��������

DUBAI: Spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India thrash Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup on Sunday as the neighbors met on the cricket pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May.
Kuldeep returned figures of 3-18 and along with fellow spinner Axar Patel kept Pakistan down to 127-9 in a key Group A T20 clash in Dubai.
India lost two wickets after a fiery 31 off 13 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma, but skipper Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 47 to achieve the target with 25 balls to spare.
Suryakumar put on 56 runs with left-hander Tilak Varma, who hit 31 before being bowled by Saim Ayub.
The captain stood firm and hit the winning six as Indian fans celebrated at a stadium, which had alot of empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.
Abhishek came out roaring as he hit Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for a four and a six and, despite the fall of Shubman Gill in the next over, kept up the charge.
Swashbuckling Abhishek cracked four boundaries and two sixes before he mistimed another attempt for a maximum to be caught at long-off off spinner Ayub.
India’s bowlers set up the dominant win as Axar, who took 2-18, and Kuldeep combined to rattle the opposition batting, which suffered from a lack of partnerships.
Hardik Pandya struck in the first over to dismiss opener Ayub for a golden duck and fellow quick Jasprit Bumrah sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris for three.
Sahibzada Farhan, who top-scored with 40, attempted to rebuild the innings along with Fakhar Zaman, who made 17, in a partnership of 39.
Axar broke the stand with his left-arm spin as he got Zaman caught out and in his next over had skipper Salman Agha out for three.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep came into the attack and struck twice on successive balls to pack off Hasan Nawaz (5) and Mohammad Nawaz (0) as Pakistan slipped to 64-6 inside 13 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling, but number nine Afridi took on the opposition attack with four sixes in his unbeaten 33 off 16 balls to push the total past 120 and play out Pakistan’s full 20 overs.
India, with two wins from two, are nearly through to the next Super Fours stage of the tournament with their final group match against Oman on Friday.
Pakistan play hosts United Arab Emirates next and despite the defeat are expected to make the next stage.
India resisted calls to boycott the T20 clash between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan militants.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.

BURNLEY, England: Mohamed Salah’s stoppage-time penalty ensured Liverpool maintained their winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at promoted side Burnley on Sunday.
With British record signing Alexander Isak forced to wait for his Liverpool debut having been left out the squad for the trip to Lancashire, the champions struggled to break down a dogged home side in the first half.
After a regroup at the break, the visitors upped the ante in the second half, with Dominik Szoboszlai finally forcing a fine save from Martin Dubravka in the Burnley goal.
Burnley were holding on for a well-earned point with ease, before the ball agonizingly struck substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s arm in the penalty area and Salah slotted the spot kick into the net in the 95th minute to break home hearts.
Liverpool are still to really get going this season, requiring a winner in the last 10 minutes of all four of their league victories so far. The goal that clinched an undeserved success at Turf Moor was certainly the most fortunate.
“I know how hard it is to create chances against a team that’s with 11 players in their 18-yard box,” Liverpool coach Arne Slot said.
“I’m not saying anything negative about them, just trying to explain how difficult it is against a Premier League team, because they are very good players as well.”
After one of the longest transfer sagas in Premier League history finally reached its expected conclusion, Liverpool supporters had hoped for their first glimpse of their £125-million ($169.45-million) goal machine.
While Slot said this week that Isak would have to be utilized carefully due to his previous injuries and lack of action so far this season, the Swede was still expected to at least be on the bench at Turf Moor.
But the wait goes on as, without their expensive new forward, Liverpool mustered just one shot on target in the first half, from left-back Andrew Robertson.
Burnley, who conceded the fewest goals in English football league history last term to earn them promotion, otherwise frustrated the champions with ease. Even Lesley Ugochukwu’s red card for two bookings in the 84th minute did not seem to fluster them.
Even without Isak, Liverpool still had much attacking talent on the Turf Moor pitch but they just could not find that killer pass.
Salah was especially below par but he made no mistake in the most pressurised moment after Hannibal had stuck up an arm to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross.
“The overriding factor here is that everything we set about to be today, I am immensely proud of the players,” Burnley coach Scott Parker said. “The game ends in a real heartbreaking way for us. It is what it is.”
The champions’ impressive Premier League goalscoring streak stretches to 38 games nonetheless, their longest such run in the competition.
Salah has now scored 188 Premier League goals, moving ahead of Andrew Cole into outright fourth in the top goalscorers chart.