Sport
Livingstone belts 94 in vain as Punjab’s play-off hopes fade
Delhi Capitals survived a blazing 94 by Liam Livingstone for a consolation 15-run win to push Punjab Kings to the brink of IPL elimination on Wednesday.
Rilee Rossouw smashed an unbeaten 82 to guide Delhi to 213-2, a total that was threatened by Livingstone’s 48-ball blitz in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala.
Livingstone and Atharva Taide put on a 78-run stand. After Taide retired out on 55, the rest of the batting fell flat.
Delhi, who were already out of the play-off-race, kept the opposition to 198-8 despite Livingstone’s nine sixes and sloppy fielding, including two dropped catches.
“It was a bad performance in the field but we will take the win,” Delhi skipper David Warner said.
Punjab stay eighth in the 10-team table and need to win their final group match and depend on other results and net-rate to make the play-offs.
“It was frustrating,” Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan said. “We didn’t bowl really well in the first six wickets, we should have taken some wickets the way it was swinging.”
IPL heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are two of the seven teams in contention for three remaining play-off spots in the T20 tournament.
Defending champions Gujarat Titans became the first team to qualify for the play-offs early this week and assured themselves a top-two finish in the group stage.
Warner (46) and Prithvi Shaw (54) put on 94 runs for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for Delhi’s mammoth total.
The left-handed Warner set the pace with his attacking 31-ball knock as he hit former Delhi pace bowler Kagiso Rabada for two sixes.
Punjab left-arm quick and big buy Sam Curran denied Warner his fifty, but the left-handed Rossouw came in attacking with sixes and fours.
Shaw raised his fifty before falling to Curran. Rossouw finished off the innings with a destructive partnership with England’s Phil Salt.
Rossouw, who struck his first IPL half-century and was named man of the match, and Salt, who hit a 14-ball 26, took apart the opposition attack as they scored 41 runs in the final two overs.
Sport
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan set for friendly cricket clash in Khost
The match will be played during a cricket league, and is part of the Cricket Development Support Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ACB and the Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan in December last year.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced that it will host Uzbekistan’s national cricket team for a one-off T20 international on July 10 at the Rahmat Wali Masroori Cricket Ground in Khost province.
According to the ACB, the match will be played during a cricket league, and is part of the Cricket Development Support Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the ACB and the Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan in December last year.
The friendly match is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM, with an Afghan XI taking on the visiting Uzbek side. The game will be broadcast live across Afghanistan and internationally through various linear and digital platforms.
Quoted by the ACB, Chief Executive Officer Naseeb Khan said the board remains committed to supporting emerging cricket nations such as Uzbekistan and is ready to extend similar assistance to other countries seeking to develop the sport.
He noted that the ACB has already organized capacity-building programs and training workshops for members of the Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan, while several Uzbek fast bowlers also participated in the ACB’s specialized Fast Bowling Camp last year.
Khan added that Uzbekistan has consistently maintained a friendly policy toward Afghanistan and that the two countries have strengthened cooperation in healthcare, politics, and trade in recent years. He said closer collaboration in cricket development would further deepen relations between the two neighboring nations.
Sport
Serbian Dejan Dedovic appointed head coach of Afghanistan national futsal team
Dedovic will lead Afghanistan’s preparations for upcoming regional and international competitions, overseeing the team’s technical development and training programs.
The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has appointed Serbian coach Dejan Dedovic as the new head coach of the national futsal team on a two-year contract.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony attended by AFF officials, futsal committee members, technical staff, and sports journalists.
Dedovic will lead Afghanistan’s preparations for upcoming regional and international competitions, overseeing the team’s technical development and training programs.
The federation also announced several additions to the national team’s coaching staff. Iran’s Javad Asghari Moqaddam has been appointed technical director, while Morteza Mansour Samaei will serve as goalkeeping coach. Spain’s Uriel Masana has joined as assistant coach, Iran’s Sadeq Amani as fitness coach, and Brazil’s Joao Lira as team analyst.
In addition, the AFF renewed the contract of Mohammad Nasir Sedaqat as manager of the national futsal team.
The federation said it expects the newly assembled coaching staff to contribute to the continued development of Afghan futsal and strengthen the team’s competitiveness at the regional and international levels.
Sport
India clinch ODI series against Afghanistan
The India national cricket team defeated Afghanistan in the third and final One Day International (ODI), sealing the series with a 9-wicket victory and lifting the series trophy.
Afghanistan won the toss in the final match and opted to bat first.
Batting first, Afghanistan were bowled out for 218 in 44.2 overs, setting India a target of 219 runs.
Hashmatullah Shahidi played a superb innings, scoring 102 runs off 131 deliveries, anchoring the Afghan batting effort.
In reply, India made light work of the chase, reaching 219 for the loss of just one wicket in 28.4 overs, completing a dominant run chase.
India had already taken an unassailable lead in the series by winning the first ODI by 7 wickets and the second by 170 runs, before sealing a comprehensive 3–0 series sweep in the final match.
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