Category: 6. Sports

Former Black Cap Colin Munro has made a spectacular start to the Caribbean Premier League.

Playing for the Trinidad Knight Riders, Munro smashed 120 off 57 balls in a 12 run win over St Kitts and Nevis in their opening game.

His innings included 14 fours and 6 sixes and he had a strike rate of 210.

Munro broke the record for most runs in boundaries (92) in an innings in T20’s for TKR, while his 120 is the highest individual score in T20’s for the franchise.

He and Alex Hales put on a century opening partnership with the side going on to make 231/5.

Munro then bowled an over as St Kitts and Nevis Patriots finished on 219/7.

“A little bit of relief, pretty nice to get a big score, Munro said afterwards.

“It was just about assessing conditions with Alex Hales. I’ve batted with Alex a number of times… we had a good partnership.

“When we were none down for 70 or 80, the bowlers bowled in our zones, lucky enough to come off today.”

Munro played for New Zealand between 2012 and 2020, including 65 T20I’s, 57 ODI’s and one Test.

The 38-year-old has been playing franchise cricket around the world since then.

DUBAI (Web Desk) – USA became the 16th and final team to qualify for the 2026 Under-19 men’s World Cup. The 50-over tournament will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia, with the former, being a Full Member nation, gaining automatic qualification to the event alongside the top ten teams in the 2024 edition of the tournament.

India and Australia, the previous edition’s finalists, along with Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies, directly qualified for the tournament.

The remaining five spots were awarded to the winners of the regional qualifiers. In the Africa Qualifier, Tanzania beat Namibia before booking the spot after a dominant win over Kenya. Namibia will miss out on the tournament after their unsuccessful run in the qualifiers because only Full Member host nations secure an automatic spot.

Afghanistan booked the spot with a better run-rate in the Asia Qualifier after their match with Nepal, on equal points, was washed out. Japan clinched the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, while Scotland booked their place after a tense last day of play against Netherlands in the Europe Qualifier. USA won the Americas Qualifier, winning against Canada, Bermuda, and Argentina to finish top of the table.

The 16 qualified teams will be divided into four groups, following which the top three teams from each group will progress to the Super Sixes stage. The top two from each Super Sixes group will then face each other in the semi-finals. India are the most successful team in the competition with five titles, while defending champions Australia have four.

 

LUANDA (Angola) – Nigeria closed out their Group D campaign of the 2025 AfroBasket on a high and impressive note on Sunday at the Pavilhao Multiusos de Kilamba.

The D’Tigers’ 99-90 win over Cameroon means they finish with a 3-0 record. More importantly, for the D’Tigers is the direct entry to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

In their inspired performance, Nigeria had six players score in the double digits. Josh Okogie led the D’Tigers with 16 points.

Caleb Agada scored 15, Stan Okoye finished with 14, Christian Mekowulu and Ike Nwamu each contributed 12, and Martins Igbannu scored 10.

Cameroon were led by Fabien Ateba with 19 points and Yves Missi with 18. Jeremiah Hill left the game with a knee injury after scoring 16 points, and Samir Gbetkom scored 13.

TURNING POINT: Nigeria and Cameroon traded buckets in a frantic first quarter that saw the D’Tigers 28-25 up. Mekwolu led the scoring for the D’Tigers with six points, all coming from three-point range, while Cameroon’s Hill had seven points.

Signs were already there in the first quarter that the small crowd in attendance were in for a high-scoring game.

In the second quarter, Nigeria upped their intensity, outscoring Cameroon 30-16 at the end of the second quarter.

Agada played a super second, scoring 10 points, which included a three-pointer early on, while Mekowulu added six more, which also included a three, making 4/5 from the arc.

HERO: Josh Okogie and Stan Okoye propelled Nigeria to the must-win encounter, combining for 30 Nigeria points. Okoye, who came off the bench, put in a great shift for the Tigers, especially from three-point range, where he was 4-for-4, and he also grabbed seven boards.

STATS DON’T LIE: Cameroon struggled to find an answer to Nigeria’s three-point prowess, and they ultimately paid the price with their nine-point loss. Nigeria’s 15 three-pointers were the most by any team in the tournament so far.

Trailing by as many as 34 points required a Herculean effort from Cameroon, which they displayed in the fourth quarter. However, their fight-back spirit came a little too late.

BOTTOM LINE: Nigeria’s defense won the day. They thwarted Cameroon’s attempts to compete with them.

This was the fourth matchup between the two teams at the AfroBasket tournament. The D’Tigers had knocked out the Indomitable Lions in the quarterfinals of the 2017 tournament, and the stakes were just as high in this final group matchup.

A win for either team would mean topping Group B and earning a direct spot in the quarterfinals.
Eventually, Nigeria won the group with a perfect 3-0 record, while Cameroon finished second at 2-1.

WHAT THEY SAID: We were a little disappointed because we were a little flat in the end. We have learn to close out games and let teams come back like that. It was really great to knock down shots, but we could have done better on defence and taken better care with the turnovers,” said Stan Okoye.

FIBA

The Arsenal players celebrated in front of their fans after the full-time whistle and Arteta was asked by BBC Sport in his press conference whether he can take a positive in the manner they won the game.

“That gives you certainly momentum and confidence. Two very important things,” Arteta said.

“We can still come away and find a way to win the game. The team has to find that resilience throughout the season for 10 months, in different contexts, to be able to do that.

“Of course we have to improve a lot of things, and that will happen very soon, but in terms of managing to get that into a very positive result that is a great way to do it.”

Former Crystal Palace and Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, thinks the qualities Arsenal showed could be a sign of a season of success.

He said: “That’s the sign of champions when you don’t play well and still get the three points.

“The difference was goalkeepers. David Raya was outstanding, and Altay Bayindir made a huge mistake.

“Viktor Gyokeres fed on scraps. It is difficult for him. There’s still a lot more to come from him.”

Former Manchester United player and Sky pundit Gary Neville said “Arsenal had to change” because of the way they played in the first half.

He added: “The front three, especially the wide players, were not playing anywhere near good enough in this game.”

“Arsenal really dug in and showed a lot of resilience. Arsenal were never at their best but to come here to Old Trafford, or over to Manchester City, and get three points is big.”

BASSETERRE: Spinner Usman Tariq produced a brilliant bowling spell as Trinbago Knight Riders edged past St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 12 runs in the fourth match of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 at Warner Park, St Kitts, on Sunday.

After being put in to bat first, Knight Riders posted a mammoth 231-5 in their 20 overs, displaying an aggressive batting approach from the outset. Openers Colin Munro and Alex Hales set the tone with a 114-run stand.

Hales fell just short of his half-century, dismissed for 47 off 27 balls, including four fours and three sixes. Munro, however, stole the show with a blistering knock, smashing 120 off 57 deliveries with 14 fours and six sixes. 

Captain Nicholas Pooran chipped in with 13 off 11, while Kieron Pollard added 19 from 13 balls. Keacy Carty (16* off 8) and Akeal Hosein (1* off 1) ensured the team crossed the 230-run mark.

For the Patriots, Waqar Salamkheil (2-47) and skipper Jason Holder (2-40) were the pick of the bowlers. Naseem Shah (0-40) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (0-41) remained wicketless.

Chasing 232, the Patriots made a strong start with Kyle Mayers and Andre Fletcher adding 80 for the opening wicket. 

Fletcher struck 41 off 25 balls, while Mayers contributed 32 from 22 deliveries. Rilee Rossouw also kept the chase alive with 38 off 24 balls.

Skipper Jason Holder led the charge with a quickfire 44 off 22 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes, but his dismissal to Mohammad Amir dented the chase at a crucial stage.

Usman Tariq was the game-changer with the ball, finishing with figures of 4-33 in four overs. He claimed the key wickets of Mayers, Rossouw, Mikyle Louis and Jyd Goolie to break the Patriots’ momentum.

Amir went for 51 runs in his four overs but picked up a wicket, while Akeal Hosein and Sunil Narine also bagged a scalp each as the Patriots were restricted to 219-7 in 20 overs.

Colin Munro hit a remarkable 120 from 57 balls as Trinbago Knight Riders beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 12 runs in the Caribbean Premier League.

The 38-year-old former New Zealand international struck 14 fours and six sixes from the top of the order after his side were put into bat, before he was finally caught in the covers for the joint third-highest individual score in the CPL.

Advertisement

Munro put on 114 for the first wicket with Alex Hales, who struck 47 from 27, with Knight Riders closing on 231-5 – the seventh-highest score in the tournament’s history.

Kyle Mayers (32) and Andre Fletcher (41) staged their own opening stand of 80, but the pair fell in the space of five balls to spinners Usman Tariq and Akeal Hosein respectively.

Captain Holder struck 44 from 22 balls, but his team were well behind the required run-rate and finished on 219-7.

A win in their opening game puts Knight Riders top of the early table, while Patriots drop one place to third with one win from three matches.

Ruben, did you give any consideration to starting Tom Heaton ahead of Altay, because he’s conceded goals similar to that before?

“Why?”

I think a lot of people might argue that Tom’s a better keeper than him, more experience in the Premier League.

“But, he suffered a goal like this when?”

Tottenham, last season.

“Without VAR. Without VAR. With VAR, it’s a foul. And then, what happens in the next game?”

May I ask…

“What happen in the next game?”

At Wolves?

“No, no, no. Not at Wolves.”

Arsenal?

“The next one [that Altay played], Arsenal. Who saves the penalty, who saves the game, all the game?”

But that was a penalty.

“No, no, no, before the penalty. You don’t remember the game? I remember the game.”

Yes, he saved a penalty.

“Altay was unbelievable in that game. So I considered everything to put one or another, and I choose Altay.”

Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College as well as members of its athletic department, saying they illegally removed her from the track team because she is transgender.

Parts’ lawsuit said the NCAA’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports did not have legal grounds because it’s not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.

She was removed from the team on 6 February, the day the NCAA, US college sports’ largest governing body, issued its new policy on transgender athletes.

Swarthmore men’s and women’s track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch and athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez also were named in the lawsuit. According to the complaint, they sent Parts into “such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself.”

Susie Cirilli, an attorney who represents Parts, added: “We stand by the allegations in the complaint. As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law.”

Swarthmore issued a statement that it “deeply values our transgender community members.”

“We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes,” the school said. “We worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women’s track team to compete in NCAA events. Given the pending litigation, we will not comment any further.”

The NCAA chose not to comment.

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.

Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill by a 32-18 margin on 6 May to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels. The state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives isn’t expected to vote on the bill.

Parts joined the Swarthmore track team in fall 2020 before then taking off the following four winter and spring seasons. She went back to the team in 2023 to compete in the indoor and outdoor track seasons and in cross country.

When the NCAA issued its ban, the lawsuit states, Parts was told by Epps-Chiazor and Gomez that she could compete with the men’s team or as an unattached athlete. She would only receive medical treatment, the complaint says, if she competed on the men’s team.

According to the lawsuit, Carroll and his staff were not allowed to coach Parts, she could not travel with the team, was not allowed to receive per diem or food and had to pay her way into meets. Parts also couldn’t wear a Swarthmore uniform.

Swarthmore “fully reinstated” Parts on 11 April, the lawsuit says, and she competed on the women’s team until graduating in May.

In July, a transgender woman sued Princeton University claiming she was illegally removed shortly before her race in a school-hosted track meet in May due to her gender identity. Sadie Schreiner, who had transitioned during high school, had previously run for Division III Rochester Institute of Technology but was set to compete as an athlete unattached to any school or club in the Larry Ellis Invitational. That complaint seeks unspecified damages for a “humiliating, dehumanizing and dignity-stripping ordeal” in front of family and friends.

After two Cincinnati Open semi-final defeats, Iga Swiatek made it third time lucky on Sunday (17 August).

The reigning Wimbledon champion took an hour and 38 minutes to get the better of Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3. She will now face either Jasmine Paolini or Veronika Kudermetova in the final.

In hot temperatures on a quick court, serve dominated the early exchanges. Rybakina was the first to break for 4-3 lead, but she could not serve out with Swiatek breaking back to level at 5-5.

While 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina is famed for having perhaps the best serve in women’s tennis, her main weapon failed her when it mattered most. And the Pole broke again to 15 to take the first set 7-5.

Swiatek then made what would be the only break of the second set to lead 3-1. She was forced to save two break points later in the frame, before Rybakina saw off two match points to make it 3-5.

That only delayed the inevitable, however, as the four-time French Open winner served out for a victory that confirms her as a player to be feared on all surfaces in all conditions. Part of the reason for that is the improvement in her serve as demonstrated by her winning 81.6 per cent of points on her first serve against Rybakina’s 63.2.

Were Swiatek to win her first Cincinnati Open, and with it her 11th WTA 1000 title, she would move above Coco Gauff into second in the world rankings. That would ensure her a place in the opposite half of the draw to world number one Aryna Sabalenka at next week’s US Open.