Smith tips less tension Aussies to face Kohli again in one- dayers, T20
STEVE Smith expects ten- sions between Australia and India will cool during the ODI series that starts on Sunday.
Smith’s squad has landed in India, where they’ll contest five one- dayers and three Twenty20s before heading home to prepare for the Ashes.
Australia’s previous visit to the country was marred by a series of controversies, the bulk of which involved Smith ( pictured) and/ or opposing captain Virat Kohli.
However, Smith expects a BILLIONAIRE Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is in negotiations with the ARU about taking over the National Rugby Championship.
Forrest met the ARU’s hierarchy about putting millions into his proposed Indo- Pacific Rugby Championship and he could effectively replace the NRC with this tournament but keep many teams.
Appealing to Forrest is that the ARU owns the Western Force name, so he could work in conjunction with them and replace the Perth Spirit with the Force, preserving the identity of the franchise axed by Australia’s governing body last week.
Forrest’s tournament would not compete with Super Rugby, but reinvigorate the NRC. far less fiery contest than the Test series that unfolded in February and March.
“I think it’ll be played in good spirit,” Smith said yesterday in Chennai, where his side faces a local XI in their only warm- up before the series starts in the same city.
“It’s always a hard- fought contest playing against India.”
Kohli remarked after India’s 2- 1 Test series win over SYDNEY FC coach Graham Arnold reckons he has an even better squad at his disposal now than the one that swept the ALeague last season as they hunt the only piece of silverware that eluded them.
The Sky Blues take on FFA Cup holders Melbourne City in tomorrow night’s quarter- final at Leichhardt Oval.
It is a rematch of last year’s tournament decider, which Melbourne City won 1- 0, which was one of only two losses Sydney suffered across their 2016- 17 campaign.
“I believe we have got a greater squad than what we had last year,” Arnold said.
“The new players have settled in very, very well.” Smith’s side that he is no longer friends with Australian players and never will be.
The firebrand’s antics and words ensured he was a nearconstant presence in the headlines earlier this year, but he struggled with the bat.
Kohli managed just 46 runs at 9.2, his lowest average in a Test series. He has since returned to form, finishing a recent limited- overs tour of Sri AUSTRALIA’S Scott Hend has been denied a third European Tour victory after losing on a third extra hole to England’s Matt Fitzpatrick at the European Masters.
Townsville- born Hend led by three shots going into the final round and had an 3m putt to win on the second play- off hole at Crans- sur- Sierre Golf Club in Switzerland. But he missed and a wayward shot from a bunker on the third to bogey the hole gave Fitzpatrick the chance to close out the win with a 1m putt at the picturesque Swiss Alps course.
Hend pocketed $ 450,000 but it was the second time in as many years he has been denied the title in a play- off. Lanka with knocks of 82, 110no and 131.
“He is obviously a very good player and has a phenomenal ODI record,” Smith said.
“Hopefully we can keep him quiet as much as possible in this series.
“If we do that then hopefully it can go a long way in us having success on this tour.”
Coach Darren Lehmann has returned home to Austra- lia, with David Saker to mentor the squad in India.
Smith, who led Australia to a recent 1- 1 drawn Test series in Bangladesh, rejected the notion another month on the subcontinent would hamper his side’s Ashes preparation.
“There is plenty of time when we get back home and play some Shield games also and get ready for the Ashes,” he said. MARC Marquez passed Danilo Petrucci on the final lap to win the rainy San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix yesterday and draw level with Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the MotoGP standings.
Petrucci had taken the lead a quarter of the way through the race when Jorge Lorenzo crashed, but apparently without injury. Petrucci finished second and Dovizioso third.
Lorenzo had a strong start, moving immediately from fifth to first. There were multiple falls and six riders retired.
It was Marquez’s fourth win of the season.
Townsville’s Jack Miller finished sixth and is 13th in the MotoGP standings. SERENA Williams is targeting a return to competitive tennis in January to defend her Australian Open title, but Kim Clijsters has questioned her ability to regain top form so soon after childbirth.
Williams gave birth to a baby daughter on September 1.
Asked if that was a realistic timetable for a comeback, three- time US Open champion Clijsters was dubious.
She retired for two years and had a baby before returning to tennis and winning her 2009 crown in New York.
“( It) depends how the labour and birth went,” Clijsters said.
“How your body reacts. Everybody reacts different in those situations.”