KARACHI: Horses belonging to the Thunder family have been the best bet for punters at the Karachi Racecourse. That once again proved true when favourite Thunder Smile brought smiles on the faces of all and sundry by lifting the Kashmir Day Cup, his second of the year, in the Gymkhana race meeting on Saturday. Thunder Smile shot into the lead after the jump and galloped home as he pleased by six-and-a-half lengths over bay horse Shahbaz to make it two on trot with rider Zaki Zakir astride. It had won the Quetta Cup in his last run on Jan 22.…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
BEIJING: Host nation China nabbed its first gold medal on Saturday as dazzling performances on snow and ice nudged the political drama that has dominated the Beijing Olympics toward the sidelines. “You can always trust China” began trending in posts on social media platform Weibo after its short track skaters won the mixed team relay, an event making its debut at the Olympics and the country has dominated in international competition. The golden dream was almost cut short in the semi-final when the United States crossed the finish line ahead of the hosts, only to be disqualified along with the…
AHMEDABAD: India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday ruled out drastic team changes in the wake of Virat Kohli’s departure as skipper ahead of the hosts’ 1,000th One-day International against the West Indies. Rohit begins his tenure as full-time ODI captain in Ahmedabad on Sunday for the first of three matches after replacing Kohli. A hamstring injury ruled out the 34-year-old from India’s recent tour of South Africa, where they lost the Test series 2-1 and were whitewashed 3-0 in ODIs. “We have played good ODI cricket over the course of few years, more than four years actually, so suddenly a…
KARACHI: With ferocious hitters Asif Ali and Azam Khan present at the crease with Islamabad United needing 12 to win off the last over, it needed an extraordinary effort to hold them from the man bowling it for Lahore Qalandars. Asif facing, Zaman started off with a full ball on off stump, one run. The pacer from Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, followed it up with a wide before Azam returned Asif the strike with a single. The next delivery — a short one outside off and a slower one in the same region — was a dot before Asif…
KARACHI: Multan Sultans maintained their perfect record in the seventh edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League as they beat Peshawar Zalmi by 57 runs here at the National Stadium on Saturday. Zalmi managed to score 165-8 in 20 overs as they failed to even get close to the mammoth 224-run target set by the defending champions, thanks to Mohammad Rizwan’s 82 off 53 (eight fours and a six) and Tim David’s late onslaught. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir (3-25) and pacer Shahnawaz Dahani (3-41) were the pick of the bowlers for Multan, who won their fourth match in a row. Any…
Justin Langer told Cricket Australia (CA) that he quit as national team coach because he realised he no longer had the support of several players and board members, according to a report in The Australian on Sunday. The newspaper said it had obtained a copy of Langer’s Saturday resignation email to CA boss Nick Hockley. “Last night I was offered a short-term contract until the end of the T20 World Cup in Australia, with the sentiment of ‘going out on a high’,” Langer wrote, according to the newspaper. “After careful consideration, I have decided not to accept this contract renewal, and as a result,…
BEIJING: Pakistan’s export of sesamum seeds to China achieved a historical figure of $120.44 million in 2021. China imported 92,516.55 tonnes in 2021 and was one of the main destinations for sesamum seeds exports from Pakistan, while in 2020 it was only 38,000 kilograms, according to the official data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China. Niger exported the largest 297,255 tonnes of sesamum seeds to China, followed by Togo and Sudan in terms of volume and value. Pakistan ranked sixth in terms of volume with 3.3 per cent of total exports to China last…
KARACHI: The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) shifted to the green territory in the outgoing week as investors rushed to the bourse in anticipation of the disbursement of a $1 billion loan tranche by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to Arif Habib Ltd, the bullish momentum gained strength owing to investors’ optimism about the forthcoming corporate results. Besides, the shares market welcomed the arrival of the $1bn sukuk proceeds in the outgoing week. International oil prices, which are hovering at their seven-year high, kept the buyers’ interest alive in the exploration and production sector throughout the week. However,…
LAHORE: Pakistan started February with the lowest urea inventory in the last eight years — a mere 37,000 tonnes of stocks — despite the fact that January consumption was eight per cent down, a research organisation claimed. However, talking to, other market watchers believe that even 37,000 tonnes was an optimistic figure, which was ‘reached at with questionable calculations’. The inventory, in fact, has been zero since October when the urea crisis started, they claimed, adding that each bag of urea produced was immediately thrown into the market, which left nothing to build up stocks. According to JS Global, January…
KARACHI: Government’s borrowing from scheduled banks shrank 66 per cent year-on-year to Rs292.7 billion during the first seven months (July to January) of the current fiscal year, according to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan. However, the overall borrowing for budgetary support amounted to Rs105.9bn by the end of January. It has increased little since November, when the five-month borrowing stood at Rs104bn. Data shows the government is too slow in borrowing from scheduled banks and far from the budgetary target. During the July-January period, the government’s borrowing from scheduled banks was Rs292.7bn compared to Rs853.6bn…
