COLOMBO: Sri Lanka produced a stirring victory in game two to level the series thanks to an excellent bowling and fielding display. Australia collapsed under the pressure of a chase to lose 5 for 19 and be bowled out for just 189. It was Sri Lanka’s spinners, in the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga, who sparked […]

SACHSENRING: Francesco Bagnaia continued his domination of the Sachsenring track on Saturday by taking pole position at the German MotoGP. Italy’s Bagnaia will start Sunday’s race at the top of the grid with reigning world champion and current overall leader Fabio Quartararo of France in second. This is the third pole position of the season […]

BERLIN: Top seed Ons Jabeur will face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the final of Berlin’s WTA grass-court tournament after the Tunisian saw off American teenager Coco Gauff in straight sets on Saturday. Gauff, 18, who reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open earlier this month, fell in the semi-final as Jabeur […]

JAKARTA: Badminton world number one Viktor Axelsen on Saturday secured a place in the Indonesia Open final after toppling Malaysian rising star Lee Zii Jia in a tight, fast-paced encounter in Jakarta. Both players started the match strongly in front of a near-full Istora Senayan arena but Lee edged out his opponent in the first […]

PARIS: Former world number one Naomi Osaka pulled out of Wimbledon for the second successive year on Saturday, blaming an Achilles injury. “My Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time,” the four-time Grand Slam title winner posted on Twitter. Osaka, 24, was already considering not playing over the ATP and WTA tours […]

LAHORE: Nadeem Iqbal, a former fast bowler, has been suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board pending an investigation into alleged misconduct. Iqbal has been a coach in the Southern Punjab region and the charge, which came to the PCB’s notice last week, is related to a claim of sexual harassment. It is also the subject […]

AMSTELVEEN: Well, how do you follow that? The logical answer –if logic has anything to do with what happened in Amstelveen on Friday — is that England will aim to top 500. And on the back of a record-breaking display, headlined by Jos Buttler’s berserker 162 off 70 balls, few would bet against them racking […]

NORTH SOUND: Bangladesh are staring at the prospect of defeat inside three days after closing day two of the first Test on Friday at 50 for two in their second innings, needing 112 more runs to make the West Indies bat again. West Indies were eventually dismissed in their first innings for 265 after tea, […]

LONDON: The dark web is a bazaar for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) but is not a market place currently frequented by elite athletes, concluded the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Friday following a nearly year-long investigation. Having monitored the sales activity of target dark web platforms during a 10-month period WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations department found […]

BROOKLINE: A weekend showdown of golf’s top stars was set Friday at the US Open as two-time major winner Collin Morikawa seized a share of the lead while Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy were one stroke adrift. Seventh-ranked Morikawa fired a four-under par 66 and American Joel Dahmen, who shot 68, joined him on five-under […]

AMSTELVEEN: England hit a world record one-day international score of 498-4 to crush the Netherlands by 232 runs in Amstelveen on Friday, with three men scoring centuries. Eoin Morgan’s side beat their own mark of 481-6 set against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2018, in the first match of the three-game series. Player of the […]

The biggest delight and surprise that happened for Pakistan cricket on 18th June 2017 was in United Kingdom. Underdogs Pakistan stunned all and sundry by making the ICC Champions Trophy final for the very first time. Before the tournament started, the universal consensus was that South Africa, Australia, England and India would make it to […]

RAJKOT: Dinesh Karthik’s blazing half-century and four wickets by Avesh Khan led India to a series-levelling 82-run victory over South Africa in the fourth Twenty20 international on Friday. Karthik smashed 55 off 27 deliveries to guide India to 169-6, a total their bowlers defended by dismissing South Africa for 87 and level the five-match series […]

HALLE WESTFALEN: An inspired Nick Kyrgios dug deep into his tennis bag of tricks on Friday to hammer Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-2 for a place in the Halle grass court semi-finals. The Australian, who also reached the final four last weekend in Stuttgart, treated the crowd to an assortment of ‘tweeners’, behind-the-leg flick returns […]

BERLIN: Teenager Coco Gauff reached her first WTA grass-court semi-final after posting a straight sets win over former world number one Karolina Pliskova in Berlin on Friday. The 18-year-old American, who reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open earlier this month, sealed a 7-5, 6-4 win over fourth seed Pliskova. “It took […]

LAHORE: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been signed by English county team Gloucestershire for their remaining matches in the T20 Blast tournament. Amir has been signed as a replacement player for fellow countryman Naseem Shah. Naseem, who represents the county, declared his unavailability due to commitments back home. According to an announcement by Gloucestershire […]

PARIS: Educating the young is the most effective way of combatting racism as armed with the facts they can challenge their peers, West Indies cricket legend and anti-racism campaigner Michael Holding has said. The 68-year-old —- nicknamed ‘Whispering Death’ when he formed a pivotal part of the fearsome West Indies pace attack in the 1970s […]

NEW YORK: FIFA President Gianni Infantino warned Canada, Mexico and the United States to prepare for a football “invasion” on Thursday as the host cities for the 2026 World Cup were revealed. The first ever World Cup co-hosted by three different countries will also see a record number of teams taking part, increasing by 16 […]

BUDAPEST: After three years in turbulent waters, swimming starts to regain some stability with an extra edition of its long-course world championships in Budapest starting on Saturday (today). On the podium, some continuity is assured as two American 25-year-old stars Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky continue their relentless pursuit of medals. As in other sports, […]

NORTH SOUND: Bangladesh’s well-established vulnerability to fast bowling was in evidence again with the visitors crashing to 103 all out off fewer than 33 overs after being put in to bat against the West Indies on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday. Compounding their woes after an innings which featured six ducks […]

PALLEKELE: Skipper Dasun Shanaka on Thursday said Chamika Karunaratne remains a trusted performer for Sri Lanka after the fast bowler helped stun Australia by 26 runs in a rain-hit second one-day international. Chasing a rain-revised target of 216 in 43 overs, Australia suffered from regular wicket falls to get bowled out for 189 in 37.1 […]

LONDON: Reigning Queen’s champion Matteo Berrettini needed three sets to see off Denis Kudla as he reached the quarter-finals of the grass-court tournament on Thursday. Berrettini won 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 but the victory was anything but straightforward for the 26-year-old. The Italian fell behind as his American opponent took a tight first set before […]

SACHSENRING: World champion Fabio Quartararo has a chance to become the first winner of the German MotoGP apart from Marc Marquez since 2013 in Sunday’s race at the Sachsenring. Spaniard Marquez is unable to defend his almost decade-long run of success after being ruled out for an undetermined amount of time following another operation earlier […]

DUBLIN: Former Ireland captain William Porterfield announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday, calling time on a 16-year career during which the team has progressed from an amateur side to a Test-playing nation. The 37-year-old left-handed batter led Ireland in a remarkable 253 games across all formats, a span that included two 50-over World […]

LAUSANNE: Former International Weightlifting Federation chiefs Tamas Ajan and Nicu Vlad were banned for life on Thursday for their role in a doping cover-up. Ajan, an 83-year-old Hungarian, was president of the body for 20 years before being forced to resign in April 2020 Romanian Vlad, 58, a former Olympic weightlifting champion, was a vice-president. […]

LONDON: Surrey seam bowler Jamie Overton was on Thursday called up for England’s third and final Test against New Zealand, joining twin brother Craig in a 14-man squad. The uncapped Overton, who is the younger sibling by three minutes, earned his place in the 14-man group after taking 21 wickets for the County Championship division […]

LAHORE: Pakistan snooker players are uncertain about their participation in this year’s World Games, scheduled to be held in America, due to uncertainty over the issuance of visas. The governing body of snooker issued public statement on Thursday expressing its concern over delays in visas due to the backlog at the United States Consulate in […]

GENEVA: Russian Aleksandr Vlasov won the Tour of Switzerland’s fifth stage on Thursday to claim the overall leaders’ jersey. Bora-Hansgrohe’s Vlasov, 26, who has raced as a neutral athlete since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, pipped ex-Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas in a four-man group. American Neilson Powless was second with Dane Jakob Fulgsang third […]

BERLIN: Top seed Ons Jabeur and French Open runner-up Coco Gauff both advanced to the quarter-finals of the Berlin WTA grass court tournament on Thursday. Tunisian Jabeur saved a set point to snuff out the challenge of 169th-ranked American Alycia Parks 6-2, 7-6 (10/8) to set up a clash with Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich as she […]

NEW DELHI: Indian sports authorities have told female coaches to chaperone women athletes on tour after a sexual harassment scandal shook the country’s elite cycling community. Top sprint team coach RK Sharma was sacked last week after an unnamed cyclist said he had attempted to “forcefully” coerce her into sex during a training camp in […]

LONDON: Daryl Mitchell hit a sublime 190 as New Zealand amassed 553 before England started to fight back on a free-scoring second day of the second Test at Trent Bridge. Taking advantage of a docile pitch and lacklustre England bowling, Mitchell pummelled his way to his highest Test score. Tom Blundell joined the run spree […]

HARARE: Najibullah Zadran slammed a six off the second ball of the final over to give Afghanistan a six-wicket win against Zimbabwe on Saturday after a thrilling run chase in the first of three Twenty20 internationals. The dramatic climax seemed unlikely with 10 overs gone as the tourists scored 83 without loss after Zimbabwe posted […]

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH: Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova will meet in this weekend’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch WTA final after winning their semi-finals on Saturday despite being blocked from Wimbledon this year. World number six Sabalenka beat compatriot Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-1 as Alexandrova made it past the USA’s Shelby Rogers 7-6 (8/6), 6-0. On Sunday the banned […]

PALLEKELE (Agencies): Sri Lanka stunned Australia in their third and final Twenty20 international after skipper Dasun Shanaka hit an undefeated half-century to lead his team home in a nail-biting finish on Saturday. The hosts were chasing a target of 177 to finish the series on a high after going down miserably against the visitors in […]

NOTTINGHAM: Moeen Ali has revealed he would be willing to end his retirement from Test cricket if England ask him to tour Pakistan later this year. Moeen ended his 64-cap Test career last September after admitting he found it hard to stay motivated for the five-day form of the sport. But the 34-year-old all-rounder has […]

STUTTGART: Nick Kyrgios was penalised a game early in the second set as the volatile Australian went down 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to Andy Murray in the Stuttgart semi-finals on Saturday. The cause of his latest meltdown was unclear, with the Australian penalised a point and then a game for unsportsmanlike conduct to trail 1-0 after […]

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has allocated Rs 3472.420 million for the ongoing and new sport schemes of Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) division in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the financial year 2022-23. As per the PSDP document, Rs 2056.420 million have been earmarked for the ongoing schemes of the IPC division and Rs1416 […]

COLOMBO: The third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will take place from July 31 to August 21, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed. The registration of international players for the player draft “will commence shortly,” added an SLC media release. Despite speculation that this year’s tournament might see the addition of a sixth […]

Vienna: Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to score a late equaliser as France settled for a 1-1 draw with Austria in their Nations League encounter in Vienna on Friday. Mbappe appeared as a second-half replacement for Antoine Griezmann at the Ernst-Happel Stadium and burst through in characteristic fashion to smash in the 83rd-minute leveller, […]

COPENHAGEN: An opportunist second-half goal from Mario Pasalic gave Croatia a 1-0 away win in Denmark in its Nations League Group A1 on Friday as playmaker Luka Modric came off the bench to turn the game around for the visitors. It marked the first time the Danes, who made it to the semifinals of Euro […]

PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja has stated that former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed’s international career is ‘almost over’ with the induction of Mohammad Haris into the team. “We have a new wicketkeeper-batter in the shape of Muhammad Haris,” the PCB chief said in a meeting with Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim, according to reports. Sarfraz Ahmed’s career […]

LAHORE: Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim and Shadab Khan shared nine among them as Pakistan outplayed West Indies by 120 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Friday. Third and final dead rubber will be played at the same venue on Sunday […]

LISBON: Portugal scored twice in five minutes to beat the Czech Republic on Thursday and open up a two-point lead at the top of Group A2 in the Nations League. Joao Cancelo and Goncalo Guedes were on target in the 33rd and 38th minutes in Lisbon as Portugal continued their strong start in the competition […]

ROME: Shericka Jackson is gunning for an individual gold medal at next month’s world championships after seeing off a star-studded field to claim victory in the women’s 200m at Thursday’s Diamond League meeting in Rome. Jamaican Jackson clocked 21.91sec to cross well clear of double Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah and reigning world champion Dina […]

PARIS: Russian Olympic high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene on Thursday accused IOC president Thomas Bach of having created a “new war” by recommending Russian athletes be banned from international competition. Following the invasion of Ukraine in February, the International Olympic Committee had recommended a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, a request followed by most […]

GENEVA: Spain registered the first win of their Nations League campaign on Thursday as Pablo Sarabia’s early goal was enough for a 1-0 victory over Switzerland. Sarabia capitalised on a Swiss error at the back to give Luis Enrique’s side the lead in Geneva and that was enough for the visitors in a game that […]

PALLEKELE: The tour has moved to the hill country of Kandy for the final T20I and opening games of the ODI series. Australia wrapped up their first trophy of the trip in barely 24 hours with back-to-back wins in Colombo, although the second one came in an untidy chase that was a reminder of previous […]

LONDON: The Premier League will introduce enhanced safety measures to prevent crowd misbehaviour ahead of the start of next season, it said on Thursday, with clubs unanimously agreeing that visiting teams will provide additional stewards for away matches. Aston Villa’s Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen was attacked as Manchester City fans celebrated their Premier League title […]

JERUSALEM: Israelis will be able to attend 2022 World Cup games in Qatar, Israeli ministers said on Thursday, in a move they said would open “a new door” to a country with which Israel does not currently have formal diplomatic relations. The agreement, which came after months of talks with FIFA, was announced by Israel’s […]

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, recently declared by Forbes magazine as the NBA’s first active player worth $1 billion, has a new goal — owning an NBA team in Las Vegas. The 37-year-old playmaker was shown in a social media video clip from Friday’s edition of his talk show “The Shop” declaring […]