New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl against Pakistan in the dead-rubber final match of their Twenty20 series in Wellington on Wednesday.

The hosts made one change to the side that took an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the fourth match on Sunday with Ben Sears replacing with Zak Foulkes.

Captain Michael Bracewell said he expected dew on the ground as the match progressed through the evening.

Pakistan made four changes and captain Salman Agha said he was looking for a big improvement after the country’s biggest losing margin in T20s in the fourth match.

“We want to bat well and have a good powerplay,” he said.

“We were not expecting that much swing (in the last match), and we are looking forward to this game now.”

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s assistant coach Azhar Mahmood had said the team would try to end the series 3-2.

“Definitely the [T20] series has been decided. The morale of our team was down but the fighting spirit and energy they demonstrated by our youngsters, despite losing the series, is a positive sign for us,” Azhar said while talking to media after the tourists’ training session in Wellington.

New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Mitch Hay, Michael Bracewell (capt), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears, Will O’Rourke

Pakistan: Salman Agha (c), Mohammad Haris, Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Abdul Samad, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Sufyan Moqim, Mohammad Ali

Umpires: Shaun Haig (NZL), Wayne Knights (NZL)

TV umpire: Cory Black (NZL)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

FAISALABAD: Peshawar and Lahore Blues completed the semi-finals line up of the National T20 Cup as they beat Faisalabad and Sialkot, respectively on Monday night here at the Iqbal Stadium.

Peshawar got over the line aga­inst Faisalabad in a close encounter as they won by three wickets with only four balls to spare.

Peshawar’s Mohammad Amir Khan, after claiming three victims with the ball, struck two sixes in his unbeaten six-ball 14 after walking in at 120-7 in the 18th over to make sure Peshawar chase the 139-run target and secure a semi-final berth.

Earlier, Faisalabad had opted to bat first and were reduced to 14-2 before Ali Shan (51 off 39, three fours and as many sixes) and Taimoor Sultan (36 off 26, two fours) rebuilt the innings with a 77-run partnership.

After Ali’s departure on the last ball of 15th over, Faisalabad could only add 37 runs to their total off the last five overs.

For Peshawar, Amir returned figures of 3-25. While Nizar Ali picked up two wickets.

In turn, Peshawar raced to 54 runs in 6.3 overs losing Maaz Sad­aqat and Sahibzada Farhan (26 off 13, five fours) and Adil Amin in the process. Israrullah (30 off 27, five fours) and Iftikhar Ahm­ed (20 off 33) stitched a valuable 42-run stand, when Faisala­bad eked out the scalps of Nizar Ali in 15th over and Iftikhar in 18th.

Apart from Amir’s brilliance with the bat, Peshawar were also aided by Mohammad Amir Bar­ki’s nine-ball 12 which included one six. The eighth-wicket duo of Amir and Mohammad Zulkifal added unbeaten 20 runs in eight balls to steer Peshawar to victory.

In the fourth quarter-final, Lahore Blues clinched a semi-final spot with a 33-run win over Sialkot here.

Batting first, Lahore posted 184, powered by Umar Siddiq’s 44-ball 65 and Nisar Ahmad’s quick-fire 21 off seven. Hasan Ali starred for Sialkot, taking 4-42, including three wickets and a run-out in the final four balls of the innings.

In reply, Sialkot fell short at 151 in 18.5 overs despite Mirza Tahir Baig’s blistering 77 off 47 including five fours and five sixes. Lah­ore Blues, led by Huss­ain Talat and Nisar Ahmad’s two wic­k­ets apiece sealed the win. Moha­m­mad Rizwan and Mohammad Irf­an pic­k­ed up two wickets each.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Italian deputy premier Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday he would like to see Russian and Ukrainian athletes compete at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics next year, if their countries have stopped fighting.

The leader of the far-right League party, a junior partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Mel­oni’s government who has respo­nsibility for infrastructure, was speaking at the inauguration of the Winter Olympics bobsleigh track in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

“Given that there are peace talks (on the Ukraine war) going on at the moment, and that the Olympic spirit should be what brings people and athletes together, I hope… the Milan-Cortina Olympics 2026 will be the first Olympics which will see Ukrainian and Russian athletes take to the ski slopes,” Salvini said.

“To see athletes from all over the world — once the war is over — run those 1,700 metres will mean that we have built a little piece of peace and that will be the most important thing.”

Russia and its ally Belarus have been banned from holding international sporting competitions since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while their flags, anthems and officials are banned from most world events.

Only 15 Russian athletes took part in the Paris Olympics last year, under strict conditions — they competed under a neutral flag and had to prove they had no ties to the military or security services.

A similar solution could be found for the Milan-Cortina Games, which take place in nort­hern Italy on Feb 6-22 next year.

Salvini has in the past expressed admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin, although he has distanced himself from this stance since the Ukraine war began.

While Meloni has been a vocal supporter of Kyiv, Salvini has worked to curb Italy’s military aid, although he has not blocked it.

Earlier this month, he called French President Emmanuel Macron “crazy” for proposing to send troops to ensure any peace deal in Ukraine was observed.

He stressed on Tuesday that “Europe should be a protagonist of peace”.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025

PARIS: World Athletics said on Tuesday it had approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

Sebastian Coe, the head of the international track and field federation, said the decision taken by the body’s decision-making council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.

“It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it,” Coe said in a press conference after the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

“We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.”

World Athletics added that it had not fixed a date for the introduction of the measure, “but it is expected to be in place for the World Championships in Tokyo this year”.

Coe said the decision to introduce the swab testing was taken after a wide consultation on the proposal.

“Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go,” although he added that the swab test was not considered to be overly intrusive.

He said he was confident that the policy could stand up to legal challenge, but added: “You accept the fact that that is the world we live in.

“I would never have set off down this path to protect the female category in sport if I’d been anything other than prepared to take the challenge head on.

“We’ve been to the Court of Arbitration on our DSD [difference of sex development] regulations.

“They have been upheld, and they have again been upheld after appeal. So we will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it.”

Coe announced the policy a week after finishing third in the race to be the new president of the International Olympic Committee, won by Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025

PARIS: World Athletics said on Tuesday it had approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

Sebastian Coe, the head of the international track and field federation, said the decision taken by the body’s decision-making council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.

“It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it,” Coe said in a press conference after the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

“We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.”

World Athletics added that it had not fixed a date for the introduction of the measure, “but it is expected to be in place for the World Championships in Tokyo this year”.

Coe said the decision to introduce the swab testing was taken after a wide consultation on the proposal.

“Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go,” although he added that the swab test was not considered to be overly intrusive.

He said he was confident that the policy could stand up to legal challenge, but added: “You accept the fact that that is the world we live in.

“I would never have set off down this path to protect the female category in sport if I’d been anything other than prepared to take the challenge head on.

“We’ve been to the Court of Arbitration on our DSD [difference of sex development] regulations.

“They have been upheld, and they have again been upheld after appeal. So we will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it.”

Coe announced the policy a week after finishing third in the race to be the new president of the International Olympic Committee, won by Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025

PARIS: World Athletics said on Tuesday it had approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

Sebastian Coe, the head of the international track and field federation, said the decision taken by the body’s decision-making council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.

“It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it,” Coe said in a press conference after the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

“We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.”

World Athletics added that it had not fixed a date for the introduction of the measure, “but it is expected to be in place for the World Championships in Tokyo this year”.

Coe said the decision to introduce the swab testing was taken after a wide consultation on the proposal.

“Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go,” although he added that the swab test was not considered to be overly intrusive.

He said he was confident that the policy could stand up to legal challenge, but added: “You accept the fact that that is the world we live in.

“I would never have set off down this path to protect the female category in sport if I’d been anything other than prepared to take the challenge head on.

“We’ve been to the Court of Arbitration on our DSD [difference of sex development] regulations.

“They have been upheld, and they have again been upheld after appeal. So we will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it.”

Coe announced the policy a week after finishing third in the race to be the new president of the International Olympic Committee, won by Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025