the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 2GM 59
Sport
Results
Football fixtures
Kick-off 7.45 unless stated
Champions League: Round of 16, second leg
(8.0): Ajax (2) v Benfica (2); Manchester Utd (1)
v Atlético Madrid (1).
Sky Bet Championship Barnsley v Bristol City;
Birmingham v Middlesbrough; Blackburn v
Derby; Bournemouth v Reading; West Brom v
Fulham (8.0). League One Charlton v
Gillingham; Crewe v Wigan; Plymouth v
Portsmouth; Rotherham v Lincoln; SheffieldWednesday v Accrington Stanley; Shrewsbury
v Morecambe; Wycombe v Fleetwood. League
Two Bristol Rovers v Colchester; Carlisle v
Newport County; Exeter v Crawley; Forest
Green v Leyton Orient; Hartlepool v Bradford
City; Port Vale v Mansfield; Rochdale v Salford;
Scunthorpe v Barrow; Stevenage v
Northampton; Swindon v Sutton Utd;
Tranmere v Harrogate; Walsall v Oldham.
Vanarama National League Barnet v
Boreham Wood; Halifax v Bromley; Southend vDagenham & Redbridge; Stockport County v
Notts County. North AFC Fylde v AFC Telford;
Guiseley v Blyth Spartans; Spennymoor v
Kidderminster; York v Curzon Ashton. South
Bath v Slough; Billericay v St Albans; Braintree
v Ebbsfleet; Concord v Tonbridge; Dartford v
Chelmsford; Eastbourne v Dorking; Hampton
& Richmond v Welling; Maidstone v Dulwich.
Cinch Scottish League Two Cowdenbeath v
Forfar.Dan Evans threw everything he had at
Rafael Nadal in the third round of the
Indian Wells Open last night, yet still
could not come close to ending the
21-times grand-slam champion’s
unbeaten record on the tour in 2022.
The British No 2, seeded No 27 in the
Californian desert, could walk off the
court after one hour and 43 minutes
with his head held high after a fine per-
formance against arguably the greatest
male player of all-time, but ultimately
he had nothing to show for it after
letting slip a 4-2 lead in the first set.
Nadal prevailed 7-5, 6-3 to improve
his win-loss record this year to 17-0, a
run that includes three titles at the
Australian Open, Melbourne
Summer Set and the Mexi-
can Open. It is the best
start to any season in his
professional career,
which is a remark-
able achievement
considering he is
only three months
short of his 36th
birthday.
Yet another mile-
stone was also
reached last night.
Nadal became the first
player to claim 400 singles
match wins in the ATP Masters
1000 series, 19 years after his first
against Slovakia’s Karol Kucera at the
Monte Carlo Masters. He is 19 wins
ahead of Roger Federer and 26 ahead of
Novak Djokovic.
“Good numbers, of course,” Nadal
said. “I am happy to be through.”
Evans, 31, enjoyed some success in
the early stages by using his slice to take
his opponent out of his comfort zone
and was first to break serve. As ever,
Nadal dug deep and fought back to edge
the opening set in 57 minutes.
With temperatures exceeding 30C, it
was difficult at this point to see how
Evans could outlast Nadal over the
Evans is pegged
back as Nadal
makes history
again in the heat
course of three sets. A wayward smash
by the Briton conceded the break in the
second game of the second set, and this
proved enough for Nadal to go on and
seal victory on his own serve with a
trademark forehand winner down
the line.
“The match didn’t start the way I
wanted, but I was able to hit a couple of
good passing shots in key moments,”
Nadal said. “I improved my serve and
my forehand started to work a bit
better. I need to keep improving, of
course, but there was a small improve-
ment today, which was important.”
In the women’s draw Harriet Dart’s
run from qualifying to the last 16 has
secured her entry into the world’s top
100 for the first time. It has long been
one of the 25-year-old’s goals and after
five victories in seven days she has
finally achieved it.
A 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 triumph
against Estonia’s Kaia
Kanepi on Sunday
backed up her first
win against a top-20
opponent two days
earlier, from a set
and a break down
against Elina Svito-
lina, the world No 18
from Ukraine.
It is enough to guar-
antee that she will re-
place Heather Watson as
the British No 2 on Monday.
“She played at top-ten level,” said
Paula Badosa, the world No 7 from
Spain, who watched Dart’s upset over
Svitolina.
Dart, who was brought up in London,
has a strong all-round game, with her
quick movement and versatile two-
handed backhand the stand-out
strengths. She also has much grit and
determination, as was evident against
the experienced Kanepi.
Dart’s run of form is well timed
before Great Britain’s Billie Jean King
Cup qualifier away to the Czech Repub-
lic next month. Options had looked
thin for the captain, Anne Keothavong,Tennis
Stuart Fraser Tennis Correspondent
e Mexi-
best
his
r,o
ht.
first
singles
TP Masters
rs after his firstfinally ach
A 7- 6
again
Kan
bac
wi
op
ea
an
ag
lin
from
It i
antee
place He
the British N
“She played at toNadal plays a volley during his straight-sets win against Evans, while, inset, Dart
was delighted after battling back to beat Kanepi and enter the world’s top 100after the retirement of Johanna Konta
and slump of Watson, who dropped
outside the top 100 two weeks ago.
Dart’s fourth-round match today is
against Madison Keys, the world No 29
from the United States. The pair have
already met once this year, with Keys
winning in two tight sets during an
Australian Open warm-up event in
Melbourne two months ago.
“At this point she’s won almost a tour-
nament worth of matches,” Keys said. “I
think she’s going to be really confident,
just doing whatever she can to win and
has no pressure. She’s a really great
player, a really good ball-striker and
moves well. I think this court suits her
game fairly well.”Brady’s back
- what can
we expect?
American football
Charles Walford
Less than two months after “retiring”
from the NFL, Tom Brady announced
that he is returning for a 23rd season.
The day after he was at Old Trafford to
watch Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick for
Manchester United against Tottenham
Hotspur, the most decorated player in
the sport’s history revealed on social
media a U-turn.
“These past two months I’ve realised
my place is still on the field and not in
the stands,” the 44-year-old wrote,
adding that he has “unfinished busi-
ness”. So, what does it all mean?A shock U-turn?
Not really. The rumours of a return
began almost as soon as he had walked
away. Brady led the NFL in passing
yards (5,316), completions (485) and
touchdowns (43) for the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers last season, a year after
leading them to Super Bowl victory and
claiming his seventh ring.
This isn’t like Rob Gronkowski
walking away for a year before being
lured out of retirement, or Michael
Jordan leaving the NBA to play baseball
for one of the Chicago White Sox’s
minor league teams — Brady is still in
great shape and will be ready to go.What does it mean for Tampa Bay?
A few days ago the Buccaneers were
25-1 to win the Super Bowl; now they
are 15-2 — third favourites.
There was no obvious replacement
lined up for Brady, and in a year of a
comparatively weak quarterback class,
it was not something that they were
likely to address through the Draft.
With Aaron Rodgers, 38, extending in
Green Bay and Russell Wilson, 33,
moving to the Broncos, they were run-
ning out of quarterback options.
Gronkowski, the 32-year-old tight
end who won three Super Bowls with
Brady for the Patriots before following
him to Florida, could well be tempted
by another year with his old friend.New horizons
The move is great news for Europe’s
fans. Rodgers is coming to London with
the Packers as part of the league’s Inter-
national Series this autumn, and now
the first NFL game to be played in
Germany will feature another great.
Brady will become the first NFL quar-
terback to play in Mexico, England and
Germany — another record broken.CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGESFootball
Premier League
Crystal Palace (0) 0 Man City (0) 0
6 Table on page 66
Scottish Cup, quarter-final
Dundee Utd(0) 0 Celtic (1) 3
8,553 McGregor 12
Giakoumakis 58, 88
Cricket
Second Test: Pakistan v Australia
Karachi (third day of five): Australia, with nine
second-innings wickets in hand, are 489 runs
ahead of Pakistan
Australia First Innings (overnight 505-8)
M A Starc c Azhar Ali b Afridi 28
*P J Cummins not out 34
M J Swepson not out 15
Extras (b 10, lb 7, w 5, nb 7) 29
Total (9 wkts dec, 189 overs) 556
Fall of wickets 1-82, 2-91, 3-250, 4-304, 5-347,
6-360, 7-405, 8-503, 9-505.
Bowling Afridi 32-8-95-1; Hasan Ali 25-7-71-1;
Ashraf 21-4-55-2; Khan 57-10-167-2; Nauman Ali
48-6-134-1; Azam 4-0-7-1; Azhar Ali 2-0-10-0.
Second Innings
U T Khawaja not out 35
D A Warner c Alam b Hasan Ali 7
M Labuschagne not out 37
Extras (lb 2) 2
Total (1 wkt, 17 overs) 81
Fall of wicket 1-20.
Bowling Afridi 4-0-14-0; Hasan Ali 4-0-14-1;
Khan 5-0-31-0; Ashraf 3-0-13-0; Nauman Ali
1-0-7-0.
Pakistan First Innings
Abdullah Shafique run out 13
Imam-ul-Haq c Cummins b Lyon 20
Azhar Ali c Green b Starc 14
*Babar Azam c Khawaja b Swepson 36
Fawad Alam lbw b Starc 0
†Mohammad Rizwan c Carey b Cummins 6
Faheem Ashraf lbw b Green 4
Sajid Khan c Carey b Starc 5
Hasan Ali run out 0
Nauman Ali not out 20
Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw b Swepson 19
Extras (b 6, lb 2, nb 3) 11
Total (53 overs) 148
Fall of wickets 1-26, 2-45, 3-60, 4-60, 5-76, 6-81,
7-97, 8-102, 9-118.
Bowling Starc 13-5-29-3; Cummins 13-2-39-1;
Lyon 9-5-13-1; Swepson 9-1-32-2; Green 8-1-23-1;
Labuschagne 1-0-4-0.
Umpires Ahsan Raza and Aleem Dar.
Second Test: India v Sri Lanka
Bangalore (third day of five): India beat Sri
Lanka by 238 runs
India First Innings 252 (S S Iyer 92)
Second Innings 303-9 dec (S S Iyer 67, R R Pant
50; P Jayawickrama 4 for 78)
Sri Lanka First Innings 109 (J J Bumrah 5 for 24)
Second Innings (overnight 28-1)
*F D M Karunaratne b Bumrah 107
B K G Mendis st Pant b Ashwin 54
A D Mathews b Jadeja 1
D M de Silva c Vihari b Ashwin 4
†D P D N Dickwella st Pant b Patel 12
K I C Asalanka c Sharma b Patel 5L Embuldeniya lbw b Ashwin 2
R A S Lakmal b Bumrah 1
M V T Fernando c Shami b Ashwin 2
P Jayawickrama not out 0
Extras (b 16, lb 3, nb 1) 20
Total (59.3 overs) 208
Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-97, 3-98, 4-105, 5-160,
6-180, 7-204, 8-206, 9-208.
Bowling Bumrah 9-4-23-3; Shami 6-0-26-0;
Ashwin 19.3-3-55-4; Jadeja 14-2-48-1; Patel 11-1-
37-2.
Umpires A K Chaudhary and N N Menon.
6 India won two-match series 2-0
Women’s World Cup, group stage
South Africa v England
Mount Maunganui (South Africa won toss):
South Africa (2pts) beat England by three
wickets
England (balls)
T T Beaumont lbw b Klaas 62 (97)
D N Wyatt c Wolvaardt b Kapp 3 (8)
*H C Knight b Kapp 9 (11)
N R Sciver c Lee b Klaas 16 (24)
@A E Jones run out 53 (74)
S I R Dunkley c Chetty b Kapp 26 (38)
K H Brunt c Sub b Kapp 17 (23)
K L Cross c Tryon b Kapp 6 (6)
S Ecclestone not out 15 (13)
C E Dean b Khaka 6 (6)
A Shrubsole not out 2 (2)
Extras (lb 8, w 10, nb 2) 20
Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 235
Fall of wickets 1-4, 2-19, 3-42, 4-149, 5-167,
6-201, 7-204, 8-216, 9-227.
Bowling Ismail 5-1-23-0; Kapp 10-1-45-5; Khaka
10-0-59-1; Klaas 8-1-23-2; Tryon 10-1-44-0; Luus
7-0-33-0.South Africa (balls)
L Lee b Shrubsole 9 (15)
L Wolvaardt c Sciver b Cross 77 (101)
T Brits c Cross b Sciver 23 (46)
*S Luus st Jones b Dean 36 (49)
M du Preez c Jones b Ecclestone 8 (14)
M Kapp lbw b Shrubsole 32 (42)
C L Tryon run out 15 (13)
@T Chetty not out 11 (13)
S Ismail not out 5 (3)
Extras (b,4, lb 8, w 8) 20
Total (7 wkts, 49.2 overs) 236
M Klaas and A Khaka did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-18, 2-74, 3-147, 4-158, 5-169,
6-199, 7-226.
Bowling Brunt 9-0-54-0; Shrubsole 9-0-34-2;
Cross 8-1-40-1; Ecclestone 10-1-23-1; Sciver
4.2-0-21-1; Dean 6-0-33-1; Knight 3-0-19-0.
Umpires C Polosak and S Saikat
Other result: Hamilton Bangladesh 234-7 (50
overs); Pakistan 225-9 (50 overs: Sidra Ameen
104). Bangladesh (2pts) won by nine runs.
6 Table on page 61Golf
US PGA Tour Players Championship
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Final scores (United States unless stated):
275 C Smith (Aus) 69, 71, 69, 66. 276 A Lahiri
(India) 67, 73, 67, 69. 277 P Casey (Eng) 70, 69,
69, 69. 278 K Kisner 68, 74, 68, 68.
279 K Bradley 72, 71, 68, 68. 280 H Varner III
69, 69, 72, 70; R Knox (Scot) 71, 71, 68, 70;
D Ghim 70, 70, 68, 72. 281 S Straka (Hun) 69, 74,
71, 67; A Hadwin (Can) 72 72, 70, 67; V Hovland
(Nor) 71, 73, 68, 69; D Johnson 69, 73, 76, 63.
Rugby league
Betfred Challenge Cup: Fifth round Bradford
Bulls 16 Leigh Centurions 20.
Tennis
BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, California: Men: Second round
B Van de Zandschulp (Neth) bt F Auger-Aliassime (Can) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3; T Paul
(US) bt A Zverev (Ger) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2); T Fritz
(US) bt K Majchrzak (Pol) 6-1, 6-1; M Kecmanovic
(Serbia) bt M Cilic (Cro) 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); L
Harris (SA) bt F Bagnis (Arg) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; A De
Minaur (Aus) bt J Millman (Aus) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; D
Schwartzman (Arg) bt E Ruusuvuori (Fin) 5-7, 6-
3, 6-3; H Hurkacz (Pol) bt O Otte (Ger) 6-3, 3-6,
6-3; J Isner (US) bt S Querrey (US) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6
(7-2); G Dimitrov (Bul) bt J Thompson (Aus) 7-6
(7-3), 6-2; A Bublik (Kaz) bt A Murray (GB) 7-6 (11-
9), 6-3; A Rublev (Russ) bt D Koepfer (Ger) 7-5,
6-4; S Johnson (US) bt A Karatsev (Russ) 7-6 (7-
5), 6-4; M Berrettini (It) bt H Nodskov Rune (Den)
6-3, 4-6, 6-4; F Tiafoe (US) bt B Nakashima (US)
6-4, 6-4; J Munar (Sp) bt P Carreño-Busta (Sp) 4-
6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Women: Third round I Swiatek
(Pol) bt C Tauson (Den) 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-1; M Keys
(US) bt A Riske (US) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; H Dart (GB) bt
K Kanepi (Est) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; A Kerber (Ger) bt D
Kasatkina (Russ) 6-2, 6-1; S Halep (Rom) bt C
Gauff (US) 6-3, 6-4; L Samsonova (Russ) bt D
Kovinic (Mont) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); S Cirstea (Rom) bt
A Kalinskaya (Russ) 5-7, 6-1, 6-0; P Martic (Cro)
bt E Raducanu (GB) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5.Djokovic back in No 1 spot
Novak Djokovic will return to world
No 1 on Monday despite being
denied entry to the United States
because of his refusal to be
vaccinated against Covid.
The Serbian was last week forced
to withdraw from the Indian Wells
Open, but will still reclaim the top
position after the incumbent, Daniil
Medvedev, suffered a shock 4-6, 6-3,
6-1 defeat by France’s Gael Monfils in
the third round last night. Medvedev
will have another chance to regain
top spot at next week’s Miami Open.