Sport
India hammer England to book T20 World Cup final with South Africa
Left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel took three wickets apiece as India thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday to set up a T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
England, set a challenging target of 172, slumped to 103 all out inside 17 overs, wrist spinner Kuldeep finishing with figures of 3-19 and the orthodox Patel 3-23.
India, bidding for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy, will now play South Africa -- also unbeaten at this tournament after a nine-wicket hammering of Afghanistan in their semi-final -- in Saturday's final in Barbados.
The Kensington Oval clash will also be India's second appearance in successive global showpiece games after they lost on home soil to Australia in last year's 50-over World Cup final.
"It's very satisfying to win this game," said India skipper Rohit Sharma after his team gained revenge for a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
"We worked really hard as a unit. To win like that was a great effort from everybody."
Rohit laid the foundations by top-scoring with 57 in a total of 171-7 after his side were somewhat surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Jos Buttler.
It was the opener's third fifty of the tournament and second in as many games following his blistering 92 against Australia.
- 'India outplayed us' -
India were 40-2 in the powerplay after Virat Kohli (nine) and Rishabh Pant (four) both fell cheaply.
But a third-wicket stand of 73 between Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47), spanning a rain delay of over an hour, turned the tide.
Patel, the player of the match, said: "I knew that the wicket was stopping and had something for the bowlers...Our batters told us the pitch wasn't easy to hit the ball. We felt it (171) was a good total."
Defeat meant the only Test side that England had beaten at this event were co-hosts the West Indies, with the title-holders also losing to Australia and South Africa.
"India outplayed us, certainly," said Buttler. "We let them maybe get 20-25 too many (runs) on a challenging surface that they played well on. They fully deserved to win.
"They've got some fantastic spinners. Our two (Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone) bowled well but in hindsight, probably should've bowled Moeen (Ali) in our innings with the way spin was playing.
"But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase.
Buttler launched England's reply with a brisk 23. When he attempted to reverse sweep Patel's first ball, however, he clipped a gentle catch off the toe-end of the bat to wicketkeeper Pant.
Fellow opener Phil Salt was then clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah's well-disguised slower ball.
England then saw 34-2 become 35-3 when Patel bowled dangerman Jonny Bairstow for a duck.
Moeen was then stumped by Pant and when Sam Curran was lbw to Kuldeep, England were in dire straits at 49-5 in the ninth over.
Wickets continued to tumble and when Livingstone, the last of England's specialist batsmen, was run out for 11 after a dreadful mix-up with Jofra Archer, England were all but beaten at 86-8.
Archer struck a couple of defiant sixes but Bumrah ended the match when he had the England paceman lbw for 21 with a low full toss.
(AFP)
Sport
Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan
The highly anticipated TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25 - an event that will be broadcast to Afghanistan’s cricket fans live and exclusively by Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN).
The two-day event will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana News.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this year. It will be the second time that the IPL mega auction is held outside India after last year's event in Dubai.
This year's mega auction will have 1,574 players registered, of which 574 names will go under the hammer.
Of those 574, a total of 366 players will be Indian and 208 will be foreign cricketers.
A number of big names will be in fray, with as many as 81 players choosing to register themselves under the highest base price bracket of Rs 2 crore ($237,000).
Afghan players
Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the IPL mega auction.
Two hundred and four (204) slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.
Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote
For cricket fans across the country, the IPL mega auction broadcast will be on Sunday and Monday from 1.30pm Kabul time on Ariana News. For more information and updated stories be sure to watch this space and follow us on social media.
Sport
Pakistan trumps Afghanistan by only 13 runs in U19 Tri-Series One Day match
Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket
Afghanistan’s U-19 cricket team went down to Pakistan by only 13 runs on Wednesday in their third tri-nation series One Day match at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
This was Pakistan’s first win over Afghanistan in the ongoing tournament after the Afghans defeated their opponents by 100 runs at the same venue on Friday.
Chasing 245 to win, Afghanistan lost their opening batter Mahboob Khan in the first over but recovered as Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada secured a 104-run partnership for the second wicket.
After Faisal’s departure, Uzairullah soon followed with Afghanistan at 142 for three in 26.5 overs.
Afghanistan were bundled out for 231 in 46.4 overs.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, Pakistan’s opening pair Shahzaib Khan and Usman Khan provided a solid 129-run stand to Pakistan.
Left-handed Usman, who scored a century against Afghanistan in the previous match, scored an 88-ball 77, which included eight fours.
Shahzaib meanwhile top-scored for the side with 78 off 101 balls, hitting seven boundaries.
For Afghanistan, Abdul Aziz Khan and Khatir Khan Stanikzai bagged three wickets apiece, while Naseer Khan Maroofkhil snapped two wickets.
Pakistan will take on the hosts UAE U19 in their last group match on Friday, 22 November.
In a post on X, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said late Wednesday: “Not the result we would have wanted but Afghanistan Future Stars will look to bounce back in the next match.”
Afghanistan will take on UAE U19 on Sunday, November 24.
Sport
Afghanistan beat UAE by 169 runs in U19 tri-series
Afghanistan under-19 cricket team defeated the United Arab Emirates under-19 team by 169 runs in their second match of the tri-nation series in Dubai on Monday.
Batting first after winning the toss, Afghans posted 359-5 as they played all the mandated 50 overs in the ICC Academy in Dubai.
Faisal Khan scored 156 runs while captain Mehboob Khan made 141.
In reply, UAE made 190 before they were all out in the 45.4 overs.
It is Afghanistan U19's second consecutive win in the two matches they have played so far in the tri-series.
Afghanistan U19 defeated Pakistan by 100 runs in their first match.
Afghanistan U19 will meet Pakistan U19 again on Wednesday.
-
Sport5 days ago
FIFA unveils Innovative Club World Cup Trophy ahead of new tournament in 2025
-
Latest News5 days ago
Trump team compiling list of military officers responsible for US withdrawal from Afghanistan
-
Latest News5 days ago
Canada sent 19 failed asylum seekers back to Afghanistan last year
-
Sport4 days ago
Abu Dhabi’s thrilling T10 tournament just days away
-
World4 days ago
Biden allows Ukraine to use US arms to strike inside Russia
-
Sport4 days ago
Afghanistan beat UAE by 169 runs in U19 tri-series
-
Business5 days ago
Mullah Baradar inaugurates a blanket factory in Kabul
-
Latest News3 days ago
Tajikistan trumps Afghanistan 3-1 in football friendly