Sports world daily: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in thriller, Arsenal beat Fulham and more

New Zealand pulled-off a thrilling, last-ball win over Sri Lanka at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch to win the first match in the two-Test series. With the result, India qualify for the World Test Championship final.

Premier League leaders Arsenal came up with a resounding win over Fulham to extend their lead to five points, while in Spain, Barcelona pushed the gap with second placed Real Madrid to nine points with a win over Athletic Bilbao.

Over at Indian Wells, qualifier Cristian Garin upset Casper Ruud, as Alexander Zverev booked a third round match against Daniil Medvedev.

Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 13 March, 2023:

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in thriller

A Kane Williamson century led New Zealand to a dramatic last-ball, two-wicket victory against Sri Lanka on a rain-disrupted final day in Christchurch on Monday.

In a helter-skelter finish, the only Sri Lankans not guarding the boundary for most of the closing 10 overs were the bowler and wicketkeeper as New Zealand chased down their target of 285.

The winning run came from a bye after Williamson missed with his swipe at the ball.

He finished 121 not out with New Zealand 285-8 and Sri Lanka two wickets shy of their target.

The thrilling New Zealand win scuppered Sri Lanka’s chances of making the World Test Championship final, handing the spot to India instead.

When rain wiped out the first two sessions on the fifth day, the umpires ruled there would be a minimum of 53 overs played in the evening, which meant New Zealand would have to average 4.85 an over.

After a steady but slow start which saw the hosts at 90-3, Williamson and Daryl Mitchell picked up the pace.

They put on 142 in 26 overs for the fourth wicket with the precision of a one-day partnership.

Sri Lanka paid a heavy price for Williamson being dropped by Niroshan Dickwella on 33 as he went on to produce his 27th century.

The 31-year-old Mitchell, a late arrival on the international stage, contributed 81 to lift his average to a phenomenal 59.04 from 26 innings.

In a match of see-sawing fortunes, Sri Lanka had the upper hand on the opening two days before a first-innings century from Mitchell and a swashbuckling 72 from Matt Henry – the last 60 from only 35 deliveries – swung the game in New Zealand’s favour.

Sri Lanka fought their way back into contention on the fourth day with a defiant 115 from Angelo Mathews, who built partnerships of 105 for the fifth wicket with Dinesh Chandimal and then 60 with Dhananjaya de Silva.

When the Sri Lanka second innings folded at 302 it left New Zealand needing 285 to win on a ground where the highest fourth-innings score was 256-8 by New Zealand in a 2018 draw against England.

Devon Conway was removed for five, leaving the outcome on a knife-edge going into the final day.

When play resumed on Monday, Prabath Jayasuriya made early in-roads with the wickets of Tom Latham for 25 and Henry Nicholls for 20.

Asitha Fernando bowled Mitchell and Tom Blundell (three) and had Michael Bracewell caught for 10 to leave New Zealand 266-6 and needing a further 19 runs with 16 balls left.

Williamson kept going to take the game to the final ball as Tim Southee (one) and Matt Henry (four) came and went, with Neil Wagner not out for nought.

The second Test starts in Wellington on Friday.

Arsenal extend lead

Arsenal powered five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a stylish 3-0 win at Fulham, while Casemiro was sent off as Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side had seen second-placed Manchester City close the gap with victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Gunners responded with the kind of composed display that has been the hallmark of their unexpected title charge.

First-half goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard – all set up by Leandro Trossard – put Arsenal on course for a fifth consecutive league win.

With 11 league games left, the north Londoners have the title in their sights.

Since being knocked out of pole position after a defeat against City, which came during a run of four games without a win, Arsenal have shown the mettle of potential champions with a strong response to that wobble.

It was Arsenal’s 11th victory from 14 away league matches this season, underlining the durability and maturity that has them in position to win the title for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ in 2004.

“We scored beautiful goals. I’m really happy to win away from home, especially with a clean sheet,” Arteta said.

“It’s great to see the goals distributed through the team. Leandro laid on three assists and could also have scored too.”

There was more good news for Arsenal in the last 14 minutes as Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus made his first appearance since injuring his knee at last year’s World Cup.

Barcelona beat Bilbao

Raphinha’s strike earned Barcelona an agonising 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to restore their nine-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Real Sociedad stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca, with their bid to finish in the top four losing steam at an alarming rate.

Struggling Sevilla earned an important 2-1 win over Almeria to climb to 13th, two points clear of the relegation zone, leaving their opponents 19th.

In Barcelona’s first game after being charged with corruption by Spanish prosecutors, they shut out the noise and took another step towards their first title since 2019.

The Catalans secured their 19th clean sheet in 25 La Liga games this season as they held on to earn their ninth 1-0 win of the season, keeping second place Madrid at arm’s length after the champions beat Espanyol on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made some superb saves in the second half and Alex Berenguer struck the post, but Athletic could not break down the league leaders.

When Inaki Williams eventually did late on, the goal was disallowed after VAR spotted a handball by Iker Muniain in the build-up.

“In the end what counts (is holding on), we defended with everybody, including in goal, on the goal line, these are games we have to win,” Ter Stegen told DAZN.

“I have not seen the disallowed goal, but that’s why we have VAR. It’s a decision (the officials) have to take. We are very happy to keep another clean sheet.”

Cristian Garin stuns Casper Ruud

Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin shocked third-seeded Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-6 (2) to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells on Sunday as in-form Briton Cameron Norrie survived a scare.

Garin’s attacking game paid off as he dispatched world No 4 Ruud in just under two hours.

Tenth-seeded Norrie, who reached the final in Buenos Aires and lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro last month, was down a set and 4-1 to Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel before rallying for a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2 victory.

Former world No 2 Alexander Zverev said he was fortunate to come out on top in a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori.

“Starting the second set and to be honest throughout the third set I felt like he was the much better player and I just kind of was hanging onto the match,” the German said.

“I was just trying my best and I’m happy that I found a way because it was all about that today.”

Zverev will next face Daniil Medvedev who beat Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

In other early matches, third-seeded American Jessica Pegula again rallied from a set down, beating Anastasia Potapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Last year’s runner-up, Maria Sakkari, shook off a slow start to beat Ukraine’s Anehelina Kalinina 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Results on Sunday in the WTA and ATP Masters 1000 hard court tennis tournament at Indian wells (x denotes seeded player):

Men: Third round

Daniil Medvedev (RUS x5) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Alexander Zverev (GER x12) bt Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 7-5, 1-6, 7-5

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP x23) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x13) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

Christian Garín (CHI) bt Casper Ruud (NOR x3) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2)

Andrey Rublev (RUS x6) bt Ugo Humbert (FRA) 7-5, 6-3

Cameron Norrie (GBR x10) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-2

Frances Tiafoe (USA x14) bt Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-3, 6-2

Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6)

Women: Third round

Maria Sakkari (GRE x7) bt Anhelina Kalinina (UKR x27) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

Karolína Plíšková (CZE x17) bt Veronika Kudermetova (RUS x11) 6-1, 7-5

Petra Kvitova (CZE x15) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x24) 0-6, 6-0, 6-4

Jessica Pegula (USA x3) bt Anastasia Potapova (RUS x26) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

Coco Gauff (USA x6) bt Linda Nosková (CZE) 6-4, 6-3

Rebecca Peterson (SWE) bt Jil Teichmann (SUI) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Barbora Krejcíková (CZE x16) bt Wang Xinyu (CHN) 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x2) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) walkover

With text inputs from AFP

Updated through the day