Lorenzo up four a big finish
WHIZZ WANG CAN DO NO WRONG
DAVE FERN JORGE LORENZO looks all set for a winning finale with the Movistar Yamaha team after scorching at record-breaking pace to pole start for the last round of MotoGP in Valencia this afternoon.
The local hero (below) beat his own track record with a superb lap of 1min 29.401secs as he aims for a fourth win at this circuit.
That would ensure third place in the title stakes and provide the perfect end to his career at Yamaha before his move to Ducati next season.
Lorenzo, 29, said: “I didn’t imagine we could get this time.
“I knew in practice we could push and maybe do a 1min 29.8secs lap but not quite this.
“It is an unbelievable time and I am very proud, very happy but now we have to try for victory.”
Marc Marquez, determined to celebrate his third World MotoGP title with a winning ride, bounced back from a tumble in free practice to take the fight to Lorenzo.
He closed his Repsol Honda to within 0.34secs to start alongside him.
Completing the front row is Valentino Rossi on the second Movistar Yamaha.
Hameed, 19, is the first teenager to play for England since 1997 and only the sixth overall but yesterday he produced an ice-cool display of batting to secure at least a draw against India – the world’s No.1 Test team.
He finished day four on 62, with Cook beside him on 46, as England closed 163 runs ahead on 114 without loss in their second innings.
Hameed’s was the highest Test score by a teenager for England since the great Denis Compton made 65 on debut against New Zealand at The Oval in 1937.
There has only been one higher score for England by a teen – Jack Crawford’s 74 in Cape Town in 1906. The Bolton-born from CHRIS STOCKS in Rajkot batsman also became their first opener to score a half-century on debut since Cook against India at Nagpur in 2006.
Cook has gone on to become his country’s leading Test runscorer and century-maker and, while it is too early to say if he will beat those records, Hameed has surely ended England’s search for a permanent opening partner for their prolific skipper.
Nine players have struggled in the role since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012 but Hameed looks the real deal.
And, regardless of the result of this Test, England will be delighted to have solved a problem that had turned into an embarrassment.
Hameed had shown glimpses of his class when scoring 31 on the first day of this match.
But he moved up another level in his JEUNGHUN WANG came from nowhere to snatch the lead going into today’s final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City. The up-and-coming South Korean, 21, fired in six birdies and an eagle in a faultless round of 64 yesterday to move three shots clear of South African Louis Oosthuizen. But former Open champion Oosthuizen missed a major chance to close the gap second innings, passing 50 when he steered leg-spinner Amit Mishra down to third man for four.
It was not only a special moment for Hameed but also his father Ismail, born in the state of Gujarat where this Test is being played and who was reduced to tears as he watched from the stands.
Adil Rashid, the leg-spinner who was England’s leading wicket-taker with 4-114 as India were bowled out for 488, praised Hameed’s coolness under pressure.
The Yorkshire leg-spinner said: “He’s been very good.
“He’s got a good head, he’s a clever boy, works hard in the nets and he’s a great talent. I wasn’t surprised at all how he came out and played here.”
Rashid, who initially faced Hameed in the County Championship in August at Old Trafford when he became the first Lancashire batsman to score centuries in both innings against their Roses PHIL GIRVAN when he finished his third round with back-to-back bogeys.
Ryder Cup star Andy Sullivan (left) who was playing alongside Wang, is third after he carded a round of four under par which moved the Englishman to seven under.
Opening rounds of 68 and 73 gave no hint of the fact that world No.91 Wang was about to do anything special. But he raced rivals, added: “He’s a very calm, very organised cricketer and has a good sense of humour. He’s fitted very well into the dressing room. Hopefully he can carry that on for many more years to come.”
There was even grudging praise from India opener Murali Vijay who top-scored with 126 during his side’s first innings.
“He’s a pretty good talent, solid and has a calm head,” he said.
“Those are good signs for a cricketer. Hopefully he has a good future.”
All results were still possible at the start of the day with England boosted by the two late wickets the previous evening that had reduced India to 319-4, still 218 behind.
But despite the early wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and captain Virat Kohli, India managed to add another 169 runs in 59.3 overs – thanks largely to an impressive 70 from Ravi Ashwin – to blunt England’s hopes of victory. out of the traps with birdies at four of the first six holes and played both nines in four under.
Wang was just 20 when he became the youngest player in European Tour history to win consecutive events this season after victories in the Hassan Trophy and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
And he has a third triumph firmly in his sights after defying a swirling wind to take charge at the Gary Player Country Club.