Category: Sports

COLOMBO: England sealed a nervy last-over victory against New Zealand in the Group 2 Super Eight fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here at the RPS Stadium on Friday.

Set a stiff 160, England managed to secure a thrilling victory in the last over.

England lost wickets early and looked like they would be squeezed out at 117-6, needing 43 from the last three overs.

But Ahmed and Jacks took 22 off the 18th over from Glenn Phillips to turn the match on its head.

Ahmed blasted 19 off seven balls in his first T20 World Cup match.

Jacks made an unbeaten 32 off 18 as the pair saw England to 161-6 with three balls to spare.

Jacks, who also took 2-23 to be England’s leading bowler, was named player of the match for an incredible fourth time in seven T20 World Cup outings this campaign.

England will move on to a semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday against either India or the West Indies, who clash on Sunday to decide the last semi-final berth.

New Zealand now have to sweat on the outcome of Saturday’s clash between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Kandy which will decide the second semi-finalist from Super Eights Group 2.

Pakistan have an inferior run rate to New Zealand so will need to win by 65 runs or inside 13 overs, if chasing, to deny the Kiwis.

England spinners spun a web around the New Zealand batting lineup, restricting them from imposing an important total.

Opting to bat first, New Zealand managed 159-7 at the end of their 20 overs.

Tim Seifert and Finn Allen laid a solid foundation with a 64-run partnership in seven overs.

Adil Rashid broke the threatening stand as Siefert was stumped, courtesy of a brilliant piece of work from Jos Buttler behind the stumps. The right-hander made 35 off 25, smashing two sixes and three fours.

The second wicket also fell in quick succession. Finn Allen was caught off Will Jacks’ bowling after managing 29 from 19 with the aid of three sixes.

After a double blow, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra stabilized the innings with a 31-run partnership.

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The scorecard read when Ravindra fell prey to Rehan Ahmed. He scored 11 off 13.

After a solid start, New Zealand’s middle order crumbled with England spinners tightening the screws.

The only notable batter was Glenn Phillips, who hit a vital 39 from 28 balls with the help of a six and four boundaries.

The right-hander stood firm when wickets tumbled around him. As New Zealand collapsed to 123-4 to 135-6 in 17.1 overs.

Eventually, they managed to put a respectable total on the board at the end of the innings.

For England, Will Jacks, Adil Rashid, and Rehan Ahmed shared six wickets between them.

READ: Salman wary of ‘critical situation’ before Sri Lanka clash

Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Salman Mirza is hopeful ahead of their last Super Eight fixture in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 against Sri Lanka, scheduled for Saturday, February 28, at the Pallekele International Stadium. 

Speaking ahead of their last Super Eight fixture against Sri Lanka, Mirza acknowledged the difficulty of securing a spot in the final four.

“It’s a critical situation as reaching the semi-final is not in our control,” Mirza told reporters

Pakistan need to rely on the ongoing fixture between New Zealand. A win for the BlackCaps would end the Green Shirts’ hopes of reaching the semi-final.

If the Three Lions managed to beat England by a hefty margin, then Pakistan would have to seal a big win over Sri Lanka to ensure qualification.

“But if we reach the semi-final, we have the capability to do better,” he added.

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He mentioned Pakistan’s loss against England, lamenting that if he had taken two wickets in the last over, the situation would have been entirely different.

“We needed to win the match against England, and that defeat has given us this position,” he recalled.

“I had the opportunity to become a hero in the final over, but I couldn’t grab that one.”

The 32-year-old said that such opportunities do not come every day and admitted that had he taken two wicket, they would have won the match, but it was not meant to be.

“Such opportunities do not come your way every day. Had I taken two wickets, we would have won that match, but it was not to be,” he concluded.

READ: Neymar ends goal drought as Santos edge Vasco da Gama

COLOMBO: New Zealand have won the toss and decided to bat first against England in the Group 2 Super Eight fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here at the RPS Stadium on Friday.

Playing XIs

England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (w), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid.

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi and Lockie Ferguson.

Head to Head

New Zealand and England have played each other 27 times in 20 over format. The Three Lions are ahead with 16 wins, while BlacCaps have managed to win 10 games.

READ: Real Madrid to play Manchester City in Champions League last 16

Mohamed Salah may be experiencing the worst goal drought of his Premier League career but Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes the Egypt striker is paying the price for his own high standards.

Salah, 33, has won the Golden Boot four times as the English top-flight’s leading goal-scorer since arriving at Anfield in 2017, the latest in last season’s title-winning campaign. But he has now gone nine league matches without a goal.

That is his worst run in the Premier League, but Slot, speaking ahead of Saturday’s match at home to West Ham, told reporters: “He set his own standards and those are so high and the moment he doesn’t score for a few games people are immediately surprised –- that is the biggest compliment he can get.”

The Dutch boss, whose side are sixth in the table and three points off a Champions League place, added: “We are used to Mo scoring a lot of goals and at this moment in time that is maybe the biggest difference in his performance and game time.

“But we also know this has happened before. I don’t know if it happened nine games in a row, but I’ve had these questions earlier if he didn’t score for three or five, but I know in the end he always starts scoring again.

“He is not our only attacker at this moment in time that doesn’t score as much as we are used to.

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“The focus is totally on him because of everything he did for the club but Hugo (Ekitike) and Cody (Gakpo) haven’t scored that many goals recently as well. It is a team thing which we have to improve.”

Liverpool, meanwhile, announced they had returned to profit after their title triumph last season with a pre-tax surplus of £15.2 million ($20.5 million) that owed much to a £60 million increase in media revenue.

But performance bonuses, plus the contract renewals of high-profile stars such as Salah and skipper Virgil van Dijk, helped leave Liverpool with the highest wage bill in the Premier League as staff expenditure rose by £42 million to £428 million.

That put Liverpool ahead of Manchester City, whose employee costs for the same season were £408 million.

As these figures relate to the 2024/25 campaign, with the accounting period ending on May 31, they do not include Liverpool’s £450m summer spending spree on the likes of British record transfer Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ekitike.

Liverpool’s chief financial officer, Jenny Beacham, said the figures were welcome but warned tougher times may lie ahead.

“The club does face significant cost challenges, including rises in administrative, staffing and operational costs, alongside the need for us to compete at the highest level of the game, across our men’s and women’s teams.”

READ: Neymar ends goal drought as Santos edge Vasco da Gama

Real Madrid and Manchester City will face off in a Champions League knockout tie for the fifth season running after being drawn Friday to play each other in the last 16, while reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will take on Chelsea.

The Spanish giants, record 15-time European champions, will host City in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next month before travelling to England for the return the following week.

The clubs have already played each other this season, with Pep Guardiola’s City winning 2-1 in Madrid in December during the league phase, in which the Premier League club finished eighth and Real ninth.

That allowed City, Champions League winners in 2023, to advance straight to the last 16 while Madrid had to come through the knockout phase play-offs, in which they beat Benfica 3-1 on aggregate.

This is the eighth season in which the teams have played each other since 2012. Real beat City in the knockout phase play-offs last season, and in the quarter-finals on the way to winning the trophy in 2024.

They also emerged victorious in the semi-finals in 2022, with City winning at the same stage the following year.

PSG will be at home to Chelsea in the first leg after qualifying for this stage with a 5-4 aggregate win over Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the play-offs. Chelsea progressed straight to the last 16 after finishing sixth in the league phase.

The sides played each other in the knockout stages in three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, with Chelsea winning the first of those confrontations in the quarter-finals and PSG triumphing in the last 16 in the following two.

Their last encounter came in July’s Club World Cup final in the United States, when Chelsea won 3-0 against last season’s European champions.

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Chelsea have been coached since January by Liam Rosenior, who had previously come up against PSG in Ligue 1 as the coach of Strasbourg.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United will take on Barcelona with the first leg at St James’ Park, where the Spanish side won 2-1 during the league phase in September.

There is a record total of six English clubs in the last 16. Liverpool will have a rematch against Galatasaray, the Turkish giants having defeated the Anfield club 1-0 in September in the league phase.

Arsenal will come up against Bayer Leverkusen, and Tottenham Hotspur were drawn to play Atletico Madrid.

German champions Bayern Munich will play Atalanta, the sole Italian club left in the competition, while Norwegian upstarts Bodo/Glimt’s reward for knocking out Inter Milan is a last-16 tie against Sporting of Portugal.

The first legs will take place on March 10 and 11, with the second legs a week later.

The teams that qualified directly for this stage after finishing in the top eight in the league phase will all be at home in the return matches.

This season’s Champions League final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.

READ: Neymar ends goal drought as Santos edge Vasco da Gama

Neymar finally ended his 2026 goal drought in style on Thursday, scoring twice to inspire Santos to a 2-1 victory over Vasco da Gama in the fourth round of the Brasileirao at Urbano Caldeira Stadium.

The Brazil superstar, returning from surgery earlier this year, opened the scoring in the 25th minute and added a second in the second half, securing all three points for his side.

It was his first goal since December 2025 and only his second full 90-minute appearance of the year.

After the match, Neymar addressed critics and speculation about his potential inclusion in the Brazil squad for the upcoming Men’s World Cup.

“Last week, they said I was the worst player in the world. Today I scored two goals, and that’s what matters,” Neymar said.

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“One day you’re no good, or you’re ‘retired’; the next, people say you have to go to the World Cup. I’m dedicating myself and working to get in the best possible shape.”

The 2026 season has seen Neymar easing back into competitive action following surgery, and he admitted the challenge of regaining match fitness.

“This was my third game of the year and only my second full 90 minutes. I felt some cramping at the end, but that’s just part of the process,” he added.

The celebrations were briefly interrupted by a tense moment with Vasco midfielder Thiago Mendes, whose 2020 challenge at PSG had previously caused Neymar a serious injury.

“He always wants to cause trouble and act tough. He already broke me once at PSG, and he threatened me again today. It’s always the same with him,” Neymar remarked.

READ: Tilak Varma calls for ‘fearless cricket’ ahead of West Indies showdown

India revived their T20 World Cup campaign with their “fearless” brand of cricket ahead of a winner-takes-all decider against the West Indies for the last semi-final berth.

Hot favourites to defend their title on home soil, India thrashed Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Chennai on Thursday to bounce back from their heavy defeat against South Africa in their Super Eights opener.

India’s batting, led by opener Abhishek Sharma’s blistering 55 and an unbeaten 50 by Hardik Pandya, piled up 256-4, the second-highest total in the history of the tournament.

In a brutal show of power hitting, the Indian batters demolished the opposition bowling with 17 sixes and 17 fours at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

India face the West Indies, who went down to South Africa by nine wickets, in Kolkata on Sunday to decide the second semi-finalist from Group 1.

“We want to play the fearless cricket, the brand of cricket we played today, and we played since last year,” batter Tilak Varma said.

“The same intent we want to keep in the next game as well. And going ahead in the tournament, we take the same intensity (forward).”

The left-handed Varma hit a 19-ball 44 as he put together an unbeaten 84-run stand with Pandya, who capped off the innings with two sixes to raise his fifty.

It all came together for India after they rejigged their opening combination with the return of Sanju Samson, who handed the team a quick start with his 24 off 15 balls.

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The left-handed Abhishek hit form with his first T20 World Cup fifty after he struggled in the tournament with three ducks in four innings.

“It’s important when the openers give us a good start, the same confidence follows to number three, four and five,” said Varma.

“And we discussed that whatever the situation is, (even) if we lose three-four wickets in powerplay, we will bat with the same rhythm,” he added.

“And we want to show the fear in opposition bowlers, that these guys are ready to hit each and every ball.”

India, the world’s top-ranked T20 team, came into the World Cup on the back of huge totals in bilateral contests and were tipped to cross the 300-run mark at the tournament.

But their batting had looked fragile and was often exposed, including by minnows the United States, who reduced them to 77-6 in their opener.

Tilak Varma remains cautious of his team’s plans against the West Indies, who posted 254-6 against Zimbabwe in their Super Eights opener.

“So if the wicket is not good, then we’ll adjust, and we’ll keep that intensity on,” said Varma.

“I would not say we want to score more than 250 — but if we get a good start, then of course we’ll go for it.”

READ: India rewrite record books with 256-4 blitz against Zimbabwe

CHENNAI: Defending champions India produced a batting masterclass to dismantle Zimbabwe and, in the process, rewrote multiple records during their Super Eight clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.

India piled up a staggering 256-4 in their allotted 20 overs, now their highest-ever total in T20 World Cup history.

The effort eclipsed their previous best of 218/4 against England in the inaugural 2007 edition.

India’s highest totals in T20 World Cups

256/4 vs Zimbabwe (2026)

218/4 vs England (2007)

210/2 vs Afghanistan (2021)

209/9 vs Namibia (2026)

205/5 vs Australia (2024)

The total also ranks as India’s fifth-highest score in men’s T20 Internationals overall, with their 297/6 against Bangladesh in 2024 still sitting at the top.

The 256-4 is also the second-highest total ever recorded in the history of the men’s T20 World Cup.

Only Sri Lanka’s 260/6 against Ireland in 2007 stands above it.

Highest totals in ICC Men’s T20 World Cups

Sri Lanka – 260/6 vs Ireland (2007)

India – 256/4 vs Zimbabwe (2026)

West Indies – 254/6 vs Zimbabwe (2026)

Ireland – 235/5 vs Oman (2026)

England – 230/8 vs South Africa (2016)

In doing so, India surpassed the West Indies’ 254-6, also made against Zimbabwe earlier in the ongoing Super Eight stage, while Ireland’s 235/5 slipped to third in the current edition’s rankings.

Notably, India’s 256-4 is now the highest total of the 2026 tournament so far.

The carnage was highlighted by an onslaught of sixes. Indian batters cleared the ropes 17 times, the most by India in a single T20 World Cup innings.

Their previous best was 15 sixes against Australia in the semi-final of the 2024 edition.

Most sixes in an innings at T20 World Cups

West Indies – 19 vs Zimbabwe (2026)

Netherlands – 19 vs Ireland (2014)

India – 17 vs Zimbabwe (2026)

Australia – 16 vs India (2010)

India – 15 vs Australia (2024)

While West Indies and the Netherlands jointly hold the overall record with 19 sixes in an innings, India’s 17 placed them third on the all-time list.

READ: Peshawar Zalmi rope in England fast bowler as direct signing

Peshawar Zalmi have bolstered their pace arsenal by securing the services of England fast bowler Tymal Mills as a direct signing for the upcoming 11th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The franchise confirmed the development through their official social media platforms, welcoming the left-arm pacer with a punchy message: “The storm just levelled up. Let’s welcome England’s express pacer Tymal Mills to the Yellow Storm.”

 

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PSL 11 is scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3, and Zalmi appear keen to assemble a squad capable of mounting a serious title challenge.

Mills becomes Zalmi’s second direct signing this season after Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie was drafted in as a replacement for Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who withdrew from the tournament.

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The English pacer is no stranger to the franchise, having previously represented Zalmi in the third edition of the PSL. During that campaign, he featured in five matches and picked up seven wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.21.

Overall, Mills has played 30 PSL matches, claiming 37 wickets at an economy of 8.41. He featured in the last two seasons for Islamabad United.

Peshawar Zalmi squad for PSL 11

Babar Azam, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abdul Samad, Ali Raza, Aaron Hardie, Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Haris, Khalid Usman, Abdul Subhan, James Vince, Michael Bracewell, Kusal Mendis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Mirza Tahir Baig and Tymal Mills.

READ: India batter Rinku Singh leaves team after father’s death

India batter Rinku Singh has left the team during the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in the middle of the tournament after the death of his long-ailing father, official sources told AFP.

The middle-order batter had rejoined India ahead of Thursday’s Super Eights victory against Zimbabwe, but did not feature in the playing XI in Chennai.

India hammered Zimbabwe by 72 runs to move into a winner-takes-all decider against the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday for a last semi-final berth.

Notably, he has endured a difficult campaign in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 so far, managing scores of 6, 1, 11* and 6 not out during the group stage.

His struggles continued in the Super Eight clash against South Africa in Ahmedabad, where he was dismissed for a two-ball duck in India’s 76-run defeat.

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The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said Rinku’s father, Khanchand Singh, had been battling liver cancer and died Friday morning at a hospital on the outskirts of New Delhi.

An attacking left-hander, 28-year-old Singh emerged as a finisher for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders before making his place in the Indian T20 team.

Singh rose from a humble background, with viral videos of his father delivering gas cylinders emerging after he made his India debut in 2023.

Tributes poured in from former cricketers for Rinku’s father.

“This must be an especially difficult time for Rinku and his family,” former spinner Harbhajan Singh wrote on X.

READ: Ronaldo buys stake in Spanish club Almeria