Sports
De Grasse wins men’s 200m crown
Canada’s Andre de Grasse became the new 200 metres king, blazing to Olympic glory leading a new generation of speedsters across the line at the Tokyo National Stadium on Wednesday.
De Grasse held a slender lead coming out of the bend but had Bednarek and Lyles for company with the Canadian holding on to cross the line in a time of 19.62 seconds. Bednarek followed in second with a personal best of 19.68, with Lyles bagging bronze in 19.74.
Three nights earlier, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs became the surprise heir to Usain Bolt’s vacant 100m crown, with De Grasse now laying claim to the iconic Jamaican’s title in the 200m.
The Canadian has demonstrated his propensity to perform on the big stage, stepping onto the podium at every major championship he has competed in since 2015.
Five years ago, he locked horns with Bolt in the 200m final in Rio 2016 but like so many before, he bowed the knee to the Jamaican to claim a creditable second place.
The 26-year-old often operates under the radar between major competitions but produces the goods when it matters most.
While De Grasse has three individual medals at the world championships – including the 200m silver medal from Doha in 2019 – the top step has evaded him over the past six years.
Highlighting his temperament for the big moment, De Grasse improved on his previous personal best he set at Rio 2016 again in the semi-final at the Olympic Games. He qualified for the final as the fastest man with a national record of 19.73, chopping 0.07 off the mark from five years ago.
Emmanuel Korir leads Kenyan 1-2 in 800 metres
Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir won the men’s 800m final, leading home a Kenyan 1-2 in 1:45.06 seconds. The 26-year-old athlete, who is the sixth-fastest 800m runner of all time, stormed to the front to take an impressive gold ahead of teammate Ferguson Rotich (1:45.23).
The bronze medal went to Poland’s Patryk Dobek who finished the race in 1:45.39. However, there was disappointment for Botswana’s Nijel Amos – the fastest man in the world this year over 800m – who finished eighth in 1:46.41.
There was always going to be a new gold medallist in the 800m, after double Olympic champion (London 2012 and Rio 2016) and world record holder David Rudisha withdrew from contention due to injury in May. And with the legend missing it left the door open for others to write their names in the history books.
Korir has taken that mantle in Tokyo, winning gold and the title of Olympic champion.
Botswana’s Amos was the presumptive favourite prior to the race, having posted a personal best of 1:41.73 and a season’s best of 1:42.91 – faster than anyone in the field.
His preparations for the final were far from ideal after a fall in his heat saw him jog to the finish line along with fellow stumbler Isaiah Jewett. However, the 27-year-old Amos was reinstated and given a place in the final, with the gold medal event taking place with nine competitors instead of eight.
The second-fastest this year was Korir, with fellow Kenyan Ferguson (named after Manchester United legend Sir Alex) Rotich third after a COVID-disrupted athletics season.
But it was Korir who stormed to victory, driving for the finish line to secure a memorable win and with it the top spot on the Olympic podium.
“It’s amazing I mean I’m so happy and grateful, this is a big achievement,” he said. “I’ve been praying and hoping to maybe one day have a medal and today I have it and I’m so thankful,” said Korir.
“I will still continue running the 400 and 800m. I want to achieve the 43 seconds in the 400m and maybe to do my best and maybe one day 1:40 in the 800m and maybe a world record.
“It’s going to be my happiness if I make it.”
While Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai won the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, Wojciech Nowicki of Poland bagged the gold in the men’s hammer throw.
Chemutai won gold with a time on 9:01.45 as she edged out USA’s Courtney Frerichs, who won silver and Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng, who clinched bronze.
Wojciech Nowicki of Poland threw farthest to claim gold with a distance of 82.52 metres.
It was a personal best for Nowicki, who completed a Tokyo 2020 hammer throw double for Poland as his win came just a day after Anita W?odarczyk won the gold medal in the women’s event. The Pole was followed to the podium by Norway’s Eivind Henriksen who threw a national-record distance of 81.58. The bronze medal was scooped by Pawel Fajdek of Poland after a throw of 81.53.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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