New Zealand players Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra have showered Kane Williamson with praise, after the Kiwi legend reached yet another impressive mark in their semi-final win against South Africa on Wednesday.

New Zealand set a steep target in their ICC Champions Trophy semi-final – one that would prove to be too tricky to chase.

Their 362 runs became a new high mark for totals in Champions Trophy matches played in Lahore, moving past Australia’s score (356/5) from earlier in the tournament.

But in doing so, an even greater record was etched into the history books. Kiwi legend Kane Williamson became just the 16th player of all time to reach 19,000 international runs and the first New Zealander to do so.

That milestone came early in an innings that would go on to become his 48th century, across all formats, and his 15th in One-Day Internationals.

Williamson’s career as a run-scorer has been emphatic, reaching the mark of 19,000 international runs fourth-fastest of all time (440 innings), behind only Virat Kohli (399), Sachin Tendulkar (432) and Brian Lara (433).

The 34-year-old proved yet again he’s still at the peak of his powers, scoring 102 runs from 94 balls, highlighted by a mix of perfectly-timed traditional strokes and expansive new age shots that both proved equally as effective.

He came to the crease with the Kiwis at 48/1 in the eighth over and built a win-assisting partnership of 164 runs for the second wicket with Rachin Ravindra, who also made it to three figures, scoring 108 off 101 balls.

Ravindra relished the cool-headed help of Williamson, as the pair looked to take the game away from their opponents.

“It was nice to build a partnership first with Youngy (Will Young) and then Kane,” he said post-game.

“That is what helped me the most, being able to work with the guys in the team. Kane started accelerating so nicely.”

Captain Mitchell Santner, who also spoke after their win, continues to be in awe of Williamson’s feats, both as a batter and a leader.

“(Kane) keeps doing it,” Santner said post-game.

“That partnership (with Ravindra), that was massive for us and it looked like he might’ve been frustrated at times, but he was able to keep going and get through little periods where South Africa challenged us.

Celebrations will be short-lived for the Kiwis as they will now head back to Dubai, having played India at the same venue only a matter of days ago.

Fans across Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television on Sunday, March 9, from 1:30pm to watch the final.

Sensational Afghan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has risen to the top of the ICC Men’s ODI All-Rounders Rankings after delivering phenomenal all-round performances in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

He overtakes Mohammad Nabi who now sits at No. 2.

Rashid Khan remains in the Top 10 at No. 6 among all-rounders. 

Omarzai recently delivered exceptional all-round performances against Australia and England during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Lahore.

Omarzai became the number one ranked all-rounder in ODI cricket as per the latest rankings issued by the ICC on Wednesday, March 5. 

Last week, he scored a cracking 41 against England, and also picked up a sensational five-wicket haul in a winning cause for Afghanistan. A couple of days later, he belted 67 runs from just 63 deliveries against the Australians at the iconic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

With 296 rating points, he is currently four points clear of second-ranked and fellow Afghanistan international Mohammad Nabi.

Both Nabi and Zimbabwe cricketer Sikandar Raza lost a rung each to slip to number two and number three respectively on the rankings. 

Bangladesh and New Zealand spin bowling all-rounders, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mitchell Santner constitute the top five all-rounders as per the updated table.

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan slipped from five to six, and he is followed by Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and Scotland’s Brandon McMullen. 

Legendary spinner Ravindra Jadeja is the lone Indian cricketer to feature in the top 10 rankings by finding himself at number nine with 213 rating points. 

Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus rounds up the top 10 list at number 10.

FIFA has lifted its suspension on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after it approved constitutional amendments validated by world soccer’s ruling body and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Reuters reported.

The PFF approved the amendments at an extraordinary congress in Lahore on Thursday, fulfilling the requirement for ending the suspension set by FIFA last month.

“The Bureau of the FIFA Council decided on 2 March 2025 to lift the suspension that was imposed on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on 6 February 2025,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA suspended the PFF in 2017 and 2021 due to third-party interference. Its last ban was lifted in June 2022 after the PFF’s normalisation committee said it had regained full control of the federation’s premises and finances, read the report.

“We thank FIFA and AFC for their continued support of Pakistan football and extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Pakistan football community,” the PFF posted on X.

Pakistan will compete in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers starting this month, the PFF said on Monday, after their participation was put in doubt by the suspension, Reuters reported.

The PFF also announced the re-appointment of coach Stephen Constantine, who led the team to their first-ever World Cup qualifying round win in October 2023, for their match against Syria on March 25.