Ball tampering incident a reality check

JOHANNESBURG - South African batsman Hashim Amla said Wednesday that the controversy over ball tampering in the third Test against Australia "gives every team in the world a reality check". Amla was responding to the bans imposed on Australia's Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. He said that the events of Cape Town should lead cricketers to ask: "What kind of cricket do you want to play? It has probably given the ICC a lot more headaches and the opportunity now is for the governing bodies to show us, where is this line?" He was referring to frequent comments by Australian cricketers about the limits of acceptable behaviour and "not crossing the line". Amla said South Africa's focus, ahead of Friday's final Test, was on preparing to clinch a Test series which they lead 2-1.–AFP

 

Quetta, Dukki enter Football Cup final

LAHORE – Dukki and Quetta qualified for the PPL Balochistan Football Cup 2018 final, which will be played tomorrow (Friday) at the Sadiq Shaheed Football Stadium (Malibagh), Quetta. According to information made available here on Wednesday, the first semifinal saw Dukki registering hard-fought 2-1 victory over struggling Gwadar. Zarif and Ghulam Hussain played well for the winning side and slammed in one goal each. Hussain was declared the man of the match. The second semifinal proved to be a thriller, where Quetta emerged winners against Chaman on penalty shootouts. Quetta’s goalkeeper was named man of the match for defending the last running penalty hit against Chaman and won the match at their home ground amid a jam-packed audience at Malibagh Stadium.–Staff Reporter

 

Noshkal FC, Aqua FC Quetta in final

LAHORE – The semifinals of Ufone Balochistan Football Club were played Wednesday at Railway Ground, Zarghoon Road, Quetta. According to information made available here Wednesday, the first semifinal was played between Noshkal Baloch Football Club (FC) and Afghan FC Chaman. The first half remained goalless while in the second half, Nisar converted solitary goal to guide Noshkal FC to 1-0 win. The second semifinal was played between Aqua FC Quetta and Afghan FC Pishin, which was won by Aqua FC Quetta 1-0. The match-winning score was netted by Khano. Both the winners will now meet each other in the final to be played today (Thursday) at Railway Ground Quetta. The aim of the championship is to promote football in the province and engage the youth in healthy activities, where they may prove their mettle and play along professional football clubs of their cities.–Staff Reporter

 

 

PHF changes venue of national camp

LAHORE - The national hockey camp for the Youth Olympics qualifiers, originally scheduled to be held in Islamabad and Rawalpindi will now be conducted at the Abdul Sattar Edhi hockey stadium in Karachi from April 1. "The change has been necessitated due to the traveling distance involved between players' accommodation in Islamabad and the training venue, Shahnaz Sheikh hockey stadium in Rawalpindi", said a spokesman of the Pakistan Hockey Federation here on Wednesday. PHF has already announced the names of 51 layers for the initial phase of the camp, he said. "Now, the players would reside and train at the same place, Karachi's Abdul Sattar Edhi hockey stadium", he said adding "The rooms here have been recently renovated and have good air conditioning facilities as well." –Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

LAHORE: Winners of 5th NBP Punjab Strongest Senior, Junior Master Power Lifting Championship pose with chief guest Dilber Hussain Khan of NBP and chief organiser Aqeel Javed Butt. M Asif was named best powerlifter while out of nine districts, Lahore finished first (142 points), Gujrat second (42) and Sialkot third (35).