Lahore: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has successfully defended the National T20 Cup title by beating Central Punjab in the final by seven wickets here at the Gaddafi Stadium. KP chased down the target of 149 in 17 overs due to aggressive batting by skipper Iftikhar Ahmed, who slammed 45 runs off 19 balls. At the top, Kamran Ghulam scored crucial 37 off 31 while Sahibzada Farhan made 26 off 28. Adil Amin supported batters and remained not out on 25 off 21. Earlier, Iftikhar bowled a brilliant spell to restrict CP to 148. He was supported well by younsgters Mohammad Imran and Arshad Iqbal. Iftikhar bagg ..read more

Lahore: West Indies women’s cricket team will tour Pakistan next month for three-match ODI series, ARY News reported citing sources. According to details, Cricket West Indies (CWI) have confirmed and they are currently in talks with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the schedule. The series is proposed to be played on November 8, 11 and 13 in Karachi. West Indies will arrive in Karachi in early November to complete a three-day quarantine. Meanwhile, the training camp of the Pakistan women’s team is likely to start from October 22 in Karachi. Both teams will travel together to Zimbabwe a ..read more

Dubai: India have made one change to their T20 World Cup squad as all-rounder Shardul Thakur replaces spinner Axar Patel. The All-India Senior Selection Committee after a discussion with the team management has added Shardul Thakur to the main squad. All-rounder Axar Patel, who was part of the 15-member squad will now be on the list of stand-by players,” BCCI said in a statement. India’s squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Rav ..read more

Lahore: Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam is upbeat ahead of the T20 World Cup as Green Shirts prepare to leave for UAE on October 15. The 26-year-old talked to reporters in a virtual presser on a rest day and opined that his side is not bothered with the past results of Indo-Pak T20 World Cup matches. “Belief matters the most while going into the tournament like World Cup, our confidence and morale is high as a team. We are not thinking what happened in the past and preparing for the new challenge which lies ahead,” he said. “Focus is to gain momentum by beating India in the first ga ..read more

Faro: A 58th career hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal stroll to a 5-0 home win over Luxembourg in Group A of World Cup qualifying on Tuesday. The treble, which meant Ronaldo became the first man to net 10 international hat-tricks, takes his tally to 115 international goals from 182 caps as he continues to pull away as the top men’s international goalscorer of all-time. Victory ensures Portugal remain a point behind leaders Serbia, who moved onto 17 points with a 3-1 home win over Azerbaijan, with a game in hand and superior goal difference. Portugal had the game all but won wi ..read more

Lahore: The National T20 World Cup squad will not train today and will undergo COVID-19 tests in team hotel, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed. Green Shirts practiced for two days at National High-Performance Center (NHPC) and played a scenario-based practice match at LCCA Ground yesterday. The squad will play a practice tomorrow at the Gaddafi Stadium and will leave for UAE on October 15 at 11.00 am. They will play the first warm-up match on October 18 in Dubai against the West Indies. The second will take place on October 20 in Abu Dhabi against South Africa. Pakistan will officially ..read more

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is looking to hire a new Chief Executive (CEO) and has also posted an advertisement in this regard. Interested candidates can submit applications till October 27. The selected candidate will be initially given a three-year contract. The post was vacant after Wasim Khan resigned on September 29. PCB’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Salman Naseer has been appointed as the acting CEO of the board. Wasim’s contract was set to expire in February 2022 but he left the position five months earlier. PCB will give preference to a person with experience in cricket ad ..read more

Lahore: Central Punjab’s bowlers were spot on after skipper Wahab Riaz opted to field first against Sindh in the second semi-final of the National T20 Cup. Sindh were restricted to 141/8 courtesy Qasim Akram’s 3/15 and Zafar Gohar’s 2/15. The spinners contained the proceeding in the middle-overs after Sindh had a brilliant start. Openers Khurram Manzoor and Sharjeel Khan recorded 50-run stand but after that, the wickets fell at regular intervals. Sharjeel scored 19-ball 32 but Khurram couldn’t capitalize on the start and played slowish innings. He made 34 off 40 balls. Sohail Khan had been p ..read more

Lahore: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced a 26-member training camp for Asian Champions Trophy, head coach Olympian Khawaja Junaid has been appointed as camp commandant. The camp will start on October 21 at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore. Asian Champions Trophy will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh from December 14 to 22. The players in the camp have been instructed to report to the camp commandant and head coach National Hockey Team Olympian Khawaja Junaid on October 21 along with their departmental NOC, six-month valid passport, 12 passport size photographs. Training mem ..read more

Lahore: Bowlers dominated the first scenario-based practice match at the LCCA ground as Pakistan squad continues to prepare for T20 World Cup. After two days of net sessions, Green Shirts were tasked to achieve various goals. The bowlers were successful in defending them. In the first half of the match, the top order comprising of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haider Ali, had a target of 150 runs in the first 15 overs. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf gave only 106 runs in 15 overs. In the second half of the match, the middle-order batters had to score 10 ..read more