#Title

Another World Cup without ITALY
DHAKA ﻿SATURDAY﻿ ﻿MARCH﻿ ﻿26﻿, ﻿2022﻿, CHAITRA 12, 1428 BS
GTV
ICC Women’s World Cup
Bangladesh vs England
Live from 04:00 am (Sunday)
T SPORTS & STAR SPORTS 1
Indian Premier League
CSK vs KKR
Live from 08:00 pm
TEN 2
International Friendly
England vs Switzerland
Live from 11:30 pm
AGENCIES
Italy were “destroyed” by their shock defeat to North Macedonia, with Giorgio Chiellini saying their failure to qualify for the World Cup opened “a great void”.
The reigning European champions fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to North Macedonia, with former Palermo attacker Aleksandar Trajkovski netting a surprise winner for the visitors in the 92nd minute.
Italy have now failed to qualify for two straight World Cups. They will not be able to feature on that stage until 2026, with their only win in the competition since they triumphed in 2006 coming against England in the 2014 group stage.
The defeat to North Macedonia marked an incredible turnaround in fortunes for Italy, who won Euro 2020 as part of a 37-game undefeated streak that ended in October – a month after they dropped valuable points against Bulgaria and Switzerland in their World Cup qualifying group.
Roberto Mancini’s side ended up missing out on top spot to Switzerland after two further draws, and their capitulation at the Renzo Barbera was tough for Chiellini to take.
“It’s hard to explain. There is great disappointment. We played a great match but just couldn’t score,” Chiellini told Rai Sport. “We weren’t presumptuous. We were missing something. We made mistakes from September until today and we paid for them.
“I am proud of this team, but it’s obvious we are disappointed and destroyed. We have to start again.
“It’s difficult to comment so quickly. There will remain a great void and I hope this void will give the energy needed to restart. We have to start against to win again and get back to the top of the European Championship and in four years go to the World Cup.”
Midfielder Marco Verratti said North Macedonia’s goal in added time was a “real nightmare”.
“This group had a great chance at the World Cup, we came from the unbeaten record, so it is difficult to accept what happened tonight,” Verratti said.
“We all know that we have given everything, now surely it is time to ask ourselves some questions.”
Meanwhile, Mancini, who has since the defeat been backed by the Italian FA chief, took the blame for the failure on himself.
“It’s difficult to talk about a match in which we had 40 shots and they had one or two,” Mancini told reporters.
“I’m the coach, when in football things go wrong it’s the coach’s fault, so I am responsible.”
Another one who was willing to shoulder the blame was midfielder Jorginho, whose two penalty misses against Switzerland in two qualifying phase matches pushed Italy to the playoffs.
“It is difficult to explain what happened,” Jorginho told RAI Sport through tears.
“It hurts when I think about it (the penalty misses), because I do still think about it and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your team and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me. People say we need to lift our heads and carry on, but it’s tough.”

‘Glad we got there in the end’
REUTERS
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon led an inspired bowling performance by Australia with a five-wicket haul to help the tourists beat Pakistan by 115 runs in the final session of the deciding third Test in Lahore and clinch the three-match series 1-0 on Friday.
The 34-year-old took the prized wickets of Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam to end Pakistan’s resistance and finished with figures of 5-83 to register his 19th five-wicket haul in an innings.
Fast bowler Pat Cummins provided ample support by picking up three wickets as Pakistan folded for 235 on the final day of the test match at the Gaddafi Stadium, chasing a target of 351.
“In the first innings, the way we batted and put us ahead of the game was fantastic,” Cummins, who was adjudged player of the match for his match haul of eight wickets, said at the presentation.
“Thought 350, if they batted really, really well they were in the game, but thought if we bowled to our potential it was a long way away. Glad we got there in the end.”
Pakistan captain Babar, who saved the hosts from the jaws of defeat in the second test in Karachi with a 196 in the second innings, made 55.
“Unfortunately we had some soft dismissals today,” Babar said, adding that he was satisfied with the overall performance of his team in the series.

Expanded IPL returns home
REUTERS, MUMBAI
Champions Chennai Super Kings will kick off the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League against former winners Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday as the Twenty20 tournament returns home with an expanded version following the addition of two new teams.
Mumbai will host 55 matches in three stadiums in and around the city, while Pune - also in the Western state of Maharashtra - will host the remaining 15 league games which means air travel will not be required for the league’s 10 franchises.
Fans will also be allowed to attend matches, with a 25% occupancy limit, during the 2022 edition with COVID-19 restrictions easing in the country.
The IPL, which counts Bollywood stars and billionaires among franchise owners and draws the best cricketers globally, will expand to 10 teams after Lucknow and Ahmedabad paid a combined $1.7 billion to enter the world’s richest cricket tournament.