Sports

KARACHI: Skipper Mohammad Rizwan has pledged that Pakistan will not get cowed down during their two-match Test series against New Zealand, while expressing optimism that the expected green-top wouldn’t put the tourists in a state of anxiety despite the forced absence of batting ace Babar Azam who is nursing an injured thumb. The doughty wicketkeeper-batsman, who will become the country’s …

KARACHI: The formidable Askari Alphas outplayed Bahria Club 76-50 in the final to lift the 5th Essa Lab Basketball title here at the Arambagh-Abdul Nasir court on Tuesday. For the winners, the most outstanding player was Anas Usman (28 pts) who was brilliant on the court and scored five pointers during the final. He was well assisted by Saifullah Nosh­erwani …

COLOMBO: The England team will be allowed to fly to Sri Lanka despite flights from Britain being suspen­ded because of a new coronavirus strain, the island’s cricket authorities said on Wednesday. England are due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Jan 3 for two Tests — played without spectators — in Galle starting on Jan 14. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr. Fehmida Mirza met on Wedn­esday javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan’s leading prospect in the Tokyo Olympics, in her office and assured him full support for his training. A press release issued by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said during the meeting with Arshad and other officials of the Athletic Federations of Pakistan …

MELBOURNE: Australia opener David Warner will miss the second Test against India this week because he left a bio-secure bubble to receive treatment for a groin injury that would have ruled him out of the match in any case, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Wednesday. Warner missed Australia’s eight-wicket victory over the tourists in the series opener last week but …

KARACHI: Excellent centuries from Imran Rafiq and Agha Salman considerably raised hopes of Southern Punjab qualifying for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after they sealed a crucial five-wicket victory over the bottom-placed Sindh here on Wednesday. The result of the penultimate-round fixture at the SBP Sports Complex also dethroned Central Punjab — who were the champions in the …

KARACHI: In the first meeting of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee with Munir Sadhana as the acting chairman, decisions taken by previous chairman Humza Khan were reversed. Manizeh Zainli was reinstated to her post as the secretary general of the PFF Normalisation Committee while PFF election commissioner secretary Chaudhry Saleem was stopped from working for the time being. …

KARACHI: The new set of office-bearers of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation who returned unopposed formally took over for the next term of four years (2020-2024) on Tuesday. Election Commissioner Ayub Bawany announced the names of 12 members of the committee at the annual general body meeting held at a local hotel. Strangely, only 20 members out of 258 …

TOKYO: The coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Olympics will cost at least 1.64 trillion yen ($15.9 billion), organisers said on Tuesday, unveiling a final budget swollen by the unprecedented postponement and a raft of pandemic measures. The extra costs — up 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from figures released a year ago — come as officials work to build enthusiasm for the first …

NAPIER: New Zealand have retained spinner Mitchell Santner in their Test squad to face Pakistan in their two-match series despite Ajaz Patel’s return to fitness, head coach Gary Stead said on Tuesday. Santner was last month brought into the Test squad that played West Indies to replace Patel and played in the Twe­nty20 Internationals against the Caribbean side as well …