International Sports
Pollard becomes 2nd cricketer after Gayle to hit over 900 sixes in T20s

Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard became the second player after Chris Gayle to smash 900 or more sixes in the history of T20 cricket during his ILT20 clash for MI Emirates against Desert Vipers on Thursday.
Pollard slammed 36 runs from 23 balls in a knock that featured two fours and three sixes.
Pollard had 898 maximums to his name in 689 matches in a T20 career that began in 2006. He got to the 900 mark with a huge six off Lockie Ferguson in the 19th over of the first innings of the clash at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
Notably, Gayle has hit 1056 sixes and leads the tally by a handsome margin.
While he was dismissed on 36, Pollard’s knock helped MI rack up a competitive score of 159/6. However, the target was not enough. Fakhar Zaman led the run-chase alongside Alex Hales as they put up an opening partnership of 62 before the latter was cleaned up by Waqar Salamkheil for 34. Fakhar smashed 67 and was the cornerstone of the chase. Sam Curran and Sherfane Rutherford stepped up later with scores of 28 and 21, respectively, to help the Vipers win by five wickets with five balls to spare.
The defending Emirates have only one win in their first three matches, while the Deserts are unbeaten after three outings in the tournament.
Friday’s match
Sharjah Warriorz will take on Dubai Capitals on Friday. The match will be broadcast live on Ariana Television from 7pm. The pre-match show will start at 6.30pm Kabul time.
The full broadcasting schedule is as below.
International Sports
IPL 2025: Sunday’s KKR vs LSG match pushed out to Tuesday
Sunday will now be a single-header match day, opposed to the usual double-header schedule.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) announced Wednesday that Match 19 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) has been rescheduled and will be played on Tuesday, April 8 at 2:30 pm Kabul time.
The match was originally scheduled to take place this Sunday, April 6.
Sunday will now be a single-header match day, opposed to the usual double-header schedule. Sunrisers Hyderabad will play Gujarat Titans at 6 pm Kabul time as originally scheduled.
However, two matches will be played on Tuesday, April 8. First up will be KKR vs LSG, followed by the Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings.
Wednesday’s match
Wednesday, April 2, saw Punjab Kings cruise to an 8-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants after a dominant all-round performance.
A disciplined bowling effort restricted LSG to 171/7 at home before PBKS chased it down in style.
Player-of-the-Match Prabhsimran Singh (69 off 34), skipper Shreyas Iyer (52* off 30), and Nehal Wadhera (43* off 25) powered the visitors to a flawless finish, keeping them unbeaten in the league.
This convincing win propelled PBKS to second place in the points table, boosting their confidence for the games ahead.
Thursday’s match
Today, Thursday April 3, will see Kolkata Knight Riders take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The match will start at 6 pm Kabul time. Once again, Ariana Television will broadcast this thrilling event live across Afghanistan.
International Sports
Chennai grapple with IPL home truth after Bengaluru defeat

An exasperated Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said their failure to read the pitch at Chepauk has denied them any home advantage in the new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Five-time champion Chennai suffered their biggest defeat at home, in terms of runs, on Friday when Royal Challengers Bengaluru thumped them by 50 runs, Reuters reported.
“Well, as we’ve been telling you for a number of years, there was no home advantage at Chepauk,” Fleming said after Chennai’s first defeat of the new season.
“We haven’t been able to read the wickets here in the last couple of years,” he added. “So it’s not new. We are trying to come to grips each day with what we get, and we don’t know.”
Chennai’s spinners were not really effective, while Josh Hazlewood led Bengaluru’s superb pace display to set up their victory.
“It’s not the Chepauk (of old) where you can just go in and play four spinners,” former New Zealand captain Fleming said. “We’re having to work really hard to try and understand what the nature of each pitch is, and it’s quite different.”
Even the dew that Fleming had expected set in during the second innings did not materialise and Chennai fell well short of their target of 197.
“No, we didn’t get it right,” Fleming said. “It’s so hard to read, but we thought it was going to skid on with the dew, but it actually got a bit tacky. So, it certainly made it (batting) harder here.”
Saturday’s Match
Ariana Television will broadcast today’s match live and exclusively in Afghanistan. Fans can tune in from 6:15pm to watch Match 9, between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat.
International Sports
Lucknow’s six-hitting machine Pooran justifies top order slot

Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant said sacrificing the number three slot for Nicholas Pooran was well worth it after they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday for their first victory of the new Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Lucknow wanted an aggressive left-handed batter to follow their right-right opening pair of Mitch Marsh and Aiden Markram and the choice was between Pant and Pooran, both renowned for their six-hitting prowess, Reuters reported.
Former West Indies captain Pooran smacked six sixes and as many fours in his 70 off just 26 balls as Lucknow thumped Hyderabad by five wickets.
Pooran’s 13 sixes in two matches is the highest by any batter this season and his powerplay carnage drew praise from Pant, who has dropped down to number four in the batting order.
“The thought was to give freedom to him,” the Lucknow captain said after their victory in Hyderabad.
“We know what damage he can do down the order. I like that freedom too, but you have got to give someone that charge that you have to go and express yourself.
“The way he has been batting is phenomenal for us.”
Pooran raced to an 18-ball fifty against Hyderabad and his second-wicket partnership of 116 with Marsh set up their comfortable victory.
“I don’t plan to hit sixes,” Pooran said. “I just try my best to get in good positions and if it’s there, just time the ball nicely.
“In the last nine years I have been working on my craft. Obviously, I have been getting the opportunity to bat higher up in the powerplay as well.
“It is really important to cash in when the wicket is nice and obviously when the match-up is there you try your best to execute your skills.”
Friday’s Match
Ariana Television will broadcast today’s match live and exclusively in Afghanistan. Fans can tune in from 6:15pm to watch Match 8, between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai.
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