6 CHENNAISportsTHURSDAY19 OCTOBER 2017

� 10 man Catalans maintain no loss record despite Pique's red card

Indonesia, Oct 19 (PTI) Indian shuttlers Gayatri Gop-

ichand, Lakshya Sen and Kartikey Gulshan Kumar reached the fi fth round of the World Junior Champi-onship on Wednesday

Gayatri overcame Denmark’s Michelle Skodstrup 19-21 21-18 21-17, second seed Lakshya defeated China’s Li Shifeng 21-16 21-11 and Kartikey made quick work of

Canada’s Brian Yang 21-15 21-12 in another match. Men’s doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Dhruv Kapila dumped Korea’s Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang 21-12 21-16 also to reach the next round.

However, it was curtains for Aakarshi Kashyap, Rahul Bharad-waj and Ashmita Chaliha after they lost their respective matches here.

Abu Dhabi, Oct 19Opening batsman, Imam-ul-Haq

who is the nephew of Pakistani leg-end, Inzamam-ul-Haq smashed a hundred on debut to guide his side to a seven wicket win in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Seamer Hasan Ali became the quick-est bowler to reach 50 ODI wickets for Pakistan as his 5-34 saw Sri Lanka bowled out for 208 in 48.2 overs after they won the toss and elected to bat fi rst. Imam became only the second batsman from his country and 13th overall to score a hundred on ODI debut before he finally fell for 100 off 125 balls. The 21-year-old hit two sixes and fi ve fours as the nominal hosts wrapped up the series with two matches to spare.

But Imam could have missed that milestone as he was reprieved on 89, having been given out caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella off Lahiru Gamage. Luckily, TV reviews showed

otherwise and he was recalled. Mo-hammad Hafeez remained not out on 34, scoring the winning single.

Pakistan now hold an unassailable 3-0 lead in the fi ve-match series after winning the fi rst match by 83 runs in Dubai and a 32-run victory in the second in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The remaining games are in Sharjah on Friday and Monday. With a low target to chase, Imam made a solid start alongside Fakhar Zaman in an

opening stand of 78. Zaman fell for 29, stumped by Dickwella off spinner Jeffrey Vandersay while Babar Za-man was bowled by Gamage for 30.

Sri Lanka, who suffered their ninth straight ODI defeat, were loose with the bat. Hasan, 23, was ably assisted by leg-spinner Shadab Khan (2-37) as Sri Lanka, who won the toss and batted, lost their last nine wickets for only 106 runs.

Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga (61) and Dickwella (18) put on 59 for the fi rst wicket, but from 102-1 in the 26th over their innings was derailed by Pakistan’s bowlers.

Hasan, who had given Pakistan the early breakthrough with Dickwella’s wicket, removed Chamara Kapuged-era (18), Milinda Siriwardana (two) and Vandersay (nought) to complete 50 wickets in his 24th ODI. The pre-vious record was held by legendary paceman Waqar Younis, who took 27 ODIs to reach the mark. Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis holds the overall record of 19 matches.

Barcelona, Oct 19Pep Guardiola got it right when he

spoke about Lionel Messi a couple of years ago. ‘Don’t write about him,’ the former Barcelona coach said. ‘Don’t even try to describe

him. Just watch him.’This was another night for watching

the Barca star as he scored his 100th European goal and led Barcelona to a 3-1 win against Olympiakos in the Champions League. Dimitrios Nikolaou opened the scoring, turning Gerard Deulofeu’s goal into his own net, before Messi doubled Barca’s lead with a free-kick -- although not before Gerard Pique had been sent off for a second booking on the stroke of half-time.

Barça’s third goal arrived via Lucas Digne, who finished smartly after some brilliant foot work from the once again inspired Messi, be-fore Nikolaou scored a late consolation. It leaves Barca with nine points,

three wins from three and top spot in Group D, with their place in the knockout rounds looking increasingly assured.

Ernesto Valverde made four chang-es for the visit of his former side here, with Sergi Roberto, Digne, Paulinho and Deulofeu replacing Nelson Se-medo, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic and Andre Gomes. The early stages were conditioned by the weather, with thun-der and lightning partnering with the pouring rain at Camp Nou, but Barca were still able to stamp their authority on the match.

Deulofeu was creating most danger on the right but, once again, his fi nal product was hit and miss. However, the opener still came from his cross, with Nikolaou turning into his own net. It’s the fi fth time this season Barça have scored via an own goal -- making it the club’s second top scorer after Messi.

Paulinho had a second goal ruled out for the Blaugrana for offside and then hit the bar, before Luis Suarez was denied by Silvio Proto after great

work by Messi. However, the game turned at the end of the fi rst half when Pique’s goal celebration was cut short by the fl ash of a red card.

The Barca defender had already been booked when he handled Deu-lofeu’s cross to turn it over the line, earning him a second yellow card and an early return to the dressing room. Valverde shuffled his pack at the break as a result, bringing on Javier Mascherano in place of Deulofeu, who could consider himself unlucky and a victim of circumstance.

Despite being down to 10, Barca began the second half as they’d ended the fi rst, in complete control of the game. The second goal eventually arrived just after the hour, Messi scoring a free kick from 20 yards after he had been clat-tered from behind by Nikolaou, who earned himself a booking.

Messi was central to the third goal, too, displaying some brilliant footwork on the byline and his pullback, which missed the fi rst batch of bodies, was brilliantly fi nished by Digne.

Lisbon, Oct 19 It took a bizarre goalkeeping error

to get the job done, but Manchester United took full control of Champions League Group A with a 1-0 win over Benfi ca on the strength of Marcus Rashford’s second half goal that was gifted to them by a youthful mistake from Benfi ca goalkeeper Mile Svilar.

The match started slow with Jose Mourinho and Manchester United

content to sit back and let Benfi ca wear themselves down trying to bring pressure, but with the unfortunate caveat of Benfi ca not really doing much to push the pace or try to force the issue. There was a grand total of one shot on target during the entire fi rst half, that a tame effort from Ne-manja Matic on one of Manchester’s extremely rare forays forward that Mile Svilar saved with ease.

London, Oct 19:Chelsea and AS Roma served up

a rip-roaring 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as both clubs stayed fi rmly on course for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. Edin Dzeko scored twice on his 100th appearance for Roma in an enthral-ling contest as the Italians stormed back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining, only for Eden Hazard to salvage a point for Group C leaders Chelsea with a header.

The goal fl ow began in the 11th minute when David Luiz’s curler put Chelsea ahead and when Hazard doubled the home side’s advantage in the 36th, it looked like being a routine night for Antonio Conte’s side. Aleksandar Kolarov fi red Roma back into contention before the in-terval though and Dzeko’s double in the space of six minutes, the fi rst a scorching volley, looked to have earned Roma only their second win in 16 attempts on English soil.

Hazard’s equaliser kept Chelsea top with seven points from three games with Roma on fi ve -- three ahead of Atletico Madrid who was surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw by Qarabag.

Chelsea, reeling from successive Premier League defeats, spent much of the fi rst half on the back foot but were clinical when it mattered as they moved into a 2-0 lead. The hosts

went ahead when Luiz, playing in central midfi eld in place of the injured N‘Golo Kante, produced a stunning curler from 25 metres past Roma keeper Alisson Becker.

Radja Nainggolan and Di-ego Perotti wasted gilt-edged chances for Roma and those misses looked terminal for Roma’s hopes when Chelsea struck again wi th a 36th-minute counter-at tack. Al-varo Morata and Haz-ard combined before Morata’s cross spun o f f a Roma defender and into the path of Hazard who rammed home his side’s second.

Roma began the second half full of purpose and Dzeko looked poised to tap-in Kolarov’s low cut back only to see the ball diverted off his toes by the alert Courtois. A disgruntled Luiz was replaced by Pedro but Roma had taken a stranglehold and levelled in stunning fashion as Dzeko belted an unstoppable left-foot volley beyond Courtois.

Six minutes later Dzeko took his tally for the season to 12 goals in all competitions for club and country, the Bosnian hitman left unmarked to head in Kolarov’s free kick. Roma’s lead lasted only four minutes though as Hazard glanced in Pedro’s cross with a superb header.

NT BureauPune, Oct 19:

Patna Pirates and Bengaluru Bulls played out a fi re-cracker of a match drawing level at 29-29 tie at Pune on Deepavali eve. In the other match of the day, Puneri Paltan climbed to second spot in Zone A by crushing Jaipur Pink Panthers 38-15. Monu Goyat managed a game-high 11 points for Patna, while Skipper Deepak Hooda was Pune’s top performer on the night with a game-high 14 points.

Ish Sodhi replaces Todd Astle in NZ

ODI squadMumbai, Oct 19

Leggie Ish Sodhi today replaced injured Todd Astle in the New Zea-land squad for the three match ODI series against India, commencing here on October 22.

Astle, who sustained a groin injury in the fi rst warm-up game against the Board President’s XI on Tues-day, has been ruled out of the entire ODI and T20 series. He could bowl just three deliveries in that game.

A statement from New Zealand Cricket said today.’Further assess-ment and a scan confi rmed Astle to have suffered a tear on his right side, which will see him ruled out for around three weeks. Sodhi, who was originally only named in the Twenty20 squad, will replace Astle in the ODI side’

The three matches of the ODI series will be played in Mumbai (22 October), Pune (25 October) and Kanpur (29 October).

� 10 man Catalan

BarceloPep Guardiola got it righ

spoke about Lionel Mesof years ago. ‘Don’t whim,’ the former Barcesaid. ‘Don’t even try t

him. Just watch him.’This was another night fo

the Barca star as he scoreEuropean goal and led to a 3-1 win against Olythe Champions LeagueNikolaou opened the scorGerard Deulofeu’s goal innet, before Messi doublead with a free-kick -- abefore Gerard Piquesent off for a second the stroke of half-tim

Barça’s third goalLucas Digne, whsmartly after somfoot work fromagain inspired fore Nikolaoulate consolatioBarca with n

ahead when Luiz, playing in al midfi eld in place of the injured o Kante, produced a stunning r from 25 metres past Roma er Alisson Becker.

ja Nainggolan and Di-Perotti wasted gilt-edged ces for Roma and those es looked terminal oma’s hopes when sea struck again a 36th-minute ter-at tack. Al-

Morata and Haz-ombined before t ’ f f

Hazard rescues Chelsea from trouble� The Blues tie with AS Roma to stay

on course for last 16

Messi’s 100th helps Barca trump Olympiakos

Man U edges past Benfi ca

� Goalie Mile Svilar’s mistake gifts the red devils the match

The second half was more of the same until the 65th minute, when Marcus Rashford scored a goal in one of the the unlikeliest ways you’ll see. Rashford decided to shoot for goal on a free kick, and Svilar, an 18-year-old Belgian youth interna-tional made what looked like a good save at fi rst, right up until he couldn’t check his momentum and carried the ball over the line.

In the end, it seems like Benfi ca’s

youthful side wasn’t up to the task of taking points off Manchester United, even during long stretches of the match when United were practi-cally begging the Portuguese club to come and challenge them. The result virtually ends Benfi ca’s hopes of getting anything out of Europe this season, with zero points through three matches, giving them minimal hopes of even clawing their way into the Europa League knockout rounds.

Bengaluru out of playoffs

� Puneri Paltan trot to comfortable win against Jaipur

Patna Pirates vs Bengaluru Bulls Patna started the match in confi dent fashion, picking

up four points. Dubki King Pardeep Narwal pulled off some swift raids for Patna. Bengaluru’s defence fi nally tackled him and they slowly came back into the match to make it 7-7 after 10 minutes. Rohit Kumar picked away at Patna’s defence one man at a time to infl ict the fi rst All-Out of the match and give Bengaluru a 14-11. At half time Bengaluru had a 18-16 advantage.

In the second half, the sides kept up the tempo with Bengaluru still retaining a slender 24-23 lead. With only 10 minutes on the clock, both sides decided to rely on do-or-die raids for points.

Bengaluru tackled Pardeep, while Ajay Kumar scored a crucial raid point for the Bulls to make it 28-25 in the 38th minute. Undeterred, Patna demon-strated the mettle of champions in the penultimate

Puneri Paltan vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

The game started slow and a relatively low-scoring fi rst 10 minutes saw Pune and jaipur neck and neck at 5-5. Akshay Jadhav though raided successfully for Pune and was backed up by his defence in the 13th minute when they pulled off a successful tackle on Jasvir Singh to take a two advantage.

The hosts extended their lead on the back of some robust tackling. A crucial do-or-die raid which Hooda completed successfully ensured that Pune went into halftime with 12-7 lead.

In the second half, Pune went up a gear as they infl icted an All-Out on Jaipur four minutes into the half for an 18-8 lead. Jaipur did try rallying and picked up a few points through Pawan Kumar but the home side still had a 23-11 advantage heading into the last 10 minutes. Hooda again with a bril-liant two-point raid enforced another All-Out on the Panthers. They saw out the remainder of the match with more conviction in defence and lethalness in offence to trot to a comfortable 38-15 win.

minute and took the lead courtesy of a two-point raid from Goyat following some astute defending from his side.

A bonus point by Sunil Jaipal in Bengaluru’s fi nal raid, however, tied the contest 29-29. Bengaluru now bow out of the league having failed to qualify for the play-offs, while Patna fi nishes second in Zone B.

Gayatri progresses in badminton championship

Pak whitewashes Lanka� Debut century by Imam-ul-Haq helps host clinch series