SPORTS DIGEST:CRICKET: A mixture of bad light and the dismissal of big-hitter Paul Stirling meant Ireland will have to come back to Stormont this morning to complete a routine victory over Namibia in their opening Intercontinental Cup clash, writes EMMET RIORDAN.
The home side required 173 for victory after bowling the Africans out for 226 in their second dig, and with Stirling in full flow it looked like the game would end with a day to spare.
The Middlesex opener hit eight fours and a six to make 53 from 44 deliveries before Stephan Baard trapped him leg-before, while left-arm spinner Louis van der Westhuizen accounted for Andrew Poynter (20) and Alex Cusack (42) in the space of 10 deliveries late on to stall any hopes of the game finishing inside three days.
Bad light saw the umpires eventually call stumps with Ireland requiring 38 runs with six wickets in hand, and only some serious bad luck with the weather today looks like stalling a quick conclusion to affairs and a full 20-point haul for Phil Simmons’s side.
They have the right men for the job at the wicket, with skipper Kevin O’Brien and first-innings centurion Andrew White set to resume Ireland’s second innings at 10.30.
Teenage spinner George Dockrell earlier completed a fine match with the ball, taking three wickets to finish with a total of eight for 116 in just his fifth first-class outing.
Namibia had looked like setting Ireland a far more imposing total when Christi Viljoen was at the wicket but the all-rounder was bowled by a pearler of a delivery from John Mooney for 87 to leave the visitors on 144 for four.
O’Brien then took the two crucial middle-order wickets of Gerrie Snyman and Van der Westhuizen, before Dockrell, and a couple of crazy run outs, finished them off.
O’Sullivan rues misses as he crashes out to Hamilton
SNOOKER:Ronnie O'Sullivan rued some "silly" misses after crashing out to Anthony Hamilton in the Shanghai Masters yesterday.
Nottingham player Hamilton had already beaten Stephen Maguire in the first round and added a more notable scalp by beating the three-time world champion 5-3.
He responded to O’Sullivan’s opening 92 with breaks of 49 and 107 to go 2-1 ahead, before O’Sullivan made a 65 to level at the mid-session interval.
O’Sullivan also won the first frame back with a 73 but breaks of 94, 72 and 63 in the next three frames saw Hamilton over the line.
O’Sullivan said: “I had chances but missed some silly balls. It was a 50/50 game but he played well towards the end when it mattered.”
Hamilton goes on to play Mark King, a 5-3 winner over Fergal O’Brien, in the quarter-finals. Mark Selby hammered Jamie Cope 5-0; Mark Williams routed Robert Milkins 5-1; John Higgins saw off Stuart Bingham 5-2, while Shaun Murphy pipped Mark Allen 5-4.
Blake wins 100 metres in Zurich
ATHLETICS:World 100 metres champion Yohan Blake ran a personal best of 9.82 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League meeting last night in his first race since winning gold in Daegu.
Blake captured the world title after fellow-Jamaican Usain Bolt false-started in the final.
Cuba’s world record holder Dayron Robles, stripped of the gold medal in Daegu for impeding Chinese Liu Xiang, won the 110 metres hurdles and 19-year-old world champion Kirani James of Grenada defeated Lashawn Merritt again to win the 400 metres.
Asafa Powell, who missed the world championships through injury, was first out of the blocks in the 100 metres but compatriot Blake caught him by the halfway stage and charged away for a comfortable win. Powell was second in 9.95 seconds and American world silver medallist Walter Dix a distant third in 10.04. Bolt did not compete. “I ran a perfect race, the future looks good for me. Im looking forward to the Olympics next year,” said Blake.
