Cricket:
Proteas win in style
Opener Hashim Amla smashed 109 and Ryan McLaren took two wickets in three balls as South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by 75 runs in their first one-dayer in Colombo on Sunday.
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Amla, 31, hit eight fours in his composed 130-ball knock and shared a 151-run stand for the third wicket with skipper AB de Villiers (75), helping the visitors to post a formidable 304-5 at the R Premadasa Stadium.
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Kumar Sangakkara responded with a fine 88 off just 84 balls but Sri Lanka were still bundled out for 229 off 40.3 overs.
The hosts appeared headed towards victory at one point. But pace man McLaren dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne and Sangakkara in the 38th over to trigger a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose their last five wickets for just 13 runs.
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“We had a bad day at the office. The South Africans played better cricket and we were really rusty,” said Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews.
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Sri Lanka innings |
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South Africa innings |
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Rugby:
Super rugby
Cheetahs stun Sharks
Toyota Cheetahs midfielder Rayno Benjamin made an exceptional try-saving tackle in the dying moments of the game to cause the upset of the Vodacom Super Rugby weekend and give his team a 27-20 victory over the Cell C Sharks in Bloemfontein on Saturday night.
Dominant Stormers end Bulls challenge
The DHL Stormers avenged their opening round defeat with an emphatic 16-0 victory over the Bulls at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday that confirmed the three-time champion team’s exit from this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby title race.
Lions reach milestone but no champagne
The Lions may have racked up their most victories in Super Rugby but coach Johan Ackermann would not pop the champagne because of this milestone.
His charges won their sixth match of the season with a 34-17 defeat of the Rebels at Ellis Park on Friday evening.
RESULTS:
July 2014
6 Waratahs 44 – 16 Highlanders Allianz Stadium, Sydney
5 Toyota Cheetahs 27 – 20 Cell C Sharks Free State Stadium
5 DHL Stormers 16 – 0 Vodacom Bulls Newlands, Cape Town
5 Western Force 30 – 20 Reds NIB Stadium, Perth r
5 Crusaders 21 – 13 Blues AMI Stadium, Christchurch
4 Lions 34 – 17 Melbourne Rebels Ellis Park, Johannesburg
4 Chiefs 24 – 16 Hurricanes Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
REMAINING FIXTURES:
July 2014
11 Blues v Chiefs Eden Park, Auckland 09:35
11 Brumbies v Western Force Canberra Stadium, Canberra 11:40
11 Vodacom Bulls v Melbourne Rebels Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 19:10
12 Crusaders v Highlanders AMI Stadium, Christchurch 09:35
12 Reds v Waratahs Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 11:40
12 Lions v Toyota Cheetahs Ellis Park, Johannesburg 17:05
12 DHL Stormers v Cell C Sharks Newlands, Cape Town 19:10
Super Rugby | LOGS
Combined Conferences Log
|
1 |
Waratahs |
15 |
11 |
0 |
4 |
447 |
269 |
178 |
9 |
53 |
|
2 |
Crusaders |
15 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
411 |
314 |
97 |
6 |
46 |
|
3 |
Cell C Sharks |
15 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
372 |
283 |
89 |
6 |
46 |
|
4 |
Highlanders (Q) |
15 |
8 |
0 |
7 |
393 |
408 |
-15 |
10 |
42 |
|
5 |
Hurricanes (Q) |
16 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
439 |
374 |
65 |
9 |
41 |
|
6 |
Brumbies (Q) |
15 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
365 |
353 |
12 |
4 |
40 |
|
7 |
Western Force |
15 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
318 |
346 |
-28 |
4 |
40 |
|
8 |
Chiefs |
15 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
373 |
370 |
3 |
8 |
40 |
|
9 |
Blues |
15 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
411 |
384 |
27 |
8 |
36 |
|
10 |
Vodacom Bulls |
15 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
325 |
328 |
-3 |
7 |
33 |
|
11 |
DHL Stormers |
15 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
280 |
292 |
-12 |
4 |
32 |
|
12 |
Reds |
15 |
5 |
0 |
10 |
371 |
459 |
-88 |
8 |
28 |
|
13 |
Lions |
15 |
6 |
0 |
9 |
307 |
388 |
-81 |
2 |
26 |
|
14 |
Toyota Cheetahs |
15 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
347 |
467 |
-120 |
6 |
24 |
|
15 |
Melbourne Rebels |
15 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
296 |
420 |
-124 |
5 |
21 |
South African Conference
|
1 |
Cell C Sharks |
15 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
372 |
283 |
89 |
6 |
46 |
|
2 |
Vodacom Bulls |
15 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
325 |
328 |
-3 |
7 |
33 |
|
3 |
DHL Stormers |
15 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
280 |
292 |
-12 |
4 |
32 |
|
4 |
Lions |
15 |
6 |
0 |
9 |
307 |
388 |
-81 |
2 |
26 |
|
5 |
Toyota Cheetahs |
15 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
347 |
467 |
-120 |
6 |
24 |
Australian Conference
|
1 |
Waratahs |
15 |
11 |
0 |
4 |
447 |
269 |
178 |
9 |
53 |
|
2 |
Brumbies |
15 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
365 |
353 |
12 |
4 |
40 |
|
3 |
Western Force |
15 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
318 |
346 |
-28 |
4 |
40 |
|
4 |
Reds |
15 |
5 |
0 |
10 |
371 |
459 |
-88 |
8 |
28 |
|
5 |
Melbourne Rebels |
15 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
296 |
420 |
-124 |
5 |
21 |
New Zealand Conference
|
1 |
Crusaders |
15 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
411 |
314 |
97 |
6 |
46 |
|
2 |
Highlanders |
15 |
8 |
0 |
7 |
393 |
408 |
-15 |
10 |
42 |
|
3 |
Hurricanes |
16 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
439 |
374 |
65 |
9 |
41 |
|
4 |
Chiefs |
15 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
373 |
370 |
3 |
8 |
40 |
|
5 |
Blues |
15 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
411 |
384 |
27 |
8 |
36 |
Absa Currie Cup Qualifiers | RESULTS
July 2014
5 Leopards 70 – 25 Down Touch Griffons Profert Olen Park, Potch
5 Valke 20 – 35 Boland Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park
4 Border 31 – 33 South Western Districts BCM Stadium, East London
Absa Currie Cup Qualifiers | LOGS
|
1 |
GWK Griquas |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
149 |
64 |
85 |
21 |
9 |
2 |
18 |
|
2 |
Leopards |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
198 |
103 |
95 |
27 |
12 |
5 |
17 |
|
3 |
South Western Districts |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
151 |
188 |
-37 |
21 |
24 |
3 |
15 |
|
4 |
Boland |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
117 |
101 |
16 |
15 |
12 |
4 |
12 |
|
5 |
Valke |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
148 |
154 |
-6 |
20 |
21 |
2 |
10 |
|
6 |
Down Touch Griffons |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
113 |
178 |
-65 |
15 |
26 |
4 |
8 |
|
7 |
Border |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
88 |
176 |
-88 |
12 |
27 |
2 |
2 |
SOCCER WORLD CUP
QUARTER FINAL RESULTS
Argentina 1 – 0 Belgium
Netherlands 0 – 0 Costa Rica
(Netherlands win 4-3 on penalties)
France 0 – 1 Germany
Brazil 2 – 1 Colombia
SEMI FINAL FIXTURES
Tue 8 Jul 2014
Brazil v Germany 21:00
Wed 9 Jul 2014
Netherlands v Argentina 21:00
TENNIS
Novak Djokovic ended his Grand Slam drought and Roger Federer’s hopes of a record eighth Wimbledon title with a thrilling five-set victory. The Serb, 27, came through 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-4 to win his second Wimbledon and seventh Grand Slam title.
After letting a championship point slip in the fourth set, he won Wimbledon’s first five-set final since 2009. Djokovic had lost his previous three major finals, and will now reclaim the number one ranking from Rafael Nadal.
Wimbledon 2014: Novak Djokovic talks after beating Roger Federer
“After losing the fourth set it wasn’t easy to go on and win the fifth set, I don’t know how I did it,” Djokovic told BBC Sport. “This is the best tournament in the world and the one I always wanted to win so to be able to compete at such a high level I am so grateful.”
Federer, 32, had hoped to surpass Pete Sampras with an eighth title and become the oldest winner in modern times. The Swiss was willed on by much of the 15,000-strong crowd throughout the final, with chants of “Roger! Roger!” ringing around Centre Court when he reeled off five successive games from 5-2 down in the fourth set.
But Djokovic recovered his nerve to fend off break points in the decider and clinch a dramatic win after three hours and 56 minutes, before kneeling on the turf and eating some grass – just as he had done after winning in 2011.
He then headed into the stands to celebrate with his team, including three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, brought in by Djokovic at the start of the year to help end his run of 18 months without a major win.
Power of Petra Kvitova sees off Eugenie Bouchard
Centre Court was turned into a school-room, the ladies’ final into a lesson.
Eugenie Bouchard, 20, may have been the focus of all the pre-match hype. She may have twice as many Twitter followers and 300,000 more fans on Facebook. But in the arena that truly counts she was reduced to the role of pupil as Petra Kvitova showed exactly what is required to win this most cherished of trophies.
One-sided? Not since Martina Navratilova’s 6-0 6-3 demolition of American teenager Andrea Jaeger in 1983 has a final been over so quickly. Not since Steffi Graf dismantled an 18-year-old Monica Seles 6-2 6-1 in 1992 has a final been dictated by so much brutal hitting.
Bouchard – hugely ambitious, drooled over by sponsors – is unlikely to go the same way as Jaeger, who fell out of love with tennis to such an extent that she became a Dominican nun. Her run to the final here, in only her sixth Grand Slam appearance, confirms what her temperament and talent had already suggested: here is a champion of the future. The present belongs to Kvitova. The Czech’s 6-3 6-0 victory in just 55 minutes not only meant that she earned just under £16,300 a minute for her afternoon’s tuition but also represented the most flawless performance in a career that has been as much about missed chances as championships.
The 2011 champion has always had great potency on her groundstrokes. What she hasn’t always paired it with is consistency. She can roar in like a storm, devastating everything in her path. She can equally veer off course or blow herself out.
On Saturday she began at pace and just kept going. Bouchard, never having come up against anything like it, never had a chance. “We expected her to dictate some of the points,” says John McEnroe, commentating for BBC Sport. “We didn’t expect her to dictate every point.” Kvitova hit 28 winners to Bouchard’s eight. She broke her callow opponent’s serve six times. Bouchard would win just 46% of points on her first serve.
Shortest Wimbledon women’s singles finals
1975 – Billie Jean King beat Evonne Cawley 6-0 6-1 in 38 minutes
1972 – Billie Jean King beat Evonne Goolagong 6-3 6-3 in 50 minutes
1973 – Billie Jean King beat Chris Evert 6-0 7-5 in 53 minutes
183 – Martina Navratilova beat Andrea Jaeger 6-0 6-3 in 54 minutes
2014 – Petra Kvitova beat Eugenie Bouchard 6-3 6-0 in 55 minutes
1992 – Steffi Graff beat Monica Seles 6-2 6-1 in 58 minutes
1974 – Chris Evert beat Olga Morozova 6-0 6-4 in 59 minutes
FORMULA 1
Lewis Hamilton revived his title hopes by winning the British Grand Prix as Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg retired with gearbox failure.
Rosberg was leading and being chased down by Hamilton as the German’s gearbox started to develop a fault and then failed just before half distance. His first retirement of the year means his lead over Hamilton in the championship is just four points.
Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was second from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian held off a charge from McLaren’s Jenson Button in the closing laps as Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won a thrilling battle with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for fifth.
Hamilton started sixth after making a mistake in aborting his final qualifying lap, with his team-mate on pole. He was up to fourth after the first four corners when the race was red-flagged following a heavy crash involving Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn ran off the track through Turn Four and spun as he rejoined. Williams driver Felipe Massa clipped the Ferrari as it spun across the track, and Raikkonen speared into the barriers. The race was stopped to repair the barriers damaged by the heavy impact from the Ferrari, and Raikkonen was taken to the medical centre, where he was diagnosed with bruising to his ankles.
The race re-started behind the safety car after an hour’s delay and Rosberg built up a five-second lead in the two laps it took Hamilton to pass Jenson Button’s McLaren. Hamilton conserved his tyres for a few laps, letting the lead go out to 5.7 seconds by lap nine, before starting to haul Rosberg back. The 2008 world champion was 2.8 seconds behind by the time Rosberg made what was scheduled to be his first pit stop on lap 18 of 62. He reported “problems on the downshift” two laps later.
Hamilton stayed out for a further six laps, with the intention of having a shorter stint at the end of the race in which he could attack his team-mate. He rejoined 5.9secs behind after another slow pit stop, something that has afflicted him this season more often than Rosberg.
Hamilton took a second out of his team-mate on lap 27 and then a further two seconds next time around as Rosberg started to report up-shift problems. Two laps later, going through Turn Three, Rosberg lost his gears. He cruised around as far as Becketts trying to reset the gearbox but had to pull off and retire. That left Hamilton in a comfortable lead from Bottas, who had powered through the field in the first stint, moving up to third place behind the two Mercedes and Button by lap 16.
“I honestly feel I had the pace today,” said Hamilton on the podium. “I was catching Nico in the first stint and was feeling pretty comfortable. I never want to see my team-mate fail like that. I was looking forward to a wheel-to-wheel battle but I’m sure we’ll get many in the future.” Ricciardo made up places after starting eighth by choosing a one-stop strategy, and driving beautifully to make his final set of tyres last from lap 15 to the end and take the final podium place.
Vettel and Alonso enlivened the late stages with a superlative wheel-to-wheel battle for 15 laps before the world champion finally found a way past. Vettel rejoined from his second pit stop just ahead of Alonso, who was on a one-stop strategy and on older tyres.
The Spaniard had fought through superbly from 16th on the grid, making a series of skilled overtaking maneuvers, but was delayed by a five-second stop-go for having only half his car in his grid slot at the start. Alonso passed Vettel on the German’s out-lap from his final pit stop in a brave move around the outside of the 160mph Copse corner, but then had to fight off the Red Bull on its fresher tyres. Time and again Vettel would get close into Brooklands and Luffield and Alonso would hold him off, as each repeatedly complained about the other – Vettel about Alonso’s defense and exceeding track limits, Alonso just what he saw as Vettel doing the latter.
Vettel eventually got through by holding on the inside line at Luffield, getting alongside Alonso through Woodcote and on the run to Copse and forcing the Spaniard to finally give way, in a move that matched Alonso’s earlier one for skill and bravery. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen took seventh, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne.
FIA Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship Points
1 Nico Rosberg Ger Mercedes 165
2 Lewis Hamilton GB Mercedes 161
3 Daniel Ricciardo Aus Red Bull 98
4 Fernando Alonso Spa Ferrari 87
5 Valtteri Bottas Fin Williams 73
6 Sebastian Vettel Ger Red Bull 70
7 Nico Hulkenberg Ger Force India 63
8 Jenson Button GB McLaren 55
9 Kevin Magnussen Den McLaren 35
10 Felipe Massa Brz Williams 30
11 Sergio Perez Mex Force India 28
12 Kimi Raikkonen Fin Ferrari 19
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Fra Toro Rosso 9
14 Romain Grosjean Fra Lotus 8
15 Daniil Kvyat Rus Toro Rosso 6
16 Jules Bianchi Fra Marussia 2
17 Adrian Sutil Ger Sauber 0
18 Marcus Ericsson Swe Caterham 0
19 Pastor Maldonado Ven Lotus 0
20 Esteban Gutierrez Mex Sauber 0
21 Max Chilton GB Marussia 0
22 Kamui Kobayashi Jpn Caterham 0
CYCLING
Italian champion Vincenzo Nibali attacked late to win stage two of the Tour de France from York to Sheffield. The Astana rider broke clear of a group including Britain’s defending champion Chris Froome and double winner Alberto Contador, who came in two seconds back.
Nibali took over the leader’s yellow jersey from stage one winner Marcel Kittel, who finished 20 minutes adrift. Estimates suggest more than 2.5 million people lined the route in Yorkshire for the first two stages over the weekend.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish was ruled out of the Tour before the start of stage two after his crash on the opening day. Belgian Greg van Avermaet finished second with Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland third, in the bunch two seconds behind Nibali. Spain’s Contador was 13th and Froome 19th, with the Briton moving to fifth overall after his sixth-placed finish in Harrogate on day one and Contador on the same time in eighth.
The route passed through Harrogate, Keighley, and Huddersfield before reaching Sheffield, taking in areas made famous by the Bronte sisters and TV series Last Of The Summer Wine. The third stage will take the riders from Cambridge to London on Monday, before the race heads to France. On Sunday around 60,000 fans lined the road on Holme Moss, the longest and toughest of the stage’s nine categorized ascents, and there were thousands more on each of the other eight.
“It was really tough racing and the crowds were just incredible. I had goose bumps going up Holme Moss, said Froome, who was cheered on by many fans in Yorkshire. “It was all about staying out of trouble and avoiding any major issues or big splits.”
With five of the stage’s climbs packed into the final 60km, there was always going to be a cagey opening and a break of seven riders was allowed to establish a two-minute lead from the off. Blel Kadri, the lone man left from the seven that broke clear in the opening kilometer, had the honour of reaching the summit of Holme Moss first but he was caught on the next climb at Midhopestones and the race opened up. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas moved to the front of the peloton, trying to keep Froome out of trouble, but he was a little unhappy with some spectators on the route, describing the ones taking ‘selfies’ as “a pain” as they were not only putting themselves in danger, but the riders as well. Indeed there were incidents where riders had to push over-enthusiastic fans to the side, although given the vast numbers, those instances were few.
The final climb, Jenkin Road in Sheffield, produced the most drama as many riders struggled with the steepness of the 800m ascent, which reached a gradient of 33% in places. Froome delivered a small psychological blow, though, when he raced clear of rivals Contador and Nibali to reach the top first. Peter Sagan attempted to break everyone on the descent but his efforts were wasted and he then had no answer as Nibali, who won the 2013 Giro d’Italia, surged clear in the final couple of kilometers to become the first Italian to wear the yellow jersey since 2009.
“My main goal is to get a good result at the end of the Tour de France,” said Nibali, who has now led all three Grand Tours. “I don’t want to lose my head but I’m delighted to get the yellow jersey after having won the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana and the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia.” This victory is important for me, the team and Italy.” Despite enduring a difficult day, German sprinter Kittel will chase a sixth Tour stage win in Monday’s 155km third stage from Cambridge to London.
Overall classification:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 9hrs 52mins 43secs
2. Peter Sagan (Svk/Cannondale) +2secs
3. Greg van Avermaet (Bel/BMC Racing)
4. Michael Albasini (Swi/Orica)
5. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky)
6. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Belkin)
7. Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel/Lotto)
8. Alberto Contador (Spa/Tinkoff-Saxo)
9. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC Racing)
10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana)
