Sport

Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka target World Cup with West Indies in danger

Published

1 year ago

June 28, 2023

Hosts Zimbabwe and former champions Sri Lanka are in prime position to clinch the final two qualifying spots for this year's Cricket World Cup, while two-time winners the West Indies risk missing the tournament for the first time.

With four wins from four group matches, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka head into the decisive Super Six stage of the qualifiers with four points apiece -- carrying over the rewards earned for beating the teams that also advanced from the first round.

Backed by strong batting displays, which included making a national record 408-6 against the USA, Zimbabwe will be confident the runs will continue to flow as the stakes mount from Thursday.

"We have found our momentum and we are looking forward to carrying it," said Sean Williams, who scored 174 in Monday's 304-run rout of the USA.

Williams is comfortably the top run-scorer with 390, hitting an unbeaten century against Nepal and following it up with 91 against the Netherlands.

Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza have also struck hundreds, the latter's off-spin accounting for eight wickets as well to boost an attack spearheaded by left-arm quick Richard Ngarava.

Zimbabwe will relocate from Harare to Bulawayo for their games against Oman, Sri Lanka and Scotland, but the home support remains in their favor.

"It's a different venue, and everything about it is different but still having that crowd behind us is always like having a 12th man," said Williams.

Sri Lanka, world champions in 1996, eased through group play largely untroubled but face a Dutch side on Friday buoyed by their astonishing victory over the West Indies in a super over.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has bagged 18 wickets, emulating Pakistan great Waqar Younis with three consecutive five-wicket hauls in ODIs.

"He's a champion. Whenever I throw him the ball, he delivers for me," said Sri Lanka Dasun Shanaka.

West Indies near 'rock bottom'

While the future looks bright for Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, the West Indies are in dire straits after successive defeats to the hosts and the Netherlands.

The fallen giants, who won the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, realistically need to beat Scotland, Oman and Sri Lanka to stand a chance of qualifying.

"I understand the journey I have to take with this team," said coach Daren Sammy, who captained the West Indies to a pair of T20 World Cup titles.

"Sometimes you've got to reach rock bottom to come back up. I understand the challenges ahead and I also understand that things will not change overnight.

"It's a true reflection of where our cricket is at the moment. We have a lot of work to do."

The Netherlands and Scotland will both start on two points. The Dutch have not featured at the finals since 2011 while the Scots missed out four years ago after a controversial lbw decision.

"We're good enough to compete against the best teams in the world; we're just getting better," said Logan van Beek, whose heroics in Monday's super over stunned the West Indies.

"The more we play the best teams, the better we get. And more fun we get, the more players we get, and we deserve to be on that level."

Rank outsiders Oman complete the Super Six line-up for an event which concludes with the final on July 9.

Ariana Television Network will broadcast the matches daily live on TV and Website.

Pre-match shows will start at 11am (Kabul time), while the day’s match will start at 11.30am (Kabul time).

Matches are streamed live on Ariana Television websites simultaneously:

www.arianatelevision.com/live and www.arianatelevision.com/icc-live

CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule on Ariana Television

Related Topics:#SriLanka ArianaNews featured ICC Zimbabwe

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Sport

Faf du Plessis smashes 75 off 32 balls in Abu Dhabi T10 League

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2024

Ariana News

South African player Faf du Plessis showcased his batting brilliance by blasting a blistering 75 for Morrisville Samp Army against New York Strikers in the fifth game of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday.

The 40-year-old reached his fifty in just 22 balls. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 32 balls, hitting five boundaries and six sixes.

Samp Army posted 135-1 in 10 overs, 41 of it coming from Adndries Gous’s bat, and they won the match by 36 runs.

It was one of the four matches played on Friday.

In the other matches, Northern Warriors defeated Delhi Bulls by 7 wickets, with Jonson Charles hitting a fifty.

Team Abu Dhabi thrashed UP Nawabs by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 51. Mark Adair claimed four wickets. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Zeeshan Naseer picked up two wickets each.

In the last match of the day, Deccan Gladiators beat Ajman Bolts by 20 runs. Gladiators set a target of 138 runs, with Jos Buttler making 60 runs off 22 balls.

In reply, Ajman Bolts fell short on 117 despite captain Mohammad Nabi blasting 43 off 13 balls.

Sport

Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan

Published

3 days ago

November 21, 2024

Ariana News

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

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ariana News

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.