Afghanistan clung to their fading hopes of making the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup after Azmatullah Omarzai’s all-round brilliance fashioned their five-wicket victory against the United Arab Emirates in a Group D match on Monday.

The outcome sent group leaders South Africa, who have six points from three games, into the Super Eight alongside defending champions India and two-time winners West Indies.

New Zealand, with four points ahead of their final group match against bottom-placed Canada on Tuesday, look primed to claim the second Super Eight spot from Group D.

Sohaib Khan (68) led a spirited recovery to power UAE to a respectable 160-9 after being put in to bat.

Omarzai, who claimed 4-15 with the ball, returned to hammer 40 not out off 21 balls to secure 2024 semi-finalists Afghanistan’s first win in this year’s tournament with four balls to spare.

“Always important to have a win at the World Cup and let’s hope for the best in the rest of the competition,” Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said.

“We still have a little bit of hope that we can make it to the next stage. We just need to come up with a positive mindset.

“Even if we don’t make it to the next round, we want to play with the same brand of cricket and make our nation proud.”

Earlier, TV umpire Paul Reiffel found himself in the thick of action in the first four overs after Rashid won the toss and elected to field at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

UAE opener Aryansh Sharma edged the first ball from Omarzai but it was unclear if wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz had taken a clean catch.

Reiffel went through umpteen replays before giving the benefit of the doubt to the batter.

Three balls later, Reiffel was tasked with a similar job and this time the official decided that Aryansh was indeed out, caught behind for a duck.

Off-spinner Mujeebur Rahman trapped UAE captain Muhammad Waseem lbw for 10, a decision which Reiffel upheld after the batter reviewed it.

In the fourth over, Sohaib was initially given lbw to Mujeeb but he survived after replays confirmed the ball would have narrowly missed the leg stump.

The reprieve allowed Sohaib to combine with Alishan Sharafu (40) in an 84-run stand to steady the UAE innings.

Omarzai ended Sohaib’s fine knock, which included four sixes and six fours.

Afghanistan lost their in-form opener Gurbaz in the first over but first Ibrahim Zadran (53) and then Darwish Rasooli (33) kept them in the hunt.

Omarzai finally sealed Afghanistan’s win with a four off Junaid Siddique.

Source link

NEW DELHI: The United Arab Emir­ates (UAE) face Afghanistan in a Group ‘D’ clash of the T20 World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.

The UAE will look to plug their middle-order frailties, particularly against spin, a strong area of the Rashid Khan-led team.

The two sides head into the contest after contrasting results in their previous outings. The UAE scraped past Canada to register their first win, while Afghanistan suffered a heartbreaking defeat despite pushing their last game into two Super Overs in one of the greatest T20 matches.

With South Africa and New Zealand occupying the top two spots in the group with six and four points respectively, UAE’s qualification hopes hinge on a combination of victories and favourable results elsewhere.

UAE’s batting will face a sterner test against Afghanistan’s formidable spin trio of Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, are desperate to open their account after coming agonisingly close against South Africa. They not only need to win their remaining matches convincingly but also rely on other outcomes to stay in contention.

Rashid said his side were unlucky to be staring at an early exit from the T20 World Cup and stressed the need for smaller nations to play regularly against top teams to make major tournaments more competitive.

“I don’t think much has gone wrong. We played good cricket and were a little unlucky. You saw the last match, we were very close, we were in the second super over. I think it shows that we put in the effort,” Rashid told reporters.

“You have seen all the games one-sided. I think that’s something which, as a team, if you don’t get a chance to play against a big team, that’s what happens.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026

Source link

LONDON: Leeds United survived an FA Cup scare to reach the fifth round with a penalty shoot-out victory against second-tier Birmingham on Sunday.

Birmingham substitute Patrick Roberts snatched an 89th-minute equaliser at St Andrew’s to cancel out Lukas Nmecha’s 49th-minute opener for Leeds.

With a feisty fourth round tie level at 1-1 after extra-time, Leeds won the shoot-out 4-2.

Joel Piroe, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson and Sean Longstaff all converted their penalties for Daniel Farke’s team.

Tommy Doyle’s effort was saved by Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri before Roberts fired over the crossbar.

Battling to avoid relegation from the Premier League, Leeds are one win away from reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers also avoided an upset as they won 1-0 at fourth-division Grimsby.

Grimsby stunned Manchester United in the League Cup earlier this season.

But Wolves avoided similar embarrassment thanks to Santiago Bueno’s 60th-minute goal from the visitors’ first shot on target on a mud-caked pitch at Blundell Park.

Grimsby did not manage to force Wolves ‘keeper Sam Johnstone into a save until Andy Cook’s header in the 90th minute.

It was Wolves’ first away win since beating Manchester United in April.

Mired in a miserable season that has left them bottom of the Premier League and almost certain to be relegated, Rob Edwards’ side can still salvage some pride in the FA Cup.

Another Premier League outfit, Fulham came from behind to win 2-1 at second tier Stoke City.

Cottagers boss Marco Silva made 10 changes from their midweek defeat at Manchester City and nearly paid for the gamble.

South Korean midfielder Bae Jun-ho capped a fine move to put Stoke ahead after 19 minutes.

But Brazilian winger Kevin got his reward for an impressive performance in the 55th minute, sending a first-time shot into the bottom corner.

Harrison Reed completed Fulham’s escape act in the 84th minute, intercepting a poor pass from Stoke keeper Tommy Simkin and slotting home.

Elsewhere, Sunderland reached the fifth round for the first time since 2015 as Habib Diarra’s controversial penalty clinched a 1-0 win at second tier Oxford.

Regis Le Bris’ side went in front after 32 minutes when Dennis Cirkin tumbled under Christ Makosso’s challenge.

Referee Thomas Kirk pointed to the spot despite Oxford’s protests and Diarra rubbed salt into their wounds as he calmly converted the penalty.

In Saturday’s late match, Moh­amed Salah scored as Liverpool beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-0.

Liverpool delivered a commanding win as Curtis Jones struck first with a composed finish before Dominik Szoboszlai hammered home a second, capping a slick team move.

Salah sealed the result by converting a penalty after being fouled by Pascal Gross.

“It’s very nice to have him on the scoresheet again (Salah), but he also helps the team a lot defensively, and that is something very positive,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot told reporters.

The FA Cup fifth round draw is on Monday.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026

Source link