Sports

Online Desk : Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique struck his maiden Test double century Wednesday to put the tourists in command on day three of the second match against Sri Lanka. Shafique, who began the day on 87, reached 200 in the final session with a single off Asitha Fernando, taking off his helmet and pointing to his name on the back of his jersey in Colombo. The 23-year-old, who has hit 19 fours and four sixes so far this innings, is playing his 14th Test since debuting against Bangladesh at Chattogram in 2021. Pakistan's lead has crossed 290 in response to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 166.

Online Desk : Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is set to join Saudi professional club Al Ittifaq. Saudi club sources have confirmed that the agreement between the two clubs has been finalized in this regard. Through this, Henderson is going to meet again with Liverpool's former midfielder, Stephen Gerrard. Al Ittifaq appointed Gerrard as coach earlier this month. Henderson, 33, led Liverpool to their first Premier League title in 30 years in 2020. The previous year, they had won the Champions League. Liverpool are getting £12 million from the Saudi club to release Henderson. Henderson joined Liverpool from Sunderland in 2011. Henderson replaced Gerrard as captain at Anfield in 2015. Henderson was left out of the squad for Jurgen Klopp's side's pre-season friendly against Karlsruhe on ...

Online Desk : New Zealand's Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi took seven wickets between them as Somerset beat Essex by 14 runs to win English cricket's Twenty20 Blast final at Edgbaston on Saturday. With southwest side Somerset defending a relatively modest total of 145, paceman Henry led the attack with 4-24 from 3.3 overs, while leg-spinner Sodhi took 3-22 from his maximum four overs as Essex were dismissed for 131 with nine balls to spare. Adam Rossington and Dan Lawrence made a rapid start to Essex's pursuit of a target of 146 only for Henry to dismiss both batsmen before bowling Michael Pepper with an excellent delivery. Essex were struggling at 55-5 and were 80-6 when Sodhi bowled Paul Walter. Daniel Sams, however, threatened to win the game off his own bat for Essex with a ra...

Online Desk : After winning the ODI series for the first time against Bangladesh, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan focused on two-match T20 series against the same opponent as he wants to take the momentum to the Asia Cup and World Cup. "We are well prepared for the Asia Cup. We got this good practice in a win. We need to keep that momentum for the Asia Cup and World Cup," Rashid said here today ahead of the first T20 International against Bangladesh. Unlike his opposite number Shakib Al Hasan, he didn't directly speak about winning the two T20s in the series, instead he emphasized on giving 100 percent in the ground. "It is preparation for us. I don't think about the result, and I don't put that pressure on the teams. For me, the most important thing is preparation and givin...

Online desk : Barcelona has signed young Brazilian forward Victor Roque. However, he will not be seen at the Camp Nou club right now. He will join the Spanish superpower Barca in the 2024–25 season. The Catalans confirmed the deal with the 18-year-old Roque in a statement on Wednesday. The La Liga champions have reached an agreement with Brazilian club Atletico Paranense over his transfer. Barca signed a seven-year contract with Rock. The contract expires in the 2030–31 season. Rock's buy-out clause is set at 500 million euros. However, Barcelona did not disclose the amount of his transfer fee. However, international media reported that the team had to spend 40 million euros to get Rock. Their cost figures may increase further. Barça may need another 21 million euros in addition to bonu...

Online Desk : Ten-man Martinique, sparked by nine saves from goalkeeper Yannis Clementia, held off El Salvador for a 2-1 Group C victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Monday. Martinique, eliminated in the group stage in the team's past five Gold Cup appearances, had goals from Patrick Burner in the 11th minute and Kevin Fortune in the 16th, plus a late penalty-shot save by Clementia. After Jonathan Rivierez was sent off with a red card in the 48th minute, the Caribbean side tightened defensively and denied the Salvadorans a goal until the dying seconds of extra time. In a later match, Panama defeated Costa Rica 2-1 at the home stadium of Major League Soccer's Inter Miami, soon to be the club of Argentine star Lionel Messi. Panama opened the scoring in the 23rd minute on Jose Faj...

Online Desk : The selection panel of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recalled batters Afif Hossain and Naim Sheikh in the 15-member squad for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed also made an expected return to the side after recovering from the injury he sustained during the home ODI series against Ireland. He subsequently missed the one-off Test and three-match away ODI series against Ireland before making a comeback in the only Test against Afghanistan last week. Naim who played last of his two ODIs two years ago forced his way back to the side after scoring 932 runs in 16 games at an average of 71.69 in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), country's traditional list A tournament. After losing his spot following an ODI series against E...

Online Desk : South Korea fell 1-0 to Peru in a friendly on Friday, with the hosts missing their talisman Son Heung-min and top defender Kim Min-jae. Bryan Reyna scored the only goal in the 11th minute in Busan as Tottenham Hotspur star Son, recovering from a recent sports hernia surgery, watched from the bench. Centre-back Kim, who won the Serie A title with Napoli, is completing his mandatory South Korean military training this month. His absence was felt by the hosts as an unmarked Reyna scored from a Paolo Guerrero pass. Peru nearly doubled their lead in the 19th minute when Reyna teed up Guerrero but the shot went just wide. "The first 20, 25 minutes, you could see that our back line hasn't played together yet," South Korean coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. South Korea's...

Online Desk : Ireland posted their highest test score of 492 on Tuesday as Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher became only the third and fourth Irishmen to post centuries in cricket's longest format. Bowled out just before tea on day two of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, Stirling scored 103 and Campher 111 after captain Andy Balbirnie made 95 on day one. Lorcan Tucker scored a useful 80 while Prabath Jayasuriya, the home hero of the first Test, took five wickets for 174. Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando took two wickets each. Ireland only gained Test status in 2017 and have lost all five games so far. The previous highest Test score was 339 against Pakistan in their inaugural match in 2018. In punishingly hot and humid conditions, Stirling had retired h...

Online Desk : Cristiano Ronaldo was having a great time. He scored a pair of goals in his first match for the club after returning from the national team. But in the next match, the rhythm fell. Hone tried but could not see the goal. He lost his temper and got into an argument with the opposing player. Al Nasr had to leave the field without a win on the day of Ronaldo's indolence. He scored a goalless draw against Al Fiha in the Saudi League. It made their dream of the title very difficult. Ronaldo was walking on the way to the dressing room after the match. But there was a look of disappointment on his face. Al Fiha accused winger Ali Al Zaqan of wasting time on the way. Ronaldo told him, 'Don't you want to play?' Ronaldo did not even shake hands with the opposing players when leaving ...