Sport
Afghanistan cricket team wins silver at Asian Games
India were crowned Asian Games men’s cricket champions on their first attempt and without needing to bat Saturday in an anti-climatic finish, consigning Afghanistan to a third consecutive silver.
India were declared winners of the final under an Asian Games-specific rule where the higher-ranked team takes the honors if the match cannot be finished, in this case due to rain, AFP reported.
Afghanistan made 112-5 under the floodlights in Hangzhou before the wet weather arrived after 18.2 overs.
With conditions not improving, the final was abandoned.
Despite the damp ending it completed a golden double for India after they beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs to be crowned women’s champions last week.
Twenty20 cricket has been played at the Asian Games twice before, at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, with Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka crowned men’s winners.
Afghanistan were runners-up both times, but India did not take part.
Because they were among the higher-ranked teams, they both entered the tournament at the quarter-final stage in Hangzhou.
While India cruised through their knockout games, against Nepal and Bangladesh, the Afghans had to scrap hard to beat holders Sri Lanka and then Pakistan.
Afghanistan again had to knuckle down after India won the toss and chose to field, with a gritty unbeaten 49 from Shahidullah and captain Gulbadin Naib’s 27 not out ensuring they passed 100.
They faced a fiery introduction with pacemen Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh removing openers Zubaid Akbari and Mohammad Shahzad inside the first three overs.
The needless run-out of Noor Ali Zadran, going for a tight second run in the next over, compounded their problems after Ravi Bishnoi’s accurate throw from the ropes.
Back-to-back boundaries from Afsar Zazai finally got the scoreboard moving as he and Shahidullah put on 37 for the next wicket.
Bishnoi’s spin broke the partnership with Zazai bowled for 15, before Shahidullah and Naib shared a 60-run stand, before rain halted play.
In the bronze medal match, Bangladesh stunned Pakistan when Rakibul Hasan smashed a boundary off the final ball to book a six-wicket win.
Pakistan managed only 48-1 off five overs before rain halted play, with Bangladesh set a revised target of 65 under the DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) method.
They reached it with four wickets down in dramatic fashion, with Hasan’s heroics sparking wild scenes from the Bangladesh team.
FIFA has approved the creation of an Afghanistan women’s refugee team that will compete in matches overseen by the world governing body.
According to FIFA, the team — composed of female players of Afghan nationality who obtained refugee status abroad — would first operate under a one-year pilot phase, which will help the organization determine the long-term viability of the program, Reuters reported.
The FIFA Council must approve the team’s establishment. Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, called the approval a “landmark” moment, adding that “FIFA is committed to giving every girl the possibility to play football.”
FIFA regulations require teams to receive recognition by a national federation in order to compete. The Afghan Football Federation, however, has not acknowledged its women’s teams, in fact banning all women’s sports across the country.
Afghanistan has not had a women’s side compete in an official match since 2018.
India’s cricket board has suspended the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, Reuters reported on Friday.
Thursday’s IPL match was abandoned midway after fighting began in India’s border regions, but the cricket board attributed the disruption to a power failure at the stadium in the hill city of Dharamsala.
The world’s richest cricket tournament began its current season on March 22, and the final fixture was scheduled to be played on May 25, with matches being spread over 13 venues across the country.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have been locked in conflict since Wednesday, when India targeted multiple locations in Pakistan, claiming they were “terrorist infrastructure” in response to a deadly attack in Kashmir last month.
New Delhi named two Pakistani nationals as suspects and accused Islamabad of being involved in the attack, a charge Pakistan denied and sought an independent probe.
India’s army said Pakistan’s armed forces carried out “multiple attacks” using drones and other munitions across the entire western border on Thursday night and early Friday, a claim Pakistan denied.
Thursday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings was called off mid-way through due to security reasons.
This was after the floodlights at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala were switched off and spectators asked to evacuate the stadium.
According to IANS, Arun Dhumal, IPL Chairman, said that the decision was taken as a precautionary measure, based on the red alert issued in Jammu.
Indian media reported the match was called off following air raid alerts in nearby areas, which forced a blackout in the hill town.
The Punjab side was 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs when the lights went out which at first was attributed to floodlight failure. But later the teams and the spectators were evacuated from the stadium for their security.
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