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US Open 2019: Rafael Nadal beats Diego Schwartzman to reach US Open semi-finals

Published in Tennis

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 22:15

Rafael Nadal remains the favourite to win the US Open and move within one on Roger Federer's tally of 20 Grand Slams after a hard-fought quarter-final win over Diego Schwartzman.

Spanish second seed Nadal won 6-4 7-5 6-2 against the Argentine 20th seed.

But he was made to work as Schwartzman twice rallied from four-game deficits in a stuffy Arthur Ashe stadium.

Nadal, 33, will next play Italy's 24th seed Matteo Berrettini, who beat Gael Monfils in their last eight clash.

Three of the men's semi-finalists - Berrettini, Grigor Dimitrov and Daniil Medvedev - have never played in a Grand Slam final.

Nadal's golden opportunity to close on Federer

Nadal, who won his 18th Grand Slam with a 12th title at Roland Garros in June, has been considered one of the favourites in New York from the start of tournament, with the other two members of the 'Big Three' - Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic and Swiss great Federer - also tipped as the men to beat.

That has been a familiar pattern over the past decade such has been the trio's dominance, showing no signs of changing despite all three men entering their 30s.

The past 11 Grand Slams have all been won by either Nadal, 32-year-old Djokovic or 38-year-old Federer.

But the departure of 2018 champion Djokovic, who retired from his last-16 match against Stan Wawrinka with a shoulder injury, and Federer's quarter-final exit against Bulgarian world number 78 Dimitrov, has given the opportunity for Nadal to make a serious move in the race to be considered as the greatest player of all time.

If Nadal lifts his fourth title at Flushing Meadows he will move within one of Federer's tally for the first time.

Schwartzman falls short in late-night thriller

Before thinking that far ahead, Nadal had to see off a courageous challenge from Schwartzman, who levelled from a double break down in each of the first two sets.

A strange start saw Nadal race 4-0 ahead before the diminutive Schwartzman, backed by vociferous Argentine support on an atmospheric Ashe, hit back with four straight games of his own.

Momentum continued with Schwartzman, who created two break points for a 5-4 lead before the Spaniard dug deep to hold and clinch the opener with another break.

Remarkably the same pattern continued in the second set, Nadal moving a double break up before Schwartzman fought back from 5-1 - with a forehand winner after a desperate scramble leaving even his opponent clapping - to level at 5-5.

Again Nadal's nous proved the difference at the crucial moment, taking Schwartzman's serve in the 12th game with his third set point.

With the clock ticking past midnight, swathes of seats became empty in the early part of the third set as some spectators left for home.

Luckily for those left Nadal wrapped things up quickly, breaking twice without reply to clinch victory in two hours and 46 minutes before embracing Schwartzman at the net.

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Pole Position? Group 7 rollercoaster ride keeps going!

Published in Table Tennis

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 20:55

On the opening day of play, Serbia struck a narrow 3-2 victory over Belgium in a fascinating and hard-fought duel to establish positive momentum in the group, but the early pace-setters knew that there was little time to celebrate with another huge clash on the fixture list the following day.

Awaiting in the second set of group-stage matches was a fierce meeting with the top-seeded team in Group 7, Poland. However, Team Serbia entered the tie not only with confidence on their side but also the understanding that success on day two would be enough to seal top spot in the group.

One powerful weapon Serbia had up their sleeve was the vastly experienced and highly reliable warrior known as Aleksandar Karakasevic. So, it may have come as a shock for some to see the 43-year-old Serb suffer defeat in the match opener and it was a convincing one at that as Poland’s Marek Badowski produced an inspiring display to put his team 1-0 ahead (11-6, 11-9, 11-9).

An early setback for the Serbians, their deficit soon doubled as Jakub Dyjas inflicted a four games defeat upon Zsolt Peto (5-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7) to extend Poland’s lead to 2-0 and firmly in the driving seat.

The odds were beginning to stack up in the Polish team’s favour but their opponents refused to give up without a fight: Marko Jevtovic put Serbia on the scoreboard with his straight games win against Samuel Kulczycki (11-8, 11-9, 16-14) while Karakasevic made up for his previous loss, edging an entertaining encounter with Dyjas (6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-9) to draw the match level at 2-2. Was a truly legendary comeback about to be completed?

With both sides inseparable by the conclusion of the fourth match, a deciding fifth fixture was required to find a winner. The man who put his team on the front foot at the very start of the contest, Badowski went on to beat Peto (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-2) to secure the most crucial of victories that saved Poland’s campaign in Nantes.

Team Poland has relied on the service of Dyjas to get them out of a tricky spot on more than one occasion in the past, but this time out it was Marek Badowski that delivered when his country needed him most.

Two matches down, just one to go and it’s still anyone’s game! Defeated on day one, the hunt for first position in Group 7 is still a possibility for Belgium but to pull it off they will need a mighty performance to see off Poland in the concluding battle.

Right now Poland are in pole position, but this unpredictable group might still have a surprise or two to offer.

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Form maintained, semi-finalists decided

Published in Table Tennis

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 20:56

Victors in opposition to Argentina, the no.2 seeds, in their opening fixture, Canada recorded a 3-2 win against Chile to secure first place in the group.

Against Argentina the backbone of the success had been Jeremy Hazin, he had accounted for both Nicolas Galvano (7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8) and Gaston Alto (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 2-11, 11-9); facing Chile it was exactly the same scenario. He overcame Manuel Moya (8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6) and Gustavo Gomez (11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8).

Furthermore, just as when facing Argentina he had set the scene for Edward Ly to seal the victory; he did the same in opposition to Chile, he overcame Manuel Moya (11-6, 11-9, 11-9).

End of road

Defeat for Chile, it meant the end of the road; for Canada a semi-final place, for Argentina a quarter-final berth. Alas for Argentina there was to be no penultimate round place, a 3-2 defeat was the outcome against the United States trio of Kanak Jha, Nikhil Kumar and Zhang Kai.

A quarter-final exit for Argentina, it was the same for Paraguay, represented by Marcelo Aguirre, Santiago Osorio and Axel Gavilan. After, recording a 3-2 win against Ecuador’s Alberto Miño, Diego Piguave and Emiliano Riofrio to reserve second place, they experienced a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez, Brian Afanador and Angel Naranjo.

At the semi-final stage, Puerto Rico face Canada; the United States opposes Brazil’s top seeded outfit of Vitor Ishiy, Eric Jouti and Gustavo Tsuboi, the trio having the previous day reserved first place in their group.

Progress to semi-finals

Meanwhile, in the women’s team event, Brazil’s Caroline Kumahara, Bruna Takahashi and Jessica Yamada, who had recorded a 3-1 win against the no.2 , seeds, Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, Melanie Diaz and Daniely Rios, concluded their initial phase fixtures in style. They claimed a 3-0 win in opposition to Canada’s Huang Hui, Sophie Gauthier and Joyce Xu. Puerto Rico duly finished in second place.

Progress for the United States and Chile, in the corresponding group, the United States represented by Amy Wang, Crystal Wang, Wu Yue and Lily Zhang gained first place ahead of Chile.

In the penultimate round the United States opposes Puerto Rico, Brazil confronts Chile.

Both the men’s team and women’s team events will be played to a conclusion n Thursday 5th September.

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Rio gold medal repeat in Ostrava?

Published in Table Tennis

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 23:41

Moreover, there could be repeats of gold medal contests of three years ago at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Memorably, in men’s singles class 1, Great Britain’s Rob Davies beat Korea Republic’s Joo Youngdae to claim the title. Both appear on the Ostrava entry list.

“I’ve had a lot more consistency in my training over the summer, so it is going in the right direction and I’m quite happy with where I am at the moment. It is all about qualifying for Tokyo next year so that is my main goal, to get qualified and keep making improvements. It is good to see the Koreans will be there and hopefully I will get to play them. They are obviously good players and it will be good to test ourselves against them.” Rob Davies

In Ostrava, Rob Davies lines up alongside Tom Matthews and Paul Davies. Notably last year Tom Matthews was a bronze medallist at the 2018 World Para Championships in Lasko; Paul Davies at the London 2012 Paralympic Games

“Tom is coming along nicely and it will be good to see how he does against the Koreans as well. We can push each other going towards Tokyo and that will be good for us all I think.” Rob Davies

A possible Rio de Janeiro repeat in men’s singles class 1; it could also happen in men’s singles class 6.

The names of Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier and Spain’s Alvaro Valera both appear on the entry list. In Rio de Janeiro Peter Rosenmeier accounted for Alvaro Valera in the title decider. Previously, Peter Rosenmeier had won gold at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Alvaro Valera had emerged the winner in 2000 in Sydney.

Noteworthy names and there are more who have enjoyed success at the highest level. Slovakia’s Jan Riapos will be in action; he won men’s singles class at the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Paralympic Games. Likewise, winners in London in 2012, Norway’s Tommy Urhaug in class 5 and Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski in class 10 compete in Ostrava.

Similarly in the women’s singles events, there are most prominent names; Norway’s Aida Dahlen, the class 8 European champion in both 2015 and 2017 competes as does Serbia’s Borislava Peric-Rankovic, Rio 2016 class 4 gold medallist.

Overall 323 players have enrolled, a total f 288 men and 95 women.

2016 Czech Para Open: draws and full results

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BC39 Prelims Begin, Meseraull Is High Point Man

Published in Racing

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 19:00

INDIANAPOLIS – Thomas Meseraull has quickly proven that all it took to light up his season was a new power plant under the hood cover of his RMS Racing-prepared No. 7x midget.

With a new Toyota engine onboard, Meseraull raced from ninth to the win in one of 10 heat races Wednesday night at The Dirt Track at IMS, topping the passing points chart for the opening half of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink.

Meseraull, who had to wait until the ninth heat to go out on Wednesday by virtue of his draft pick Tuesday night, rocketed from ninth to fourth in one lap when the green flag waved and found himself in the lead by the time the fourth revolution of the fifth-mile dirt oval was completed.

From there, Meseraull left the other eight drivers in his heat race in the dust, taking the checkered flag in front of a charging Kyle Larson by .969 seconds and earning 165 passing points for his efforts.

That put Meseraull atop the other 89 entrants for the BC39 and sets him up in prime position for Thursday’s qualifiers. Combined points from the heats and qualifiers set the fields for the alphabet soup.

“I just can’t thank my guys enough; it’s about time I was in a hot rod,” said Meseraull, whose team switched to Toyota power a week ago and already has a POWRi win under its belt. “I’m in the best of the best of the best right now. This thing is brand new; we built it three weeks ago and put a brand-new Toyota in it … and it’s seemed to rip, on the chip, all the time since we got it going.

“We’ve got tomorrow to go yet, but I feel good. I love where we’re at right now. We’re in a rhythm.”

In other preliminary action, Brady Bacon thrilled the crowd from the outset, coming from seventh and edging out Chris Windom by .036 seconds in a photo finish to win the first Wednesday heat race.

A last-lap pass in a green-to-checkered second heat saw Kevin Thomas Jr. slip past Karsyn Elledge for the second heat race victory of the program.

After a duel of sliders with his Clauson-Marshall Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the third heat race, Zeb Wise pulled away over the second half of the 10-lap sprint en route to victory.

The fourth heat race saw Dillon Welch make a daring three-wide pass of both Justin Grant and C.J. Leary entering turn one on the final lap to take the victory in the Tucker-Boat Motorsports No. 81.

Heat race five was dominated from start to finish by winged sprint car star Gio Scelzi, who rocketed to the lead from the outside pole and was never challenged thereafter. Jason McDougal finished second.

Zach Daum took the lead on lap four of the sixth heat and fended off a determined Tanner Carrick down the stretch en route to that heat’s checkered flag. Billy Wease was third after leading the first two laps.

In that heat, Andrew Layser went for a wild flip in the third turn with two to go while running fourth, with his No. 47bc briefly catching fire before the flames were extinguished. Layser climbed out under his own power.

Jake Neuman came from fourth to first on lap five and walked away from a furious battle for second between Michael Pickens and Christopher Bell to win heat race seven. Pickens eventually prevailed over Bell to come home as the runner-up in that event.

The eighth heat featured another photo finish, as Chad Boat beat out Logan Seavey’s last-gasp effort to take the checkered flag in front by .082 seconds. Alex Bright finished a second back of those two in third.

Following Meseraull’s win in heat nine, Spencer Bayston led the final seven laps to win the 10th and final heat race in his first race back in a national midget since the Chili Bowl Nationals back in January.

Going into the qualifiers on Thursday, Meseraull leads the rostrum with 165 points, followed by Bacon, Thomas and Bayston, who each have 155 points to their names.

Chris Windom is fifth in the provisional point standings with 148 points, while Daum and Neuman are deadlocked at 145 points apiece. Tanner Carrick (143), Logan Seavey (143) and Boat (140) completed the top 10 in the night one standings.

Notables with a long way to go to reach the top-16 lock-in for the Thursday night A-main include Tyler Courtney, who was 22nd on points; Tyler Thomas, who ended the night 25th in points; Christopher Bell, who struggled in his heat and is 33rd in points; and J.J. Yeley, who sits 40th in points after heat races.

To view complete heat race results, advance to the next page.

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Larson Survives For Stoops Pursuit Victory

Published in Racing

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 21:00

INDIANAPOLIS – Kyle Larson was, quite literally, the last man standing during Wednesday night’s 25-lap Stoops Pursuit at The Dirt Track at IMS, as the second annual Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink officially got underway.

Larson was one of three drivers who remained in contention during the final segment of the unique, Australian-style pursuit event which eliminated drivers as they crashed out or were passed on track.

He, Michael Pickens and Justin Grant were all racing tightly together on the last lap of the five-lap sprint to the finish when Pickens dove underneath Larson entering turn three and ramped over Larson’s left-front tire with the right-rear wheel of his No. 1nz.

The contact sent Pickens several feet in the air as he flipped wildly, while Larson went into a 360-degree spin as he wrestled to regain control of his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 97.

While all of that happened down low, Grant went to the cushion in an attempt to rocket around the outside of both crashing cars below him, but tagged the outside wall with his right-rear tire and ended up flipping in his own right.

That left Larson, who kept his car under power as he got pointed back in the right direction, alone to sneak through the fourth corner and to the red and checkered flags as the winner – the only one of 25 cars that ultimately made it to the finish line and completed the entire distance of the Stoops Pursuit.

It was a finish that evoked memories of both the 1976 Daytona 500 finish between Richard Petty and David Pearson at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and the 1985 “spin-and-win” performed by Danny Sullivan at IMS during the 69th running of the Indianapolis 500.

As he climbed from his wounded race car in victory lane, Larson was all smiles.

Kyle Larson takes the red and checkered flags to win Wednesday night’s Stoops Pursuit at The Dirt Track at IMS. (Rich Forman photo)

“That was wild,” Larson exclaimed. “I didn’t know it was going to be that crazy of a race. On the second to last stage, Justin (Grant) got by and then (Jason) McDougal got by, and I knew I needed to get back to second to be able to run that last round.

“I was really good up top,” Larson continued. “I knew if I got a good restart, I could get by Pickens, but this track was so racy that sliders were easy to throw. Michael (Pickens) was throwing everything he had at me. We made contact there on the backstretch. He was trying to park it on the bottom, and I was trying to do what I did the lap before or two laps before (in order to hold him off).

“I didn’t know it was going to be that crazy of a race, but for an odd format like that, it was a ton of fun.”

The seventh-starting Larson won $2,100 for his efforts, with the $1,500 winner’s share boosted by $100 for each car that the Elk Grove, Calif., native passed during the Stoops Pursuit main event.

With scoring for the two crashed combatants on the final lap going back to the last completed lap, Pickens was credited with second place and Grant was scored third in the final finishing order.

Tyler Courtney and Jason McDougal, who were both eliminated during the final segment break at the conclusion of lap 20, completed the top five.

Polesitter Jesse Colwell never led a lap of the event, passed by Chad Boat in the first corner and eliminated at the lap-five cutoff despite running second at that time. He finished 14th.

Defending Stoops Pursuit champion Zeb Wise made the return visit by winning his heat race, but was mired in traffic after starting 13th and also got eliminated at the end of the first five-lap segment.

Wise was credited with 18th in the official results.

The finish:

1. Kyle Larson (7), 2. Michael Pickens (3), 3. Justin Grant (12), 4. Tyler Courtney (17), 5. Jason McDougal (15), 6. Tanner Carrick (11), 7. Chris Windom (18), 8. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (16), 9. Chad Boat (2), 10. 19 Spencer Bayston (4), 11. 67 Logan Seavey (5), 12. Zach Daum (14), 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (19), 14. Jesse Colwell (1), 15. Gio Scelzi (10), 16. Jake Neuman (6), 17. Dillon Welch (9), 18. Zeb Wise (13), 19. Brady Bacon (20), 20. Christopher Bell (25), 21. Robert Dalby (24), 22. Kyle O’Gara (21), 23. Jerry Coons, Jr. (23), 24. Thomas Meseraull (8), 25. Chase Briscoe (22).

Lap Leader(s): Chad Boat 1-5, Michael Pickens 6-20, Kyle Larson 21-22, Pickens 23, Larson 24-25.

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NHL reaches deal to stream all games in Russia

Published in Hockey

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 21:29

The NHL is expanding its reach into Russia through a new streaming agreement that's set to make every regular-season and playoff game available in the country.

The league reached an agreement with Yandex that will more than triple the number of games available to fans in Russia. Staging a game in Russia remains a possibility in the coming years.

"It's a game-changer for us," NHL executive vice president of international and media strategy David Proper said Wednesday. "We're more than dipping our toe into the market."

The NHL's previous agreement called for 15 games per week to be broadcast in Russia. That gave a window into the league and its Russian stars, such as Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nikita Kucherov and Vladimir Tarasenko, but the long-term goal is to create not just more fans but also another generation of players.

Citing agreements in other countries with established pro leagues, Proper said the NHL is not trying to cut into the KHL's market but rather help the Russian-based league with more exposure.

"If things go really well, it rises all boats because people become hockey fans," Proper said. "For the most part, they're not on at the same times as KHL games, so this gives us the opportunity to show how great Russian players are, and maybe, hopefully, that in some way helps just the overall growth of hockey in the market."

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Garner, Berkshire claim 2019 World Long Drive Championship

Published in Golf

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 17:19

THACKERVILLE, Okla. – The 2019 World Long Drive season wrapped up in spectacular fashion, with Chloe Garner and Kyle Berkshire cementing themselves as the latest duo to join the select club of World Long Drive Champions.

Garner found redemption in the championship match against Phillis Meti after finishing runner-up to the No. 1 ranked hitter in the Women’s Division in the season-culminating event two of the previous three years.

“That was unbelievable,” said Garner. “I felt really good going into it. I felt like I had found a good rhythm. I think maybe Phillis felt a bit more pressure having to back up those titles, whereas I was able to let loose.”

The 28-year-old South African advanced to the championship match after hitting the grid only twice in the semifinals against Alexis Belton, but her 346-yard drive was enough to propel her toward a rematch with Meti.

In the Open Division, the championship match pitted No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the rankings in Berkshire and Burke, and just as he had proved in the previous two tour events this summer, Berkshire confirmed the notion that he is a force to be reckoned with. On just his second ball, he outdrove the two-time champion to claim his first World Long Drive Championship title belt.

“This feels awesome,” said Berkshire. “It’s validated a lot of the hard work and sacrifice I’ve put in to [being] the best, and I am the best right now. I look forward to raising that bar.”

Berkshire faced England’s Jordan Brooks in the semifinals, where he connected on a 423-yard drive that saw him through to the championship match with Burke.

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Sources: MLS suspends fans for Iron Front flag

Published in Soccer

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 22:37

A "handful" of fans belonging to the Timbers Army, the main supporters' group for the Portland Timbers in MLS, have been banned from attending games at Providence Park for three matches, multiple sources have confirmed to ESPN.

The fans were banned for waving flags that show the Iron Front symbol, which violates MLS's prohibition on political signage in its stadiums. MLS has stated that the symbol is connected to the antifa movement and thus constitutes a link to a political organization. The Timbers Army contends that the image is intended to promote inclusion, anti-fascism and anti-racism.

One source added that the fans who have been sanctioned can appeal their bans if they so choose, and that the punishments could be reduced.

The Timbers directed all requests for comment about the bans to MLS, which didn't immediately respond.

Prior to the start of the season, MLS revised its Fan Code of Conduct, which now includes a ban on political signage. While the Code of Conduct doesn't mention the Iron Front flag specifically, fans from around the league were told prior to the season that it is prohibited.

But the issue has come to a head in recent weeks. The Timbers Army, along with their Seattle Sounders counterparts -- the Emerald City Supporters and Gorilla FC, staged a silent protest for the first 33 minutes of the match between the two teams on Aug. 23. At that point in the game, the supporters from both teams began cheering and displaying flags with the Iron Front symbol.

In a statement released prior to the match, the three groups called for MLS to rescind its ban on flying the Iron Front flag, as well as remove the word "political" from its Fan Code of Conduct, calling the use of the word "inherently arbitrary."

The groups also asked MLS to work with international experts on human rights to craft language in the fan code of conduct that "reflects and supports radical inclusion and anti-discrimination."

Four days after the match, the Timbers Army said in a statement that it had been given a "general warning" by the club and the league for displaying the flag. But the Timbers Army showed the flags again during last weekend's match against Real Salt Lake, thus triggering the aforementioned sanctions.

Portland's next home match is this Saturday against Sporting Kansas City.

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Neesham, Hasnain, Pollard see off St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Published in Cricket

Wednesday, 04 September 2019 21:25

Trinbago Knight Riders 152 for 7 (Pollard 47, Neesham 33, Cottrell 3-13, Emrit 3-39) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 153 (Lewis 36, Neesham 3-18, Hasnain 3-36) by 11 runs

No Bravo brothers (injured). No Colin Munro (international duty). No Ali Khan (injured). No problem for defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders. New Zealand allrounder James Neesham, teenaged Pakistan tearaway Mohammad Hasnain and new captain Kieron Pollard all sparkled on their TKR debuts to overcome dew and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL 2019 opener at the Queen's Park Oval.

Pollard isn't too far away from playing his 500th T20, but he had never turned out for his home franchise in Trinidad before Thursday. He made it a memorable occasion, smashing a boundary-laden 47 off 32 balls, to haul TKR past 150.

Patriots went through the Powerplay unscathed, but they lost 4 for 6 in a collapse that was set in motion by spin on a dew-slicked pitch. Fabian Allen and Usama Mir created some late excitement with a barrage of sixes, but Neesham and Hasnain closed the game out for the hosts.

#UnleashtheNeesh

Cottrell found enough seam movement with the new ball and removed opener Sunil Narine and No. 3 Tion Webster in successive overs, kicking off the league with his trademark salutes. When Lendl Simmons was bowled by a fit-again Alzarri Joseph, TKR were 20 for 3 in four overs. Then, it was time for the home side to #UnleashtheNeesh.

Neesham glanced his first ball away for four and then hit two more fours, off Joseph in the last over of the Powerplay, to steady a flailing innings. Neesham was handed two lives - on 19 and 31 - and he took advantage of it along with Denesh Ramdin, who was more sedate at the other end. The highlight of Neesham's innings was a shovelled six over midwicket off Carlos Brathwaite.

Neesham wasn't done yet. He snapped a 47-run opening stand in the chase and then ended it two wickets off the last over. He also plucked three catches in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

The Pollard bash

Patriots had held back Pakistani legspinner Usama Mir for Pollard, but the TKR captain smartly saw him off and tore up medium-pacers Rayad Emrit and Brathwaite. Pollard nailed three sixes - all over his favourite long-on region - to give the innings the finishing kick along with Javon Searles.

Patriots fall in a heap

Evin Lewis and T20 debutant Kjorn Ottley, who hails from Trinidad, didn't over-hit the ball in the early exchanges and instead looked to protect their wickets. However, from 47 for 0 and later 70 for 1, Patriots were reduced to 76 for 5.

Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, the Player of the Match of the 2018 CPL final, bowled constricting lines and found turn to dismiss the dangerous Lewis and wicketkeeper-batsman Devon Thomas in successive overs. Sri Lanka legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna, meanwhile, got rid of Jason Mohammed for a duck before Allen took him to the cleaners with four sixes in the 16th over. At this point Patriots needed 42 off 24 balls and, although Mir cracked two sixes of his own, there would be no way past Hasnain and Neesham.

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