24/02/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | FEB 24, 2026

28

Proteas humble India South Africa thump co-host to assert T20 World Cup title credentials S OUTH AFRICA bulldozed defending champions India by 76 runs yesterday in their Super Eight Group One clash in the Twenty20 World Cup, underlining their title credentials and sending a strong signal to their rivals. Markram’s decision to bat first at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Jasprit Bumrah bowled Quinton de Kock, while Arshdeep Singh had Markram snared at mid-off to leave South Africa without any of their openers inside three overs.

doubt we are in a much better shape than 2014.” With Verstappen joined by the likes of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and last year’s title winner Lando Norris in complaining about the new generation of F1 racing machines, the series’ chief executive Stefano Domenicali held a call with reporters in a bid to allay fears over what the sport might look like in the coming season. “I want to reassure the fans that it will (remain) an incredible spectacle. I was on the track to see outside with a fan eye – I didn’t see any difference, whether it was the speed, the sound,” he said. – Express Newspapers Paul, hindered last year by inju ries including a ruptured foot liga ment and an abdominal strain, was playing his first final since he lifted the trophy in Stockholm in 2024. SHORTS Jeeno brings home LPGA win in Thailand WORLD NO. 1 Jeeno Thitikul won the Honda LPGA tournament at home in Thailand on Sunday, shoot ing 24-under, one stroke ahead of Japan’s Chizzy Iwai. The 23-year-old Thai began the final day with a two-stroke lead and went on to clinch the top prize at the Siam Country Club Old Course in the coastal resort Pattaya. Jenno posted seven birdies in both the second and third rounds, and five in the first, and then added another six on Sunday. “For me, winning in my home country just means a lot,” Jeeno said from the victor’s podium. She said her mother came up to her in tears after her round. “Then I told her, ‘I finally won the tournament in front of you. Like you were here with me’,” Jeeno said. “So she’s just really emotional. Makes me emotional, too.” Jeeno’s sole eagle of the tourna ment came on a par 5 on Friday, when the now eight-time LPGA Tour winner was also celebrating her 23rd birthday. Iwai was in a three-way tie com ing into the final round behind South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, who ulti mately finished third. Jeeno is the third Thai champion of the LPGA Thailand tournament, following Patty Tavatanakit in 2024 and Ariya Jutanugarn in 2021. Ariya tied for eighth this year on 18-under. The Pattaya event kicked off an Asian leg for the LPGA that also takes in Singapore from Thursday and China from March 5-8. Korda tops Paul to capture Delray Beach title SEBASTIAN KORDA captured his third ATP Tour title yesterday, beat ing fifth-seeded Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3 in an All-American final at Delray Beach, Florida. Korda, 25, shrugged off blustery winds, dictating play from the base line and saving five of six break points that he faced. That included four in the final game, when Korda rallied from 0-40 down, and then saving one more break point before clinching the vic tory after one hour and 22 minutes. Korda, who was playing in his first final in more than a year, beat three of the top five seeds on the way to the title, dispatching second seed Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Flavio Cobolli in the semis.

off. Markram dismissed the in-form Ishan Kishan in the first over and Marco Jansen dismissed No. 3 Tilak Varma in the second. Opener Abhishek Sharma (15) avoided a fourth successive duck but neither he nor Washington Sundar (11) could provide the sta bility that India needed at that stage. India captain Suryakumar Yadav (18) departed in the 10th over, leaving India reeling at 51-5 and the chase drifting further from reach with each passing delivery. Keshav Maharaj then effectively extinguished India’s fading hopes in one telling burst, dismiss ing Hardik Pandya (18), Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh in the eventful 15th over. Hot favourites to defend their crown on home soil, India will likely need to win their two remaining Super Eight games against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to have a chance of qualify ing for the semifinals. “We bowled really well, but we could have batted a little better,” said Suryakumar. “Sometimes you’ve got to think, if you’re chasing 180-185, you can’t win the game in the power play, but you might lose it. We lost too many wickets in the power play.” – Reuters/AFP I had a five-footer for bogey on 16,” Bridgeman said. “That one was sketchy. I hit a really good putt and luckily it went in and then I was really nervous from there on out.” Bridgeman was in a greenside bun ker again at the par-five 17th, and two putted from 21 feet for par. At hole 18, he put his approach at 20 feet from the pin, and after leaving that one short finally made the winning putt. “I couldn’t even feel my hands on the last couple of greens, just hit the putt hoping it would get somewhere near the hole,” he said. “And both of them I left a mile short – I’m glad it’s done now.” McIlroy, who completed his career Grand Slam with a Masters triumph last year, had five birdies including a hole-out from a greenside bunker at the 12th. The Northern Ireland star, who had struggled all week to get to grips with Riviera’s challenging greens, said his main reaction was to tell his caddie “it saves us from putting.”

Jasprit’s control (3-15) shone again when he, with a deft change of pace, deceived Ryan Rickelton, who chipped tamely to Shivam Dube at mid-off. From there, a blistering 97-run partnership between Miller and Dewald Brevis (45) not only halted the slide but also turned the heat back on India. Brevis missed a well-deserved fifty but Miller powered to his in just 26 balls. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy removed Miller in the 16th over, but Tristan Stubbs provided the last flourish with an unbeaten 44 off 24 balls that included three sixes. India’s chase began in near-identical fashion to South Africa’s innings, but without the same rescue act. With three left-handers in India’s top three, off-spinner Markram began with the new ball and the ploy soon paid

Choosing to bat in a rematch of the 2024 World Cup final, South Africa surged to a com manding 187-7 following a remarkable recovery from a precarious 20-3. In reply, tournament co-hosts India’s timid top-order faltered swiftly, and their innings never quite escaped the grip of scoreboard pres sure. They were bundled out for 111 in 18.5 overs, slipping to their first defeat of the World Cup. “We played against them a lot as well,” David Miller, whose breezy 63 earned him player-of the-match award, said of the Indian bowlers. “So it was just matching the intensity, if not raising the intensity, against their bowlers, and putting them under the pump. “They are good bowlers, but they do bowl bad balls. So it’s making sure you’re in that posi tion to do that.” Earlier, India quickly took the sting out of South Africa’s top-order following Aiden

Bridgeman

breaks duck at Riviera

JACOB BRIDGEMAN held his nerve as his seven shot lead dwindled to one, draining a short par putt at the 72nd hole to claim his first PGA Tour title with a one shot triumph at the Genesis Invitational yester day.

MARTIN BRUNDLE (pic) said he has “no doubt we are in much better shape than 2014” as he cast a positive verdict on the new generation of Formula 1 cars. Plenty of drivers, not least Max Verstappen, have been critical of their new racing machines, particularly the engines which now rely on much more electrical power than before. But that means plenty of recharging and har vesting is required on a lap, forcing racers to take their foot off the accelerator more often which, naturally, they don’t tend to like. The electrical power situation has also worried fans, who are concerned that the quality of the rac The 26-year-old American had started the day with a six-shot advantage that swelled to seven after his birdies at the first and third. But those were his only birdies of the day, with Bridgeman grinding his way to a 1-over 72 at iconic Riviera Country Club for an 18-under total of 266 that left him one clear of Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama. McIlroy started six back in second and carded a 4-under 67 while California’s Kitayama powered up the leaderboard with a 7-under 64. Aussie veteran Adam Scott, winner at Riviera in 2020, had eight birdies in an 8-under 63 to finish alone in fourth on 268. “I thought it was going to be a lot easier than that,” admitted Bridgeman, who had cruised to back-to-back 64s on Friday and Saturday. His third bogey of the day, from a greenside bunker at the par-three 16th, saw his lead reduced to one. “I didn’t really feel really crazy nervous until

Jacob Bridgeman plays a shot during the final round of The Genesis Invitational 2026 at Riviera Country Club yesterday in Pacific Palisades, California. – AFPPIC

McIlroy got up-and-down birdie from a bunker at 17 before he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the last. “Once I started to trust my reads a bit on the back nine and I went more with my first instinct, I putted a little bit better,” McIlroy said. – AFP

Brundle gives new F1 cars thumbs up

ing could be affected by batteries running out of charge at key moments. But Brundle is not among those who are con cerned and offered a positive review of the cars. “I’m enjoying the ‘26 F1 cars moving around so much. Makes me appreciate the drivers even more, they can’t just lean on massive downforce and sta bility,” he wrote on social media. “There are plenty of gremlins to be smoothed out but that’ll happen over the next few months. “We may even get some great corners like Copse and Eau Rouge ‘back’. The top four look very close, of course the pack will be scattered as always happens with new registrations, but I have no