Zimbabwe humbled defending World Twenty20 champions Pakistan with a 12-run win in their final warm-up in St Lucia.
Zimbabwe, who defeated Australia by one run earlier in the week, made 143-7 from their 20 overs, with big-hitting Elton Chigumbura smashing 49 not out from 35 balls to rescue his team from a precarious 64-5 in the 12th over. Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi shone with the ball taking 4-24.
Kamran Akmal hit 37 from 27 balls as Pakistan started their reply, but they were in deep trouble at 67-5 after 10 overs.
Fawad Alam and Misbah-ul-Haq added 51 in 7.4 overs for the sixth wicket, before spinner Prosper Utseya turned the game around for the Africans, getting rid of both on his way to figures of 4-15 in four overs.
Pakistan finished on 131, with Chigumbura also starring with the ball, claiming 3-16 in three overs.
In Thursday’s other warm-up games, Australia recovered from their defeat to Zimbabwe by crushing the Windward Islands by 101 runs, also in St Lucia.
David Warner hit 51, his second successive half-century, and David Hussey made 49 as Australia piled up 189-8 off their 20 overs, before the Windwards were dismissed for just 88.
In Barbados, England defeated South Africa by five wickets. South Africa were limited to 125-5 off their 20 overs, before Eoin Morgan top-scored with 63 from 62 balls to lead England to victory after they had been reeling at 9-3.
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
The Wallabies trusted their instincts to keep pushing for a late try instead of a potential equalizing penalty goal late in their Rugby Championship Test match yesterday against Argentina, with prop Angus Bell scoring the clinching try in the sixth minute of added time to give Australia a comeback 28-24 win. The Wallabies were awarded three kickable penalties after the 80th minute, but kept pushing in search of the match-winning try, which was finally delivered by an unlikely hero in reserve prop Bell. “It’s just relieving,” Bell said. “It’s just awesome we could get the win in the end; not go for