Junaid, Shinwari restrict Australia to 266 in third ODI
ABU DHABI: Australia won the toss and elected to bat in the third one-day international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
Already 2-0 down in the five-match ODI series, Pakistan will be looking to make a last-ditch effort to stop Australia from taking the series.
Australia continued their fine form in the second ODI in Sharjah, claiming another eight-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday to go 2-0 up in the series.
Finch smashed a 143-ball 153 not out for his 13th ODI hundred — also his highest score in ODIs — to anchor Australia´s comfortable chase of a 285-run target in 47.5 overs.
Finch, who also scored 116 in Australia's eight-wicket win in the first game at the same venue on Friday, put on a solid 209-run opening wicket stand with Usman Khawaja who scored 88 off 109.
On the other hand, Pakistan led by Shoaib Malik have yet to turn the tables for themselves. For Pakistan, wickets have been hard to come by with the Pakistani bowlers so far having taken just four wickets in two matches.
Debutant Mohammad Hasnain, who replaced Mohammad Amir, did give the Australians something to think about, but he was unable to find a breakthrough for his side either.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Imam ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik (c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari, Junaid Khan, Muhammad Hasnain
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff
Kvitova 'glad it's over' after attacker sentenced
MIAMI: Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova says she was happy to learn that the man who attacked her with a knife at her Czech home in 2016 had been sentenced to eight years in prison.
"I heard that this morning," Kvitova said after falling to Australian Ashleigh Barty in three sets in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in a match that finished after midnight thanks to a lengthy Tuesday night rain delay.
The 33-year-old Radim Zondra, who is currently in prison for another crime, was sentenced on charges of serious battery and illegal entry into Kvitova's flat in December of 2016.
Eva Angyalossy, a spokeswoman for the regional court in the southern Czech city of Brno, told AFP that Zondra, who pleaded not guilty had two weeks to appeal the verdict.
Kvitova, 29, said she was glad to put the incident further behind her.
"I am happy for the news and I am glad that it is over," she said.
Kvitova suffered career-threatening injuries to her playing left hand as she fought off the intruder at her home in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov.
Despite grim forecasts by doctors, who even warned she might lose her fingers, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion has recovered and continued her successful career.
After slipping to as low as 29th in the world after the attack, Kvitova entered the Miami Open ranked second in the world, having reached the Australian Open final in January.
Her hopes of overtaking Japan's Naomi Osaka atop the rankings in Miami, however, ended with her loss to Barty
PM Imran rejects PCB proposals, directs to adopt Australian cricket structure
The premier chaired a meeting attended by chairman Ehsan Mani, Secretary IPC Akbar Durrani, and other officials. Photo: File
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected all plans proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board to improve the domestic cricket structure in a meeting held on Wednesday.
The premier chaired a meeting attended by chairman Ehsan Mani, Secretary IPC Akbar Durrani, and other officials.
The members reviewed situations present in the current cricketing scenario, domestic structure and all the initiatives taken to unearth local talent.
Prime Minister remarked during the start of the meeting that he has played cricket for 40 years hence he doesn't need any briefing on it, adding that if the member wants to improve cricket they have to do it without taking into account vested interests.
He remarked that no one has improved cricket yet and only exceptional talent come out without any support from the system. The premier questioned why not a local player from Quetta was in the PSL franchise named after the city, which won the tournament.
The premier directed the PCB to structure the first class cricket as present in Australia with six teams, two from Punjab and one each from every province.
He said that no country would be able to compete against Pakistan in cricket if the system he proposed is implemented in the country.
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