 Sri Lanka crashed to 43 all out to equal the fourth lowest total in one-day international history today and lose by a huge 258-run margin to South Africa in the opening game of their five-match series.
Morne Morkel took 4-10 and Lonwabo Tsotsobe 3-19 to rip through Sri Lanka’s lineup as South Africa won by the third biggest victory margin by runs in ODIs after having made 301-8 batting first.
Sri Lanka lost Upul Tharanga off the second ball of the innings and opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan off the eighth both for ducks in a terrible start for the tourists on the way to their lowest-ever ODI score.
Wickets tumbled rapidly with Dinesh Chandimal out in the fourth over. Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews fell within three balls in the fifth, and Mahela Jayawardene flashed a cut shot straight to Faf du Plessis at point in the eighth as the tourists fell to 13-6.
Kosala Kulasekara top-scored with 19 in just his second ODI and was the only player to reach double figures for Sri Lanka.
The ninth-wicket pair of Kosala and Nuwan Kulasekara were needed to drag Sri Lanka past the lowest-ever total of 35, set when Sri Lanka bowled out Zimbabwe in 2004.
But left-arm spinner Robin Peterson picked up two late wickets to take 2-5 and end the Sri Lankan innings in just 20.1 overs.
Earlier, Hashim Amla’s 112 drove South Africa to its big total, despite Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga claiming 5-53.
Amla shared a 144-run partnership with Jacques Kallis (72) and a 91-run stand with AB de Villiers (52) after Malinga struck in the third over to remove Graeme Smith.
Amla hit eight fours for 112 off 128 deliveries his ninth ODI hundred and De Villiers made a rapid half-century off just 40 balls in his first game as ODI skipper.
But Malinga returned with a typically devastating spell near the end to remove Amla, Albie Morkel (25), Du Plessis and Dale Steyn to slow South Africa’s scoring.
Malinga dismissed Du Plessis and Steyn in the final over for his fifth five-wicket ODI haul as South Africa faded from 244-3 when De Villiers went. But the captain still led South Africa to its second-biggest win ever after batting first in a one-day international.
Source: nzherald.co.nz/ |
The International Boxing Federation has stated that “mystery man” Mustafa Ameen had no business being involved at ringside during Amir Khan’s controversial defeat to Lamont Peterson.
Khan lost his IBF and WBA light-welterweight titles in a disputed split decision loss against Peterson in Washington, DC on 10 December.
The Bolton fighter has since called into question various issues from the night, ranging from the referee Joe Cooper’s deduction of two points from him to the judging of the fight and inconsistencies with the scorecards.
Khan’s latest complaint last week was the presence of the then-unidentified Ameen at ringside, where he is seen interacting with the WBA supervisor, Michael Welsh, and allegedly handling scorecards. Ameen was then identified by Khan’s promoter, Richard Schaefer, who also said Ameen was involved with the IBF.
The governing body has explained in a statement that Ameen is not one of its employees or officials, though he does voluntary work with its programme for retired fighters and will attend a hearing on 18 January.
A statement issued by the organisation’s publicist, Jeannette Salazar, read: “Mr Mustafa Ameen does outreach work for the IBF’s SARB/Education Fund.
“This fund was initially created to financially assist retired professional boxers experiencing monetary difficulties.
“Shortly over a year ago, IBF President Daryl Peoples and Mr Ameen agreed that he would network on behalf of the organisation with the purpose of connecting with these fighters in order for the IBF to provide them with some financial assistance.
“Mr Ameen’s role with the organisation is limited to just this. He is not an employee or an official of the organisation, nor does he receive any monetary compensation from the organisation for his efforts.
“Previous to the Khan-Peterson bout, the IBF made a request for the Washington, DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission to extend Mr Ameen the courtesy of a credential to enter the arena.
“Mr Ameen was not assigned by the IBF to officiate this bout. Despite all that has transpired, at this point the IBF has not changed its stance and plans on moving forth with the hearing as scheduled on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.
“Mr Ameen will be present at the hearing to explain his actions and what transpired during the bout between him and Mr Welsh, the WBA supervisor.”
Khan’s trainer, Freddie Roach, revealed at the weekend he knew Ameen and insists he had no official role.
He told BBC Sport: “[Ameen] has no credentials; he’s not a member of any boxing organisation. There’s no reason for him to be at ringside. Why he was ringside and why he was in the ring afterwards celebrating and so forth I have no idea.”
Earlier this week, Ameen told boxingscene.com: “Amir Khan and Golden Boy have requested a hearing to appeal the decision and I am going to participate in the hearing and I’m not going to take the path that others have taken and state my case on the internet and in the media. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m not running or ducking or anything.
“Without talking about the merits of what happened, I will just say that there’s a lot of misinformation. I’ve been called a lot of names over the past several days and that attacks my credibility, attacks my reputation that I worked very hard on in all my years in boxing.”
Source: guardian.co.uk |