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

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MILAN: Evergreen Italian Federica Brignone won a glorious second gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Games on Sunday as Mikaela Shiffrin faded, while Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo became the first Winter Olympian in history to win nine gold medals.

Brignone is fast becoming one of the outstanding storylines of these Games as the 35-year-old skier who was on the surgeon’s table 10 months ago won her second gold in front of her home fans.

Already the winner of the super-G at these Games, Brignone clocked a combined time of 2min 13.50sec in sparkling weather in Cortina d’Ampezzo to become the first Italian woman skier to win gold in two events at the same Olympics.

In April 2025, she suffered a broken leg after crashing in a race that required extensive surgery.

Mikaela Shiffrin, the 30-year-old American who is the most successful skier in history in World Cup events, faded and could only finish 11th, continuing her fruitless Olympic run that began at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Shiffrin has one more medal chance, in the slalom on Wednesday.

Lisa Vittaozzi made the day even more delightful for the Italians as she put on a superb display of shooting to hit all 20 targets and win gold in a thrilling women’s 10km biathlon pursuit race, sending home fans into ecstasy at the Antholz-Anterselva arena.

Vittozzi shot clean under enormous pressure to win by a margin of 28.8 seconds over Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide who stormed back from two late misses to secure silver. Suvi Minkkinen of Finland took bronze.

“I’m so happy. What I’ve done today, I’m really proud of myself, I had goosebumps in the last few kilometres. It was a dream come true,” a delighted Vittozzi told Italian TV.

“I didn’t think today that I would reach the gold medal because the level of the women is really high, but I really did a good job at the range and I’m very happy. I was very calm, I tried to work well and I hit all the targets so I’m very happy.”

In Tesero, Klaebo led home the Norwegian 4×7.5 kilometre relay team to win the ninth gold medal of his career, more than any man or woman has ever achieved in the Winter Olympics.

It was also his fourth gold medal of these Games and he has two more events still to come.

The Norwegian quartet were so far ahead that Klaebo was able to wave to the crowd with his ski poles in the home straight before he was greeted by his celebrating team-mates.

The 29-year-old overtakes two of his compatriots who have won eight golds at Winter Olympics — former cross-country skiers Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie, and former biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.

Canada’s “King of the Moguls” Mikael Kingsbury signed off his Olympic career in style, winning the men’s dual moguls to collect his fifth medal at a Winter Games.

The 33-year-old fell marginally behind Ikuma Horishima early in the super final in Livigno but his Japanese opponent lost control, flying over the second jump with no tricks to cross the line first.

Kingsbury, who took silver in the individual event earlier in the Milan-Cortina Games, kept his cool to become the first-ever winner of the men’s dual moguls — the discipline is making its Olympic debut in Italy.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026

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KOLKATA: Two-time former champions England will look to seal their Super Eights berth when they face T20 World Cup debutants and fierce football rivals Italy in their final Group ‘C’ match in Kolkata on Monday.

England and Italy share a sporting rivalry on the football pitch, producing some unforgettable moments, including the former’s penalty shootout win in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

On Monday, however, the rivalry will shift from football to cricket for the first time, adding an interesting sub-plot to this clash at the Eden Gardens that witnessed a 35,000-plus crowd for the England-Scotland match on Saturday.

England, the ‘Bazballers’, come into the game with momentum after a pressure win over Scotland as they seem to be slowly finding their mojo in the tournament.

The biggest positive for England was Tom Banton’s composed half-century at number four during a tricky 153-run chase.

On a pitch that offered bounce and carry — where six batters were dismissed attempting sweep shots — Banton showed maturity by curbing his trademark reverse flicks. He instead targeted straight boundaries, playing in the V-zone to produce one of the finest knocks of his career and keep England’s campaign alive.

Despite being known for their aggressive ‘Bazball’ style, England have looked cautious so far, as was also admitted by captain Harry Brook after the defeat to West Indies.

“We haven’t quite made it as easy as we’d have liked so far in this comp, but hopefully we can have a slightly easier run, starting with Italy on Monday,” Brook said after the Scotland win.

“You don’t want to start that too early in competitions like this, and hopefully that can be the start of it against Italy.”

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Brook himself are yet to fire consistently.

Salt gave England a flying start with a quick 30 against West Indies but has managed only scores of 1 and 2 against Nepal and Scotland.

Having enjoyed success at the Eden Gardens during Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL triumph, Salt will hope familiar conditions help him rediscover his explosive batting.

Buttler also got starts (26, 21 and 3) without converting them into big scores, while Brook will want to lead from the front after modest returns in the last two games.

In bowling, England looked sharp against Scotland with Jofra Archer using pace and bounce effectively in the powerplay, while the spin twins Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson choked the runs in the middle overs and they will aim to follow the same template against Italy.

Italy on the other hand bring the unknown factor.

The debutants are high on confidence after a commanding 10-wicket win over Nepal, their maiden victory of the tournament.

The win came in the absence of their regular skipper Wayne Madsen who dislocated his shoulder in their debut match against Scotland here.

But Madsen is “optimistic” of his return and it remains to be seen if the 42-year-old makes a return for their clash against England.

The Mosca brothers, Justin and Anthony struck unbeaten fifties in that game against Nepal and have been key to Italy’s batting.

The Manenti brothers, Harry and Ben have also played important roles both with the bat and ball.

Off-spinner Ben has opened with the new ball and has been effective, while Sri Lankan-origin leg-spinner Crishan Kalugamage has added variety to their attack and returned with four wickets against Nepal.

Italy will be pumped up for this contest against their football rivals, and an upset win could open up the Group ‘C’ table, with Scotland also in contention.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026

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