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Shivan Dube shines as India warm up for South Africa by beating Netherlands in final group game at T20 World Cup.

India completed their clean sweep of Group A at the T20 World Cup by beating Netherlands by 17 runs in Ahmedabad.

The tournament co-hosts, along with Sri Lanka, had already secured their place at the Super Eights stage with wins in each of their opening three matches, but Wednesday’s win confirmed their form against a Netherlands side that nearly shocked Pakistan in their opening game.

Having won the toss, India recorded 193-6 with Shivam Dube top scoring with 66 off 31, including hitting 19 off the 16th over.

“I try to hit boundaries, and I enjoy hitting sixes, but the bowling was good, and I had to prepare myself,” Dube reflected.

“I know all the bowlers will not bowl me yorkers or length balls; they will bowl slower, short balls, and I have prepared for that [as well].

“The captain and coaches have told me I have to keep the strike rate high, that wasn’t the case when I came in, but we got there.”

As Dube alluded to, it was not such a steady start, with India opener Abhishek Sharma dismissed for his third duck in a row at the competition.

The left-handed Abhishek, the world’s number one T20 international batsman in the ICC rankings, had his stumps splattered third ball by off-spinner Aryan Dutt, leaving the home fans at the world’s biggest cricket stadium stunned.

The 25-year-old Abhishek is yet to score a run in the tournament in three appearances, having missed the second group-stage match against Namibia with a stomach infection.

Tilak Varma (31 off 27) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (34 off 28) had earlier given impetus to the innings with cameos, after Sharma’s opening partner Ishan Kishan also fell relatively cheaply for 18, although he did score at a strike rate of 257.

Hardik Pandya also continued his fine run with a late onslaught, hitting 30 off 21 as part of the inning’s highest partnership of 76 (in 5.5 overs) with Dube.

Wrist spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s 14-3 led the bowling performance as Netherlands were dismissed for 176-7. Dube was not to be left in the shadows in the field, however, as he claimed two wickets, including Netherlands top-scorer in the innings, Bas de Leede, for 33.

India’s next assignment is their first match in the Super Eights on Sunday against South Africa at the same Ahmedabad venue.

Nissanka’s unbeaten century batters former cricket champions Australia, who now need other results to go their way to survive.

Sri Lanka’s opener Pathum Nissanka scored the first century of the T20 World Cup to put his side into the Super Eights of the cricket tournament and leave Australia on the brink of elimination.

Nissanka scored 100 not out off 52 balls with five sixes and 10 fours as Sri Lanka, chasing Australia’s 181, reached 184-2 with two overs to spare in Kandy to win by eight wickets on Monday.

“We’re in the lap of the gods now, I think,” Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said after the match.

“Lot of emotions in the room right now,” he said of the 2021 champions. “Haven’t been at our best. Disappointed bunch at the moment.”

Nissanka was involved in a 97-run stand off 66 balls with Kusal Mendis for the second wicket, with the wicketkeeper-batsman posting his third fifty in the competition.

Nissanka became the first Sri Lankan to score two hundreds in T20 internationals.

After Mendis’s dismissal, Nissanka and Pavan Rathnayake put on 76 off 34 balls to see Sri Lanka to victory.

Nissanka played some glorious cover drives off the spinners and played some elegant flicks against the quicks.

Rathnayake hit the winning runs straight after Nissanka reached his century off 52 balls and was greeted by massive cheers in Pallekele International Stadium.

The packed crowd roared again one delivery later when Rathnayake finished the match with a boundary to deep square.

Sri Lanka came into the World Cup after a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of England, but have gained momentum and have won all three games so far.

Australia’s campaign has been plagued by injuries.

Their captain Marsh, who missed the first two games, returned and gave them a rollicking start by scoring 54.

Marsh and Travis Head (56) scored 104 runs off 51 balls for the first wicket.

With Australia eyeing a total in excess of 200, Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers kept them to 181 with leg spinner Dushan Hemantha picking up 3-37.

Australia collapsed as they looked for quick runs, losing their last six wickets for 21 in 24 balls.

Super Eights: Sri Lanka through; Australia on the brink of elimination

A victory by Zimbabwe over Ireland in Group B on Tuesday, or against Sri Lanka on Thursday, would eliminate Australia.

If Zimbabwe lose both matches, Australia will need to beat Oman in their final game on Friday by a big margin to get through on net run rate.

Meanwhile, Australia could fail to get out of the group stage for the first time since 2009 if unbeaten Zimbabwe beats Ireland on Tuesday.

England have also reached the Super Eights after surviving a scare from Italy in Kolkata. England came back from 105-5 to post 202-7. Italy were cut short on 178.

In New Delhi, Afghanistan shrugged off back-to-back defeats to finally register a win after beating the United Arab Emirates by five wickets. That helped them stay in the tournament and saw South Africa secure a spot in the Super Eights.

Ishan Kishan defies a tricky Colombo pitch with 77 as India beat Pakistan by 61 runs in Group A of cricket’s T20 World Cup.

Defending ‌champions India have thumped Pakistan by 61 runs in a grudge Group A match of the ⁠Twenty20 World Cup to ⁠secure their place in the Super Eight stage of the cricket tournament.

Ishan Kishan’s breakneck 77 powered India to 175-7 on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium, where Pakistan’s spin-heavy ⁠attack managed to apply the brakes to an extent after the opener’s exit.

The tournament co-hosts returned to bundle out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs to register their third win in a row.

The ⁠match went ahead after Pakistan earlier reversed their decision to boycott the game in solidarity with Bangladesh, whose team refused to tour India over safety concerns and were replaced by Scotland.

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and his India counterpart Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands at the toss, though.

India were reinforced by the return of Abhishek Sharma, ‌who missed the first two matches with a stomach infection. But the opener could not make it count.

Pakistan’s Salman sprang a surprise by opening the attack himself, and the move paid off as the spinner trapped Abhishek lbw to remove the reigning number one batter in T20 Internationals.

Pakistan used three spinners in the powerplay to try and stem boundary flow, and India’s score of 52-1 after six overs suggested the ploy worked to an extent.

Kishan could not be contained, ⁠though, and the diminutive southpaw tore into the Pakistan attack with his ⁠take-no-prisoners batting.

The opener took only 27 balls to race to his second successive fifty of the tournament.

Saim Ayub ended Kishan’s 40-ball blitz, but India were 92-2 at the halfway stage of their innings.

Ayub (3-25) dismissed Tilak Varma (25) and Hardik Pandya with successive ⁠deliveries to turn the heat back on India.

Suryakumar (32) and Shivam Dube (27) could not quite provide the late flourish to take India past the 200-mark ⁠that had looked well within their reach at one stage.

Pakistan ⁠became the first team to employ six spinners in a T20 World Cup match, but the joy of having restricted India under 200 evaporated soon as they slumped to 13-3 in two overs in their chase.

Pandya removed Pakistan’s in-form opener Sahibzada Farhan ‌for a duck, and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Ayub and Salman in the same over to pin down Pakistan.

Babar Azam (five) did not last long either, and Pakistan were gasping at 38-4 after the six powerplay ‌overs.

Usman ‌Khan (44) defied India for a while, but Axar Patel lured him out to be stumped to effectively snuff out Pakistan’s chances of an unlikely victory.

Ishan Kishan’s quickfire 77 is followed by a well-rounded bowling display as India thrash woeful Pakistan by 61 runs to qualify for the Super 8s stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

MATCH REPORT: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup – India v Pakistan

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Pakistan on Monday reversed their decision to boycott their T20 World Cup match against India, but rain could intervene.

Indian captain Suryakumar ⁠Yadav said his players ⁠are not concerned about the threat of rain for Sunday’s Twenty20 World Cup clash with Pakistan, adding that the defending champions are focused on preparing for the showdown between ⁠bitter rivals.

Pakistan had initially boycotted the Group A fixture in Colombo over Bangladesh’s removal from the tournament for refusing to play in India over security concerns, but reversed their decision on Monday.

But weather forecasts have warned ⁠of heavy rain between Sunday afternoon and evening, casting new doubts over the match.

“Weather is something which is not in our control,” Suryakumar told reporters on Saturday.

No complacency from India against Pakistan

He said the clash would not be a routine game for the co-hosts.

“When you play an India vs Pakistan game it’s more about the occasion. It’s a ‌big platform, obviously. No matter how many times you say, it’s just another game … It’s human tendency, you know which game you’re about to play,” the 35-year-old said.

“Whatever we have worked hard on and practised, we try to execute them in the game.”

India and Pakistan have both won two games each in the tournament. While Pakistan played both their games in Colombo due to an agreement that they would play each other only on neutral venues, India arrived after a win over Namibia on Thursday.

Suryakumar said ⁠India would not be disadvantaged by unfamiliarity with the ground.

“We have similar wickets ⁠back home, and we’ve played a lot of cricket here during bilaterals against Sri Lanka, so we’re also very familiar with the conditions,” he said.

India and Pakistan most recently faced off in last year’s Asia Cup, where India won all three of their ⁠meetings, including the final.

“You can’t carry history into the ground, because it can cause complacency,” Suryakumar said.

India ready for Pakistan’s ‘out of syllabus’ Tariq

India have carried out preparations to ⁠face Usman Tariq, a spinner with an unorthodox action, who took ⁠three wickets for Pakistan during Tuesday’s win over the United States.

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said earlier on Saturday that Tariq was a trump card against India.

“At an exam, when there’s an out-of-syllabus question, we can’t just skip it; we have to try something to ‌tackle it,” Suryakumar said about Tariq.

“We practise with similar bowlers, with similar actions. We’ll try to execute what we practise in the net sessions.”

Salman had also expressed hope that Indian opener Abhishek Sharma, who is the ‌highest-ranked ‌batter in the 20-over format, will play on Sunday after missing the previous game due to illness.

“All right, if (Salman) wants him to play, then we’ll play him tomorrow,” Suryakumar said about Sharma.

Captain Aiden Markram hits an unbeaten 86 in seven-wicket defeat of New Zealand in Ahmedabad.

South Africa are on the brink of reaching the Twenty20 World Cup’s Super Eight stage after captain Aiden Markram’s storming half-century led them to a dominant seven-wicket victory over New ⁠Zealand, securing their third straight Group D win.

New Zealand on Saturday suffered their first loss in the campaign after they posted 175-7 as South Africa’s Marco Jansen took four wickets.

In response, opener Markram hit four ⁠sixes and eight boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 86 off 44 balls, the highest by a South African captain in the tournament’s history, helping his team reach 178-3 with 17 balls to spare.

Last edition’s finalists South Africa chose to bowl first in Ahmedabad, India, and it immediately paid off as player of the match Jansen (4-40) dismissed most ‌of New Zealand’s top order by the seventh over.

Finn Allen (31 off 17 balls) tried to mitigate the damage after Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra fell to Jansen. But Jansen got Allen caught at mid-off in the sixth over, leaving New Zealand struggling at 58-3.

Mark Chapman (48) and Daryl Mitchell (32) turned things around with a 74-run partnership for the fifth wicket until Jansen got Chapman caught by Ryan Rickelton at backward point in the 14th.

New Zealand scored only 17 runs in the next four overs until James ⁠Neesham’s unbeaten 23 off 15 balls got them to a fighting total.

Markram’s magic seals the deal for South Africa

Chasing 176, South Africa got off to a fast start with Markram hitting three sixes and five boundaries to steer his team to 62-0 in four overs.

Losing fellow opener Quinton de Kock (20) did not affect Markram, who hit Mitchell Santner for a ⁠six down long-on to reach his half-century in just 19 balls. By the time Rickelton (21) fell in the eighth over, South Africa had already crossed ⁠the 100-run mark.

With the required run rate falling below six per over, Markram ⁠did not hit a single boundary in the next seven overs and focused on rotating the strike, getting South Africa within 28 runs of victory with 30 balls left.

“It’s about managing it through the right phases, I guess, but up front, you’ve seen how teams are ‌taking on the powerplay and we’d be silly not to try that. It’s not always going to come off, but when it does, … we can get ahead of the game,” Markram said.

David Miller, who scored an ‌unbeaten ‌24, cleared the mid-wicket boundary to bring up the winning runs.

South Africa will conclude their group campaign against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, a day after New Zealand play Canada.

Karachi, Pakistan – As rain and thunder threatened to disrupt their team’s T20 World Cup match against India on Sunday, Pakistan’s cricket fans are bracing for a different storm – the now-customary loss against their archrivals at global events.

Pakistan have not beaten India in the tournament since 2021 when they recorded a solitary win in eight T20 World Cup encounters against their formidable opponents.

Despondent fans have now shifted from anticipating a thrilling, unpredictable game to praying for a miracle as Salman Ali Agha’s team step on the field at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s latest “win” came in the form of a move to boycott the match on political grounds. Despite the eventual reversal of the decision after weeklong negotiations with the International Cricket Council (ICC), the initial decision to not take the field against India was seen as a triumph by cricket fans in Pakistan.

Despondent or optimistic, fans still eager for match

Escalating political tensions between the South Asian neighbours have seen a decades-old sporting rivalry turn into an ugly debacle both on and off the pitch with customary handshakes avoided and light jibes replaced by controversial hand gestures invoking their most recent armed conflict in May.

Politics and sport blur boundaries on both sides of the border, making these fixtures an exhibition of nationalistic pride that can sometimes turn distasteful.

The pre-match jingoism in Pakistan, though, was short-lived. It has been replaced by bitterly disappointed fans airing their thoughts in the form of self-deprecating memes or reels depicting the “foolishness” of a section of fans expecting a win.

“We’ll have heartbreak on February 14 and 15,” read the captions of several social media posts set to melancholic songs on Valentine’s Day, the eve of the match.

Supporters – both hardcore and casual – will religiously watch the three-plus-hour encounters. Come 6:30pm (13:30 GMT) on Sunday, the public will be glued to screens across the country to watch the high-stakes match.

Roadside tea stalls will be thronged by male spectators filling up wooden benches, plastic chairs or squatting on their haunches in front of small TV screens.

Food delivery riders busy with an overflow of match-day meal orders will occasionally halt their journeys to catch a glimpse of the action on their phones or through restaurant windows.

Upscale eateries will bring in large screens and host groups of young fans and families.

Domestic responsibilities will be wrapped up before the start of the match, and extended families will gather around a living room TV with drinks, snacks and feasts of biryani.

The weekend – now the standard time that all India-Pakistan matches are played for economic and logistical reasons – will offer some respite from an otherwise hectic schedule of school and office routines that throw the heaving metropolis of Karachi into transport turbulence.

India favourites, but Usman Tariq could spin a win

Despite the days of anticipation and hours spent preparing for the showpiece, fans remain realistic in their expectations.

On a balmy late Friday afternoon in Karachi as life gradually returned to its normal pace after an hour-long pause for midday prayers at mosques across the city, a group of young law students picked up their kits for a local league match.

“It’s looking 70-30 in India’s favour,” Talha Bandayal, a law student, told Al Jazeera as he watched his teammates play a cricket match in their local lawyers league at the historic Karachi Parsi Institute on Friday.

Bandayal and his friends plan to watch the match at a restaurant in one of Karachi’s posh localities.

“It’s a Pakistan-India match. We’re excited regardless of the result!”

Syed Ahmed Shah, who officiated the league match as a third umpire, was more sceptical of the team’s chances and more in tune with the country’s overall opinion of Pakistan’s expected performance.

“Sport is just like politics in our country,” a bespectacled Shah opined dryly to everyone’s amusement, drawing comparisons between the nation’s two most favoured topics.

“India is far superior to us, not just in cricket but everything,” Shah told Al Jazeera.

Cricket analysts have appeared on national talk shows throughout the week, dissecting the team’s shortcomings, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s organisational failures and the squad’s weak mental fortitude for a match of this proportion.

Local cricketers like Bandayal have been analysing Pakistani players’ strengths and weaknesses. Usman Tariq’s unreadable spin action and variations are being seen as Pakistan’s secret weapon.

When life comes to a standstill

When it comes to off-field behaviour, though, India’s trend of avoiding handshakes with Pakistani teams has been frowned upon.

“Politics should strictly be kept separate from sports,” a local cricket coach who requested anonymity said of Suryakumar Yadav and his team’s controversial actions from the Asia Cup last year.

“But if India takes that stance, Pakistan also needs to have some self-respect and respond accordingly,” the 46-year-old coach said.

Admittedly, the handshake row has taken centre stage in a fixture that has historically been remembered for scintillating bowling performances, swashbuckling innings or nail-biting finishes.

When Pakistan awakes on Sunday morning, most cricket fans will begin their day by playing their own cricket games – whether in narrow neighbourhood streets or vast, dusty fields hosting multiple matches simultaneously. As the evening draws closer, the clothes will be dusted off and equipment packed away for the showdown in Colombo.

Just as the hustle and bustle of life gave way for prayers two days earlier, the India-Pakistan match will do the same.

After all, it’s only cricket and Friday prayers that can bring life to a standstill in Pakistan.

England beat Scotland by five wickets in India to recover position in group at 2026 T20 World Cup.

Tom Banton’s unbeaten 63 led England to a five-wicket T20 World Cup victory over Scotland in Kolkata on Saturday that kept Harry Brook’s side on course for the Super Eights.

Victory in their final Group C match against Italy on Monday at the same Eden Gardens stadium will see England safely into the next round.

After bowling Scotland out for 152, England racked up 155-5 in 18.2 overs, with Jacob Bethell scoring 32, Sam Curran 28 and Will Jacks (16 off 10 balls) hitting a six and a four to finish the job.

England wobbled at the start of their chase as the new white ball swung under the floodlights with the sun going down.

Phil Salt fell third ball to Brandon McMullen for just two and when Jos Buttler picked out McMullen off Brad Currie, they were 13-2.

Scotland bowled tightly until Bethell broke the shackles by hitting McMullen for a six and two fours in the fifth over.

Spinner Mark Watt also came in for some punishment, conceding 22 off his first over as Banton took him for three huge sixes.

A 66-run partnership ended when the left-handed Bethell, on 32, helped a leg-side delivery from Oliver Davidson into the grateful hands of Brad Wheal at short fine leg.

Captain Brook did not last long, scooping Michael Leask over his shoulder to Wheal to make it 86-4, but England were always in control and got home with 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, England’s bowlers found their mojo and vindicated Brook’s decision to field on winning the toss.

After being smacked to all parts of Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in conceding 196 to the West Indies on Wednesday, England’s attack exerted much more control at Eden Gardens.

Captain Richie Berrington top-scored for Scotland with 49 off 32 balls with five fours and two sixes.

He and Tom Bruce put on 71 for the fourth wicket, but it was their only notable partnership.

Spinner Liam Dawson ended it in the 13th over when Bruce was caught for 24, Curran providing the safe hands at deep square leg.

When Adil Rashid trapped Berrington lbw in the next over, Scotland collapsed, losing their last seven wickets for 39 runs from 113-3.

Jofra Archer had been expensive in the two previous outings but made the early breakthroughs before finishing with a brilliant 2-24 off his four overs.

In his second over, he hurried George Munsey into top-edging to Banton and two balls later had McMullen caught by Salt in the deep.

Michael Jones (33) holed out to Bethell off Curran, and Scotland were 42-3 at the end of the six-over power play and never threatened a competitive total.

Rashid was the best of the England bowlers with 3-36 from his four overs, while Dawson took 2-34.

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Almost 30 years ago today, India and Pakistan formed a combined cricket team to take on Sri Lanka ahead of the 1996 Cricket World Cup in an unprecedented moment of unity in the sport’s history.

The two age-old rivals put aside their differences and came together in an act of solidarity to support a fellow South Asian team, who faced the threat of match boycotts in a tournament they had battled hard to host.

India versus Pakistan is the most highly marketed fixture at every multination tournament – the World Cup, Asia Cup or Asian Games – whether it’s a men’s, women’s or Under-19 event.

Few sporting events globally carry the weight and anticipation of an India-Pakistan cricket match. So, when Pakistan’s government ordered its team not to face India at the ongoing T20 World Cup, the tournament was briefly pushed into a state of chaos.

It also left Sri Lanka, the designated host of the fixture, holding its collective breath.

A week of negotiations led to a dramatic late U-turn by the Pakistani government and the match will now take place as scheduled on Sunday at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

But what if the boycott had gone ahead? The impact could have been catastrophic, not just for Pakistan, but also for the International Cricket Council (ICC), as well as Sri Lanka.

With the crisis seemingly averted, the island nation stands poised to reap the benefits in its financial landscape, diplomatic standing and community.

‘Massive impact’ on tourism

For a country that is still grappling with the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2022, an India-Pakistan cricket fixture at a World Cup could prove to be a godsend.

The tourism and hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit during Sri Lanka’s financial meltdown and this match will see an enormous influx of fans from India and Pakistan coming into the country.

Hotels in and around Colombo were fully booked out well ahead of the tournament but the industry braced itself for heavy losses after Pakistan threatened a boycott.

“There’s been a massive impact since the boycott was announced,” Sudarshana Pieris, who works in Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector, told Al Jazeera.

“All major hotels in Colombo were fully booked by Indian travel agencies well ahead [of the match] and once the boycott was announced, we lost almost all of those bookings,” he said.

“But after Pakistan reversed their decision, hotel room rates shot up by about 300-400 percent at five-star establishments in Colombo.”

It’s not just hotels but several other local businesses – from street vendors to high-end restaurants – who are hoping for an increased footfall and spending over the weekend.

These short trips and the experiences they offer could influence visitors to extend their stay or return to Sri Lanka on holiday, long after the game has ended, in a potential long-term benefit to the industry.

Another relatively underestimated impact of the game would be the employment opportunities it creates, albeit temporarily, in the media, event management, security and transportation industries.

Asanka Hadirampela, a freelance journalist and broadcaster currently working as a Sinhala language commentator for the World Cup, recognises the marquee match as a great opportunity from a personal standpoint.

“This is my first World Cup as a broadcaster,” Hadirampela said.

“The India-Pakistan fixture is the biggest and most-watched game of the tournament. So to get to work on such a match is exciting and I consider it a special achievement.”

A geopolitical win

The lines are always blurred between sport and politics in South Asia.

So while the financial gains are expected to be significant, the fixture’s impact on the region’s geopolitical environment cannot go amiss.

Pakistan’s boycott, too, was explicitly political, as confirmed by the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif when he said that they were offering support to Bangladesh after the Tigers were kicked out of the tournament by the ICC.

The reversal of Pakistan’s decision, which they said came after requests to reconsider the boycott by several regional “friends”, was steeped in politics, too.

Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reportedly had a phone conversation with PM Sharif, urging his government to rethink their decision to boycott the game as the successful staging of this encounter would not only position Sri Lanka as a capable host of global sporting events but also reinforce its standing as a neutral mediator in a region fraught with geopolitical complexities.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have always maintained strong diplomatic relations, which have extended to the cricket field as well.

Sri Lanka were one of the first teams to travel to Pakistan following their 10-year ostracisation from international cricket, which came as a result of a terrorist attack targeting the Sri Lankan team in March 2009.

When Al Jazeera reached out to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), its vice president Ravin Wickramaratne confirmed that SLC did, indeed, reach out to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the boycott was announced.

“We asked them to reconsider the decision,” Wickramaratne said.

“It [boycott] would have impacted Sri Lanka economically, whether directly or indirectly.

“We have always had a good relationship with the PCB and we have always supported them, so we’re happy with their decision.”

A little over 24 hours ahead of the match in Colombo, there is a sense of palpable excitement and a growing buzz around the fixture as it returns from the brink of cancellation.

As of Saturday morning, 28,000 tickets had been sold for the game but local organisers expect a capacity crowd of 40,000 to make it into the stands.

Come Sunday, thousands more will line the streets in and around Maligawatte, the bustling Colombo suburb that houses the famous Premadasa Stadium.

Former Philippine justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II also among eight current, past officials named in complaint.

Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “co-perpetrators” in former president Rodrigo Duterte‘s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors show.

Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated February 13 and posted to the court’s website late on Friday.

Duterte was arrested in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, in March 2025, and was swiftly flown to the Netherlands, where he has been held in ICC custody at The Hague. The 80-year-old insists his arrest was unlawful.

ICC prosecutors have charged him with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs”.

“Duterte and his co-perpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralise’ alleged criminals in the Philippines [including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production] through violent crimes including murder,” the prosecution document reads.

Dela Rosa, the former national police chief and enforcer of Duterte’s drug war, has previously said he believed he faced potential arrest and has been in hiding for months.

Go, re-elected in May in a landslide victory, was a key lieutenant of Duterte during both the latter’s terms as mayor of southern Davao City and as president from 2016 to 2022.

A representative of Dela Rosa said they had not yet seen the document. Go has yet to comment on the latest development.

It was not immediately clear if any of the men named in the prosecution document would face charges in court.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Kristina Conti, lawyer of several of the deceased victims’ families, noted that it’s the first time “significant details” were disclosed by the ICC to the public.

She said the inclusion of several high-ranking officials under Duterte showed that the deadly drug war under his presidency “was crafted not only to ensure implementation, but to ensure impunity”.

“The involvement of those in the investigating units, which should have acted as the killings happen, is material to the plan. This also emphasizes that the ‘war on drugs’ began in Davao,” Conti said.

Duterte is facing a four-day “confirmation of charges” hearing from February 23, in which judges will decide whether the prosecution’s allegations are strong enough to proceed to trial.

Judges have rejected arguments that the 80-year-old, who was arrested in March last year and transferred to the Netherlands the same day, was unfit to stand trial.

Go and Dela Rosa have been named as co-perpetrators in acts that took place during Duterte’s tenures as Davao mayor and president.

Former Philippine justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who served as a lawyer for Duterte in cases involving the so-called “Davao Death Squad”, is also among the eight men named.

Ross Tugade, an ICC-accredited lawyer from the Philippines, said in a post on Facebook that the inclusion of the names of former Duterte officials indicates “that the ICC has evidence” to show a “criminal structure” in the commission of the alleged crimes.

The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a co-perpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City.

The second relates to 14 murders of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017 when Duterte was president.

The third charge covers 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers.

These took place across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018, the prosecution alleged.

The ICC also on Friday allowed the addition of 500 more complainants against Duterte in the trial.

Mumbai, India — For Indian cricket fans travelling to Sri Lanka this weekend, the opportunity to watch their team take on archrivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup has come at the cost of inflated airfares, soaring hotel prices and a long wait for matchday tickets.

But these are mere sacrifices that thousands are willing to make to witness the most heated rivalry in the sport as it unfolds on Sunday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Fuelled by a decades-long fraught political relationship, cricket encounters between India and Pakistan are among the biggest spectacles in sport — often framed as bloodthirsty contests of national pride.

For the first time in the history of the World Cup, geopolitical tensions threatened to put the marquee contest in doubt until Pakistan’s government reversed its order for a boycott of the match.

While the near-last-minute U-turn revived excitement, it came at a price for the Indian supporters making late travel plans. Pakistan’s participation was confirmed only six days before the fixture, triggering a sharp surge in airfares from several Indian cities.

Fans who booked their air tickets weeks in advance, too, paid significantly higher fares due to the significantly higher demand surrounding any India-Pakistan match, which is commonly deemed the most lucrative fixture in cricket.

“I paid a premium of approximately 50 percent compared to the usual rates,” Aditya Chheda, a finance professional from Mumbai, told Al Jazeera. “This was despite booking a month in advance and opting for a layover instead of a direct flight.”

Flight, hotel prices skyrocket

A nonstop round-trip journey from India’s western metropolis Mumbai to Colombo, which typically costs approximately $275, went upwards of $1,000 two days before the match.

Similar fares were spotted for nonstop journeys from Bengaluru in southern India, while round-trip nonstop flights from Chennai to Colombo – a route that takes only about an hour and 20 minutes – had surged to at least $550, up from its usual fare of $165.

Planning ahead helped Bengaluru resident Parth Chauhan secure deals at a good price, but his friends accompanying him to Colombo had to pay a steep premium – three times the usual cost – after booking closer to the match date.

Accommodation costs rose sharply as well. Tariffs at five-star hotels in Colombo ranged between $400 and $1,000 per night from Saturday to Monday, when most spectators were expected to fly in and out.

Chauhan, who works in a cybersecurity organisation, had to wait a whopping four hours in a virtual queue to buy match tickets, but he insists the hassle was worth the wait, as he gears up to watch India play abroad for the first time.

“It’s an opportune moment, and there is a lot of exuberance to witness this because it’s a historic fixture,” he said.

For a lucky few, the surprise came not from the difficulty of securing tickets but from their unusually low price. Piyush Nathani, an IT professional from Bengaluru, paid only $5 for the fixture, which draws millions in broadcast, sponsor and advertising revenue.

“This is the cheapest ticket I’ve ever purchased. Just $5 to watch a World Cup match, that too of the magnitude of India vs Pakistan, is a steal,” said Nathani, who has travelled with a group of six friends.

‘More than a cricket match’

Having been part of the Ahmedabad crowd in 2023 that saw India beat Pakistan in a 50-over World Cup group game, Nathani is relishing the chance to watch Sunday’s match in a neutral venue, where fans from both countries are expected to be present.

“The feeling of beating Pakistan is something money cannot buy,” added the 29-year-old.

Like Nathani, Chheda has also travelled abroad previously to watch Team India. The 32-year-old watched India lift the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados and now wants to “pick up where I left off”.

“When there’s a World Cup, the first thing Indian fans hope for is to beat Pakistan,” he added.

“Winning the World Cup is the biggest target, but beating Pakistan feels like a moral victory – it’s more than a cricket match.”

When India and Pakistan meet in the T20 World Cup on Sunday, the match will not just be significant for its on-field cricket action but also the political climate that has shrouded the encounter and the tournament itself.

The South Asian nations share a decades-old history of wars and hostile relations. The most recent encounter came in May 2025, when the nuclear-armed neighbours were engaged in a four-day cross-border conflict.

This 78-year-old bitter history has fuelled the sporting rivalry, which has – at times – led to tournament boycotts, cancelled matches and ground invasions.

Players from both teams have often been involved in heated encounters on the field, but have also publicly shared lighter moments off it.

However, the lingering hostility of the last conflict has made a severe and long-term impact on cricket, which is the most widely followed sport in South Asia.

We look back at the deteriorating cricket relations between India and Pakistan since the May conflict and the on-field events steeped in politics:

September 14 – No handshake row

The controversy began when India’s Suryakumar Yadav opted out of the customary pre-toss captains’ handshake with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha, prompting fans to wonder if politics were at play.

The doubts were cleared at the end of the match when, after hitting the winning runs, Yadav and his batting partner Shivam Dube walked off the field without approaching the Pakistani captain and team for the traditional post-match handshakes.

Pakistan’s players trudged off in a group and waited for the Indian squad, but the Indian contingent only shook hands with each other before walking into their dressing room and shutting the door as the waiting Pakistan players looked on.

Later, Yadav confirmed that his team had planned to not shake hands with Pakistani players all along, linking it to the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that preceded the May conflict.

“A few things in life are above sportsman’s spirit,” the 35-year-old said.

September 17 – Pakistan refuse to take the field against UAE

The fallout of the handshake row carried over into Pakistan’s next group game in the Asia Cup, when they refused to take the field against the UAE in protest against match referee Andy Pycroft.

Pakistan insisted that Pycroft be removed from their fixture as he was the key official in the India match and helped carry out India’s request that the captains not shake hands at the toss.

“Andy Pycroft had barred the captains of India and Pakistan from shaking hands during their match,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The Pakistan-UAE match was delayed by an hour as negotiations took place behind closed doors, and Pycroft apologised for the “miscommunication”.

September 21 – Players exchange heated words, make references to conflict

When the teams met for the second time in the Asia Cup, players from both sides were seen exchanging verbal blows in the middle of the pitch.

Pakistan’s Haris Rauf had a go at India’s batter Abhishek Sharma, who later said his match-winning innings of 74 runs was a response to Pakistani players.

“The way they were coming at us without any reason, I didn’t like it at all,” Sharma said after the match.

Rauf was also seen making gestures towards the Indian supporters while fielding on the boundary. He held up his hands to indicate the numbers six and zero, a reference to Pakistan’s claim of downing six Indian jets during the May conflict.

The fast bowler also made gestures indicating an aircraft nosediving into the ground.

Following the match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against Rauf and Pakistani batter Sahibzada Farhan, who marked his half-century with a mock gun celebration.

Pakistan, too, lodged a complaint against India’s captain Yadav for using his post-match press comments to mention the Indian missile attacks in Pakistan.

September 28 – India refuse to receive trophy from Pakistani official

The controversial tournament peaked in the final when India, who beat Pakistan by five wickets, refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy because it was presented by Mohsin Naqvi, who is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president as well as the chairman of the PCB.

Naqvi is also Pakistan’s federal interior minister.

“We have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Devajit Saikia, the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.

The final award presentation was delayed by more than an hour due to India’s refusal and Naqvi’s insistence on presenting the trophy. The Indian team celebrated by pretending to hold a trophy.

India’s captain Yadav added it was the team’s decision to refuse the trophy and “no one told us to do it”.

October 5 – Handshake row hits Women’s Cricket World Cup

When India and Pakistan faced off at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in Sri Lanka, the Indian women’s team followed the precedent set by the men’s side by not offering to shake hands with the opposition.

November 4 – ICC sanctions Indian and Pakistani players for on-field behaviour

Five weeks after the conclusion of the Asia Cup, the ICC said Rauf, Farhan and Yadav had been found guilty of breaching its code of conduct and bringing the game into disrepute.

Yadav and Rauf were fined 30 percent of their match fees from the September 14 match and received two demerit points each, while Farhan walked away with a warning and one demerit point.

Rauf was found guilty of the same offence in the final and handed the same punishment, which led to a two-match ban on him.

Meanwhile, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who displayed a plane-crashing celebration of his own in the final, was also found guilty and handed one demerit point.

January 25 – Pakistan casts doubt on T20 World Cup participation

Following Bangladesh’s ouster from the T20 World Cup, Pakistan said it would reconsider its own presence at the tournament.

“The prime minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision,” PCB chief Naqvi said.

February 1 – Pakistan announces boycott of India match

In an unprecedented decision at a World Cup, Pakistan’s government said its team would not take the field against India on February 15.

A few days later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed the move was an act of solidarity with Bangladesh.

February 9 – Pakistan reverses boycott

More than a week later, Pakistan reversed its decision and said its cricket team had been ordered to take the field in the match on Sunday.

Pakistan’s government said it had “reviewed formal requests extended by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, as well as the supporting communications from Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, and other member nations”, which sought “a viable solution to recent challenges”, referring to its decision to boycott the game.

Rutherford’s 76 and spinners’ control help the two-time champions beat the 2022 winners at the Wankhede Stadium.

Sherfane Rutherford struck ‌a belligerent half-century and Gudakesh Motie produced a brilliant display of spin bowling ⁠as West Indies ⁠thumped England by 30 runs in T20 World Cup Group C.

Rutherford smacked seven sixes in his unbeaten 76 off 42 deliveries to provide ⁠the bedrock of his team’s imposing total of 196-6 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Twice champions West Indies returned to choke their opponents with spin and bundled out England for 166 in 19 overs ⁠to top the group with their second successive victory.

England slipped to third place, behind Scotland, after their first defeat in the tournament.

“Disappointing. It’s never nice to lose a game, but West Indies played outstanding,” England captain Harry Brook said.

“We thought it was a chaseable total for ‌sure but it didn’t dew up as much as we expected and didn’t skid onto the bat.”

Put into bat, West Indies lost both openers in the first seven deliveries of their innings.

Shimron Hetmyer (23) and Roston Chase (34) steadied the ship before Rutherford walked in to light up the Wankhede Stadium.

He shared a 61-run stand with Jason Holder, who struck four sixes in his 33 off 17 balls, to take West ⁠Indies close to 200.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid excelled for England, conceding only ⁠16 runs in his four overs and claiming the wickets of Chase and Rovman Powell.

England made a flying start before losing Phil Salt (30) in the fourth over.

Chase removed Jos Buttler for 21 and left-arm spinner Motie ⁠produced a double strike to turn the heat on England, who slumped to 93-4 at the halfway stage of their innings.

The ⁠situation demanded caution and Brook duly curbed his normal ⁠aggression but the West Indian spinners would not be denied.

Motie (3-33) caught Brook off his own bowling and Chase trapped Will Jacks lbw to further turn the screw.

Sam Curran made a valiant 43 not out down the order ‌but lacked support.

“I have put in a lot of work coming into the World Cup,” Rutherford said.

“I trust my process and I can score runs in the end when ‌I ‌play with a clear mind. We were maybe 10 runs behind what we wanted given England’s powerful batting but the guys bowled well.”

Who: India vs Namibia
What: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 – Group A
When: Thursday, February 12 at 7pm (13:30 GMT)
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, India
How to follow and stream: Al Jazeera’s live text and photo stream begins at 10:30 GMT

Namibia will look to make the most of an illness-and-injury-plagued Indian side when they meet the defending champions in their Group A match on Thursday.

India are likely to take the field without their swashbuckling opener Abhishek Sharma after he was hospitalised with an upset stomach on Tuesday.

While Sharma was discharged on the eve of the match, his presence in the playing XI is doubtful.

The world’s top-ranked T20I batter struggled in India’s opening match against the United States.

“He has been discharged today, and he is doing well,” Indian batter Tilak Varma told reporters.

“We have got one more day for the game. Hopefully, we decide by tomorrow on how he feels, and we go with it.”

In better news for the world champions, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is expected to return after he missed the opener due to a fever.

Namibia expect ‘great spectacle’

Namibia, meanwhile, will be looking to move past their heavy loss against the Netherlands on Tuesday and register a shock win over the two-time world champions.

The African team’s coach, Craig Williams, admitted his side faces a stiff challenge against India, but they would like to pose a challenge against the pre-tournament favourites.

“Playing India in India – it’s going to be a great game for us and the spectacle is going to be fantastic for everyone back home as well,” Williams said before the match.

“As a professional team, we want to put on a good show, and hopefully, we’re going to stick to our game plan, and then we’ll see what happens at the end of the day.”

Williams said the key to Namibia’s chances will be a strong batting performance at the top of the order.

“We need someone in our top four to bat for a prolonged period of time, and then you need partnerships,” the former cricketer said.

“Playing against India won’t be easier, but if we can stick to our game plan, and take one ball at a time, hopefully, the result will then go our way.”

Form guide: India

India are on an eight-game unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup, carrying on from their title-winning campaign in 2024.

They lost one of their five T20Is against New Zealand last month.

Last five matches (most recent first): W W L W W

Form guide: Namibia

One of the biggest results in Namibian cricket history came in October, when they beat 2024 finalists South Africa by four wickets.

They have not been lucky enough to play international fixtures regularly, but can pose a challenge if one of their key players makes an impact.

Last five matches (most recent first): L W L W W

Team news: India

India’s squad has been hit by a range of illnesses and injuries, but Suryakumar Yadav’s team have plenty of power on the bench to grab another win.

Bumrah could return to the XI, replacing his stand-in Mohammed Siraj, and Sanju Samson could take Sharma’s place at the top of the order.

Predicted XI: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy

Team news: Namibia

Namibia could field the same XI that lost to the Netherlands, hoping that the result goes the other way this time.

Predicted XI: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wicketkeeper), Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo

After their shock defeat at the 2024 T20 World Cup, Pakistan exact revenge on USA with 32-run win at 2026 edition.

Opener Sahibzada Farhan hit a solid half-century while spinner Usman Tariq grabbed three wickets as Pakistan downed the United States by 32 runs in a T20 World Cup Group A game in Colombo.

The 29-year-old hit five sixes and six fours in his 41-ball 73 and was aided by a brilliant 32-ball 46 by Babar Azam (four fours, one six) to guide Pakistan to a strong 190-9 total on Tuesday at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.

Their spinners then checked the inexperienced USA batting with Tariq taking 3-27 and Shadab Khan 2-26 to restrict their opponents to 158-8 in 20 overs.

The win avenged Pakistan’s shock defeat at the hands of the USA in the T20 World Cup two years ago and handed them a second win in as many games following their close three-wicket win over the Netherlands on Saturday.

For the USA, Shubham Ranjane top-scored with a valiant 30-ball 51, including three sixes and as many fours, before he fell to pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was playing his 100th T20 international.

Opener Shayan Jahangir muscled his way to an attractive 34-ball 49 studded with two sixes and five fours while Milind Kumar scored 29 before the United States were derailed from 123-3 to lose the match.

Earlier, Farhan and fellow opener Saim Ayub, who scored a 17-ball 19 with two sixes, put on 54 in five overs.

Pakistan then lost two wickets in the sixth over of their innings, bowled by Shadley van Schalkwyk.

Ayub was caught off a slower one while skipper Salman Agha holed out on the deep square-leg boundary for one.

Farhan and Azam took control with an 81-run third-wicket stand as Pakistan cut loose in the middle overs.

Farhan passed 1,000 T20 international runs in his 41st match before he was caught in the covers off spinner Harmeet Singh in the 16th over.

Shadab Khan launched an assault to score 30 off 12 balls before Pakistan lost five wickets for just 13 runs in the last two overs.

Schalkwyk was the best USA bowler with 4-25, following his four-wicket haul against India in the 29-run defeat on Saturday.

Pakistan’s decision to reverse its boycott of the match against India at the T20 World Cup has been welcomed by fans, players and coaches in both countries.

The highly anticipated confrontation between the archrivals was thrown into doubt for more than a week after Pakistan’s government ordered its team against taking the field for Sunday’s clash in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The reversal late on Monday brought relief to millions of fans on both sides of the countries’ shared border as well as tournament organisers and coaches.

The Indian camp said it would be “delighted” to play against a “quality side”.

“It’s great that the game is back on. We kind of never changed the preparation,” India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday.

India will play their second Group A match against Namibia on Thursday in New Delhi before flying to Colombo the following morning.

It means a quick turnaround for Sunday’s match, the biggest and most lucrative clash in world cricket.

“It’s going to be a challenge going to Colombo, where Pakistan have been for the last two weeks,” ten Doeschate added.

“We are fully focused on just bringing our best game to that fixture.”

‘Good for cricket’

Pakistan’s decision to go ahead with the game was hailed as an outbreak of “good sense” and “good for cricket”.

A frantic weekend of negotiations saw the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Bangladesh Cricket Board chiefs fly to Lahore on Sunday for talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The governments of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka both wrote to the Islamabad government on Monday, urging it to change its stance and allow the game to go ahead.

After “multilateral discussions, as well as the request of friendly countries, the Government of Pakistan hereby directs the Pakistan National Cricket Team to take the field on February 15”, the Islamabad government said on its official X account late on Monday.

The decision had been taken with the aim of “protecting the spirit of cricket”, it added.

Former India cricketer Madan Lal told the AFP news agency that the resumption was “good for cricket”.

“We want strong teams to play so that the charm of the World Cup is not lost,” he added.

Sri Lanka, who will host the match – which generates multimillions of dollars in advertising, broadcast rights, sponsorships and tourism – also praised the decision.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in a social media post thanked Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for “ensuring the game we all love goes on”.

Veteran Indian journalist Pradeep Magazine said, “Good sense has prevailed on all sides.”

Financial considerations would have been taken into account, he added.

“Everyone realised that losing the revenue from an India-Pakistan match would have been a loss-loss situation for all ICC member nations.”

‘No greater happiness’

For fans, it’s another chance to watch the bitter rivals face off at a global tournament.

Kafeel Ahmed, a cricket fan from Karachi, said Pakistan vs India matches were unique.

“There is a different intensity to it. If Pakistan wins by 12 runs, there is no ⁠greater happiness than that,” Ahmed told the Reuters news agency. “This happiness is not just about a challenge against a rival; it is the feeling that comes after defeating your opponent.”

India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2012-2013 due to their longstanding political rift.

“The benefit is not only that the public is happy or that young people who play cricket are happy; it also increases business and public interest,” cricket ‌fan Rai Fayaz said.

Rajeev Shukla, vice president of the Board of ‌Control for Cricket in India, said on Tuesday that it was good that a solution had been found.

“All kudos to the ICC for taking this initiative, resolving the whole issue and bringing cricket back to the forefront. This is a big achievement as far as the ICC is concerned,” he said.

Mumbai, India — For most of a warm and breezy Sunday afternoon in Mumbai, the Wankhede Stadium felt closer to Kathmandu than India’s southern metropolis as thousands of Nepalese fans sang, danced and dared to dream while their cricket team took on the mighty England in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

A sea of red and blue replica shirts heaved in every nook and corner of the iconic 33,000-capacity venue, with supporters turning the famed Indian stadium into their adopted home.

A banner, saying “Feel the Thrill” stretched across stands and captured the mood perfectly as chants, drums and Nepali tunes echoed throughout the ground.

From children arriving with flags painted on their faces to elderly supporters proudly wearing the traditional Dhaka topi – a traditional Nepalese hat – fans of all ages turned up for what felt like a cricketing festival drenched in Nepali culture.

‘We almost won’

On the pitch, Nepal’s players delivered one of their most memorable performances in recent years, with the match ending in heartbreak as the team’s spirited chase fell agonisingly short on the final ball.

With the odds stacked heavily against them, Nepal walked out to face two-time champions England fully aware of the vast gulf in experience and pedigree compared to their opponents.

They hoped, though, that their hunger, intensity and fearless approach to the game could keep them firmly in the contest.

Chasing a challenging target of 185, the Rhinos proved why they are one of the most promising teams in associate cricket, as Lokesh Bam’s late heroics, coupled with Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee’s onslaughts, pushed the contest to the last ball.

“We almost won but couldn’t go through because the players lack experience,” Nepal fan Subodh Dhakal, who travelled from Kathmandu, told Al Jazeera. “Experience will come with time, but the team played well.”

Dhakal, a doctor and passionate Nepal supporter, planned a quick two-day trip to attend the match with his wife, after watching the Nepal Premier League – the domestic league whose growth has been central to the nation’s progress in the sport.

Like Dhakal, Satyam Pokhrel also made his way to Mumbai from the Nepalese capital. Joined by a group of friends, Pokhrel revealed his plans to stay for the remaining three Nepal games, all of which are scheduled at the same venue.

“Nepal had a really good chance [to win], but were unlucky,” he said. “The match was very close; I’m proud of the team. They showed great energy and are capable of winning the upcoming games.”

Sunday’s heroics against England were not the first time Nepal troubled stronger opponents. Five months before the World Cup, they beat the West Indies 2-1 in a three-match series — their first bilateral series victory over a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) — while in 2024 they came within a run of upsetting South Africa at the T20 World Cup.

Nepal’s debut at the tournament, in 2014, led to a famous win over a highly-rated Afghanistan team.

‘Don’t count us out’

For many in the stands, being part of the atmosphere required journeys just as memorable as the match itself.

Bhuvan Rawal travelled from Tikapur in far-western Nepal, spending three days on the road to reach Mumbai by bus.

“I wasn’t bothered by the time or money taken to come here. Watching Nepal play at a World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” said the 26-year-old.

“I’ve come with around 200 to 300 supporters from Nepal. We were aware of the match schedule since last year and were excited to be at Wankhede Stadium… Mumbai is our second home now!”

Rawal, who played cricket in his younger years and works as a gym trainer, believes lowly-ranked teams such as Nepal aren’t just here to make up the numbers at the expanded 20-team T20 World Cup.

“We may be a small country, but Nepal is very beautiful and can play wonderful cricket. I understand there’s a difference between full ICC members and associate teams, but don’t count us out.

“No team is too small to challenge the giants,” he said.

Lokesh Bam’s late heroics with the bat are not enough as Nepal are beaten by two-time champions in their Group C match in Mumbai.

Nepal were left heartbroken after they came agonisingly close to pulling off a massive T20 World Cup upset against England but fell short by four runs as the two-time champions won the Group C match in Mumbai.

Lokesh Bam’s heroics with the bat – 39 runs off 20 balls – were not enough to see Nepal over the line at the Wankhede Stadium, which was packed with Nepalese fans on Sunday.

Nepal finished on 180-6, handing England a nervy win to kick off their campaign in the controversy-hit cricket tournament.

When England’s captain Harry Brook (53) and teammate Jacob Bethell (55) hit fifties to power England to 184-7, they seemingly did enough to take the match out of Nepal’s reach.

But Rohit Paudel produced a captain’s innings of his own as he, alongside star all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, put Nepal on course for a shock win.

The pair’s departure slowed down Nepal’s progress, but Lokesh resumed the big hitting against some wayward bowling by England’s seamers.

Needing 10 off the last over, the Rhinos were unable to get Sam Curran’s accurate bowling over the boundary and could only score six runs.

The Rhinos’ fans, hundreds of whom had travelled from across the border, were left disheartened.

Earlier, electing to bat at the Wankhede Stadium, England slumped to 57-3 in the seventh over to find themselves in a spot of bother.

Sher Malla struck with the first ball on his World Cup debut, dismissing Phil Salt for one, and the pressure mounted on England after Jos Buttler and Tom Banton fell in quick succession.

Bethell had no problem adjusting to the nature of the track, where other batters found shot-making difficult. He and Brook combined in a 71-run partnership during their 45-ball collaboration to rebuild their innings.

Airee (44) and skipper Paudel (39) kept Nepal in the hunt with a stand of 82 from 54 balls.

Curran brought relief to the English camp when he had Airee caught in the deep and Paudel also departed soon afterwards.

Bam hit Jofra Archer for back-to-back sixes to turn the match on its head.

With Nepal needing 10 runs off the last over from Curran, Bam needed to hit the last ball for a six, but he managed only one as England heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Cricket’s global governing body hopes to persuade Pakistan to reverse decision to boycott India T20 World Cup fixtures.

The International Cricket Council is in talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board to resolve the boycott of its T20 World Cup 2026 fixture against India on February 15.

Any clash between archrivals India and Pakistan is one of the most lucrative in cricket, worth millions of dollars in broadcast, sponsoring and advertising revenue.

But the fixture was thrown into doubt after Pakistan’s government ordered the team not to play the match in Colombo.

The Pakistan Cricket Board reached out to the ICC after a formal communication from the cricket world body, a source close to the developments has told the AFP news agency.

The ICC was seeking a resolution through dialogue and not confrontation, the source added.

The 20-team tournament has been overshadowed by an acrimonious political build-up after Bangladesh, which refused to play in India, citing security concerns, was replaced by Scotland.

As a protest, Pakistan refused to face co-hosts India in their Group A fixture.

Pakistan, which edged out the Netherlands in the tournament opener on Saturday, will lose two points if they forfeit the match and also suffer a significant blow to their net run rate.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said this week that his team would travel to Colombo for the clash.

Pakistan and India have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade, and meet only in global or regional tournaments.

India recover from 77-6 as captain Suryakumar Yadav hits an unbeaten 84 in 29-run World Cup win against United States.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav led ‌by example as the tournament co-hosts began their Twenty20 World Cup title defence with a 29-run victory against the United States in a group A contest on Saturday.

India recovered from a dire 77-6 to post a decent 161-9 with Suryakumar hitting a scintillating 84 not out off 49 balls.

The US managed 132-8 in reply, putting up a decent fight but never really coming ⁠close to chasing down the target.

Earlier, the predominantly Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium probably expected sixes and fours to rain down after US captain Monank Patel elected to field.

Instead, it was a long procession of India’s top-order batters returning to the pavilion after a spectacular meltdown of the world’s top-ranked T20 team.

Opener Abhishek Sharma, currently the world’s number one T20 batter, fell for a first-ball duck in perhaps an inkling of what was in ⁠store for the home side.

The real nightmare unfolded in the final Powerplay over when Shadley van Schalkwyk claimed three wickets in five deliveries to leave India reeling on 46-4.

Ishan Kishan (20) and Tilak Varma (25) could not convert their starts, while Shivam Dube departed with a golden duck against his name in that eventful over from van Schalkwyk.

It could easily have been worse, but bowler Shubham Ranjane could not hold onto a return catch from Suryakumar when the batter was on 15.

Wickets kept tumbling at the other end though.

Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya and ‌Axar Patel perished trying to swing their way out of trouble.

Suryakumar responded to the crisis with a captain’s knock as he raced to a 36-ball fifty before plundering 21 runs from the final over from Saurabh Netravalkar.

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah missed ‌the match due to illness, and they were also forced into replacing Harshit Rana, who was ruled out of the tournament barely 24 hours before ‌their opening match with a thigh injury.

Mohammed Siraj (3-29) vindicated his last-minute ⁠inclusion as Rana’s replacement with a two-wicket burst, while Arshdeep Singh also tasted success as they reduced the US to 31-3 in the six Powerplay overs.

Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37) and Milind Kumar (34) defied India for a while with a 58-run stand, but once the partnership ‌ended, India were firmly in charge.

In Colombo, the Netherlands nearly pulled off a major upset before Faheem Ashraf’s breezy cameo secured Pakistan’s nervy three-wicket win with three balls to spare in another group A contest.

In a group C match in Kolkata, West Indies fast bowler Romario Shepherd claimed four wickets in five balls, including a hat-trick, as the twice champions thumped Scotland by 35 runs.

Who: England vs Nepal
What: 2026 ICC T20 World Cup
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India
When: Sunday, February 8, at 3pm (09:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 06:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

England are undoubtedly among the frontrunners to lift the T20 World Cup title, but, unlike years gone by, they do not start as one of the red-hot favourites.

Despite his undoubted ability with the bat, questions surround the captaincy of Harry Brook, while English cricket as a whole is licking its wounds following recent woes – including the Ashes humiliation in Australia.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at their open against Nepal.

What have England said about the pressure on Brooks?

All-rounder Will Jacks said on Friday that under-fire England T20 captain Harry Brook had “100 percent” support from the players after going through a “tough time”.

The 26-year-old Brook, in charge at a global tournament for the first time, has recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

He had to apologise last month for being involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer during England’s white ball tour of New Zealand last year, something that had been a “terrible mistake”.

Jacks has been close to Brook since they were roommates with England Under-19s.

“Obviously, it’s been a tough time, and that’s been well documented in the media,” Jacks told reporters before team training in Mumbai on the eve of the tournament.

“I wasn’t actually in New Zealand, so I didn’t know anything about it.

“He’s obviously made the wrong decision, but he’s accepted that. He’s obviously making amends on the pitch, and we all back him 100 percent.”

Brook, a richly gifted run-scorer, has an early chance to shift the focus back onto his batting in England’s opening match against Nepal in Mumbai on Sunday.

“He wants his cricket to do the talking,” said Jacks.

What is England and Brook’s T20 form before the World Cup?

England come into the World Cup in good form in T20, heartened by a 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka – one of the tournament co-hosts – this week.

In the preceding ODI series against the same opposition, the explosive Brook bludgeoned 136 off just 66 balls.

“It’s not so much we are taking momentum from that, but team unity, feeling strong within ourselves,” said Jacks.

“We have been performing well over the last 12 months, since Harry’s become captain, and we’re very happy with that.

“What we did in the last few weeks in Sri Lanka is another stepping stone.”

Who else is in England and Nepal’s group?

England are expected to make the Super Eight stage from a Group C that also features two-time winners West Indies, debutants Italy and Scotland.

“We come into here full of confidence and belief that we can go a long way in this tournament.

“But that doesn’t guarantee us anything. We know that there’s amazing teams in this World Cup.”

“India, on home soil, I think everyone knows who’s favourites.”

What is England’s T20 World Cup record?

England are the joint-record winners of the T20 World Cup with two trophy lifts to their name, alongside West Indies and holders India.

Paul Collingwood captained the English to the third edition of the competition, before Jos Buttler’s side sealed their second win in 2022.

What is Nepal’s T20 World Cup record?

Nepal made their debut at the 2014 edition of the competition, but had to wait until the West Indies and US co-hosted tournament in 2024 to make a second appearance.

On both occasions, the Nepalese were eliminated at the first stage, with 12th- and 17th-placed rankings.

Salt passed fit for England’s opener

Hard-hitting batsman Phil Salt was passed fit as England named their team on Saturday for their first match in the T20 World Cup.

He will open the batting alongside wicketkeeper Jos Buttler against Nepal at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday in Group C.

Salt missed Tuesday’s third T20 against Sri Lanka with a back spasm, but trained successfully on Friday and will take his place at the top of the order.

Tom Banton, fresh from a sparkling 54 off 33 balls against Sri Lanka five days ago, is preferred to Ben Duckett and will bat at number four.

Left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood gets the nod ahead of Jamie Overton and joins express man Jofra Archer and Sam Curran in the seam attack.

England have opted to have four spinners at their disposal, with spearheads Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson backed up by all-rounders Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks.

England’s starting lineup

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood

England squad

Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt (captain), Josh Tongue, Luke Wood

Nepal squad

Rohit Paudel (captain), Aarif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Dipendra Singh Airee, Basir Ahamad, Kushal Bhurtel, Sundeep Jora, Lokesh Bam, Gulshan Jha, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sher Malla, Lalit Rajbanshi, Nandan Yadav

Harshit Rana sustained the knee injury in a warm-up match against South Africa with Mohammed Siraj now taking his place.

India seam bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup with a knee injury, India’s cricket board (BCCI) announced on Friday, with Mohammed Siraj named as a replacement.

Rana, who has also ⁠developed into a handy lower-order batter, sustained the injury during a warmup match against South Africa on Wednesday when he bowled just one over before leaving the field.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav had said that Rana’s injury did not look good, but that they had enough depth ⁠in the squad to deal with it.

Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are likely to share the new-ball duty, while India also have seam-bowling all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.

“It’s a big blow obviously because you make a squad of 15 players with a lot of combinations in mind,” Suryakumar said before ‌Saturday’s Group A contest against the United States.

“If he is not available for us going forward, then we will set other combinations. We have enough ‌players.”

The International Cricket Council said they had approved Siraj as a replacement for Rana.

India are ‌bidding to be the first team ⁠in the tournament’s history to successfully defend their title and also be the first host to win a T20 World Cup.

India’s revised squad

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju ‌Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj