WELLINGTON: Uncapped Wellington fast bowler Ben Sears will replace Will O’Rourke in New Zealand’s squad for the second Test against Australia, quashing fans’ hopes of a Neil Wagner recall. O’Rourke was ruled out of the Christchurch match starting on Friday with a hamstring injury, raising speculation fan favourite Wagner might come out of retirement to help the Black Caps square …

MELBOURNE: All-rounder Cameron Green may be spared white ball duties for Australia to focus on his red ball game ahead of the Test series against India in the next home summer, coach Andrew McDonald said. Green played Sheffield Shield cricket with Western Australia in the run-up to the ongoing New Zealand Test series and said the red ball preparation had …

SYLHET: Dasun Shanaka held his nerve under pressure to take two wickets in the final over, snatching a dramatic three-run win for Sri Lanka in the opening Twenty20 International of a three-match series against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Monday. Set a target of 207 runs, lower middle-order batsman Jaker Ali took Bangladesh close with his maiden fifty before Shanaka ended …

RAWALPINDI: It was freezing cold here at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Monday night. Although the capacity crowds had kept the stands dense enough to arrange for the much-needed warmth, it was Islamabad United, dressed in their bright red home colours, who turned on the heat on their homecoming. The fire was lit by none other than their captain Shadab …

KARACHI: Bullish sentiments prevailed in the stock market for the fourth consecutive session on Monday, briefly propelling the KSE 100-share index above the 66,000-point level. The emerging political stability after the smooth election of Shehbaz Sharif as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan helped the market sustain its overnight bullish momentum. Topline Securities Ltd said the market extended its winning …

KARACHI: The Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor) has started to recede, reflecting both the money market’s reaction to low inflation and anticipation of an interest rate cut in the next monetary policy review. From Friday to Monday, Kibor dropped by 11 basis points (bps) for a one-year term, decreasing from 21.38 per cent to 21.27pc. This marked the most significant …

KARACHI: The overall cement despatches (domestic and export) declined by 19.22 per cent to 3.259m tonnes in February as against 4.035m tonnes in the same month last year due to few working days and holidays for general elections. According to the data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local cement sales during February were 2.863m tonnes as compared …

ISLAMABAD: Following in the footsteps of power companies, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has decided in principle to increase by at least 100 per cent its annual and one-time registration fee for all its licensees like those dealing in generation, distribution, transmission, trading, operators and suppliers. At the same time, Nepra is also seeking the imposition of an …

KUCOVA: Albania unveiled a newly refurbished Nato-backed airbase on Monday, highlighting the alliance’s expanding footprint in southeast Europe as tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rattles the region. The base serves as the latest symbol of Albania’s westward shift — and a key military buffer in Europe as Russia wages war in Ukraine. During the inaugural ceremony, Albanian Prime Minister …