Sports

BRISBANE: Australia demolished New Zealand by 232 runs in the third women’s One-day International to equal the world record of 21 consecutive ODI victories set by Ricky Ponting’s all-conquering men’s team in 2003. After smashing their way to 325 for five off their 50 overs at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field, the Australians then bowled New Zealand out for just 93 …

PARIS: Petra Kvitova returned to the French Open semi-finals for the first time in eight years on Wednesday after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-3, describing Roland Garros as her lucky place. Czech seventh seed Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, will now face Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin who knocked out fellow American Danielle Collins 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 for a …

KARACHI: It was a night of another stroll in the park for defending champions Northern as they cruised to an effortless seven-wicket drubbing over Balochistan in the final First XI fixture of the Multan leg late on Tuesday. The outcome at the Multan Cricket Stadium was inevitable despite the fact that Northern not only tinkered with their playing XI but …

LAHORE: No fresh deadline has been set for the franchises’ owners of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) to deposit the bank guarantee money for the next edition of the league in the meeting held here on Wednesday between the owners and the PCB officials. Later, the PCB issued a short press release, giving no details about the discussions held …

ISLAMABAD: Profess­ional boxing got a major breakthrough in the country on Tuesday when the Pakistan Professional Boxing League (PPBL) intro­duced the first-ever pro belt in Pakistan. The belt titled ‘Pakistan Professional League’ and bearing a golden coloured face image of Pakistan’s national animal Markhor as well as photos of PPBL board members was introduced during a ceremony in Islamabad. “Prospects …

PARIS: Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska became the first qualifier in the Open era on Tuesday to reach the women’s semi-finals at Roland Garros after stunning third seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4. World No. 131 Podoroska had never won a Grand Slam main draw match before the tournament and is the only the third female qualifier to make the last four of …

LAHORE: Chief selector-cum-head coach Misbah-ul-Haq is planning to name a pool of 22 players during the second phase of the ongoing National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi for the One-day International and Twenty20 International series against Zimbabwe in Oct-Nov this year. In a video message released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Misbah said though he had held an initial meeting …

KARACHI: The penultimate First XI fixture of the National T20 Cup’s Multan leg saw Khyber Pakhtun­khwa extend their winning streak to four after condemning Central Punjab to a 29-run defeat on Tuesday. Defending a competitive total of 178 was no problem for Mohammad Rizwan’s men as Central Punjab were dismissed for 149 after Kamran Akmal and Abdullah Shafiq had steered …

KARACHI: Promising Haris Tahir inched closer towards picking up his maiden national ranking crown when he accounted for former national champion Mohammad Bilal 6-3 and set up a title clash with veteran Mohammad Sajjad who coasted to 6-4 triumph over defending champion Mohammad Asif in other semi-final on Monday. Haris, the find of the ongoing event, has proved his mettle …

BARCELONA: Sevilla’s energetic defending ensured Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona dropped its first points in La Liga on Sunday. While Sevilla held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, Real Madrid went to the top of the standings after Vincius Junior and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois helped earn a 2-0 victory at Levante. Barca and Sevilla have a game in hand and …