MERCEDES PAIR SET HOT PACE

LEEDS, England: New Zealand will go with a four-seamer attack and will not risk spinner Daniel Vettori for the second and final Test against England starting at Headingley today, captain Brendon McCullum said.

BAHRAIN's Royal Endurance Team is supporting a 120km Endurance Horse Ride, part of the Compiegne Festival Mondial d'Endurance, to be held on Sunday at Compiegne, near Paris, in France.

LONDON: Based on form, Serena Williams is a stand-out favourite to win a second French Open title but her record at Roland Garros means she approaches the tournament with a touch of apprehension and fearful of the "lady in the mirror".

WENTWORTH, United Kingdom: South Africa's James Kingston posted a six-under par 66 to lead the first round of the European PGA Championship yesterday on a day of frustration for Rory McIlroy.

BAHRAIN picked up another five medals last night on the penultimate day of the 18th Arab Athletics Championships in Doha, reports PATRICK SALOMON.

DUBAI: Godolphin's founder and Dubai ruler Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued a decree yesterday banning anabolic steroids in all horse-related sport in the UAE.

BALTIMORE: Baltimore's Chris Davis notched his American League-leading 14th homer of the season among his four hits as the Orioles beat the New York Yankees 6-3 on Wednesday, further tightening the AL East division standings.

MONACO: Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli warned teams yesterday that they will quit the sport at the end of the season if a new contract from 2014 is not agreed soon.

LONDON: Players or officials found guilty of racist offences in European club matches or internationals will face a minimum ban of 10 matches under tougher disciplinary regulations approved by Uefa's executive committee yesterday.

KOLKATA: They have shown remarkable fighting spirit despite the demoralising spot-fixing scandal and the Rajasthan Royals will now look to upstage the mighty Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier here today to book, what would be, a dream final berth in Indian Premier League.

MIAMI: Miami's LeBron James made a buzzer-beating layup in overtime as the Heat narrowly escaped a shock loss on their home court and beat the Indiana Pacers 103-102 in Wednesday's opening game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

SAN FRANCISCO: America's Cup organisers said on Wednesday that they have made rule changes to improve safety in the upcoming regatta after a fatal training accident on San Francisco Bay earlier this month.

TEAM Arsenal Yellow from Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain will be participating in the Arsenal Soccer Schools International Final, taking place at Emirates Stadium in London this August.

The UAE Exchange-Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) Indoor Games Fiesta is entering its final phase, as the preliminary rounds are over and the line-up is ready for the final rounds, said Honorary General Secretary Prince Natarajan.

DUBLIN: The first one-day international between Ireland and Pakistan at Clontarf ended in a thrilling tie yesterday.

TOP seeds Khaled Al Thawadi and Abdulrahman Shehab set up an exciting men's doubles final with second seeds Antonio Catito and Ayman Jaffar last night in the 27th GPIC Open Tennis Championship at Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC).

NICE, France: Second-seeded Gilles Simon of France and third-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Open de Nice yesterday.