Sports

Virat Kohli became the highest run-scorer in Twenty20 World Cup history as he powered India to 184-6 against Bangladesh in a key Super 12 match in Adelaide on Wednesday. Kohli, who hit an unbeaten 64, and KL Rahul with a blazing 50 put on a key stand of 67 to lay the foundations for a strong total. India need to …

Paul van Meekeren’s three wickets helped the Netherlands claim their first victory of the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage Wednesday as their five-wicket win all but eliminated Zimbabwe. The Dutch, who are already out of the semi-final race, bowled out Zimbabwe for 117 in 19.2 overs at the Adelaide Oval and, led by Max O’Dowd’s 52, achieved their target …

South Africa’s David Miller warned on Wednesday they will look to “exploit” Pakistan’s fragile confidence as they strive to seal a Twenty20 World Cup semi-final spot and send their opponents packing. The Proteas were touted as dark horses in the lead-up to the showpiece in Australia and have showed why with a fearsome pace attack and batsmen in form. Ahead …

The Australian hotel the Indian cricket team was staying at during their T20 World Cup games, Crown Towers Perth, issued a statement after their employees invaded Virat Kohli’s privacy and filmed his hotel room. The hotel apologised and removed the perpetrators from its premises, promising to ensure such an incident is not repeated. On Monday, Kohli shared a video recorded by the …

MELBOURNE: India res­u­me their bid for a Twe­nty20 World Cup semi-final spot when they face Bangl­adesh on Wednesday and coach Rahul Dravid said there is no room for complacency despite the 2007 champions losing just one of their last 11 matches to their neighbours. India registered wins over Pakistan and the Netherla­nds before crashing to a five-wicket defeat against South Africa, who …

MELBOURNE: Steve Smith will be happy to bat anywhere in the Australian order if called upon at the T20 World Cup and he might finally have his chance with injury doubts hanging over a number of his team mates. Captain and opener Aaron Finch, number six Tim David and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis are all questionable ahead of Australia’s final Super …

MELBOURNE: England must get past in-form New Zealand on Tuesday if they are to get their Twenty20 World Cup campaign back on track but their hopes of reaching the semi-finals would also suffer a heavy blow if the Brisbane weather refuses to play ball. England are in a precarious position after their rain-hit defeat to Ireland and with last week’s eagerly-anticipated encounter …

BRISBANE: Afgha­nistan’s hard-hitting opening batsman Hazratullah Zazai will miss the remainder of the ICC T20 World Cup due to an abdominal muscle strain, tournament organisers said on Monday. Zazai will be replaced by travelling reserve Gulbadin Naib in Afghanistan’s 15-player squad for the tournament in Australia. Afghanistan are bottom of Group 1 with two points from three matches in the …

PERTH: Shaheen Shah Afridi might be a bit rusty after a three-month injury layoff but Pakistan’s star fast bowler believes it hasn’t impacted his pace. The national team’s management ensured Shaheen’s availability for the ongoing T20 World Cup after he picked up a knee injury while playing a Test match against Sri Lanka in June, but the left-armer, otherwise a nightmare for …

Babar Azam was supposed to lead Pakistan to Twenty20 World Cup glory but the team are on the brink of an early exit and the usually inspirational skipper is facing growing questions about his batting and leadership. Babar scored the most runs at last year’s World Cup in taking Pakistan to the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Australia. But the …