KARACHI: Pakistan included top-order batter Fakhar Zaman in their 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia on Friday, replacing spinner Usman Qadir after he suffered a thumb injury.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said 32-year-old Zaman is recovering from a knee injury.
"Pakistan have made one change in their squad for the T20 World Cup Australia with Zaman included in the squad while Qadir will be in the travelling reserves," said a PCB statement.
Zaman was initially picked as a reserve, while Qadir was in the 15-man squad.
Qadir has yet to recover from a thumb injury picked up last month, and will not be available for selection before October 22, the PCB added.
All 16 teams can make changes to their squads until October 15, after which they need the approval of the World Cup's technical committee.
Zaman suffered a knee injury during last month's Asia Cup held in the United Arab Emirates.
"Zaman will be available for selection in the two warm-up matches against England (17 October) and Afghanistan (19 October)," the PCB said.
Earlier this week, Pakistan received a boost to their World Cup chances when pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi was declared fit to play after recovering from a knee injury.
Pakistan is in Group Two of the Super 12 stage, and will play their first match against India in Melbourne on October 23.
South Africa, Bangladesh and two qualifying teams will join them in Group Two.
Title holders Australia, England, Afghanistan, New Zealand and two qualifying teams are in Group One.
The first round of the tournament begins on Sunday.
Revised Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood.
Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.
Pakistan brings Fakhar Zaman into Twenty20 World Cup squad
https://arab.news/vg7ns
Pakistan brings Fakhar Zaman into Twenty20 World Cup squad
- The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said 32-year-old Zaman is recovering from a knee injury
- Zaman was initially picked as a reserve, while Qadir was in the 15-man squad
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points and Thunder beat Pacers 103-91 for NBA title
OKLAHOMA CITY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night.
Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third-most in any season.
Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.
It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.
Next October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.
It was not easy to secure.
The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.
Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.
Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.
The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver 12 seasons leading the league. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.
Gold Cup: Saudi Arabia tie Trinidad, advance out of Group D
- Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday
Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in Las Vegas, ensuring the CONCACAF’s guests would advance to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.
While the United States won Group D with a perfect 3-0-0 record, Saudi Arabia finished 1-1-1 (4 points) to place second. Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-2, 2 points) would have leapfrogged Saudi Arabia for second with a victory.
Justin Garcia nearly put Trinidad ahead in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but his point-blank shot from the center of the box caromed off the crossbar.
Al-Buraikan’s tying goal also involved the woodwork. Saleh Al-Shehri received a pass down the center lane, dribbled around one defender and watched his ensuing shot hit the crossbar and stay out of the net. Al-Buraikan ran in to collect the ball and tap it behind goalkeeper Marvin Phillip (two saves).
Dante Sealy staked Trinidad to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on a left-footed rocket from outside the box.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi made two saves for Saudi Arabia.
RB Salzburg, Al-Hilal tussle to 0-0 draw at Club World Cup
- Al-Hilal will play Pachuca in Nashville on Thursday
RB Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw in a Group H match of the Club World Cup on Sunday in Washington.
Salzburg (1-0-1, 4 points), a 17-time Austrian Bundesliga champion, had an opportunity to become the first from Group H to advance to the quarterfinals but instead is second to Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) on goal differential, which favors the Spanish club by one. They face each other in the final group match in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Al-Hilal (0-0-2, 2 points) of the Saudi Pro League, where they have won 19 titles, play Pachuca (0-2-0, 0 points), which has been eliminated, in Nashville on Thursday.
Yassine Bounou made five saves for Al-Hilal. His counterpart, Christian Zawieschitzky, had four.
The match was played with pace despite a real-feel temperature of 99 degrees.
Al-Hilal came close to a breakthrough in the 81st minute when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic earmarked a shot for the bottom left corner from outside the box, but Zawieschitzky covered the post for the save.
While Al-Hilal finished with a 19-13 advantage in attempts, it was a frustrating afternoon for each side with numerous missed chances.
Al-Hilal had 10 of the 15 shot attempts in the scoreless first half. The problem was that Zawieschitzky needed to make just one save.
It did help him that defender Jacob Rasmussen blocked a right-footed shot from Marcos Leonardo and cleared it from near the goal line in the 21st minute. Otherwise the lone Al-Hilal shot on target was by Salem Al-Dawsari in the fifth minute.
Salzburg put three of its five shots on target in the first half, including an opportunity in the ninth minute. Frans Kratzig sent a long overhead ball to Karim Onisiwo in the center of the box and he deftly flicked the ball toward keeper Yassine Bounou with the outside of his right foot.
Bounou was better tested in the 48th minute when he stood tall to deny John Mellberg staring at him from the 6-yard box.
Real Madrid beats Pachuca 3-1 in Club World Cup while playing most of the match with 10 men
- It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power
CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler scored first-half goals and short-handed Real Madrid bounced back from a disappointing performance in its Club World Cup opener to beat Pachuca 3-1 on Sunday in front of 70,248 spectators at Bank of America Stadium.
Seven minutes in, defender Raul Asencio received a red card, forcing Real Madrid to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.
It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power.
Bellingham got Madrid on the board in the 35th minute when he took a pass from Fran Garcia just inside the box and belted a perfectly placed left-footed shot past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno into the right corner.
Eight minutes later, Güler made it 2-0 when he delivered a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner off an assist from Gonzalo García. Federico Valverde put the final touches on the win in the second half with a sliding right-footed shot off an assist from Brahim Díaz.
Goalkeeper Thabaut Courtois was on form with five saves in the first half. He turned away two point-blank shots in the early going and finished with 10 saves.
Elías Montiel ended Courtois’ bid for a shutout when he scored in the 80th minute for Pachuca, which fell to 0-2 in group play.
Kylian Mbappé has missed both Club World Cup starts after being hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. He did not travel to Charlotte, but the team remains hopeful that he’ll be ready to play on Thursday night against Salzburg.
Key moment
There were some uneasy minutes early in the match for Madrid when Asencio pulled down Pacheco’s Agustin Palavecino as he was entering the box following a breakaway, forcing Aurelein Tchouameni to move to center back. But Madrid stayed on the attack and Bellingham had the breakthrough goal.
Takeaways
Madrid looked very much out of sync on Wednesday, playing Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal to a 1-1 draw in Alonso’s first game when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved. That changed on Sunday as the talented roster began to mesh, with precise passing leading to both first-half goals.
Noteworthy
The game was played on a temporary grass field. The stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, who play on an artificial surface. ... With temperatures in the low 90s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius), players were given a water breaks midway through each half.
What they said
“We stayed together really well. It’s impressive how the team comes together to win the game. I’m really happy with the team today.” — Bellingham.
“I’m here to win. That is my way. I want to make a statement. We played well on some occasions but I can’t settle for just that.” — Pachuca coach Jaime Lozano.
Canelo and Crawford clash at intense face-off in New York
- Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the GEA and President of Saudi Boxing Federation, addressed crowd at Jevits Center
NEW YORK: A packed Fanatics Fest crowd at Jevits Center in New York witnessed the second leg of the global media tour ahead of the blockbuster Riyadh Season fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford, the two best pound for pound fighters in the world, on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas.
Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and President of the Saudi Boxing Federation, addressed the crowd after being introduced to the stage by legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer, before UFC CEO Dana White stepped up to oversee the press conference ahead of the fight of the century between the two biggest fighters of the modern era for the undisputed super middleweight title.
White announced the performance bonus for the highly-anticipated fight, being broadcast exclusively live on Netflix, will be “over six figures”, before staging an intense face off which led to Canelo and Crawford having to be separated by their teams.
Speaking at the press conference, reigning champion Canelo said: "He (Crawford) is one of the great fighters in the last years, obviously that is why he is a champion. My brother, Turki Alalshikh, thank you so much for this fight, we are here and I think it is a good fight for the fans."
In response, Crawford, a four-division and two-weight undisputed champion, said: "I'm hunting him. That's it. I'm hunting everything that he has got, and I am going to take it come September 13th. I am very confident. This is my time."
The global media tour will conclude on Friday, June 27 in Las Vegas, before the two fighters return to the same city for the main event in September.
