SPORTS DIGEST
BASKETBALL
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points as the Boston Celtics made it five wins in a row by downing the San Antonio Spurs 108-94. Irving, who joined the Celtics in the off season, scored 24 points for the third straight game, while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 18. NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: Boston Celtics 108 San Antonio Spurs 94, Houston Rockets 107 Philadelphia 76ers 115, LA Clippers 113 Golden State Warriors 141, Memphis Grizzlies 99 Charlotte Hornets 104, Miami Heat 122 Minnesota Timberwolves 125 (after overtime), New Orleans Pelicans 99 Orlando Magic 115, New York Knicks 116 Denver Nuggets 110, Portland Trail Blazers 85 Toronto Raptors 99, Utah Jazz 104 Dallas Mavericks 89
CRICKET
West Indies took a first-innings lead in the second Test against Zimbabwe despite Kieran Powell missing out on his century on day three in Bulawayo. The opener, having resumed overnight on 43, reached 90 before fending a ferocious bouncer from Christopher Mpofu to gully where Craig Ervine took a superb catch. That left the tourists 163 for four in response to Zimbabwe’s 326 and, though Shai Hope made 40 and Roston Chase 32, they slipped to 230 for seven as Sikandar Raza took five for 82. Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder arrested the slump in style, however, putting on an unbroken 144 for the eighth wicket before the close of play. SECOND TEST, BULAWAYO: Zimbabwe 326 (H Masakadza 147, Sikandar Raza 80, P J Moor 52)
GOLF
MEN’S WORLD RANKINGS: 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) 11.87pts, 2 Jordan Spieth (USA) 9.99, 3 Justin Thomas (USA) 9.15, 4 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 8.54, 5 Jon Rahm (Spa) 7.63, 6 Justin Rose (Eng) 6.86, 7 Brooks Koepka (USA) 6.57, 8 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 6.48, 9 Rory Mcilroy (Nirl) 6.44, 10 Rickie Fowler (USA) 6.34, 11 Jason Day (Aus) 6.14, 12 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 6.00,13 Marc Leishman (Aus) 5.54 , 14 Matt Kuchar (USA) 5.32, 15 Paul Casey (Eng) 5.19, 16 Alex Noren (Swe) 4.89, 17 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 4.78, 18 Pat Perez (USA) 4.58, 19 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 4.42, 20 Rafael Cabrera-bello (Spa) 4.31,21 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 4.22 ,22 Patrick Reed (USA) 4.03 , 23 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 3.94,24 Charley Hoffman (USA) 3.70, 25 Kevin Kisner (USA) 3.60, 26 Brian Harman (USA) 3.58, 27 Daniel Berger (USA) 3.57, 28 Adam Scott (Aus) 3.54, 29 Xander Schauffele (USA) 3.42, 30 Kevin Chappell (USA) 3.38, 31 Phil Mickelson (USA) 3.24, 32 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 3.18, 33 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 3.18, 34 Ross Fisher (Eng) 3.01, 35 Thomas Pieters (Bel) 2.97, 36 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 2.94, 37 Webb Simpson (USA) 2.90, 38 Jason Dufner (USA) 2.88, 39 Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 2.88, 40 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 2.87, 41 Tony Finau (USA) 2.84, 42 Branden Grace (Rsa) 2.75, 43 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 2.72, 44 Brendan Steele (USA) 2.72, 45 Si Woo Kim (Kor) 2.71, 46 Russell Henley (USA) 2.68, 47 Zach Johnson (USA) 2.66, 48 Bill Haas (USA) 2.63, 49 Kyle Stanley (USA) 2.61,50 Gary Woodland (USA) 2.56. WOMEN’S WORLD RANKINGS: 1 So Yeon Ryu (Kor) 8.65pts ave, 2 Sung Hyun Park (Kor) 8.50, 3 Lexi Thompson (USA) 7.52, 4 Shanshan Feng (Chn) 7.20, 5 In Gee Chun (Kor) 7.15, 6 Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 6.76, 7 In Kyung Kim (Kor) 6.58, 8 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 6.51, 9 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 6.41, 10 Cristie Kerr (USA) 5.74, 11 Inbee Park (Kor) 5.40, 12 Sei Young Kim (Kor) 5.31, 13 Brooke M. Henderson (Can) 5.28, 14 Amy Yang (Kor) 4.97, 15 Stacy Lewis (USA) 4.34, 16 Hye Jin Choi (Kor) 4.29, 17 Mirim Lee (Kor) 4.23, 18 Minjee Lee (Aus) 4.07, 19 Jin Young Ko (Kor) 4.00, 20 Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 3.98, 21 Danielle Kang (USA) 3.94, 22 Mi Jung Hur (Kor) 3.92, 23 Ha Na Jang (Kor) 3.74, 24 Jeongeun Lee (Kor) 3.58, 25 Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 3.41
GRIDIRON
Kansas City’s defence delivered a strong comeback display in the Chiefs’ 29-19 victory over the Denver Broncos. After back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders, Kansas forced five turnovers in a dominant performance at the Arrowheads Stadium. Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian was denied on three occasions and the Chiefs picked up two fumbles, converting one into a touchdown. The Chiefs’ newcomer kicker Harrison Butker put away five field goals, while Alex Smith secured a touchdown pass and threw for 202 yards. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Kansas City Chiefs 29 Denver Broncos 19
TENNIS
ATP ROLEX PARIS MASTERS, Paris, France 1st rd: Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) bt Viktor Troicki (Ser) 6-3 6-4, Kyle Edmund (Gbr) bt Evgeny Donskoy (Rus) 5-7 7-6 (9-7) 6-3, Pablo Cuevas (Uru) bt Karen Khachanov (Rus) 6-4 6-2, Joao Sousa (Por) bt Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) 6-4 7-5, Borna Coric (Cro) bt Jan-lennard Struff (Ger) 6-3 6-4, Feliciano Lopez (Spa) bt Pierre-hugues Herbert (Fra) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Andrey Rublev (Rus) 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (8-6), Adrian Mannarino (Fra) bt David Ferrer (Spa) 6-2 6-4, WTA ELITE TROPHY, Zhuhai, China Azalea Group: Julia Goerges (Ger) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (Svk) 6-1 7-6 (7-5) Bougainvillea Group: Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Shuai Peng (Chn) 3-6 6-3 6-2 Rose Group: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) bt Angelique Kerber (Ger) 6-3 3-6 6-2.