SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan rode a half-century from captain Salman Ali Agha and fast bowler Haris Rauf’s four-wicket haul to trump Afghanistan by 39 runs in the opening match of their Twenty20 Tri-series on Friday.
Agha’s unbeaten 53 off 36 balls anchored Pakistan to 182-7 in spin-heavy Afghanistan’s first T20 of the year.
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A double-wicket maiden over by Rauf (4-31) in the 12th dashed Afghanistan hopes of chasing the tall total. It was bowled out for 143 in 19.5 overs, losing its last eight wickets for 50 runs.
United Arab Emirates is the third team in the tournament, which is a dress rehearsal for all three ahead of next month’s Asia Cup in the UAE.
Afghanistan recovered from the loss of recalled opening batter Ibrahim Zadran on 9 when Rahmanullah Gurbaz (38) and Sediqullah Atal (23) shared a 51-run, second-wicket stand off 30 balls.
Gurbaz, dropped on 10, was bowled around his legs when he went to sweep left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz’s (2-23) fuller delivery at 68-2 in the eighth over.
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Rauf’s twin strikes then took the steam out of Afghanistan’s chase. Rauf outfoxed Atal with a slower delivery as the batter sliced a catch to Shaheen Shah Afridi at third, and Karim Jannat was smartly held by Hasan Nawaz at deep square leg.
Sufiyan Muqeem (2-25), one of the only three specialist Pakistan bowlers, then grabbed a stunning return catch of Darwish Rasooli as Afghanistan lost three wickets without a run and slipped to 93-5.
Captain Rashid Khan cheered a sizeable crowd of Afghans in Sharjah Cricket Stadium by smashing five sixes in his 39 off 15 before he holed out in the deep off Rauf, who also wrapped up the last wicket.
Afridi also took 2-21.
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Agha won the toss and shepherded Pakistan to a strong total.
Khan and Nabi checked Pakistan’s swift progress soon after the powerplay, but then Agha regained the momentum.
Agha played smart against the googlies of Khan (1-26), the mystery spin of Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1-22) and off-spinner Nabi (1-18).
Agha added 53 with Nawaz, who made 21 off 11, and Mohammad Haris (15) and Faheem Ashraf (14) played little cameos.
Pakistan takes on UAE in the second game on Saturday.
After their chastening 24-0 opening defeat to France, Italy need to bounce back. Quickly. Or the impressive Six Nations 2025 wins over Scotland and Wales will begin to look like outliers. They have yet to lose to South Africa but the last meeting was mighty close…
The Springbok Women will be taking plenty from that WXV2 match in October 2024. That day they led 19-17 after 62 minutes before sliding to an agonising 23-19 loss. Last week’s thumping victory over Brazil has ensured the smiles are in place for South Africa as they gear up for what forward Catha Jacobs is calling “the most important match in our history”.
Kick-off: 15:30 BST, Sunday, 30 August
Venue: York Community Stadium, York
If you are heading to York this weekend, make sure you read England star Ellie Kildunne’s lowdown on where to eat and what to do in her hometown.
How to watch: Head here to get a last-minute ticket.
Or check out our Global Guide to the TV options in your area.
Italy team
Italy’s key player: Number eight is a great place to captain from and Elisa Giordano will know that her team need one of her all-action displays. Highly experienced the forward, who plays her club rugby for Valsugana, will be key in combating South Africa’s growing power game.
South Africa team
South Africa’s key player: Catha Jacobs is a vital cog within a Springbok Women’s side that is starting to combine pace out back with uncompromising strength up top. The second-row has been unafraid to call out what a “huge match” this is for her team. She will not be holding back.
Head-to-heads:
WXV2 2024: ITA 23-19 RSA
WXV2 2023: ITA 36-18 RSA
What they said:
Italy head coach Fabio Roselli:
“The team are clear on how we can build more pressure on them [South Africa]. At the same time, we are very aware about their strength, their power, it will be another tough match, and obviously also the emotion and tension because there will be two teams that have to win. It’s an important game, but how we manage emotion can make a difference.
“It’s an ability, the tension and emotions are normal in this kind of match. You have to manage to not put it when you cross the line. It’s part of the game, so it will be interesting, but I’m happy because the team, the players are improving during the week, and match by match. I’m happy.
“Not just me, but all the Italian team, all the people around Italy, are very proud of Sofia (Stefan who will win her 100th cap). There will be a lot of energy that we need to manage in the right way, because the team need to have a big performance, but all players, all staff are working in a good direction to try to help Sofia manage her emotions.”
Italy back Beatrice Rigioni:
“Yeah, but living in Manchester has prepared me to be ready when the weather is not nice, for sure. Every time it’s a little bit different, but training makes you ready for everything.”
South Africa head coach Swys De Bruin:
“We’re thinking more about ourselves and our progress, how we improved. The curve is up. I’m trying not to think too much on the opponents. We’ve got our processes, our aims, our stuff. We know how they play. They’re much better than everyone thinks.
“To get no points on the scoreboard against France- you’re going to get much more from Italy in the next game. Maybe they are targeting us and Brazil and don’t target France so much.
“The first aim was to win a game at the World Cup, we couldn’t do it in the last one. So we won a game. The second thing is, let’s see if we can get top 10. Once you’re top 10, you’re not seen as a minor. We know in the back of the mind that it will be fantastic if we can achieve it.”
South Africa captain Nolusindiso Booi:
“I’m feeling good, a bit of nerves, it’s a big one, and everyone is ready knowing that there’s pressure coming.
“We respect one another in that changing room and we do different things. We sing, and that’s one of our weapons, a way of calming down the nerves and a way of preparing us and making us better in terms of focus.
“Winning will be something special for all of us, not just the players, not just the management, not just the South African fans, but also for the young generations that is looking up to us.”
TAMPERE (Finland) – Lauri Markkanen produced his second career 40-point game at FIBA EuroBasket as Finland dismissed Great Britain 109-79 in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,900 at the Tampere Deck Arena.
Markkanen had 29 points and 3 steals in the first half, and ended with 43 points, along with 4 steals in a breathtaking display that ignited the vocal WolfPack fans in attendance.
Turning Point
Finland held the advantage, but was unable to shake off a Great Britain side that wouldn’t go away for most of the first half. However, a four-point play from Markkanen with 11.9 seconds left in the second quarter gave the hosts the necessary lift, and from there, they were in cruise control.
To Great Britain’s credit, they didn’t let their heads drop, and by the halfway point of the third quarter, they were shooting 47 percent from the field, but on this day, they found Markkanen and Finland too hot to handle.
TCL Player of the Game
We were witnesses to another moment of Markkanen magic in Tampere. Along with his jaw-dropping statline, he went 13-for-22 from the field and shot an outstanding 7-for-13 from three-point range.
Markkanen was supported by veteran Sasu Salin, who also shot the ball well, going 7-for-9 from range for 21. Luke Nelson led Great Britain with 13.
Stats Don’t Lie
After crawling over the line against Sweden, Finland knew they had to improve their overall team performance, and this latest win against GB was as complete a showing as you’re going to see.
All 12 of the Susijengi saw playing time and all registered at least a point, and they finished with 17 made three-pointers in the contest.
Bottom Line
Finland remains flawless in their own backyard. They prepare to face Montenegro on Saturday, who will be eager to secure their first win of the FIBA EuroBasket as the Round of 16 conversation begins its infancy. Great Britain will face Sweden in a pivotal battle between the two winless sides in Group B.
They Said
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
This feature at INDYCAR.com showcases special or returning liveries that teams will race at NTT INDYCAR SERIES events this season.
This installment focuses on the season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Conor Daly – Juncos Hollinger Racing
Daly’s No. 76 Chevrolet (photo, above) will feature the popular rock band The All-American Rejects, which is performing during the pre-race party Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. The band also performed this year at Miller Lite Carb Day during the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, and lead singer Tyson Ritter rode in the Fastest Seat in Sports leading the field to the green flag late last month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Louis Foster – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Frequent 2025 primary sponsor Desnuda Tequila is bringing a new-look black-and-gold livery to Nashville for the No. 45 Honda (photo, top) driven by Foster, who is locked in a tight race with Robert Shwartzman for series Rookie of the Year honors.
Kyle Kirkwood – Andretti Global
Kirkwood will look for his fourth victory of this breakout season in the No. 27 Honda (photo, above) with Sam’s Club branding and colors.
Christian Lundgaard – Arrow McLaren
Title sponsor Velo is featuring this colorful new scheme for the No. 7 Chevrolet (photo, above) driven by Lundgaard, who is trying to catch Scott Dixon for third in the final standings to conclude his best season to date.
Felix Rosenqvist – Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian
FRO’s season of music-themed liveries for his No. 60 Honda (photo, above), part of Meyer Shank’s partnership with SiriusXM, ends this weekend with a Maximum Metallica livery inspired by the legendary hard rock band’s classic “Ride the Lightning” album.
Rinus VeeKay – Dale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing is getting a head start on next season by running its 2026 livery on the No. 18 Honda (photo, above) driven by VeeKay this weekend as part of an expanded partnership with businessman Todd Ault announced Friday.
After tea and cake and Declan Rices. After Ebe Eze and Viktor Gyökeres. Should I, after three straight second places, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? Hmm. Maybe not. With all due apologies to the living descendants of TS Eliot, the love song of Mikel Arteta still doesn’t really scan or rhyme or have a clear endnote as yet, even as the six-year anniversary of his appointment as Arsenal manager approaches.
This is normal enough. It is obviously incorrect to conclude, as many have, that Arsenal’s manager has to win a trophy this season or be remembered not just as a fraud, but as a Lego-haired billion-pound-spend fraud, the worst kind of fraud there is. Sport doesn’t work in simple metre. Uncertainty is key to its fascination.
In reality the Arteta era has brought fresh energy, the team regeared, Champions League status re-established. The winning of cups and pots is hostage to endless variables. The best does not rule out the good. Others must also succeed.
By the same token the idea of early-season title deciders is best dismissed as punditry gush, marketing pitch, whiffle around the lighted dais. What can August really tell us? Most teams are in flux right now. Are Chelsea good? Nobody knows. Winter into spring remains the real testing ground, the moment players and managers are asked to stare a little deeper into their own reflection.
And yet, and yet, and yet, sometimes all these things can actually be true, or close to true. And Liverpool versus Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday afternoon really does look like a key note, not just in terms of final points tallies, but in Arteta’s own trajectory. Because something does need to shift here.
There is by now something a little haunting about the uncertainty around this team’s ultimate endpoint, something tender and unformed about the sight of Arteta out there on the touchline in the same primly tailored black jacket and shoes, like a police sniper trying to blend in at a parents’ evening, revolving his hands in that familiar choreography of alarm and dismay.
What are we looking at here? What role is Arteta destined to play? Is he the architect of an era? Is he Prince Hamlet? Just another ensemble player? Perhaps even the fool, the man who talked endlessly about winning but somehow forgot to win, the coach who made his players listen to You’ll Never Walk Alone while they trained before one of his early trips to Anfield, then went up there and dutifully lost 4-0?
There are good reasons to regard Sunday as a genuine opportunity to shape that dynamic. For a start this isn’t really the third game of a new season. For Arteta it is instead the 117th game of 152, three seasons of work on the same host body that have led in a straight line to this point.
Viktor Gyökeres bullocks and breaks lines in scoring his goals. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images
And this is the kind of game that can offer a genuine point of ignition. Liverpool are a perfect example of how that can work. There is an on-this-day point here, the kind of Ominous Anniversary stuff football loves to weave into its stories. On Sunday it will be almost exactly six years since an Arsenal team managed by Arteta’s predecessor also travelled to Anfield.
That Jürgen Klopp Liverpool team were at a similar point in their lifespan to the current Arsenal: also coming off three seasons of progress, also desperate to end a title drought, also rebalanced around some key recent signings.
In the event Liverpool ran right over Unai Emery’s team, won 3-1, strolled about the place bathed in champion aura, and obliterated the rest of the field from that point. That fixture was, like this one, the third Premier League game of the season. It was also, and here we must cue the eerie, conspiratorial music, Klopp’s own 117th league game of his first three full seasons in charge.
At this point the comparison falls away into pattern seeking and general numberwang. Liverpool were champions of Europe at that point. Klopp had been at Liverpool for three full seasons. Arteta has five under his belt. Klopp was also an established alpha manager, winning the league something that always seemed stitched into the arc. Arteta is not this. He’s a chalk sketch, an idea waiting to happen. But the league is also a little different now. And Arteta has a chance to learn something else from Arne Slot’s luminous debut season last year.
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Arsenal’s early run is tough. Anfield this weekend is followed by Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at home and Newcastle away. It will be a high-wire act to get through this more or less intact while bedding in new players. But it is already clear other teams will drop points, that the season is generally more random and rushed and squeezed.
Last season Arsenal began like a damp box of matches, dropping 12 points in their first 10 games. This time around they have an opportunity to assert from the off what seems undeniably true, that they have the best-balanced squad of any top team, and in the process take the season by the throat as Liverpool did last time.
More to the point, there really are no excuses now. Arsenal have all the tools. Even injuries look like opportunities. Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard may be out? Well, here come Eze, Gyökeres and Noni Madueke, all of whom may have played in any case, and who may even be an upgrade in the right form.
The midfield looks strong. The defence is set. The goalkeeper is good. Best of all Arsenal’s signings are coherent. They address omissions. A team that have seemed at times trapped within their own structures, chasing the game with all the carefree abandon of a fly buzzing down a window pane, have brought in specialist risk takers.
Eze is a genuinely inventive attacker, who needs to be encouraged simply to be this again, to be it more, to the max. The questions around Gyökeres have been along the lines of: is he an Arteta player? The point is that he shouldn’t fit too snugly. He should be awkward.
If Gyökeres is physical and boisterous then this is a good thing in a team that can spend a little too long sharpening its scalpel. The goals he scores will tend to be the kind Arsenal wouldn’t have scored before. He bullocks and breaks lines. He does this quite often from the left. Just having a threat on that side may unlock something else in Saka, the world’s most double-teamed man.
All of which sounds encouraging in outline. But fixing your weaknesses creates its own pressure and a significanttype of pressure for a coach who has measured out his managerial life so far in almost-but-not-quites. For Arsenal taking the league to the wire this time will be a question of will, fearlessness, the readiness to lean into those new strengths.
Sunday is an obvious first chance. Liverpool will still be favourites to win the game. They’re the champions. They haven’t lost to Arsenal at home since the pre-Klopp era 13 years ago. The new attack looks thrillingly potent. But they have also shown their weaknesses this season. Liverpool’s midfield has looked open. At Newcastle on Monday night there was a slight sense of muddle under the barrage of high balls. Gyökeres and Eze, who may make his debut, are good against opponents who like to have the ball and keep a high line.
There is at the very least an opportunity here for Arsenal; if not to decide anything right now, then to show a willingness to dare and to feel their own moment flicker a little closer.
Still what might be considered a stripling with features soft as yet unweathered by age and competition yet with an undoubted inner steel, Oscar Piastri presents a fascinating dichotomy. The young Australian is in a two-horse race to be Formula One world champion this year and his youth, personable nature and easy, dry wit belie a driver possessed of exceptional maturity and the clinical execution familiar in the sport’s greats.
Piastri has given every indication he could join them and the resolute determination of the man who would be king is palpable.
“I have emotions, I still feel everything that everyone else feels. It’s just that, being blunt, I think a lot of emotions are not that helpful,” he says with candour.
Which admission may be considered a little shocking from many 24-year-olds but it is an integral part of what has propelled Piastri to a two-way title fight with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. The Australian currently leads by nine points going into this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix after a tight fight marked by his equanimity, where he has taken setbacks and victories with the same, almost preternatural calm.
“I don’t think there’s any point dwelling on anything longer than you have to,” he says. “It’s important sometimes to get that frustration out, to celebrate, to do whatever, but just because you won last weekend or just because you lost last weekend doesn’t mean that the same thing is going to happen this weekend.”
This season, only his third in F1, has been revelatory, marked by this even-handed approach and a ruthless consistent delivery that have brought him six wins and six podiums in 14 races. After a spin in the wet in the season-opener at Melbourne, an error promptly consigned to the dustbin of history by the Australian, Piastri has delivered with pretty much impeccable precision.
In only his third season in Formula One, Oscar Piastri has driven to six wins and six podium places this year. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
His race engineer, Tom Stallard, the former Olympic rowing silver medallist, has described him as notable for being both “calm and intense”. While the architect of McLaren’s success, team principal Andrea Stella, summed up his strengths after a dominant win in Bahrain earlier this season by aptly noting: “No hesitations, no inaccuracies, everything that was available he capitalised on.”
Piastri’s attitude might be considered somewhat cold-blooded. As a person, he is clearly anything but. However, the strategy is doubtless effective. It’s an approach sport psychologists would recognise but it seems one honed by circumstance as he single-handedly pursued his career having moved to the UK when he was 14. His father, Chris was with him for six months, before returning to Australia and after which Piastri looked after himself.
“There’s definitely been a lot of lessons through experiences, when you’ve been racing for 15 years now, there’s a lot of tough moments in there,” he says. “There’s obviously the challenges of just going racing but then there’s the challenges of moving from home. Learning how to navigate life alongside racing, being far away from your family and friends, which I’m sure has moulded me to some degree as well.
“I never had any dramatic life experiences in my childhood but even just little things of having to make decisions for yourself and problem-solve. Once I learned to control things I could control and not worry about everything else in life it probably naturally translated to racing.”
That was on display in Baku last year when Piastri gave a masterclass of driving control under enormous pressure. Having taken the lead from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, he then defended it for 30 laps as the Monegasque driver ducked and dived and all but hurled himself at the Australian’s gearbox. To no avail as Piastri took his second and still perhaps the best win of his career. His reaction to Stallard was a simple, unflustered exclamation of “Yes!” over the radio as he took the flag.
Table of points won by Piastri and Norris
There is depth here too. Piastri is a thoughtful character and slowly considers a response when asked how he assesses himself and his approach. “There’s obviously all the work that goes on behind the scenes of how to actually drive a race car fast,” he says. “But an important thing is always kind of dissociating the results of a weekend from how I felt I performed.
“So there’s been races I’ve won this year or in my career that I would probably rank as worse performances than races I’ve finished fourth or fifth. Just getting myself in the right mindset, essentially being quite calm, quite relaxed is what I think I need.”
Comparisons then have unsurprisingly been made between Piastri and Alain Prost – “The Professor” – and they are valid on many levels. The Australian is as measured a perfectionist on track in the mould of the four-time champion Frenchman and with a similarly calculating and considered air. Ten race meetings remain in the run-in, each of which could be vital in the title fight and much as Piastri knows it, he remains unconcerned.
Oscar Piastri (right) insists that he and his teammate Lando Norris will stay friends during their battle for the title. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images
“There is going to naturally be tension,” he says. “There’s naturally going to be pressure and emotions from that but it doesn’t necessarily weigh heavily on me. I’m honestly just more excited. If I was not in a championship fight, I’d be trying to attack things the same way. Obviously the tension around the position we’re in is naturally going to be higher but I’d be trying to do the same thing regardless of where I am in the championship.”
That there is more to the young man than an iron will over his emotions, however, is also clear by Piastri’s popularity. His laid-back public persona is engaging and likable and has struck a chord with F1’s new generation of young, enthusiastic fans, a demographic in which Norris too shares a similar popularity. One of them will be champion and the pair have, unusually, remained friendly even as they are going head to head this season. But will it last?
“There’s obviously going to be tension at points, ultimately we’re fighting for something that we’ve both dreamed of since we were kids,” says Piastri. “But our relationship is honestly probably stronger than it has been from the start. There’s obviously going to be a loser to this championship and that’s going to be not that pleasant for whoever that is but however this championship goes it’s been a good fight already and I think there’ll be a lot of respect both ways.”
No exaggerated theatrics then, simply a very reasonable kid, being eminently reasonable. Which is Piastri writ large. There will not be histrionics in what is likely to be a nail-biting contest but rather the poker-face of a player at ease with himself amid the maelstrom of a hopefully memorable title fight.
Manchester United vs Burnley: Premier League Preview and Prediction
Ruben Amorim heads into the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Burnley under real pressure. His record of just 16 wins in 45 matches is not what many at Old Trafford expected when he took charge, and with Burnley visiting this weekend, there is little room for error. A defeat before the international break would place the Portuguese manager in an even more precarious position.
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Burnley, by contrast, will travel to Manchester with a renewed sense of belief. Their opening day defeat to Tottenham had raised fears of another difficult season, but victory over Sunderland last weekend lifted spirits and gave Vincent Kompany’s side something to build on.
Match Details and Kick-off Time
Manchester United vs Burnley takes place at Old Trafford on Saturday 30 August 2025, with kick-off set for 3pm BST. Supporters in the UK will not be able to watch the game live due to the traditional blackout on Saturday afternoons.
Fans can follow updates through highlights, which will be available from 5.15pm on the Sky Sports app and YouTube channel. Match of the Day will also feature extended coverage on BBC One at 10.20pm.
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Manchester United and Burnley Team News
Amorim rang the changes in midweek as Manchester United were dumped out of the Carabao Cup. Seven alterations were made, though the introduction of Bryan Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes and Matthijs de Ligt at half-time failed to turn the tide in a 2-0 defeat. Those players are expected to start against Burnley.
Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko both played the full 120 minutes plus penalties in that game, so they are likely to be rested. Mason Mount should return to the starting line-up, while Casemiro is also pushing to feature after being left on the bench. Andre Onana endured a difficult evening against Grimsby, but remains Amorim’s first choice ahead of Altay Bayindir.
Burnley have their own concerns. Jordan Beyer and Connor Roberts are hoping to return, though Zeki Amdouni and Manuel Benson remain sidelined and are not expected back soon.
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Prediction and Head-to-Head Record
Prediction: Manchester United 3-0 Burnley.
Historically, United have enjoyed the better of this fixture. Out of 137 meetings, Manchester United have recorded 67 wins, Burnley have managed 45, and 25 have ended in draws.
