Bangladesh beat Pak, to face India in final

Mushfiqur Rahim struck a valiant 99 as Bangladesh stunned Pakistan by 37 runs in the last Super-4 match and progress to the final of the Asia Cup. Mushfiqur’s notched up his 30th half-century, while Mohammad Mithun made 60 to lift Bangladesh to 239 from a precarious position after opting to bat in the virtual semifinal of the tournament,

SA re-launches T15 league

Cricket South Africa has started a recruitment process for a relaunched Twenty20 league which will run from November 9 until December 16. Foreign and local players have been invited to apply to play in the SA T20 League, which will be staged a year after an aborted Global T20 League, which cost the South African governing body an estimated $14 million, including compensation paid to 144 contracted players. The new league will be played by six teams.

Inter survive after second-half lapse

Inter Milan overcame one of their notorious lapses to beat Fiorentina 2-1 in Serie A and notch their third win in a week  suggesting their early-season troubles may be behind them. Danilo D’Ambrosio scored the winner in the 77th minute despite Fiorentina dominating the second half until that point as Inter suffered exactly the sort of blackout which has exasperated coach Luciano Spalletti. Inter have 10 points from their opening six games which have included three wins as well as shock defeats to Sassuolo and Parma.

Isco leaves hospital after surgery

Real Madrid playmaker Isco has left hospital after successfully undergoing an operation to treat appendicitis, the European champions said. “Our player Isco has been discharged from hospital. He will start his recovery process now under the supervision of the Real Madrid medical services,” said a statement from the club which did not state how long Isco was expected to be out for. Isco, who was taken to hospital  after arriving at training complaining of stomach pains, is set to miss league trip to Sevilla and Saturday’s city derby against Atletico Madrid.

Loew blocked from meeting Ozil

Germany head coach Joachim Loew was reportedly blocked from meeting Mesut Ozil at Arsenal’s training ground  to discuss the midfielder’s fiery retirement from international duty. Loew and Germany’s team director Oliver Bierhoff were in London at the weekend to take part in a FIFA coaching congress and then visited Arsenal’s training ground in Colney, north of London, for clear-the-air talks with Ozil. As per reports daily Bild, Loew and Bierhoff were turned away at the entrance to Arsenal’s training ground, on the orders of Gunners’ head coach Unai Emery.

Indonesia suspend league after fan dies

Indonesia’s top football league has been suspended indefinitely by the nation’s football association after a Persija Jakarta fan was killed by a mob of supporters of rival club Persib Bandung over the weekend. Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) chairman Edy Rahmayadi told media that an investigation into the death of Persija fan Haringga Sirila had been launched. “We have to make sure the diagnosis is correct before we take action,” Rahmayadi said.

India to host Italy in Davis Cup Qualifiers

India have been drawn to play Italy at home in the Davis Cup Qualifiers to be played from February 1 to 2. The draw was made in London on Wednesday. Italy were one of the four losing quarterfinalists from this year to be make the qualifiers while India, who lost the playoffs away to Serbia earlier this month, made the cut by virtue of their higher Davis Cup ranking in the Asia-Oceania zone.

Russia challenges IAAF ban

Russia’s athletics federation has said that it had filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision by global athletics body IAAF to prolong its suspension. The federation was suspended in November 2015 following a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that found evidence of systematic, state-sponsored doping in the sport.