Jofra Archer’s reaction after hitting Steve Smith with a bouncer was criticised by former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on Sunday. Steve Smith was struck by a short ball from Jofra Archer, timed at 92.4 mph (148.7 kph), on an unprotected part of his neck on day four of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. The right-hander fell on the ...

Australia held out for a draw after Jofra Archer and Jack Leach nearly bowled England to an improbable win in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Sunday. Australia were 154/6 at the close, having been set a stiff target of 267 in 48 overs when England captain Joe Root declared after lunch on the back of Ben Stokes’s unbeaten ...

MADRID: Barcelona made a nightmare start to the defence of their La Liga title on Friday by losing Luis Suarez to injury and then losing 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao, after a sensational late volley from substitute Aritz Aduriz. Suarez hobbled off in the 37th minute with what looked like a calf injury before Aduriz came on in the 88th, the ...

Manchester City were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Tottenham after the Premier League champions were denied a dramatic winner by VAR, while Liverpool extended their perfect start to the title race with a 2-1 win at Southampton on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side failed to win for the first time in 16 Premier League matches dating back to ...

Test cricket might just return to Pakistan later this year. Sri Lanka could be open to playing at least one Test in the country, after a security delegation visited Lahore and Karachi, and gave SLC “very positive feedback”. If everything goes to plan, Pakistan could host its first Test match since the Lahore attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in ...

KARACHI: Pakistan’s professional boxer Mohammad Waseem is set to return to boxing ring next month with a fight against Thailand’s Wittawas Basapean. Boasting a professional record of 8-1, the 31-year-old Waseem said he was set for his first fight in over a year and looking forward to outclass his opponent, Basapean. “I will be fighting against Thai boxer in Dubai ...

Mohammad Shahzad, the Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman, cannot play “any form of cricket” for a year. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), which had earlier suspended Shahzad indefinitely for breaching the board’s code of conduct, has fixed the term of his suspension, which will now last one year. Shahzad’s suspension stems from his breach of a policy that requires players to seek the ...

Sri Lanka 249 (Dickwella 61, Mendis 53, Patel 5-89, Somerville 3-83) and 268 for 4 (Karunaratne 122, Thirimanne 64, Mathews 28*) beat New Zealand 249 (Taylor 86, Nicholls 42, Akila 5-80, Lakmal 4-29) and 285 (Watling 77, Latham 45, Embuldeniya 4-99, De Silva 3-25) by six wickets Dimuth Karunaratne played a big part in preserving his perfect record as Test ...