LAHORE: Australia rounded off its first tour to Pakistan in 24 years with a three-wicket victory in the one-off Twenty20 on Tuesday.
Captain Aaron Finch smashed 55 and anchored Australia to 163-7 with five balls to spare as Ben McDermott flicked Haris Rauf to backward square leg for a boundary.
Nathan Ellis picked up 4-28 and pulled Pakistan back to 162-8 after Babar Azam continued his run of golden form and struck 66 off 46 balls when Finch won the toss and elected to field first.
Australia won the three-test series 1-0, its first in Pakistan since 1998, and lost the ODI series 2-1 after several of its players were rested from the white-ball series while Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith were ruled out due to injuries.
“Thought the way our bowlers attacked that game were fantastic,” said Finch, who came into the final game of the series after failing to score in the last two ODIs against Pakistan.
“Nathan Ellis had a tough start but showed real character. Everything we do is (with) one eye to the World Cup. There’s been a lot of great performances on this tour … to see so many young cricketers come on is super exciting.”
Travis Head, who scored a century in the first ODI, hit a brisk 26 off 14 balls and provided Australia a whirlwind start with Finch of 40 in 21 deliveries to set up a strong platform.
Josh Inglis, who missed out the ODI series after testing positive for COVID-19, also made a brisk 24 while Marcus Stoinis blasted five boundaries in his 9-ball 23 against some wayward Pakistan bowling — especially Hasan Ali, who conceded 30 runs off his three overs without taking a wicket.
Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim (2-30) clean bowled Stoinis and Cameron Green in successive overs but Australia made sure not to let the game slip away through some clinical hitting.
Shaheen Shah Afridi (2-21) had Finch caught on the edge of the boundary in his last over and also had Sean Abbott clean bowled before McDermott sealed the game in the final over.
Pakistan lost its way once Green, one of the three debutants for Australia, broke the half century opening stand by having Mohammad Rizwan (23) clean bowled with an off-cutter. Green was on a hat trick when Fakhar Zaman was snapped up by Finch at mid-on after the left-hander played a hard drive off a low full toss.
Adam Zampa put the brakes on Pakistan’s scoring rate when Babar, who hit six fours and two sixes in his 46-ball knock, was well caught at deep extra cover by Ellis in the 16th over.
Ellis then ran through the lower order by grabbing three wickets in his last two overs before Usman Qadir’s brisk 18 runs off debutant fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis’ (0-42) last over provided Pakistan a late flourish.
Australia beats Pakistan by 3 wickets in one-off Twenty20
https://arab.news/ppf6c
Australia beats Pakistan by 3 wickets in one-off Twenty20
- Pakistan lost its way once Green, debutant for Australia, broke half century opening stand
- Australia won three-test series 1-0, its first in Pakistan since 1998 and lost the ODI series 2-1
Lionel Messi scores on free kick to lift Inter Miami over Porto
ATLANTA: Lionel Messi connected on a free kick in the 54th minute to propel Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over FC Porto in a Group A match of the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday afternoon.
After Porto struck first on Samu Aghehowa’s penalty kick in the eighth minute, Marcelo Weigandt assisted on Telasco Segovia’s game-tying goal in the 47th.
Miami found its second goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half against Porto goalkeeper Claudio Ramos as Messi scored on the 68th free-kick goal of his illustrious career.
Each team netted their first goals of the tournament after Miami tied Al Ahly 0-0 on Saturday and Porto suffered the same result against Palmeiras on Sunday.
After VAR review confirmation, it was determined that Miami’s Noah Allen committed a tripping penalty in the box against Joao Mario, leading to Aghehowa’s penalty goal that was deflected by goalkeeper Oscar Ustari and in for the game’s first goal in the eighth minute.
Aghehowa, 21, had 19 goals in 30 Primeira Liga matches for the Portuguese side this past season.
Miami knotted the score at one less than 90 seconds into the second half, as Weigandt’s cross into the center of the box was finished by Segovia, who fired in the equalizing goal past a sprawling Ramos.
Miami then continued its great start to the second half, as Porto’s Rodrigo Mora’s foul led to Messi’s successful free kick — perfectly placed in the top right corner in the 54th minute.
World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik
- Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle
HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany: Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass at Halle on Thursday to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, the Italian’s first tournament since his French Open final defeat.
The world number one fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old’s first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023.
A few days before his defeat to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games.
On Thursday, ten days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner.
The Kazakh will play Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle.
The 28-year-old German won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against the 46th-ranked Sonego and next plays another Italian, Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semifinals.
A finalist in Halle in 2016 and 2017, Zverev recorded his fifth victory in as many meetings with Sonego, a year after beating him at the same stage of the same competition.
Sonego took advantage of his only chance to break in the first set at 4-3. The German struggled throughout to break his opponent’s serve.
Zverev dug deep in the second set, leading 5-4, to win the set before dominating the tiebreak in the final set.
Argentina’s 63rd ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry also reached the quarter-finals after a three-hour duel against fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6).
The Argentine saved two match points in the tiebreak of the deciding set to set up a meeting with Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Coco Gauff loses in Berlin in first match since French Open title, turns attention to Wimbledon
- Gauff had a bye to the second round at the grass-court tournament, a warmup for Wimbledon
- “It was a tough one today but happy to be back on court,” she wrote on her social media
BERLIN: Newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff was stunned on her return to action Thursday, losing to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-3 at the Berlin Open.
The second-ranked Gauff, who won at Roland-Garros less than two weeks ago for her second Grand Slam title, amassed 25 unforced errors and seven double faults in her loss to Wang.
Gauff had a bye to the second round at the grass-court tournament, a warmup for Wimbledon.
“It was a tough one today but happy to be back on court,” Gauff wrote on her social media accounts. “Tried my best to adjust with the quick turnaround but it wasn’t enough. As always, I’m learning as I go so I hope to do better next time.”
The 21-year-old Gauff added that she is “excited to get some more practices in to be ready for Wimbledon,” which starts June 30. She has not made it past the fourth round at the All England Club.
Wang, ranked No. 49, said she would have been pleased just with the first set Thursday, considering the level of her opponent.
“After I won the first set, I just told myself ‘OK let’s take a minute and enjoy this, I’m playing the French Open champion, and I won the first set,’” she said in her on-court interview.
“No matter how the second and third go, I was like, ‘OK let’s just enjoy it for a second,’” said Wang, who will face Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. “I’m really happy with how I played today. I was serving good and putting a lot of pressure on the return, especially second-serve return.”
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka finished off Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (6) in a match that was suspended Wednesday after one set because of a slippery court.
Sabalenka had lost to Gauff at the French Open final and later apologized to the American for making “unprofessional” comments after the Paris title match.
Sabalenka will meet 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.
Palmeiras ease past Al Ahly in Club World Cup
- The match was suspended in the 63rd minute because of a weather warning
- Victory took Palmeiras provisionally top on four points
EAST RUTHERFORD, USA: Palmeiras drew first blood in Club World Cup Group A with a 2-0 victory over Al Ahly on Thursday in New Jersey.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami face Porto later on in the group’s other clash after two goalless draws in the first round of fixtures.
The match was suspended in the 63rd minute because of a weather warning, with players and fans at the MetLife Stadium instructed to “take shelter” because of a nearby storm.
Palmeiras were leading by two goals at the time, with a Wessam Abou Ali own goal sending the Brazilians ahead in the 49th minute before Flaco Lopez doubled their lead on the Egyptians 10 minutes later.
Victory took Palmeiras provisionally top on four points, with the other three sides level on one point each.
It was the third match at the tournament affected by adverse weather at the tournament.
On Tuesday Mamelodi Sundowns game against Ulsan HD was suspended just before kick-off for just over an hour due to a weather alert.
Then on Wednesday RB Salzburg’ s match against Pachuca was suspended in the second half for 97 minutes because of a storm.
Palmeiras, led by talented youngster Estevao Willian, who is set to join Chelsea, played well but were held by Porto in their opening clash.
Al Ahly kept them at bay in a tight first half, in which English referee Anthony Taylor sent off Palmeiras midfielder Raphael Veiga for a foul on Ahmed Zizo, before overturning his decision following a VAR review.
Palestinian striker Abou Ali headed Anibal Moreno’s free-kick into his own net to hand Palmeiras the lead.
Lopez finished coolly for the Brazilians’ second after Mauricio played him through on goal.
After the suspension of around 45 minutes for the weather warning, Palmeiras played out the remainder of the match comfortably without risking their advantage.
South American sides have come into the tournament strongly, in good condition given they are in the middle of their domestic seasons, and have stayed unbeaten to this point.
Man City fined more than a million pounds for delayed kickoffs
- The club accepted and apologized for the rule breaches
- City are awaiting the verdict of 115 unrelated charges of alleged breaches of the FFP rules
MANCHESTER: Manchester City have been fined more than one million pounds by the Premier League for breaching the rules around delayed kickoffs and restarts nine times last season, England’s top-flight league said on Thursday.
The fine comes a year after City paid 2 million pounds ($2.56 million) to the league for breaching the same game-delay rules.
The club accepted and apologized for the rule breaches, and confirmed they have reminded their players and staff of their responsibilities in complying with the rules.
“Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts help ensure the organization of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs,” the league said in a statement.
“It also ensures the broadcast of every Premier League match is kept to schedule.”
Fines totalling 1.08 million pounds were imposed relating to City’s home games against Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, West Ham United and Newcastle United and their away fixtures against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town.
The longest game delays were two minutes 22 seconds each for restarts v West Ham and Ipswich.
City are awaiting the verdict of 115 unrelated charges of alleged breaches of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The charges cover a period starting from 2009 and continuing into the 2022-23 season. City have always denied any wrongdoing.
