al Asiri (left) and Hamad Al Sulaiti,

who finished third in the first race at Losail International

Circuit on Saturday. BELOW: Al Khelaifi reaches

the finish line in the race.

Tariq Zainal, Qatar Tennis Squash and Badminton Federation (QTSBF) Secretary-General and Saad Al Mohannadi, QTSBF Executive Director, pose for a group picture along with top performing players of fourth Qatar ITF Future tennis tournament, which concluded at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Saturday.

Fourth Qatar ITF Future tennis tournament concludes

Messi says Ballon d’Or snub was no extra motivationREUTERS MADRID

Lionel Messi (pictured) insisted his fifth-place finish in Monday’s Ballon d’Or awards was not a motivating factor behind his sensational performance in Barcelona’s 4-0 thrashing of local rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.

The Argentine forward scored two masterful free kicks and created a goal for Ousmane Dembele among highlights in a bewitching individual display.

Messi, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, did not make the podium for the first time in a decade with Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric given the trophy.

“No,” said Barca captain Messi to Movistar when asked if he had extra motivation for the game because of the awards snub.

“We all came out fired-up from the start, really focused and determined. We knew (we had to because of) the stadium we were coming to and the oppo-nents we were facing, they are having a great season.” Messi’s team-mates praised him, disagreeing with his placement in the Ballon d’Or rankings and the words of Brazil legend Pele

who said the forward only has one foot and one skill.

“(Pele) must not be able to see very well if he said what he said about Messi,” Barcelona full back Jordi Alba said.“The Ballon d’Or is a lie. Leo is always the best in the world. It was not fair on Messi.

“There are a lot of campaigns coming from Madrid. If Cristiano (Ronaldo) had been in Madrid maybe the media and the fans would have wanted him to win, but he left so, well, Modric.

“Modric is a great player and

had a great season, he’s one of the best in the world but No. 1 is Messi.”

B a r c e l o n a coach Ernesto V a l v e r d e , who labelled t h e vo t es “absurd”, was also quick to praise his forward.

“What can I say about Leo? He shines in any

game. To have him with us is infinitely for-tunate, we’re in an unrepeatable era watching a player like

him,” Valverde said.

had a great season, he’s one of the best in the world but No. 1 is Messi.”

B a r c e l o n a coach Ernesto V a l v e r d e , who labelled t he vo t e s “absurd”, was also quick to praise his forward.

“What can I say about Leo? He shines in any

game. To have him with us is infinitely for-tunate, we’re in an unrepeatable era watching a player like

him,” Valverde said.

The Ballon d’Or is a lie.

Leo is always the best

in the world. It was

not fair on Messi: Jordi

Alba

QWSC to hold training course for female coachesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Qatar Women’s Sports Committee (QWSC) is organ-ising the second edition of the Female Football Coaches Training Course in collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Qatar.

The three-day coaching camp, which is starting tomorrow, will be held at the QWSC’s premises, and teachers of physical education and a number of football coaches in the country will attend the programme.

The course will be conducted by a team of highly qualified trainers and lecturers from Qatar and the Netherlands.

The QWSC has conducted a number of events in this caliber in the recent past and the latest training course is a result of the QWSC’s con-tinuous plans to groom female coaches and sports professionals.

The aim of the course is to create a base of female trainers in various sports and to raise the local standards in training.

The course will be conducted by a team of highly qualified trainers and lecturers from Qatar and the Netherlands.

AFP ADELAIDE

Australia were staring at defeat in the first Test yesterday after losing four wickets in their record run chase at the Adelaide Oval after being set a target 323 to win by India.

At stumps Australia were 104 for 4, needing another 219 for an unlikely victory with their fate resting on the shoulders of Shaun Marsh, who was not out 31, and local boy Travis Head who remained unbeaten on 11.

India amassed 307 in their second innings with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane smashing 70 and first innings century-maker Cheteshwar Pujara a composed 71.

A late collapse got the crowd on their feet and gave Australia a flicker of hope, with India’s last four wickets falling for just four runs.

Spinner Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers, taking six wickets for 122 runs off 42 overs. It was his 13th five-wicket haul in Tests. Mitchell Starc snared 3 for 40.

Australia need to make history to win. The only suc-cessful fourth innings Test run chase of more than 300 at Adelaide came in 1902, when the hosts made 315 to beat England, with the biggest in modern times the 239 West Indies managed in 1982.

The home side can take some comfort, though, by Western Australia in a domestic match last month scoring 313 to beat South Australia here when Marsh scored 163 not out.

Opener Aaron Finch -- who survived being given out lbw second ball when a review showed Ishant Sharma had overstepped the crease -- made just 11 in his second failure of the match.

He was caught behind off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin when the ball whistled past his glove. He chose not to review the decision, which was a mistake. Replays showed the

third umpire would have over-turned it.

Debutant Marcus Harris matched his first innings score of 26, hitting three crunching boundaries before he was caught by Rishabh Pant off Mohammed Shami, getting an edge on an attempted cut shot.

Australia desperately needed the experienced Usman Khawaja to stick around but he decided to run down the pitch to an Ashwin delivery on nine and sliced it to Rohit Sharma, who took a difficult catch.

And when Handscomb miscued a pull shot off Shami on 14 to Pujara, they were in deep trouble.

Play had started 30 minutes early to make up for rain dis-ruptions on Saturday, with Aus-tralia desperate for an early breakthrough to build on the momentum after Virat Kohli fell to Lyon near the close on day three.

But two fours from Pujara off Josh Hazlewood in the second over of the day set the tone.

The right-hander brought up 50 -- his 20th in Tests -- with a three off Lyon and hardly looked troubled until the off-spinner fooled him half an hour before lunch and Finch caught him off bat and pad.

It was a crucial 87-run part-nership with Rahane, who sur-vived a bat-pad catch decision off Lyon on review. The vice-captain rubbed salt in the wound by smacking the next ball for four and brought up his 16th half-century with another boundary.

He was eventually out going for a needless reverse sweep off Lyon, with Starc picking up the catch. The aggressive Pant went in search of quick runs as India’s lead approached 300, whacking three fours and a six in suc-cession off one Lyon over.

But when he went for another big hit and fell for a quick-fire 28, it prompted a col-lapse from 282 for 5 to 307 all out.

SPORT 07MONDAY 10 DECEMBER 2018

We are going to try to be champions. In a season like this, with a lot of games - plus after last season - everybody wants to beat us. They

put in something extra. What is important is how we react. Even if we would have won today, it’s still only the beginning of December. There are

still a lot of points to play for.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola

Lahore Qalandars appoint Hafeez as captain

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUEEverton vs Watford

At Liverpool, England

India vs Australia1st Test - Day 5 at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

FOOTBALL CRICKET

TO

DAY

’SA

CTIO

N

Lahore Qalandars’ new skipper Mohammad Hafeez (left) holds a team jersey with his name on it, along with the team’s Chief Executive Officer Fawad Rana during a press conference held in Lahore, yesterday. The experienced allrounder will lead the Qalanders during the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League which begins on February 14th, 2019, in the UAE.

Mushfiqur stars as Bangladesh beat WindiesAFP DHAKA

Mushfiqur Rahim top scored with an unbeaten 55 as Bangladesh defeated West Indies by five wickets in the first one-day inter-national in Dhaka yesterday.

Set a modest target after three wickets each from Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman helped Bangladesh restrict West Indies to 195-9, the hosts sailed to 196-5 in 35.1 overs for a compre-hensive win to kick off the three-match series.

Mushfiqur shared 57 runs with Shakib Al Hasan for the fourth wicket to steady Bangladesh’s innings after West Indies had reduced the home side to 89-3 on a slow pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Rovman Powell dismissed Shakib for 30 to break the stand but Soumya Sarkar killed off the visitors’ hopes with a brief cameo of 19 from 13 balls, which included two fours and a six.

Mushfiqur, who hit five bound-aries in his patient knock, pushed Roston Chase for a single to com-plete his 31st fifty in ODIs before an outside edge to leg spinner

Devendra flew to third man for two runs to wrap up the victory.

Earlier, opener Liton Das scored 41 off 57 balls with five fours for the home side, but not before he was reprieved on five off a no-ball by Kemar Roach.

West Indies owed their total to 43 off 59 balls by opener Shai Hope and contributions from lower order batsmen Roston Chase and Keemo Paul, who made 32 and 36 runs respectively.

The visitors, who opted to bat first, had been restricted to 127-6 after 40 overs despite Hope’s effort, but Chase and Paul put on 51 runs for the seventh wicket to give their bowlers something to fight for.

Paul hit two sixes and a four in his 28-ball innings before he was dismissed by Mustafizur in the final over.

Left-arm pacer Mustafizur fin-ished with 3-35 after fellow fast bowler Mashrafe grabbed 3-30 playing his 200th ODI -- the first Bangladeshi to do so.

Mashrafe was named man of the match for his effort.

The second match of the series will be held at the same venue on tomorrow.

Australia wobble in tough run chase as India sniff win

Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (left) and captain Virat Kohli celebrate the dismissal of Australia’s Marcus Harris during day four of the first Test match at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday.

INDIA, 1st innings 250AUSTRALIA, 1st innings 235INDIA, 2nd innings (overnight 151-3)K.L. Rahul c Paine b Hazlewood ..................44M. Vijay c Handscomb b starc ...................... 18C. Pujara c Finch b Lyon .................................71V. Kohli c Finch b Lyon ...................................34A. Rahane c Starc b Lyon ...............................70 R. Sharma c Handscomb b Lyon .....................1R. Pant c Finch b Lyon ...................................28R. Ashwin c Harris b Starc ................................5M. Shami c Harris b Lyon ................................0I. Sharma c Finch b Starc .................................0J. Bumrah not out ............................................0 Extras (b21, lb13, w2) ..................................36Total: (10 wickets, 106.5 overs) ....... 307 Fall of wickets: 1-63 (Vijay), 2-76 (Rahul), 3-147 (Kohli), 4-234 (Pujara), 5-248 (Sharma), 6-282 (Pant), 7-303 (Ashwin), 8-303 (Rahane), 9-303 (Shami), 10-307 (Sharma)

Bowling: Starc 21.5-7-40-3, Hazlewood 23-13-43-1, Cummins 18-4-55-0, Lyon 42-7-122-6, Head 2-0-13-0

AUSTRALIA, 2nd inningsA. Finch c Pant b Ashwin ............................... 11M. Harris c Pant b Shami ...............................26U. Khawaja c Sharma b Ashwin ..................... 8S. Marsh not out ..............................................31P. Handscomb c Pujara b Shami .................. 14T. Head not out ................................................ 11Extras (lb1, nb1) ...............................................3Total: (four wickets, 49 overs) ......... 104To bat: Tim Paine, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cum-mins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell StarcFall of wickets: 1-28 (Finch), 2-44 (Harris), 3-60 (Khawaja), 4-84 (Handscomb) Bowling: Sharma 8-3-19-0, Bumrah 11-5-17-0, Ashwin 19-4-44-2, Shami 9-3-15-2, Vijay 2-0-7-0

SCOREBOARD

WEST INDIESK. Powell c Rubel b Shakib ...............................................10S. Hope c Mehidy b Mashrafe .......................................... 43D. Bravo c Tamim b Mashrafe ..........................................19M. Samuels c Liton b Rubel ..............................................25S. Hetmyer b Mehidy ...........................................................6R. Powell c Liton b Mashrafe ............................................14R. Chase c Mehidy b Mustafizur .......................................32K. Paul c Mehidy b Mustafizur ..........................................36K. Roach not out ...................................................................5D. Bishoo c & b Mustafizur .................................................0O. Thomas not out ...............................................................0Extras (lb 3, w2) .................................................................5Total (nine wickets; 50 overs) ...........................195Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Powell), 2-65(Bravo), 3-78 (Hope), 4-93 (Hetmyer), 5-119 (Powell), 6-127(Samuels), 7-178 (Chase), 8-194 (Paul), 9-195 (Bishoo)Bowling: Mehidy 10-0-30-1, Shakib 10-0-36-1, Mustafizur 10-0-35-3, Mashrafe 10-0-30-3 (w1), Rubel 10-0-61-1 (w1)

BANGLADESHTamim Iqbal c Bishoo b Chase .........................................12Liton Das b Paul .................................................................41Imrul Kayes b Thomas ........................................................4Mushfiqur Rahim not out .................................................55Shakib Al Hasan c Hope b Powell ................................... 30Soumya Sarkar c Powell b Chase ....................................19Mahmudullah Riyad not out ............................................14Extras (lb 6, w13, nb2) ....................................................21Total (five wickets; 35.1 overs) ..........................196Did not bat: Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel HossainFall of wickets: 1-37 (Tamim), 2-42 (Imrul), 3-89 (Liton Das), 4-146 (Sakib), 5-175 (Soumya)Bowling: Roach 6-0-35-0 (w5, nb1), Chase 9-1-47-2 (w2), Thomas 5-0-34-1 (w3, nb1), Paul 8-0-37-1 (w3), Bishoo 6.1-0-30-0, Powell 1-0-7-1.

SCOREBOARD

West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer (left) is clean-bowled as Bangladeshi wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim celebrates during their first One Day International (ODI) played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka yesterday.

New Zealand in confusion over adding an extra spinner to face Sri LankaREUTERS WELLINGTON

New Zealand cricket coach Gary Stead has a conundrum ahead of him as he mulls over the selection of a spinner for the first Test against Sri Lanka, with only one likely to be picked.

Stead and his team returned to New Zealand yesterday after wrapping up a rare away series victory against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and will rapidly move into preparations for their first Test against Sri Lanka next Saturday.

Unlike the spin-friendly conditions in the UAE, the Basin Reserve is likely to be more conducive to going with a three-pronged pace attack with Neil Wagner joining Trent Boult and Tim Southee with just a sol-itary spinner.

New Zealand used two slow bowlers in each of the three Tests in the UAE, with left arm spinner Ajaz Patel and off-spinner Will Somerville

instrumental in the first and third Test victories.

Legspinner Ish Sodhi also appeared in two of the matches.

With Mitch Santner and Todd Astle both injured but likely to return this summer, Stead said the selection of a slow bowler would be difficult.

“We’ll have to pick one - it’s hard and that’s a really good place to be in,” Stead told reporters at Auckland Airport on Sunday.

“You look at the likes of Mitch Santner and Todd Astle who are both out as well, and then we’ve had three spinners on this tour with Ish, Ajaz and Will.

“It’s a good place to be in, it’s not easy, but there will be one that’s selected.”

Stead said he would name his squad today for the first of the two matches, which if New Zealand win 2-0 can vault them to number two in the world Test rankings.