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Results Based News

Lions roar in Johannesburg

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 04/06/2009

The British & Irish Lions got their tour of South Africa up and running with a dominant display in a 74-10 thrashing of the Golden Lions in Johannesburg.

Ian McGeechan's side were much improved from the one which struggled against a Royal XV at the weekend.

Two tries from Jamie Roberts and further scores from Brian O'Driscoll, Ugo Monye and Tom Croft helped the tourists to a 39-10 half-time lead at Ellis Park.

Ireland wing Tommy Bowe claimed a second-half brace, before touchdowns from Monye, James Hook and Stephen Ferris completed the rout.

Wales fly-half Stephen Jones also added 21 points to add a further gloss to the final scoreline, while Hook was similarly accurate in kicking three conversions in a one-sided game.

In cricket, England thrashed West Indies by nine wickets in their final warm-up match before the ICC World Twenty20.

An unbeaten 75 from opener Luke Wright pushed England past the 144-6 mark set by the Windies after they won the toss and elected to bat first at Lord's.

He was ably assisted by the in-form Ravi Bopara, who was eventually out for 60 after helping put on a decisive opening partnership of 119.

At a packed Oval, defending champions India completed their preparations with a resounding nine-wicket victory over deadly rivals Pakistan.

Pakistan mustered 158-6 from their 20 overs, before their bowlers took a hammering as India skated home with three overs to spare.

Rohit Sharma led the way with 80, sharing an opening partnership of 140 with Gautam Gambhir, who finished unbeaten on 52.

In the other warm-up games, South Africa eased to victory over Sri Lanka, while the Netherlands beat Scotland by seven wickets.

At the French Open, sportsbook favourite Roger Federer remained on course for a first title at Roland Garros with a straight sets win over Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals.

The Swiss will face Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in the last four, after the South American fifth seed brushed aside Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

In the women's draw there was an upset as second seed Serena Williams was beaten 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 by Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The Russian will play Australia's Samantha Stosur in the semi-finals, after the 30th seed demolished Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-3.

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