ISLAMABAD: The statistics of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has shown that the coronavirus pandemic claims 55 more lives, whereas, 1,974 new infections were reported during the last 24 hours. In the past 24 hours, 55 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 9,929. 1,760 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and …

BARCELONA: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi will miss Tuesday’s match at home to Eibar due to an ankle injury, the La Liga club said on Sunday. Barca said in a statement that Messi, who is in the last year of his contract and is free to negotiate a move to rival clubs for free in 2021, is undergoing treatment on his …

ISLAMABAD: Muzammil Murtaza and Sarah Mahboob bagged the men’s and women’s titles of the 6th Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament at the PTF Complex here on Sunday. Muzammil secured the title by stunning top seed Aqeel Khan in a three-set thriller 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-4. Sarah defeated Ushna Suhail 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4 in another well-fought three-setter …

LAHORE: Australia’s Tasma­nia state fast bowler Aaron Summers is all set to become the first foreign player to feature in next month’s Pakistan Cup one-day tournament by signing up for Southern Punjab. According to a PCB press release, domestic competition rules allow one foreign player per side as long as the player submits a Non-Objective Certificate from his home board. …

HAMILTON: Tim Seifert struck a scintillating unbea­ten 99 as Northern Districts upstaged the touring Pakis­tan Shaheens by 21 runs in the first Twenty20 match at Seddon Park on Sunday. Put into bat by Shaheens skipper Rohail Nazir, Nor­thern Districts posted 203-2, thanks to New Zealand international Seifert’s brilliant 55-ball innings that included six fours and as many sixes. Northern’s skipper …

KARACHI: Central Punjab rode a magnificent double century from Usman Salahuddin to make rapid progress in quest to qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final after dominating second of the their must-win last round clash against Southern Punjab on Sunday. Southern Punjab, who are currently second in the standings behind Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were reeling at 153-9 in response to Central Punjab’s …

A depleted Indian attack ripped through Australia’s top order to leave the world’s number one team with a slender two-run lead and in deep trouble on Monday after day three of the second Test. At stumps in Melbourne, Australia were 133 for six with Cameron Green on 17 and Pat Cummins on 15 in their second innings as the visitors …

Pakistan’s microfinance industry, which is already struggling to recover from the impacts of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, could face tougher times in the next six to 12 months should the increasing virus infections lead to fresh business disturbances in the country, squeezing the repayment capacity of the small borrowers further. The microfinance banks and institutions are already …

Carved out of Multan district in 1976, the district of Vehari is unique in more ways than one. It was the second district (after Rahim Yar Khan) which revolted against cotton, despite being the biggest producer of the crop in the nineties. Till the 1990s, it was a common claim that Vehari alone produced 80 per cent of Sindh’s cotton …

Not even a broken toe could stop New Zealand’s pace attack from dominating day three of the first Test against Pakistan on Monday, but their efforts to quickly wrap up the innings were stalled by a late century stand from Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf at Mount Maunganui. On a day disrupted by intermittent showers and an unseasonal hail storm, …