Sports

Pak­is­tan captain Sarfraz Ahmed apologised on Wednesday following a controversial comment aimed at South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo which was picked up by a stump microphone during the second one-day international in Durban on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the 37th over of South Africa’s run-chase during the game at Kingsmead when Phehlukwayo got an inside edge off a Shaheen Shah …

Hendrick ‘Rassie’ van der Dussen and Andile Phehlukwayo guided South Africa to a series-levelling win in a roller-coaster second one-day international against Pakistan at Kingsmead on Tuesday. The pair came together when South Africa were 80 for five in reply to Pakistan’s 203. They put on an unbeaten 127 as South Africa won by five wickets with eight overs to …

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal continued his relentless march towards an 18th major title on Tuesday as an emotional Petra Kvitova swept into her first Grand Slam semi-final since a terrifying knife attack almost ended her career. On day nine of the Australian Open, the fairytale runs of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Danielle Collins were also extended as they too swept into the …

ISLAMABAD: Senior vice-president of the Pakistan Squash Federation Air Marshal Shahid Akhtar Alvi on Tuesday lauded the country’s junior squash side for their triumph in the recently-concluded Asian Junior Team Championship in Pattaya, Thailand. Alvi, while addressing a press conference, said the win was deserved as the junior players have been consistent with their performances since last year and that …

India captain Virat Kohli has been named to lead ICC’s ODI Team of the Year, which features four players each from India and England. England and India are ranked No.1 and No.2 on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Team rankings. So dominant were the sides in 2018 that together they make up more than two-thirds of the ODI Team …

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo is returning to Madrid for a court date on Tuesday in which he could be fined 18.8 million euros ($21.4 million) for tax fraud as part of a deal reached with the Spanish taxman. As part of an agreement arranged in June with the former Real Madrid hero´s lawyers, prosecutors are also asking that the Portuguese attacker, …

DURBAN: After their morale-boosting five-wicket win in the first One-day International (ODI), Pakistan will look to make South Africa’s deficit steeper when the two sides meet in the second game of the five-match series on Tuesday. Today’s match will start at 04:00 pm and will be covered live here. For Pakistan, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam came good with …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) replacement draft will be held at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Thursday. According to a media release issued by the league, the six teams will draft replacements for the forthcoming tournament and will also select their 21st player — a local one — if needed. The fourth edition of the PSL will be held …

LAHORE: Seventeen national women players were awarded six-month central contract by the Pakis­tan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday. The contracts will be awarded with effect from from Jan 1 and will expire on June 30. “The contracts for the first half of 2019 have been awarded following the settlement of all outstanding payments from the July-December 2018 contract period,” read …

DURBAN: After slipping to a five-wicket loss in the first One-day International against Pakistan, South Africa will be desperate to draw level in Durban on Tuesday and prevent the deficit from becoming even steeper in the five-match series. South Africa lost just two wickets in the series opener at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, but still couldn’t breach the …