Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja expressed disappointment after the ODI series against West Indies was rescheduled following the COVID scare.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Thursday issued a joint statement after five more positive cases were reported in the West Indies camp following Wednesday’s PCR testing, taking the total number of positive cases to nine since their arrival in Karachi on December 9. It was agreed that the ODI series, which forms part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, will be postponed and rescheduled for early June 2022.

“Very impressive record chase tonight. Self-belief & calmness was at the heart of that feat! Great year for Rizwan & he doesn’t have a bad partner in Babar too. Pity about the rescheduling of the ODI series but we will have a full-fledged fit WI team for that June encounter,” Ramiz Raja tweeted after Pakistan win in the third T20I.

Coming to the game, Pakistan completed a clean sweep in the three-match T20I series against a virus-hit West Indies with a resounding seven-wicket win on Thursday.

Run-machine Mohammad Rizwan rounded off the year with his 12th half-century in Twenty20 internationals by scoring 87 while captain Babar Azam made 79 in Pakistan’s blistering run-chase of 208-3 in 18.5 overs. The West Indies’ top-order batters, led by captain Nicholas Pooran’s blazing 64 off 37 balls, still did well to post 207-3 after the tourists had won the toss and elected to bat.

Defending champion PV Sindhu on Friday crashed out of the BWF World Championships 2021 after suffering a straight games defeat against Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals in Huelva.

Tai Tzu Ying defeated shuttler from India by 21-17, 21-13 in a clash that lasted for 42 minutes to cruise into the semi-finals. This was the 20th meeting between PV Sindhu and TTY. The Chinese Taipei shuttler now has a 15-5 advantage against the two-time Olympic medallist Indian. This is also for only the second time in her career that Sindhu will return home without a medal from the Worlds. While TTY will be on the podium for the very first time in her career.

The world number one absolutely dominated the early exchanges as she raced off the blocks to take a handy 11-6 lead into the midway break of the first game. Sindhu showed some late resurgence in the second half but Tai Tzu Ying hold on to convert her advantage to a 21-17 win in game 1.

The Chinese Taipei player’s shuttle placement continued to be impeccable in the second game as she went into the break with an 11-8 lead. The sixth-seeded Indian did show some surge in the second half as she clawed back to level the game at 12-12. However, Tai Tzu Ying showed immense composure as she closed out the game at 21-13.

Lakshya Sen defeated Zhao Jun Peng in a thriller on Friday to cruise into the semi-finals of the ongoing BWF World Championships in Huelva. Battling at court 2, the Indian went past the Chinese shuttler by 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 in a titanic one hour and seven minutes clash. With this win, the 20-year-old confirmed India’s second medal at the 2021 BWF World Championships and his first medal at the Worlds. Sen will now clash with Srikanth Kidambi for a place in the final. This means India will return with at least one silver medal from Spain.

Trailing at the first break, the Indian world No. 19 absolutely dominated after the restart and exhibited some impressive court presence to go a game up against the Chinese shuttler. Chinese world No. 42 then stepped up his game and came out all guns blazing in the second game. Zhao Jun Peng found a way to curb Sen’s offensive shots and forced a decider.

The third game was all but one-sided as the shuttle kept changing the racquet of both players. Although, Zhao Jun Peng had the 11-8 lead against the Indian at the midgame break but Lakshya clawed his way back to level the final game 11-11.With the game at 19-20, the Indian saved a match point and proceeded to win the match by holding his nerves.

Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Mark Caljouw to cruise into the semi-finals of the Championships. Former world number one Indian thrashed the Dutch shuttler by 21-8, 21-7 in a contest that lasted for just 26 minutes.

Former Zimbabwe captain and wicketkeeper Andy Flower will coach the Indian Premier League’s Lucknow franchise from the 2022 season onwards.

RPSG Ventures won the bid for the Lucknow franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a record INR 7,090 crores on October 25. Andy Flower has also served as the coach of the English cricket team from 2009 to 2014. Flower then became the second foreign coach in the team’s history.

“Former Zimbabwe captain and wicketkeeper Andy Flower will coach IPL’s Lucknow franchise. Dr Sanjiv Goenka, Owner, Lucknow IPL team welcomed Andy to the RPSG family,” the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group tweeted on Friday.

 “I am incredibly excited to be joining the new Lucknow franchise and I am very grateful for the opportunity. The passion for cricket in India is unrivalled and it’s a real privilege to lead an IPL franchise and I am looking forward to working closely with Dr Goenka and the Lucknow team,” Andy Flower said in a statement. Apart from RPSG who won the bid for the Lucknow franchise, the Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners) won the bid for the Ahmedabad franchise (for INR 5,625 crores).

A ustralia are in firm control after the stumps of Day 2 as England trail by 456 runs in the ongoing second Ashes Test here at Adelaide on Friday.

 The visitors currently stand at 17/2 with Dawid Malan and Joe Root unbeaten at the crease. Earlier, the host declared their innings at 473/9 in the third session. Mitchell Starc remained unbeaten after contributing with a run-aball 39*. Michael Neser also played an aggressive knock for Aussies as he smashed 35 runs off just 24 balls, which featured five fours and a six.

Bowling late in the final session, Starc dismissed Rory Burns early for 4 in the third over to draw the first blood. Later, Neser scalped Haseeb Hameed’s wicket on the second ball of his Test career. The England opener was caught at mid-on for 6. Resuming the post-dinner session at 302/5, captain Steve Smith and wicketkeeper batter Alex Carey started off steadily. The duo of Smith and Carey notched up a fifty-run partnership.

 Brief score: Australia 473/9 (Marnus Labuschagne 103, Steve Smith 93; Ben Stokes 3/113); vs England 17/2 (Haseeb Hameed 6, Rory Burns 4; Mitchell Sta

India continued their domination against arch-rivals Pakistan in hockey as the reigning Olympic bronze medallist registered a thumping 3-1 win in the Asian Champions Trophy 2021 match in Dhaka.

With one thumping win against minnows Bangladesh and a draw in the opening match against South Korea, India made a confident start and took a lead in the opening quarter with drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh converting the penalty corner giving the Olympic bronze medallist a 1-0 lead. India kept on putting pressure on the opponent’s defence but Pakistan somehow managed to save the onslaught. India enjoyed more possession, circle penetrations and shots on target but failed to double their lead as Pakistan goal-keeper Mazhar Abbas made numerous saves. With a goalless second quarter, the first half of the match ended 1-0 in India’s favour.

India came back strong in the third quarter as Akashdeep Singh scored a brilliant field goal to take the lead to 2-0. The celebration did not last too long as Junaid Manzoor scored for Pakistan reducing the deficit. The third quarter ended with India leading the match by 2 goals to 1.

Pakistan got their first penalty corner of the match but goal-keeper Suraj Karkera made an impressive save to deny an equalizer. India then got yet another penalty corner and this time too Harmanpreet Singh converted scoring his second goal taking the lead to 3-1.

Pakistan got their second penalty corner of the match but goalie Suraj Karkera once again made a brilliant save to deny Pakistan any hopes of a comeback. India being the more dominant team wrapped up the match 3-1 to continue their domination over Pakistan. India have won 11 out of the last 12 matches against Pakistan and one match ended in a draw. India remain unbeaten in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy 2021 with two wins and one draw.