56 2GM Monday February 21 2022 | the times
SportTennis
5
Cricket
Fifth T20 international
Australia v Sri Lanka
Melbourne (Australia won toss): Sri Lanka
beat Australia by five wickets
Australia (balls)
*A J Finch c Kumara b Chameera 8 (12)
B R McDermott c Nissanka
b Jayawickrama 3 (13)
J P Inglis c and b Chameera 23 (20)
G J Maxwell c Chameera b Kumara 29 (21)
M P Stoinis c Karunaratne b Kumara 17(10)
†M S Wade not out 43 (27)
D R Sams c sub b Karunaratne 18 (15)
A C Agar not out 4 (2)
Extras (lb 2, w 7) 9
Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 154
J A Richardson, K W Richardson and A Zampa
did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-11, 2-12, 3-55, 4-79, 5-82, 6-146.
Bowling Theekshana 4-0-27-0; Kumara
4-0-34-2; Chameera 4-0-30-2; Jayawickrama
4-0-29-1; Karunaratne 4-0-32-1.
Sri Lanka (balls)
P Nissanka c Maxwell
b K W Richardson 13 (8)
†B K G Mendis not out 69 (58)
R V P K Mishara run out 1 (3)
K I C Asalanka b Agar 20 (9)
K L J Vimukthi run out 8 (9)
*M D Shanaka b K W Richardson 35 (31)
C Karunaratne not out 1 (1)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 6) 8
Total (5 wkts, 19.5 overs) 155
P V D Chameera, P Jayawickrama, M M
Theekshana and C B R L S Kumara did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-23, 2-24, 3-54, 4-71, 5-154.
Bowling Stoinis 2-0-13-0; Sams 2.1-0-22-0;
J A Richardson 4-0-38-0; K W Richardson
3.4-0-28-2; Agar 4-0-19-1; Zampa 4-0-33-0.
Umpires D Koch and S Nogajski.
6 Australia won five-match series 4-1
Third T20 international
India v West Indies
Kolkata (West Indies won toss): India beat
West Indies by 17 runs
India (balls)
R D Gaikwad c Mayers b Holder 4 (8)
†I P K P Kishan b Chase 34 (31)
S S Iyer c Holder b Walsh 25 (16)
*R G Sharma b Drakes 7 (15)
S A Yadav c Powell b Shepherd 65 (31)
V R Iyer not out 35 (19)
Extras (lb 10, w 4) 14
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 184D L Chahar, S N Thakur, H V Patel, R Bishnoi
and A Khan did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-10, 2-63, 3-66, 4-93, 5-184.
Bowling Holder 4-0-29-1; Shepherd 4-0-50-1;
Chase 4-0-23-1; Walsh 4-0-30-1; Drakes
3-0-37-1; Allen 1-0-5-0.
West Indies (balls)
K R Mayers c Kishan b Chahar 6 (5)
S D Hope c Kishan b Chahar 8 (4)
†N Pooran c Kishan b Thakur 61 (47)
R Powell c Thakur b Patel 25 (14)
*K A Pollard c Bishnoi b V R Iyer 5 (7)
J O Holder c S S Iyer b V R Iyer 2 (6)
R L Chase b Patel 12 (7)
R Shepherd c Sharma b Patel 29 (21)
F A Allen not out 5 (3)
D C Drakes c Sharma b Thakur 4 (3)
H R Walsh not out 0 (3)
Extras (lb 3, w 7) 10
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 167
Fall of wickets 1-6, 2-26, 3-73, 4-82, 5-87,
6-100, 7-148, 8-158, 9-166.
Bowling Chahar 1.5-0-15-2; Khan 4-0-42-0;
V R Iyer 2.1-0-23-2; Thakur 4-0-33-2; Bishnoi
4-0-29-0; Patel 4-0-22-3.
Umpires J Madanagopal and K N
Ananthapadmanabhan.
6 India won three-match series 3-0Golf
US PGA Tour Genesis Invitational
Pacific Palisades, California: Leaders after
three rounds (United States unless stated):
194 J Niemann (Chile) 63, 63, 68. 197 C Young
66, 62, 69. 200 V Hovland (Nor) 71, 64, 65. 201
J Thomas 67, 64, 70. 202 C Morikawa 67, 67,- 203 M Homa 66, 70, 67; M Leishman (Aus)
70, 66, 67; M McNealy 68, 68, 67; S Scheffler
66, 72, 65.
Rugby league
Betfred Super League Salford 38 Toulouse 12.
Saturday Catalans Dragons 24 Wakefield 22;
Huddersfield 26 Hull KR 12; Hull 6 St Helens 38.
Betfred League Championship York 4 Leigh - Saturday Featherstone Rovers 30 London
Broncos 12; Newcastle 40 Whitehaven 24.
Rugby union
Gallagher Premiership Newcastle 14 Exeter - Saturday Bath 20 Leicester Tigers 24;
Harlequins 29 Wasps 24; London Irish 32
Saracens 30; Northampton 21 Sale Sharks 22.
Greene King IPA Championship Ampthill 13
Richmond 8; Bedford 12 Cornish Pirates 20;
Doncaster 11 Hartpury 10; Jersey Reds 10
Ealing Trailfinders 22; London Scottish 24
Nottingham 36.
National League One Blackheath 12
Tonbridge Juddians 16; Caldy 9 Cambridge 0;
Darlington MP 42 Chinnor 17; Rams 17
Bishop’s Stortford 5; Sale 21 Rosslyn Park 17.
League Two: North Blaydon 36 Bournville 14;
Chester 30 Loughborough 24; Fylde 0
Sedgley Park 38; Hull Ionians 15 Wharfedale 3;
Luctonians 10 Rotherham 10; Stourbridge 74
Harrogate 17. South Barnes 6 Bury St
Edmunds 6; Barnstaple 6 Worthing 21; Dings
Crusaders 53 Rochford Hundred 32; Henley
23 Guernsey 0; Hinckley 15 Esher 13; Leicester
Lions 35 Canterbury 0; Old Albanians 7
Clifton 52; Redruth 40 Westcliff 0.
United Rugby Championship Dragons 0
Ulster 12. Saturday Glasgow 13 Benetton 3;
Leinster 29 Ospreys 7; Scarlets 23 Connacht 29.
Women’s Allianz Premier 15s Harlequins 40
Sale Sharks 8. Saturday Loughborough 28
Exeter 25; Wasps 5 Bristol 7; Worcester 57
Darlington MP 17.
Tennis
ATP Qatar Open
Doha: Final R Bautista Agut (Sp) bt N
Basilashvili (Geo) 6-3, 6-4.ATP Open 13 Provence
Marseilles: Final A Rublev (Rus) bt F Auger-
Aliassime (Can) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).
ATP Delray Beach Open
California: Final C Norrie (GB) bt R Opelka
(US) 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4).
WTA Dubai Duty Free Championships
Final J Ostapenko (Lat) bt V Kudermetova
(Russ) 6-0, 6-4.
Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing: Mixed team parallel: Big final
1, Austria; 2, Germany; 3, Norway.
Bobsleighing: Four-man: Leading final
positions 1, Germany 3min 54.30sec; 2,
Germany 3:54.67; 3, Canada 3:55.09; 6, Great
Britain (B Hall, T Lawrence, N Gleeson, G
Cackett) 3:55.72.
Cross country skiing: Women: 30km mass
start free: Leading final positions 1 T Johaug
(Nor) 1hr 24min 54.0sec; 2. J Diggins (US)
1:26:37.3; 3. K Niskanen (Fin) 1:27:27.3.
Curling: Women: Gold medal game Great
Britain 10 Japan 3.
Ice hockey: Men: Gold medal game Finland
2 ROC 1.Results
removing his mask when told to. Surely,
becoming front page news had made it
hard to prepare psychologically for this
return?
“It wasn’t an everyday situation, so to
say, what happened in Australia,” he
said with impressive understatement.
“It was strange. I was disappointed. I
was sad the way it all played out and the
way I left the country. But once I knew
I was allowed to come here and play, it
wasn’t that hard for me to get on the
court, speak to my team and create a
plan.
“Considering what I’ve been through
in the last couple of months I’m even
more motivated and inspired to play my
best tennis. Of course, it’s not a guaran-
tee, but I did my best to put myself in a
good position.”
For many, regardless of his procla-
mations to the contrary, he has become
a totem for the anti-vax movement. For
others he is entitled to make his own
choice. If his answers so far have failed
to satisfy the dissenters, the one thing
you can never question is Djokovic’s
resilience. “Mentally, I’m here,” he said.
“I am present.”If Novak Djokovic has been scarred by
the furious saga of his deportation from
Australia he hid it well as he sat in a
press conference before today’s
comeback in Dubai and declared that
he was “mentally, emotionally and
physically” refreshed.
Possibly undercooked for his first
match since the Davis Cup in Decem-
ber, the Serbian, 34, is definitely unre-
pentant and still unvaccinated. The
players’ hotel here has a relaxation
room adorned with quotes from
eminent scientists, including Thomas
Edison, but there has been no
light-bulb moment.
Despite the ATP, the governing body
of the men’s tour, confirming that
Djokovic is the only unvaccinated
player in the top 100, the world No 1 said
he had been well received by the few
players he has seen in Dubai.
“It’s nice to see,” he said. “I can’t say
that was the case in Australia. That was
a little bit strange but here it’s all well —
so far.”
Yet he still cannot explain the appar-
ently out-of-sequence serial number on
his positive Covid test of December 16,
that enabled him to travel to the Aus-
tralian Open on a medical exemption.
“I understand. I’ve seen the media
has been speculating about the validity
of the tests,” he said. “I’m not an IT
expert. In the last two years [I have
done] so many PCR tests, rapid antigen
tests. I’m not in a position to under-
stand how these tests are being proc-
essed and registered. I’m glad that the
Institute for Public Health in
Serbia has come out publicly
and validated those tests.”
Being unable to defend
his Australian Open title
will have a lasting sting,
but the small beer of
the Dubai Duty Free
Tennis Championships
has been a happy hunt-
ing ground. He has won it
five times, and it is likely to
be a safe haven after the mael-
strom of Melbourne.
His opponent today is Lorenzo
Musetti, an Italian teenager, who was
pulled from the National Bank Open in
Toronto last year for a Covid protocol
breach after leaving the tournament
bubble.
His second-round opponent could be
Alex de Minaur, Australia’s top player
and the world No 32, which will no
doubt whet the appetite of the disgrun-
tled down under.
It still seems remarkable that
Djokovic would gamble his chance to
go down in history as the greatest of
all time on the Covid vaccine issue. He
claims that he is “open-minded”
but last night’s brief press
conference was halted
before he was asked what
evidence he needed to
see before changing his
mind.
In the meantime he
has seen Rafael Nadal
take his Australian Open
title and move clear in the
pantheon of men’s greats
with 21 grand-slam singles
titles, and though he said he did not
know the permutations that would lead
to him losing the world No 1 status to
Daniil Medvedev this week, that may
reflect a resignation that it is going to
happen sooner or later given his stance
is sabotaging his schedule.
“He deserves to be No 1,” Djokovic
said of the Russian. “Eventually, it’s
going to happen. If it happens this week
I’ll be the first one to congratulate him.”
Djokovic’s post-Dubai future remainsDubai
TennisChampionships
Novak Djokovic v Lorenzo
Musetti (4.30pm); Andy
Murray v Christopher
O’Connell (3pm).
TV: Amazon
Primein a state of flux. “I
just have to follow
the rules,” he said.
“Whatever
tournament that
I’m able to play, I’ll
be trying to get
to that country.
Obviously, I’m not
intending to play
the full schedule
[but] that wasn’t my
intention and my
goal prior to this
season.
“I was trying to
aim to play my best
at the grand slams
and playing for my
country. Those were
the biggest motiva-
tions. Right now the
situation is obvious-
ly different. I really
can’t choose right
now. It’s about where
I can go. Wherever I have an opportu-
nity I’ll be using that because this is
what I do. It’s what I still love to do. Ihave support from
my family. My
team is still there
with me. That’s
important for me
because obvious-
ly it was not easy
for anyone.”
Djokovic’s fan
club will for ever
think he was
mistreated in
Australia, and
his father’s risi-
ble claim that
his son was
like both Jesus
Christ and Spar-
tacus shows the
intensity of
feeling in his
camp.
However, the
Djokovic of
Dubai has been
on something of a
charm offensive, talking of how he will
never have life without tennis, of
helping the next generation, and onlyRick Broadbent
Djokovic’s Dubai charm offensive
SUHAIB SALEM/REUTERSaveanopporth
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hDjokovic in
practice before
his return to
competitive
action todayNorrie wins third ATP Tour titleThe British No 1 Cameron Norrie
secured his third ATP Tour title with
victory over Reilly Opelka in the
final of the Delray Beach Open.
Norrie edged a hard-fought
contest in Florida 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4)
against his big-serving American
opponent, who sent down 25 aces
but was unable to threaten Norrie’s
serve in either set.
The top seed failed to take any of
the five break points he created
against Opelka, the world No 20,
who had needed three hours to win
his third consecutive three-set
match against John Millman in the
semi-finals. However, Norrie raced
through the first-set tie-break and
won the crucial points in the
second-set tie-break as well, most
notably edging 5-4 ahead when
Opelka’s attempted forehand pass
flew agonisingly long.
Norrie, the 26-year-old world
No 13, closed out the match to add
to his victories last year at Indian
Wells and Los Cabos. He said that he
had “really enjoyed” his time on
court this week.
Elsewhere yesterday, Andrey
Rublev won his ninth career title by
beating Felix Auger-Aliassime of
Canada 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) in the
Marseilles final.
The Russian, ranked No 7 in the
world, took revenge on the
Canadian, who won their meeting in
the Rotterdam semi-final last week
on the way to a first career title.Dubai