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Uganda create history, qualify for 2024 T20 WC
For the first time in their cricketing history, Uganda qualified for the T20 World Cup after brushing aside Rwanda in their final game of the Africa region qualifier. In the process, they denied Zimbabwe a spot in the main event next year that is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and the USA.
Earlier in the competition, Namibia became the first team to clinch one of the two available spots for qualification to the tournament proper.
Going into the final round of fixtures on Thursday (November 30), Uganda were favourites to get the job done as they were up against a winless Rwanda. For Zimbabwe to usurp Uganda in the points table, they had to defeat Kenya and hope for Uganda to slip against Rwanda. However, Rwanda lost a wicket in the very first over of their innings and never recovered.
Only two batters from Rwanda managed to hit double digits with the batting lineup crumbling in stunning fashion. Eventually, Rwanda were bowled out for just 65, a total Uganda chased down with ease to prevail by nine wickets and seal their place in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Zimbabwe did all they could from their end as the in-form captain Sikandar Raza promoted himself up the order and smashed eight sixes en route his 48-ball 82. Zimbabwe ended up posting 217 on the board as a result but that loss to Uganda four days ago came back to hurt them in the end.
Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool.
The 32-year-old’s previous deal was scheduled to run out in the summer and there had been doubts he would stay with the Reds following comments from him during the season and speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, he is staying and will have the chance to add to his 243 goals and 109 assists for the club in 393 appearances.
“Of course I’m very excited – we have a great team now,” said Salah.
“Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10. I’m enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I have had the best years of my career here.”
Salah has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League as the Reds chase a 20th top-flight title. Liverpool are 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven games remaining.
Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Fifa Club World Cup with the Reds.
He was one of three key Liverpool players who will be out of contract this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Netherlands defender Van Dijk has said there has been progress on talks over a new deal but Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
[BBC]
MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the remainder of IPL 2025 after Rutraj Gaikwad was ruled out of the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development on the eve of the home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. It is a significant blow to CSK, who have made a bad start to their campaign by losing four of their first five matches. They are currently ninth in the points table, above only Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Gaikwad suffered the injury during CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on March 30. He was struck on his unprotected elbow after stepping out to fast bowler Tushar Deshpande and missing the ball in the second over of CSK’s unsuccessful chase, but continued batting and scored 63 in that game. He played two more games after that and made 5 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Chennai on April 5 and 1 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on April 8. After five games, he was CSK’s second-highest run-scorer with 122 runs at a strike rate of 150.61; he was CSK’s highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.
“He [Gaikwad] got hit in Guwahati. He’s been operating with an amount of pain,” Fleming said in Chennai. “We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck.
“So we’re disappointed, and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but unfortunately, he’d be out of the tournament from now. We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL.”
Dhoni, 43, had led CSK from 2008 until 2024, when he handed the captaincy to Gaikwad. He had also handed the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja in 2022, but took back the leadership some way into the season after the team went through a bad run of results. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, CSK have won five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 and two Champions League trophies as well.
“He [Dhoni] had no hesitation to step up and help guide us out of this if we can,” Fleming said. “So that was never a doubt. We’ll look at replacements. We’ve got some good players in the squad that have been with us a while, so we’ll look from within first. But yeah, there is an opportunity to see how we can enhance the squad probably moving forward into subsequent years.”
After their home game against KKR on today, CSK play two away games against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14 and Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20.
[Cricinfo]
An American Airlines plane carrying at least three members of the United States Congress has been struck on the taxiway by the wingtip of another American Airlines jet at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says.
American Airlines Flight 5490, a Bombardier CRJ 900 headed to Charleston, South Carolina, struck American Flight 4522, an Embraer E175 headed to New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, about 12:45pm (16:45 GMT) on Thursday, the FAA said. No injuries were reported.
Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, said on social media that he was on the flight to New York when the incident occurred while waiting to take off on the runway.
The latest mishap at Reagan National will intensify scrutiny over how air traffic is handled at the airport just outside Washington, DC, which has the single busiest US runway.
The FAA will investigate. American Airlines said both aircraft taxied to the terminal and were taken out of service to be inspected by maintenance teams. The damage was limited to a winglet on each aircraft.
(Aljazeera)
Mohamed Salah signs new two-year contract with Liverpool
MS Dhoni to lead CSK after Ruturaj Gaikwad is ruled out of IPL with injury
American Airlines planes bump wings at Washington airport
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