Root & Curran shine on tour
JOE ROOT and Tom Curran led the way with bat and ball as England got their limited-overs tour of South Africa under way with an internal squad match at Newlands.
The 23-man travelling party was split into two sides for the 40-over practice, with captain Eoin Morgan and his deputy Jos Buttler leading rival teams kitted out in blue and red respectively.
Test skipper Root (above), once again omitted from the T20 squad but included for the subsequent ODIs, made 77 at a run-a-ball as Team Buttler posted 255 all out batting first in Cape Town.
Curran, meanwhile, helped himself to 4-25 in 6.1 overs, with Buttler the pick of his scalps.
RICHARD BLAND will be out to end his European Tour drought today – after playing 466 events without a victory.
The Englishman sits in a tie for third spot heading into today’s final round at the Joburg Open.
But Bland is still five shots behind leader Wilco Nienaber, the South African who is bidding to become the youngest ever winner of the tournament.
Nienaber, 20, is a shot clear of Dane Joachim B Hansen.
He said: “It’s going to be the first time that I’m in that situation, so I’m just going to embrace it and enjoy the day.”
HOMETOWN hero Miguel Oliveira heads the grid for the final race of the season at
Portimao today.
As the championship makes its debut at the Algarve track, the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 rider banked his maiden pole at his home track.
Oliveira’s hot lap of 1min 38.892 on his final run was enough to knock Petronas Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli down to second, with Australia’s Jack Miller third.
SUZUKI’S Joan Mir is gunning for Marc Marquez in 2021.
Mir became an unlikely champion last week after winning just one race. Six-time champ Marquez missed the majority of the season with injury.
Mir said: “Marquez will be the man to beat. This year we took the title, so I can be the one to take him on.”
Britain’s Cal Crutchlow could be racing in MotoGP for the final time in Portugal today. The LCR Honda racer has signed for Yamaha as a test rider.