Sports

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team head coach Siegfried Aikman is optimistic that the team’s hard work in the preparatory camp will translate into good performances in the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. The Dutchman, however, cautioned against unrealistic expectations from a side which was undergoing a transition under his supervision. ‘The players have gone through strenuous drills in the one-month camp …

KARACHI: Table-toppers Northern were put into survival mode by Southern Punjab early in their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium on Friday. Having shown utter dominance in the tournament so far with three convincing wins and no losses, Northern were stuttering at 94-4 by the close of the second day’s play of the sixth-round match in response to …

KARACHI: It was poignant that it was at the ground where he put in some of his best performances, which took Ali Nawaz Baloch from a precocious talent to a goal-scoring legend, that the departing prayers for him were said. Pakistan’s football fraternity was in mourning on Friday after former national team captain Ali Nawaz passed away on Friday. The …

MELBOURNE: A highly anticipated clash between Australia and England at the Twenty20 World Cup was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain on Friday in Melbourne, leaving their group wide open. It was the second match of the day, after Ireland v Afghanistan, to be washed out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and means all four sides take …

LAHORE: Heavily criticising Babar Azam for not taking right decisions at crucial moments during the ongoing T20 World Cup, former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam reckons Shan Masood may be a better man for national leadership. “I had already said when they [Pakistan Cricket Board] made him [Babar] captain of the three formats that it is not the right decision. He …

KARACHI: All-rounder Aamer Yamin took his ninth first-class five-wicket haul to help Central Punjab bowl out Sindh for a paltry 188 at Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium as the sixth round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy got underway on Thursday. The all-rounder, with his right-arm pace, bagged the prize wickets of Pakistan Test players Fawad Alam and Sarfaraz Ahmed and also dismissed …

PAKISTAN have only themselves to blame after their shocking failure to chase 131 runs against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe bowled and fielded out of their skins to claim a famous one run victory at Perth as Pakistan’s batsmen melted under the pressure to return one of the country’s more embarrassing defeats in international tournaments. In a sad twist of fate, the result once more …

DOHA: Qatar’s World Cup organisers on Thursday hit back at criticism of the Gulf state’s rights record by the Australian football team, insisting that “no country is perfect”. In response to the Australian call for better treatment of migrant workers and the LGBTQ community, a World Cup spokesperson said imposing “robust” labour laws had also been a “challenge” for Australia. …

MELBOURNE: Once promising a clash of favourites, the Super 12 showdown between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday now appears more of a desperate battle for survival for two humbled teams. Australia, thrashed by New Zealand in their opener, have looked a shadow of the side that triumphed in the United Arab Emirates last year, with captain Aaron …

Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup match on Thursday by a single run — and might we say that the activation of the curse of Pak Bean was at play? What was considered to be an otherwise easy win, especially compared to the blood rush of a match with India on Sunday, turned into another loss. Zimbabweans had warned us of …