Sports

Left-armers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Amir shared five wickets to rock New Zealand for a paltry 90 before Mohammad Rizwan anchored the chase to help Pakistan win the second Twenty20 clash on Saturday in Rawalpindi. Shaheen led the attack with 3-13 while Amir, returning to international cricket after nearly four years, finished with 2-13 as the visitors were bowled …

XIAMEN: Sweden’s Armand Duplantis put down a marker ahead of this year’s Paris Olympics as the Swede broke his own pole vault world record with a 6.24 metres effort in the first Diamond League meeting of the 2024 season on Saturday. Duplantis bettered his previous mark of 6.23 metres set at the Eugene Diamond League finale in September, clearing the …

LONDON: Luton Town’s hopes of Premier League survival were hammered by Brentford’s 5-1 rout at Kenilworth Road, while Burnley thrashed Sheffield United 4-1 to remain in the fight to stay up on Saturday. Brentford realistically secured their top-flight status with a dominant display despite missing England striker Ivan Toney through injury. Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo had to carry the …

BARCELONA: Stefanos Tsitipas set up a rematch with Casper Ruud in the Barcelona Open final by defeating Dusan Lajovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday. The Greek beat world number six Ruud last week in the Monte Carlo Masters final, inflicting the Norwegian’s third final defeat this year. Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, edged past Tomas Etcheverry 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 …

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Sunday that an “independent medical board” had been constituted to probe the handling of young fast bowler Ihsanullah’s injury. In a post on X, Naqvi said that the PCB had decided to constitute the independent board to “analyse if Ihsanullah’s medical case was handled properly by PCB medical support team”. He …

BERLIN: Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann has extended his contract until the conclusion of the next World Cup in 2026, the German Football Association (DFB) said on Friday. Nagelsmann replaced Hansi Flick as Germany coach last September and had initially signed a contract to the end of Euro 2024, which Germany will host in June. The 36-year-old has enjoyed a mixed …

LONDON: Arsenal have no time to dwell on their Cham­pions League exit as they return to Premier League action this weekend with the chance to reclaim top spot. Manchester City were the big winners last week, hammering Luton Town 5-1 before Arsenal and Liverpool both lost, and are now firm favourites to claim an unprecedented fourth straight English top-flight title. …

LAHORE: Pakistan will announce new set of coaches for red and white ball formats for the national team by the end of this month, an official of the country’s cricket board official told the Press Trust of India news agency on Friday. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also confirmed that besides South Africa’s Gary Kirsten and Australia’s Jason Gillispie, the board had …

West Indies Women on Thursday defeated Pakistan Women in the opening ODI by 113 runs after West Indies captain Hailey Matthews scored a career-best 140 not out — her fifth career century in 81 matches — for her side, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a press release. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first at …

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that he would love to be in a contest with the Pakistan cricket team in Test format. While speaking to Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist and former English skipper Michael Vaughan in a Club Prairie Fire Podcast released on Thursday, Sharma voiced his support for the resumption of bilateral cricket between the neighbours.   Pakistan and India …