Sport

Today's sports news: What you need to know

06:07 am on 30 September 2021

Latest - The Tall Ferns are one game away from ticking off their goal for the Asia Cup after toppling India 104-49 in Jordan.

Tall Fern Ash Karaitiana Photo: FIBA

The win secured the Tall Ferns a spot in the tournament's playoffs against Australia on Friday.

On the back of Penina Davidson's eight first-quarter points, the Tall Ferns were ahead 28-14 after the opening spell.

The New Zealanders started to find their range from beyond the three point line and were ahead 50-27 at half time and 73-34 heading into the final quarter.

Davidson top scored with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Brooke Blair had 16 points and three assists and Tessa Boagni scored 13 points and claimed nine rebounds.

Australia cricket Test against Afghanistan postponed "indefinitely"

Australia will postpone its test match against Afghanistan indefinitely this week to prompt the Asian nation to "rethink" their approach to women's sport, Cricket Tasmania boss Dominic Baker said.

Afghanistan cricketers at the 2019 World Cup in England Photo: Photosport

The match against the Afghan men's team was scheduled for 27 November in Hobart.

"It'll be formally postponed indefinitely this week. That will come out in the next couple of days," Baker told local radio station Triple M.

"It's about giving the Afghanistan government some direction around what they have to do to get back into sport.

"It's not acceptable that they don't allow female sport. If they want to play competitive male sport, particularly in the cricket sphere, they have to rethink what they do with female sport."

Cricket Australia said this month it would scrap the test after media reports the Asian country's Taliban rulers would not allow women to play cricket.

A Cricket Australia spokesman said on Wednesday no decision had been made on the fixture.

Baker said the match might be scheduled later.

"We're not going to cancel it altogether," he said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), is set to discuss the status of women's cricket in Afghanistan at its next board meeting in November.

- Retuers

Third high-profile official resigns from Pakistan Cricket Board

Chief executive Wasim Khan has become the third high-profile official to resign from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following the appointment of former captain Ramiz Raja as the new chairman of the organisation.

After spending a decade trying to revive international cricket, Pakistan is once again facing the prospect of being declared the game's no-go area again.

While Khan helped the board woo back some teams in the last two years, Pakistan were dealt a huge blow when New Zealand and England pulled out of their respective tours this month.

Former PCB chairman Ehsan Mani appointed Khan as the chief executive officer of the board in 2019 on a three-year contract.

Raja, who played more than 250 international matches for Pakistan from 1984 to 1997, replaced Mani who stepped down from his role last month.

Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis also stepped down from their respective roles recently.

Raja named former Australian opener Matthew Hayden and former South African all-rounder Vernon Philander as replacements to the coaching team for the Twenty20 World Cup that begins next month.

- Retuers

Unvaccinated NBA players to have pay docked

The NBA isn't forcing players to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but it is going to withhold pay for any player that misses games due to a local mandate.

Photo: 123RF

"Any player who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses," a statement from NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.

Mandatory vaccinations for players has been a non-starter with the National Basketball Players Association, leading the league to institute strict protocols for unvaccinated players.

Local mandates supercede the NBA, however, meaning players in New York and San Francisco will have to sit out home games if they remain unvaccinated.

Roughly 90 percent of players have been vaccinated, but some highly publicized comments made by outspoken stars in the lead-up to training camp have raised eyebrows.

Brooklyn's Kyrie Irving and Golden State's Andrew Wiggins are two of the biggest stars to oppose getting the vaccine.

Both play their home games in cities with local vaccine requirements that would bar them from playing.

Irving is scheduled to make $34.9 million this season, while Wiggins is due $31.6 million.

- Field Level Media