The big story: Warner continues to tear bowlers apart

Australia decided to turn up and have fun in the fifth and final One-day International against Pakistan in Adelaide. David Warner got the ball rolling and there was no stopping the southpaw’s carnage as Pakistan were on the receiving end of yet another onslaught.

Warner plundered his way to 179 from just 128 balls. At the other end, Travis Head curbed his inner Warner to play the sheet anchor’s role, but brought up a fine 128 from 137 balls, his maiden three-figure score. The Warner-Head duo missed out on posting the highest opening stand in ODI history by two runs, as they brought up 284. Despite the visitors making a decent comeback in the last eight overs, Australia still got to a massive 369/7 in their quota of overs.

Pakistan were in the hunt when the in-form Sharjeel Khan (79) and Babar Azam (100) were going strong, putting up a 130-run stand for the second wicket. Umar Akmal scored a quick-fire 46 but his departure brought down curtains on the chase. Pakistan folded for 312 in the final over of the match, handing the Aussies a 57-run win.

Other top stories

Cricket

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  • Indian skipper Virat Kohli has thrown his weight behind teammate Suresh Raina, who was recently recalled to the side for the Twenty20 Internationals against England. “We still believe that he has enough to contribute in the short formats for India,” Kohli said.  
  • South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir has been reprimanded by the International Cricket Council after flaunting a t-shirt with an image of the late Pakistan pop star and religious preacher, Junaid Jamshed. The incident happened during the second T20I between the Proteas and Sri Lanka after Tahir had picked up the wicket of Asela Gunaratne. 

Football

  • Recent reports state that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will consider penning a contract beyond the three years that he initially signed up for. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has had an underwhelming start to the season.
  • Chelsea’s bid for Atalanta’s Ivory Coast midfielder Frank Kessie has been rejected by the Italian club. English Premier League’s table-toppers bid £27 million for the 20-year-old. The Blues are also trying to snap Atalanta’s Italy U-21 international Andrea Conti.
  • In the African Cup of Nations, Egypt progressed to the knockout stages through Md. Salah’s ferocious strike, which was enough to see off Ghana in their final group game.

Tennis

  • Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams beat fellow American Coco Vandeweghe to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday. The 36-year-old fought back from a set down to beat her much younger opponent 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 in Melbourne.  
  • Meanwhile, world No. 2 Serena Williams hammered the 79th-ranked Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1 in a clinical display in the other semi-final of the Australian Open to set up the summit clash with her sister, Venus.  
  • India’s Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis bowed out of the Australian Open mixed doubles after losing in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The Indo-Swiss pair were outplayed 6-3, 6-2 by Australians Samantha Stosur and Samuel Groth.  

Formula One

  • Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Martin Sorrell, the top bosses of the sport, stand to earn $40 million after selling Formula One to US media firm, Liberty Media, who had completed a $8 billion takeover on Monday.