Sports world daily: South Africa beat West Indies in record T20 chase; Spurs part ways with Conte

Quinton de Kock’s first T20I century helped South Africa chase down a record 259 to win the second T20I against West Indies at Centurion.

Big names Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and Bianca Andreescu all progresses into the last-16 at the Miami Masters.

In football, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur parted ways with manager Antonio Conte after the Italian’s spectacular rant following his team’s disappointing 3-3 draw in their last match.

In the Euro qualifiers, England made it two wins out of two while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace in his record-breaking 197th international appearance among men players.

Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 27 March, 2023:

Proteas beat West Indies in record chase

South Africa set a new record for chasing in international T20 cricket when they scored 259 for four to beat West Indies by six wickets at Centurion on Sunday in a game described as “pretty crazy”.

Johnson Charles smashed a 39-ball century for the visitors as they posted an imposing 258 for five, the joint sixth-highest total in T20 internationals.

However, Quinton de Kock responded with 100 from 44 balls, a first T20I century, while fellow opener Reeza Hendricks hit 68.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram (38 not out) saw his side home with seven balls to spare.

The previous highest run chase was Bulgaria’s 246 to beat Serbia in 2022 while Australia made 245 to beat New Zealand in 2018.

De Kock shared an opening stand of 152 in 10.5 overs with Hendricks to set up the win.

The series is tied at 1-1. The final match will be at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Alcaraz, Sabalenka in R16, Ruud ousted

World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz moved into the last 16 of the Miami Open after beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6 (5) on Sunday as he remains on track for tennis’ “Sunshine Double.”

Former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu and world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka also progressed in Miami with straight sets victories.

Alcaraz will face Tommy Paul in the last 16 and the American goes into that game on the back of a 12-match winning streak against Spanish players including wins over Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal last year.

Sabalenka’s power was simply too much for Czech Marie Bouzkova, with the Belarussian breaking serve twice in the opening set on the way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Andreescu, who returned last year after a seven month ‘mental health break’ looks a player reborn and she oozed confidence as she enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Sofia Kenin.

Andreescu will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round after she beat world No 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-6 (18), 6-3.

There will also be a strong Czech presence in the fourth round with Petra Kvitova, Barbara Krejcikova and Marketa Vondrousova all winning on Sunday.

American Taylor Fritz rolled into the fourth round for the third consecutive year after clinching a 6-4, 6-4 win against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

Italian Jannik Sinner continued his strong start to the year, defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. Fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev moved into the fourth round after his scheduled third round opponent Alex Molcan of Slovakia withdraw from Monday’s clash with a right hip injury.

Meanwhile, Botic van de Zandschulp triumphed for the third time in four meetings with Norway’s world No 4 Casper Ruud, emerging with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Results from ATP/WTA Miami Open on Sunday (x denotes seed):

Men’s singles third round

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP x1) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-0, 7-6 (7/5)

Tommy Paul (USA x16) bt Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP x20) 6-3, 7-5

Taylor Fritz (USA x9) bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN x24) 6-4, 6-4

Holger Rune (DEN x7) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG x31) 6-4, 6-2

Botic van de Zandschulp (NED x26) bt Casper Ruud (NOR x3) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)

Jannik Sinner (ITA x10) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x21) 6-3, 6-4

Andrey Rublev (RUS x6) bt Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB x29) 6-1, 6-2

Women’s singles third round

Bianca Andreescu (CAN) bt Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-4, 6-4

Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS x18) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI x9) 7-6 (10/8), 6-3

Petra Kvitova (CZE x15) bt Donna Vekic (CRO x22) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)

Varvara Gracheva (RUS) bt Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-1, 6-2

Sorana Cirstea (ROM) bt Karolína Muchová (CZE) 7-5, 6-1

Markéta Vondroušová (CZE) bt Karolína Plíšková (CZE x17) 6-1, 6-2

Barbora Krejcíková (CZE x16) bt Madison Keys (USA x19) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x2) bt Marie Bouzková (CZE x31) 6-1, 6-2

England beat Ukraine, Ronaldo scored brace

Harry Kane scored again as England made it two wins from two in Euro 2024 qualifying by beating Ukraine 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday, while Cristiano Ronaldo extended his men’s international goals record to 122 with a double as Portugal thrashed Luxembourg.

Captain Kane, who broke Wayne Rooney’s all-time England goalscoring record in midweek, turned home his 55th international goal from Bukayo Saka’s cross in the 37th minute.

In-form Arsenal winger Saka all but ended Ukraine’s resistance three minutes later, turning from Jordan Henderson’s pass and curling a sublime strike from outside the area into the top corner.

The victory takes England three points clear at the top of the early Group C table after winning in Italy for the first time since 1961 on Thursday.

Reigning champions Italy bounced back from their loss to England with a straightforward 2-0 away win over Malta. Argentine-born forward Mateo Retegui followed up his debut goal against England by opening the scoring early on.

Monza midfielder Matteo Pessina made it two before the half-hour mark and Italy comfortably saw out the victory.

Ronaldo marked his men’s record-breaking 197th international appearance in midweek with two goals against Liechtenstein and he repeated the trick as Portugal thumped Luxembourg 6-0.

The 38-year-old diverted in Nuno Mendes’ headed pass to give Roberto Martinez’s men a ninth-minute lead.

Goals from Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva put the game to bed inside 18 minutes, before Ronaldo slotted home his second from Bruno Fernandes’ through ball in the 31st minute.

Ronaldo has now scored 11 goals against Luxembourg in his career.

Late strikes from substitutes Otavio and Rafael Leao, who also missed a penalty, rounded off a fine performance from Portugal who are already clear at the top of Group J.

Spurs part ways with Conte

Antonio Conte’s volatile Tottenham reign came to an almost inevitable end on Sunday as the intense Italian parted ways with the club “by mutual agreement” after 16 months in charge.

Conte, 53, arrived to take charge of the under-achieving Premier League outfit in November 2021.

After spending much of his time making veiled complaints about chairman Daniel Levy’s failure to back him sufficiently in the transfer market, it already seemed certain Conte would depart when his contract expired at the end of this season.

But the Italian appeared to make his position less tenable with an astonishing rant at his players after Tottenham blew a two-goal lead in a damaging 3-3 draw at bottom club Southampton earlier this month.

Although they remained fourth in the Premier League after that debacle, Spurs are in serious danger of missing out on Champions League qualification – fifth-placed Newcastle are two points behind, with two games in hand.

Levy reportedly became concerned about Conte’s mood swings this season. There were claims the squad were tired of their manager’s acerbic tongue, while fans bemoaned his perceived negative tactics.

To some, it appeared Conte was so fed up with Tottenham’s inconsistency that his remarkable rant was an act of self-immolation designed to force his exit.

The club were dumped out of both the FA Cup and Champions League earlier this month as Conte’s problems spiralled.

He had only recently returned to the touchline after a spell back in Italy recovering from gallbladder surgery and his patience ran out after Tottenham threw away a 3-1 lead with just 13 minutes remaining at Southampton.

“It’s the right moment to speak because for me this is unacceptable,” Conte said. “For another time we showed we are not a team.

“I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart in.”

With text inputs from AFP

Updated through the day