Cricket: South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been charged with ball tampering during the second test against Australia in Hobart, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday. The ICC announced on Wednesday that it would review footage of the match that appeared to show du Plessis applying saliva to the ball with a lolly in his mouth. If proven guilty, du Plessis could be handed a maximum fine of 100 per cent match fee and two suspension points.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan has been knocked out of the Northern Ireland Open after Kyren Wilson secured a thrilling 4-3 victory on Thursday evening. Englishman Wilson, meeting O’Sullivan for the first time in his career, marched into a 3-0 lead only for his countryman to level the last-16 encounter courtesy of three brilliant century breaks. But Wilson held his nerve in the seventh and deciding frame to make a break of 70 and secure a surprise victory over O’Sullivan, the world number eight, and progress to the quarter-finals in Belfast.
Quarter-finals: K. Wilson bt M. Williams 5-4; B. Hawkins bt M. White 5-2.
Rallying: Andreas Mikkelsen set the pace on day one of Rally Australia yesterday after the Norwegian averted the danger posed by a loose drinks bottle. The Volkswagen Polo R driver was ahead early but shortly after midway he experienced the scare of a bottle rattling around close to his pedals. Mikkelsen, who won in Poland in July, has recently dropped from second to third in the championship but has the chance to move up again in this weekend’s season-ending rally if all goes his way. He finished the day with a lead of 15.4 seconds over Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who clinched the world title in October.
Rowing: Double Olympic rowing champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are taking 12 months off next year to decide whether they will continue in the pairs after eight years of domination. Twice Olympic single sculls champion Mahe Drysdale has also decided to take a year off, Rowing New Zealand (RNZ) said in a statement yesterday, with an eye to competing in Tokyo 2020 at the age of 41. Bond and Murray were put together in the pairs in 2009 and were unbeaten until the 2016 Rio Games. The Kiwi duo collected seven world titles, one in the coxed pairs in 2014, and two Olympic gold medals. They won more than 60 successive races together.
Tennis: Wimbledon will continue to be broadcast on BBC at least until 2024 following a four-year extension to the longest partnership in sports broadcasting history. Wimbledon will complete a partnership of 80 years of television and 90 years of radio with the BBC in July 2017. The BBC registered a peak audience of 13.3 million for Andy Murray’s second Wimbledon title on BBC One, while the Scot’s first title in 2013 was watched by 17.3 million people across the UK.
Test Cricket: England were left with a mountain to climb after India made 455 in their first innings before returning to blow away the tourists’ top order on a spin-dominated second day of the second test yesterday. England reached 103 for five, trailing India by 352 runs, at stumps with all-rounder Ben Stokes and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow unbeaten at the crease. The touring side were rattled in the third over when paceman Mohammed Shami breached captain Alastair Cook’s defence with an incoming delivery that split the left-hander’s off-stump in two.