WORLD SPORT
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Gulf Daily News Sunday, 14th December 2014
‘I may never play again’ says injured Clarke
ADELAIDE, Australia: Australia captain Michael Clarke has raised the prospect that his
cricket career could be over after injuring his
hamstring in the opening Test against India in
Adelaide yesterday.
Clarke said he intended to keep playing but the laTest setback, which the 33-year-old said would force
him to miss the remaining three Tests of a series, had
caused him to think about his future.
“There’s a chance I may never play again,” he told a
news conference at Adelaide Oval.
“I hope that’s not the case and I’ll be doing everything in my power to get back out on the park, but I
have to be realistic as well.”
Clarke did not finish the match, which ended with
Australia securing a thrilling 48-run victory, after he
hurt himself on the final day.
He was sent for scans for the second time in a mat-
ter of days when he injured himself while fielding in
the second session, pulling up sharply after feeling the
hamstring go when reaching down to stop a ball.
He limped off with the assistance of the Australian
team physiotherapist and said later the early prognosis
was not good. “The scans are not great, they certainly showed a tear there,” Clarke said. “The experts are
looking at them and I can pretty confidently say that I
won’t take part in this Test series.”
Troubled
Clarke has been troubled by hamstring and back issues since he was a teenager but the problem has only
worsened in recent months.
He almost missed the first Test because of a recurring hamstring problem and suffered a painful back
injury while batting in the first innings. He retired hurt
but recommenced his innings the next day, scoring a
century, only to suffer another problem yesterday.
“I did my left hamstring (previously). I’ve done my
right side of my back, I’ve just done my right hammy...
I’ve got injury concerns at the moment,” Clarke said.
“Now I’ve got to go back and do what the experts
tell me, to give myself my best chance of being fully
fit.
“But I think I have to be honest with myself and have
a good hard think about things, definitely.”
With Clarke ruling himself out of the second Test
starting in Brisbane next week, Australia selectors
called up middle-order batsman Shaun Marsh to a
squad that will be led once more by wicketkeeper and
vice-captain Brad Haddin.
Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc was also added
with the starting 11 to finalised next week. The third
starts in Melbourne on Dec. 26 then the last is in Sydney from Jan. 6.
Sri Lanka claim
series
KANDY, Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara slammed
a run-a-ball 112 yesterday to set up Sri Lanka’s
series-clinching 90-run win over England in the
sixth one-day international in Kandy.
The victory helped Sri
Lanka take an unassailable
4-2 lead in the seven-match
series with one more game
to be played in Colombo on
Tuesday.
The in-form Sangakkara
hit 12 fours and two sixes as
Sri Lanka posted an imposing 292-7 before bowling out
the visitors for 202 off 41.3
overs.
It was the 20th ODI ton for
the stylish left-hander, who is
set to retire after the World
Cup early next year.
Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal took a career-best 4-30
while Sachithra Senanayake
picked 3-33.
England have now lost six
of their last seven ODI series
and nine of their last 12 ODIs.
Joe Root top-scored with
55 after his side were off to a
quick start, scoring 50 runs in
the first 10 overs.
Root, fresh from his
match-winning century in the
last game, however, got little
help from the other batsmen.
Captain Alastair Cook’s
wretched form with the bat
continued, making just one
run before being trapped leg
before by Senanayake off the
third ball of the innings.
Cook has scored just one
half-century in his last 21
ODI innings. Earlier, in the
day the skipper had dropped
an easy catch off Sangakkara
when the batsman was on 41.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka
M Jayawardene c Taylor b Woakes 5
T Dilshan c Bopara b Tredwell
68
K Sangakkara c Ali b Jordan
112
S Prasanna c Morgan b Finn
20
A Mathews c Bulter b Finn
1
D Chandimal b Jordan
35
T Perera c Cook b Woakes
16
J Mendis not out
12
Extras: (10b, 4lb, 8w, 1nb)
23
Total: (seven wickets)
292
Overs: 50
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-161, 3-186,
4-191, 5-243, 6-262, 7-292.
Bowling: S Finn 9-0-53-2 (3w), C
Woakes 10-1-51-2 (1w), M Ali 8-046-0 (1nb), J Tredwell 10-0-37-1 (1w),
C Jordan 9-0-68-2 (3w), R Bopara
3-0-19-0, J Root 1-0-4-0.
England
A Cook lbw b Senanayake
1
M Ali c Sangakkara b Dilshan
34
J Taylor b Senanayake
10
J Root b Lakmal
55
R Bopara c Senanayake b Lakmal 13
E Morgan c Sangakkara b Lakmal 0
J Butler run out
22
C Woakes c and b Dilshan
41
C Jordan c Sangakkara b Lakmal 4
J Tredwell c Dilshan b Senanayake 19
S Finn not out
1
Extras: (1lb, 1w)
2
Total: (all out)
202
Overs: 41.3
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-36, 3-50, 4-84,
5-84, 6-123, 7-169, 8-175, 9-193.
Bowling: S Senanayake 8.3-0-33-3
(1w), T Dilshan 10-0-55-2, S Prasanna
8-0-40-0, S Lakmal 8-0-30-4, J Mendis 4-0-22-0, T Perera 3-0-21-0.
“It was real tough day, we
bowled pretty well at the
start”, Cook said.
On his current poor form,
the beleaguered England cap-
and India duo Shikhar Dhawan and
stand-in skipper Virat Kohli were
found guilty of breaching the ICC
code of conduct and handed fines
for bust-ups during the stormy first Test
which ended in Adelaide yesterday.
Warner and Dhawan were fined 15 and
30 per cent of their match fees respectively for their roles in an incident that took
place during the second session of play on
Friday, while Kohli was also fined 30 per
cent of his match fee for his involvement
in a separate incident shortly before the
Pakistan recall
Shah and Ali
for one-dayers
SHARJAH:
Pakistan
yesterday
recalled
leg-spinner Yasir Shah
and all-rounder Awar
Ali for the three remaining oneday internationals against New
Zealand as they continued to
sweat over skipper Misbah-ul
Haq’s injury.
Pakistan went down by four
wickets in the second one-day
in Sharjah on Friday, a game in
which Misbah hurt his hamstring
leaving him doubtful for the third
game, also in Sharjah tonday.
Fast bowlers Umar Gul (ankle) and Bilawal Bhatti (hand
injury) were also sidelined and
are returning home.
Chief selector Moin Khan
said Misbah had undergone a
MRI on his injury. “Misbah has
gone through an MRI scan on
his hamstring injury and has
been retained until his medical
report comes,” said Khan. “Gul
and Bhatti have been dropped
owing to fitness issues, while
all-rounder Ali and leg-spinner
Shah have been included.”
Shah took 27 wickets in
the five Tests which Pakistan
played – two against Australia
and three against New Zealand
– since October this year.
The 28-year-old has played
a single one-day international,
against Zimbabwe in Harare in
September 2011.
“Despite fitness issues dogging
many key players, it still remains
a pretty strong side. And I am
positive that it would perform to
its potential in the three remaining ODI games,” said Khan.
The fourth and fifth matches
will be played in Abu Dhabi on
Wednesday and Friday. The series is currently tied at 1-1, with
Pakistan winning the first match
by three wickets in Dubai.
One-day squad: Misbah-ul-Haq
(captain, Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar
Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Sarfraz Ahmad,
Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar
Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah,
Younis Khan, Zulfiqar Babar.
Misbah fined as
Milne is censured
n Sri Lanka’s Sangakkara, left, is congratulated by teammate Dinesh Chandimal after scoring a
century against England
tain said, “It is very hard. You
want to score runs, I have
done that before but it is not
just happening”
“We came here to make it
three all... didn’t play well so
Warner, Dhawan and Kohli ‘guilty’
DUBAI: Australia’s David Warner
39
close of play on the fourth day. Warner, who
made a century in each innings, and Dhawan
were both fined for their roles in events that
followed after Varun Aaron’s delivery that
bowled the Australian was called a no-ball
after a video review.
Warner, instead of walking directly back
to his batting position, walked towards the
bowler and made a provocative comment,
said an ICC statement. After the next delivery, Dhawan came in from his fielding position and aggressively remonstrated with
Warner, stopping the game in the process.
Kohli, in a separate incident, stopped
play to approach Australian batsman Steven Smith and remonstrate with him after
an lbw appeal off the bowling of Rohit
Sharma had been turned down.
The three players admitted the offences
and accepted the sanctions proposed by
match referee Jeff Crowe.
“Both captains agreed that they will take
the lead and the responsibility for setting the
example. In particular, to stop any unacceptable aggression of any kind towards opposing
players,” said Crowe. Australia won the match
by 48 runs after a gripping final day which had
seen Kohli hit a majestic 141.
no complaints.”
Lakmal, returning to the
side in place of Dhammika
Prasad, dismissed Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan off the
second and third balls of the
18th over.
But Jos Buttler survived the
hat-trick ball with a firm push
through mid-on for a boundary.
Sangakkara, playing his
last international in his hometown of Kandy, bid an emotional farewell to his adoring
fans as he led the team off the
field.
“It was great to have been
brought up in Kandy. I have
played cricket with many,
made friends and a lot of
fans,” Sangakkara added.
DUBAI: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul Haq was
fined 15 per cent of his
match fee for showing
dissent at an umpire’s decision
and Kiwi bowler Adam Milne
was reprimanded for using obscene language during a oneday international in Sharjah.
New Zealand won the match
by four wickets on Friday to
level the five-match series at
1-1 after Pakistan took the first
game in Dubai.
Misbah also hurt his hamstring while fielding and is now
doubtful for the third match,
also in Sharjah today.
“Misbah was fined 15 percent
of his match fee for... showing
dissent at an umpire’s decision
during an international match,”
the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement.
Misbah expressed his displeasure in the 37th over after TV umpire Joel Wilson upheld on-field
umpire Richard Illingworth’s decision to give him caught behind
off paceman Matt Henry.
Misbah made 47 in Pakistan’s total of 252 all out, which
New Zealand overhauled in 46
overs. Kiwi paceman Milne
received an official reprimand
for violating the game’s code of
conduct, the ICC said.