Sport
Hosts Zimbabwe win opening Cricket World Cup qualifier match
West Indies and Zimbabwe notched up victories in their respective opening Cricket World Cup Group A qualifiers over the United States and Nepal on Sunday.
Two-time world champions West Indies recovered from the early loss of openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers as four players hit half-centuries as they made 297 all out off 49.3 overs, AFP reported.
Johnson Charles top scored with 66, while Jason Holder (56), Roston Chase (55) and skipper Shai Hope (54) all went past 50, Nicholas Pooran also chipping in with 43 runs.
Gajanand Singh hit an unbeaten 101 off 109 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, for the US team, but the chase proved too much and the West Indies ran out winners by 39 runs.
“We have to be disciplined and we have to stay calm,” Holder said, praising Singh for his effort with the bat.
“He played a really good knock to get his team close enough to our total.”
Earlier in the day, unbeaten centuries by skipper Craig Ervine and Sean Williams in a 164-run partnership guided Zimbabwe to an eight-wicket win over Nepal.
Chasing an imposing total of 290, Ervine hit a 128-ball 121 featuring 15 fours and a six, while Williams struck 102 off 70 balls as Zimbabwe reached 291 for the loss of two wickets with 35 balls remaining.
Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh hit 99 and 66 respectively to help Nepal to 290 for eight wickets off their 50 overs at the Harare Sports Club.
Wellington Masakadza eventually claimed both Bhurtel and Sheikh’s wickets and Richard Ngarava took 4-43 off his nine overs.
In front of a large crowd, Zimbabwe lost Joylord Gumbie (25) and Wessly Madhevere (32) before Ervine and Williams took control of Nepal’s bowling attack.
“We didn’t start really well, dropped catches cost us but credit to the guys for pulling it back. We thought that 280/290 would be chaseable because the wicket looked very nice,” said Ervine.
“I think it’s well played today, rest day tomorrow and a quick turnaround when we play the Netherlands next on Tuesday.”
The action continues Monday, with Sri Lanka facing the United Arab Emirates and Ireland taking on Oman in Group B matches at Bulawayo.
Only two of the 10 teams taking part in the three-week qualifier will make the World Cup to be played in India in October and November.
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
Sport
Underdogs Afghanistan qualify for Futsal World Cup
Competing in their first AFC Futsal Asian Cup, Afghanistan have concluded a fairy tale tournament by edging the Kyrgyz Republic to reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Four second-half goals guided Afghanistan to a 5-3 win and the final 24-strong field for Uzbekistan 2024 is now set.
Unknown at continental level at the start of the month, Afghanistan have scripted one of the great futsal fairy tales by reaching the global showpiece for the very first time.
After raising eyebrows by pushing powerhouse Iran in their opening match and then progressing from the group, the Afghans were involved in a triple Central Asian tangle that ultimately saw them reach the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Defeat at the hands of Tajikistan in the first of the quarter-finals looked to have marked the end for the daring debutantes only for World Cup hosts Uzbekistan to see off Vietnam in the last of the final eight match-ups to necessitate a play-off to determine the final slot at the sport’s showpiece event.
A 5-3 win against Iraq in the first round of the play-offs set up this winner-takes-all affair with a Kyrgyz Republic outfit also eyeing a maiden World Cup berth.
Settling the better of the two teams, it was a ninth-minute Omid Qanbari effort that sent Afghanistan to the break with a narrow lead; one that they would double nine minutes after the restart as an own goal from Mukhamed Askarbekov made it 2-0.
A frantic ten-minute period then produced six goals but with the Kyrgyz Republic always chasing the match, the Afghans never looked too troubled, with two late, long-range, goals from captain Mahdi Norowzi and Mehran Gholami capping off the impressive 5-3 win.
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlands, the tournament has been held every four years since 1992.
The current champions are Portugal, who won their first world title after beating the 2016 defending champions Argentina in the final of the 2021 tournament in Lithuania.
Sport
Afghanistan qualify for FIFA Futsal World Cup for first time ever
Afghanistan qualified for the 2024 Futsal World Cup after 5-3 victory against Kyrgyzstan in the Playoff 3 of AFC Futsal Asian Cup in Bangkok on Sunday.
This is the first time that Afghanistan qualifies for the Futsal World Cup.
The tenth edition of Futsal World Cup is scheduled to start on September 14, 2024 in Uzbekistan.
Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament.
Afghanistan, France, New Zealand and Tajikistan will make their debuts.
Sport
ACL: Mawj Sahil 2-1 Sarsabz Yashlar; Sorkh Poshan 6-0 Maiwand
Mawj Sahil defeated Sarsabz Yashlar 2-1 in the 15th match of Afghanistan Champions League in Kabul on Saturday, while Sorkh Poshan hammered Maiwand 6-0 in the 16th match of the tournament on the same day.
Sanan Rahimi and Esmatullah Hadafmand scored the two goals for Mawj Sahil.
Yashlar’s only goal was scored by Mohammad Nasir Niazi.
Sorkh Poshan’s six goals against Maiwand were scored by Habibullah Hotak (1), Samir Mirzai (1), Hamir Amiri (1), Omid Rajabi (2) and captain Farhad Alizada (1).
Sunday’s matches will see Istiqlal Kabul take on Adalat Farah at 1:00 PM, and Khadim face Jawanan Wahedi at 3:30 PM.
The matches are broadcast live on Ariana Television.
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