Sports

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal began fine-tuning his quest for a 21st Grand Slam singles title with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Ricardas Berankis on Thursday in a warm-up tournament ahead of the Australian Open. Nadal, recovering from the coronavirus, showed no signs of sluggishness on Rod Laver Arena, although he was broken early in the second set and again when he …

LONDON: The Women’s Ashes series has been brought forward by a week to allow Australia and England to meet quarantine requirements ahead of the ODI World Cup in New Zealand in March, Cricket Australia said on Thursday. A 10-day mandatory quarantine is required before the March 4-April 3 World Cup, where holders England will begin their title defence against six-times …

South Africa captain Dean Elgar produced a heroic unbeaten innings of 96 runs to lead his team to a seven-wicket victory over India in the second Test at the Wanderers on Thursday. Elgar defied a hostile Indian attack and body blows from balls that struck him on a difficult pitch to deliver a match-winning performance as he led a successful …

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja reiterated on Thursday that the country’s cricket governing body needed to work on three key areas if Pakistan is to win in Australia, England and New Zealand. “We have to show excellence in three departments which are the pillars to get better and better results,” Ramiz said here at the HBL Pakistan Super …

NEW DELHI: India’s domestic Ranji Trophy has been postponed after a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, the country’s cricket board said in a statement. The first-class competition — named for Maharaja Ranjitsinhji, an Indian prince who played for England in the 1890s — was scheduled to start this month. But the long-format tournament and February’s Twenty20 women’s league were both …

SYDNEY: With so much focus on getting the medical exemption he needed to fly into Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title, it seems Novak Djokovic may not have paid enough to attention to his visa. The medical exemption allowed the top-ranked Djokovic entry to the tournament regardless of his vaccination status for Covid-19, a subject he has declined to …

SYDNEY: The fourth Ashes Test sprung to life late on the opening day after sweeping showers threatened to dampen the prospects of both teams for a positive start at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After rain delays permitted only 21 completed overs in the opening two sessions Wednesday, runs and wickets came more frequently in the final passage of play as …

LONDON: England director Ashley Giles said he felt the responsibility for their Ashes series loss in Australia but warned that getting rid of the current leadership without bringing in systemic change was not the answer to their problems in red-ball cricket. England have lost the first three matches in the Ashes series and are playing only for pride in the …

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday was informed that former chief executive officer (CEO) Wasim Khan was the highest paid employee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) drawing a monthly salary of Rs2.6 million. The new PCB management for the first time shared complete details of the salaries of all its employees with the National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-provincial …

Usman Khawaja scored a memorable century on his return to Test cricket to strengthen Australia’s position in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney after a double-wicket breakthrough by Stuart Broad on Thursday. The Pakistan-born Khawaja, playing his first Test since the 2019 Ashes series in England in place of Covid-isolated Travis Head, was at his unflappable best in notching an …