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Phillips 72-ball hundred flips the script as New Zealand beat Pakistan

Published

1 year ago

2025/02/9

Priyan

Glenn Phillips scored his maiden ODI century [Cricinfo]

A blistering onslaught from Glenn Philips in the final six overs of the first innings helped New Zealand ease to a crushing win over Pakistan in the first ODI of the tri-series in Lahore. The visitors posted 330 thanks to Phillips’ 72-ball century, with 98 runs coming in the final six overs. Pakistan could never quite muster a convincing response, with all hopes pinned on a flying start from Fakhar Zaman. However, when Phillips – who could seemingly do no wrong – trapped him in front for a 69-ball 84, their resistance melted away, and New Zealand’s task became something of a cakewalk. To make Pakistan’s evening worse, Haris Rauf picked up an injury which prevented him from batting, and New Zealand won by 78 runs.

New Zealand’s innings appeared a struggle until the 44th over, with Pakistan taking regular wickets, even if half-centuries from Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell kept them ticking along. On a flat wicket, Pakistan’s bowlers had done a stellar job restricting New Zealand’s scoring rate, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah combining for five wickets. So it seemed, anyway, until Phillips let loose, ripping apart Pakistan’s bowlers at the very end. He would score his last 77 runs in 32 balls, as New Zealand took momentum with them into the dinner break.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat on what looked a dry, flat surface at the newly built Gaddafi stadium, but immediately ran into headwinds. Afridi continued his ODI wicket-taking form with one in his first over, inducing Will Young into a prod that got a nick through to the keeper. With Williamson largely subdued in the opening powerplay, run scoring came largely through a belligerent cameo from Rachin Ravindra. A couple of boundaries off Afridi either side of the wicket set the tone, and he had raced to 25 off 18 deliveries; 20 of them came through fours. But a slightly careless shot off Abrar Ahmed ended a nascently dangerous innings with Ravindra out caught and bowled.

Williamson continued to consolidate, and for a while New Zealand had entered a rut. By the end of the 18th over, their scoring rate had fallen below four, with Mitchell looking laboured as he shuffled along, scoring 9 off his first 22 balls. The escalation came all of a sudden, and primarily through Mitchell, when he charged down the ground to loft Khushdil Shah over the sightscreen for six. Williamson began to come into his own, too as New Zealand began to milk the bowling, with the run rate beginning to tick upwards as the partnership approached three-figures.

But Pakistan were maintaining a hold over the game by picking up regular wickets, and two in five deliveries pegged New Zealand back sharply. Afridi, once more, proved the partnership breaker, another gentle edge from Williamson that Rizwan comfortably pouched. The two-paced nature of the wicket went on to do for Tom Latham, who found the ball stopping on him as he chipped it up to midwicket.

In Mitchell and Phillips, though, New Zealand’s two most potent late-overs bludgeoners were at the crease, and they would go on to prove it over the next hour. Mitchell was picking off the Pakistan spinners whenever their lengths dropped short; each of his five sixes came against spin, but it would also be his downfall. A harmless full toss from Abrar was clipped straight into midwicket’s arms, Mitchell’s disbelief writ large on his face as he walked away 19 short of a hundred.

But for Pakistan, that was the reprieve before the storm. Phillips had been sedate until the 42nd over, nudging it around for 29 off 43, but when Salman Agha was pumped back over his head for a six, there were signs he was awakening. Agha was dispatched for another pair of sixes in his following over, but it was when the fast bowlers returned that the beast was truly unleashed.

A nudge off Naseem in the 47th over brought Phillips his half-century, but he wasn’t nearly done yet. Afridi was launched over deep midwicket and then scooped above short third for consecutive sixes, before Naseem was plundered for 17 in the 49th over. But the worst of the carnage was left for Afridi in the final over, which produced a whopping 25, bringing up Phillips’ maiden ODI century.

The crowd was at full capacity and full pitch when Pakistan came out to bat, because Babar Azam was opening alongside Fakhar. The noise was for Babar, but it was Fakhar who sprung out of the traps, helping Pakistan to a brisk start in the Powerplay. But Babar’s start to opening – the first time he has done so since 2015 – was inauspicious, flicking a harmless delivery from Michael Bracewell straight into midwicket’s hands.

Kamran Ghulam was similarly turgid, and the pressure fell squarely on Fakhar to produce a mammoth innings if Pakistan were to make headway in the chase. For a while, he offered them hope, taking down Mitchell Santner and Bracewell as he hurtled towards his century, but Ghulam and Rizwan were sent packing at the other end.

The death knell for Pakistan was struck by Phillips in the 24th over when he skidded one on that trapped Fakhar plumb in front. With the asking rate rising above nine and 212 runs still to get, there was little realistic hope the lower-middle order would be able to get Pakistan close. It was reflected in the activity of the crowd, which streamed towards the exits.

Tayyab Tahir and Agha tried to keep it going, building up a tidy little partnership, but even moments of brilliance went New Zealand’s way when Bracewell took a stunning catch diving to his right to send a disbelieving Tahir back to the pavilion.

Thereafter, it appeared both sides were going through the motions, New Zealand doing enough to chip away at the lower order. The only bad news for the visitors was what appeared a nasty injury to Ravindra, who lost a ball in the lights as it went on to hit him flush in the face, and went off as blood streamed down his hair.

The game itself was far more straightforward for New Zealand. Khushdil and Agha fell to spin within four balls of each other and, despite an entertaining little cameo from Abrar at the very end, Pakistan were merely delaying the inevitable. Matt Henry bounced out Naseem with 13 balls still to go; they are well placed in this tournament, and, it appears, well placed ahead of the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand 330 for 6 in 50 overs (Glenn Phillips 106*, Daryl Mitchell 81, Kane Williamson 58, Rachin Ravindra 25, Michaell Bracewell 31; Shaheen Sha Afridi 3-88, Abrar Ahmed 2-41) beat Pakistan 252 all out in 47.5 overs (Salman Agha 40, Tayyab Tahir 30, Fakhar Zaman 84;Matt Henry 3-53, Michael Bracewell 2-41, Mitchell Santner 3-41) by 78 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Iran executes two convicted members of banned opposition group

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/4

Priyan

Glenn Torshizi, whose brothers were executed by the Iranian government, joins others in a protest at the US State Department, to highlight the executions in Karaj, Iran, of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran members, on March 30, 2026, in Washington, DC [Cricinfo]

Iran has executed two men convicted of being members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) opposition group, in the latest action targeting dissidents, even as the United States – Israeli war on Iran drags on.

The two were executed on Saturday morning after the country’s Supreme Court upheld earlier sentences that convicted them of PMOI/MEK membership, and “armed rebellion through involvement in multiple terrorist acts”.

“Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Baniamerian were hanged after trial and their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court,” the Iranian judiciary website, Mizan Online, said on Saturday.

PMOI/MEK had initially supported the 1979 Islamic revolution that unseated the Iranian monarchy. However, in the 1980s, it fell out with the new leadership in Tehran and was designated a “terrorist” organisation. PMOI/MEK has since operated in exile.

Four other convicted members of the group were executed on March 30 and 31. According to information on the PMOI/MEK website, the men were: Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar Daneshvarkar, Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi.

All six men were arrested and convicted by a Revolutionary Court in late 2024, according to PMOI/MEK.

The group condemned the executions in an April 2 statement, calling Tehran’s actions a “futile” attempt to suppress opposition.

“These brutal executions will not silence the opposition; instead, they will only intensify the resolve of Iran’s rebellious youth to overthrow the regime,” PMOI/MEK said.

Rights groups, too, have criticised the spate of hangings. Activists have long accused Iran of being the second most prolific executioner after China.

In a statement following the first set of hangings on March 31, Amnesty International accused Iranian authorities of torturing the men while they were held in prison and then abruptly transferring them to an unknown location shortly before their executions.

Amnesty further raised fears of more planned executions, including of protesters arrested during mass anti-government demonstrations in January, during which thousands were killed.

“It is unconscionable that even as the population is reeling from conflict and mass bereavement amid the ongoing aerial bombardment by Israel and the USA, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to weaponize the death penalty to eradicate dissenting voices and further terrify people,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Since the US and Israel’s war on Iran began on February 28, Tehran has executed several people, including Kouroush Keyvani, a dual Iranian-Swedish national convicted on charges of spying for Israel in a case that has drawn outrage from Stockholm and the European Union.

One man convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the US during the protests was also executed on Thursday.

Earlier, on March 19, four people – Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi, and Saeed Davoudi – arrested in connection with the uprising, were killed.

Amnesty warns that another five young protesters previously sentenced to death could soon be executed after they were moved from the Ghezel Hesar prison to an unidentified location this week.

[Aljazeera]

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Afghanistan earthquake kills eight members of same family

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/4

Priyan

An Afghan man clears rubble from the courtyard of his damaged house, in the aftermath of an earthquake at a village in the Khulm district of Samangan province on November 4, 2025 [Aljazeera]

An earthquake in Afghanistan has killed eight members of the same family when their home collapsed in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province.

Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said on Saturday that a child aged around two years old was the only survivor. Afghanistan’s disaster management agency said the boy was injured

The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8:42pm local time (16:12 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186km (115 miles). The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre was in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

The capital Kabul is about 290km (180 miles) southwest of the epicentre.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in areas closer to the epicentre. The province is remote so it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.

Strong tremors were felt in multiple parts of Afghanistan, including Kabul and the Indian capital New Delhi, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

Pakistan also felt the quake, including in the capital Islamabad and Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Afghanistan is frequently jolted by earthquakes along the Hindu Kush mountain range – near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. On average, 560 people are killed by quakes there every year.

The deadliest tremor in the country’s recent history struck last August. The shallow magnitude 6 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan wiped out mountain villages, killing at least 2,200 people.

Most casualties were in Kunar province, where Afghans typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions.

Many homes in rural and outlying areas are poorly built with bricks, wood and mud.

[Aljazeera]

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Breakdown of the teams and groups of the FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the US after the final playoffs

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/4

Priyan

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Ermedin Demirovic and Dzenis Burnic celebrate qualifying for the FIFA World Cup after beating Italy in a penalty shootout at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31, 2026 [

Iraq’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 has completed the lineup of 48 nations for the tournament hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The Lions of Mesopotamia edged Bolivia 2-1 on Tuesday to win the second final of the FIFA Playoff tournament in Mexico. In the first final earlier, Democratic Republic of the Congo beat Jamaica 1-0.

In the other games, Turkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Czechia were the final four teams to complete the European quota of World Cup qualification.

Widely considered the most famous sporting event in the world, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be its biggest ever. Forty-eight nations will play instead of the usual 32, with 104 matches in 16 venues across the three host nations.

Argentina will look to defend the trophy lifted by iconic captain, Lionel Messi at Qatar 2022. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their debut.

The World Cup’s first game will be a throwback to 2010 when Mexico take on South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City in a replay of the tournament opener then. Football fans will hope the opening goal this year matches the screamer scored by Lawrence Tshabalala from the South African hosts then.

Mexico in group A – which includes South Korea and Czechia – will be one of the toughest of the 12 groups.

Team USA are alongside Australia, Paraguay and Turkiye.

Canada, too, face the challenging task of making it out of a group comprising Switzerland, Qatar and Bosnia.

Here’s a breakdown of the 48 teams in the 12 groups:

Group A: