Sport in brief
Cricket
Joe Root’s lean spell in his maiden season in Australia’s Big Bash League continued as Sydney Thunder were brushed aside by eight wickets by Melbourne Stars at Carrara. England’s Test captain laboured to 26 from 28 balls, his highest score in the competition, though he could not consolidate as he clipped Marcus Stoinis to midwicket. That took the Yorkshireman’s haul to just 93 runs in six innings for the Thunder at an average of 15.5. Jos Buttler, Root’s deputy in the Test side, has fared much better and leads the BBL run charts, but he mustered only 18 from 17 deliveries as the Thunder limped to 135 for eight.
Basketball
Enes Kanter will not travel to London with the New York Knicks this month because of fears for his life. Kanter, a Turkish native, has been an outspoken critic of the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As a result, he says he will not feel safe heading to the capital with the rest of his team-mates for the NBA clash against the Washington Wizards at the O2 Arena on Jan 17. “Sadly, I’m not going because of that freaking lunatic, the Turkish president,” Kanter said. “There’s a chance that I can get killed out there. So that’s why I talked to the [Knicks] front office. I’m not going. It’s pretty sad that just all this stuff affects my career. But just because of that one lunatic guy, one maniac or dictator, I can’t go out there and do my job.”
Golf
Rory McIlroy finished three shots off the pace after the second round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. The 29-year-old carded a second-round 68 to leave him chasing the leader Gary Woodland, of the United States. McIlroy had shot a bogey and two birdies before the turn, but the Northern Irishman then produced a flawless back nine, holing four birdies, to keep himself in the chasing pack.
Rugby Union
Glasgow fell to a second successive Guinness Pro 14 defeat as Tommaso Allan’s second-half penalty sealed Benetton a 20-17 victory in Treviso. The Warriors, who still top Conference A, had led 14-12 at the break but fell short against the Italians, who recorded a fourth straight win. Dean Budd grabbed two first-half tries for the hosts. Braam Steyn added a third in the second period. Glasgow’s tries came from Sam Johnson and George Horne.