Sports

Vice Captain Shadab Khan says that Pakistan are “good but not a champion team” and must handle pressure better after battling into Sunday’s Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka. Pakistan needed Naseem Shah to get them over the line against Afghanistan on Wednesday as the tailender and fast bowler hit two successive sixes at the start of the 20th over. Chasing 130 …

After the Pakistan versus Afghanistan Asia Cup match last night, there is only one name on everyone’s minds — Naseem Shah. Let us paint you a picture — Pakistan is batting in the second innings and has lost six more wickets, making it a total of nine, for just 31 runs. With 11 more needed, the tenth batsman, Shah, enters the field, …

Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah smashed Afghanistan left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi for successive sixes in the last over Wednesday to take his team to the final of the Asia Cup in a thrilling encounter. AFP Sport looks at five memorable six-hitting moments in Pakistan’s cricketing history. Mighty Miandad Javed Miandad’s final ball six off India’s Chetan Sharma in the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final …

KATHMANDU: On their first international match in eight years, Pakistan fought valiantly only to go down 3-0 to India in their SAFF Women’s Championship opener on Wednesday. It wasn’t a bad result by any stretch, though, considering Pakis­tan, whose women footballers have faced international exile since 2014 due to an institutional crisis in the Pakistan Football Federation, were facing a …

NEW YORK: Karen Khachanov set-up a US Open semi-final duel with Casper Ruud on Tuesday when he battled past “devastated” Nick Kyrgios in a big-hitting five-setter, shattering the Australian crowd-pleaser’s dreams of a maiden Grand Slam title. Russian 27th seed Khachanov triumphed 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 over the Wimbledon runner-up to make the last-four at a major for …

LONDON: Alex Hales’s long international exile is over after he was recalled to the England squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia as a replacement for the injured Jonny Bairstow. The 33-year-old Nottinghamshire batsman has not represented his country for three-and-a-half years, having been dumped on the eve of the 2019 World Cup in the aftermath of two failed …

Sri Lanka produced an impressive run chase to down India by six wickets on Tuesday and leave their opponents staring at an early exit from the Asia Cup. If Pakistan beat Afghanistan on Wednesday, they will face Sri Lanka in Sunday’s final and knock out arch-rivals India in the process. Half-centuries from openers Pathum Nissanka (52) and Kusal Mendis (57) …

KARACHI: The wait is finally over. Pakistan’s eight-year hiatus from international football will come to an end on Wednesday when they clash with India in their SAFF Women’s Championship opener at the Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu. After years of political turmoil in the Pakistan Football Federation, the focus, for now at least, has shifted towards the field as a new …

NEW YORK: Frances Tiafoe produced one of the biggest upsets at the US Open after stunning 22-times Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal in the fourth round on Monday while Carlos Alcaraz survived a five-set epic to reach a second successive quarter-final in a tie which finished at 02:23 a.m. Tuesday. Four-time champion Nadal lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the …

SHARJAH: Riding high on their thrilling victory over India, Pakistan will look to secure a spot in the Asia Cup final with a win over Afghanistan here on Wednesday. Pakistan’s triumph over India in their Super Four opener on Sunday avenged their defeat to their arch-rivals in the group stage and another victory over Afghanistan, smarting after their defeat to Sri Lanka, will …