fridi stars in Pak’s T20 win over Lanka
Dubai: Dashing allrounder Shahid Afridi starred in Pakistan’s exciting three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 international at Dubai stadium. Afridi scored an unbeaten 20-ball 39 on Wednesday, hitting the winning six off the last ball of the final over by paceman Nuwan Kulasekara to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. In all Afridi hit three sixes and two boundaries to help Pakistan overcome a tough challenge from world number one Sri Lanka who had taken the match to the final over with Pakistan needing six runs. Sent into bat, Sri Lanka made 145/5 in 20 overs. (AFP)
Saina in trouble after 2nd loss
Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal, who suffered her second consecutive defeat by going down to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China on Thursday, will have to win her last group match to have any chance of advancing to the next round of BWF World Superseries Finals here. A bad season only got worse for Saina as the world number six, who did not win a single title this year, failed to recover from Wednesday’s opening match loss and suffered a 9-21, 14-21 defeat at the hands of the world number one in her second Group B singles match here. The 23-year-old Indian, who had lost to Japan’s Minatsu Mitani on Wednesday, went down in just 27 minutes to defending champion Xuerui. Saina still has a chance to make it to the semifinals as Korean world number seven Yeon Joo Bae defeated Mitani 21-10, 21-18 in another Group B match. The Indian will now have to beat Bae on Friday and then hope that Xuerui packs off Mitani to ensure a three-way tie for the second place in the group. (PTI)
India win women’s Kabaddi World Cup
Jalandhar: India clinched the women’s Kabaddi World Cup championship for the third time in a row, defeating debutant New Zealand 49-21 in the summit clash played here on Thursday. The Indian eves led their New Zealand counterparts for most part of the match and held out a strong challenge by the visitors in the second half, on course to a resounding win. The Indian team took home a first-place prize of Rs 1 crore. Anu Rani was adjudged the best stopper while Ram Bateri was declared the best raider. Each received a Maruti Alto car. (PTI)
NZ take command against West Indies
Wellington: New Zealand claimed the upper hand in the second Test on Thursday with the West Indies on 158-4 and key batsmen Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul back in the pavilion. At the end of the rain-abbreviated second day, in which only 63.1 of the scheduled 90 overs were bowled, the West Indies trailed New Zealand’s first innings of 441 by 283. Marlon Samuels was not out 50 and Narsingh Deonarine was on 11. (AFP)