Pakistan registered their first one-day international series win over New Zealand in 12 years with a hard-fought 26-run victory in the third match in Karachi on Wednesday.

Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off lowly Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the Spanish champions continued on Sunday.

New Zealand need to bowl as well as they did at the start of Australia's innings in the first one-day international in Auckland if they are to wrap up the series on Thursday, according to all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

The Bangladesh Under-16 women's team yesterday got off to a winning start in Japan when they handed a 2-1 defeat to Sakai Academy in the lone practice match for the J-Green Sakai Lady's Festival, which is scheduled to get underway from tomorrow in Osaka.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said had the bowling been disciplined and the fielding up to the mark the first one-day international against New Zealand could have been a closely-fought game.

Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award. In the period under consideration, Mustafizur played three ODIs and took eight wickets, while he yielded 19 wickets in 10 T20Is.

Fakirerpool Youngmen's Club returned to the top of the Marcel Bangladesh Championship League with a single goal win over Bangladesh Police FC at the Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

Dries Mertens scored four goals, including a nine-minute first-half hat-trick, as Napoli forgot their scoring problems with a 5-3 win over Torino in Serie A on Sunday.

West Ham United midfielder Dimitri Payet has been granted extra time off to help the Frenchman recapture the scintillating form he displayed last season and to help cope with the Premier League's demanding festive schedule.

A rampant India will look to create history in the fifth and final Test against England from Friday by piling more misery on Alastair Cook in what could be his last outing as the tourists' skipper.

Lazio beat Sampdoria 2-1 on Saturday with Felipe Anderson setting up both their goals as they rebounded from last week's derby defeat to AS Roma to climb up to fourth in Serie A.

Kushtia kept their hopes of a last four berth in the JFA U-14 Women's National Championship alive after a 3-0 win over Khagrachari at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

Colombian striker Radamel Falcao scored twice as Monaco thrashed Bastia 5-0 to move top of Ligue 1 on Saturday, while French champions Paris Saint-Germain crashed to a shock 3-0 defeat at Montpellier.

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen extended his dominance over the chess world by winning the World Chess Championship for the third consecutive time on Wednesday, beating his Russian challenger Sergei Karyakin in a tiebreaker.

New Zealand took nine wickets in a dramatic final session of the second Test against Pakistan to win by 130 runs in Hamilton on Tuesday and clean sweep their series 2-0.

Ravindra Jadeja's sparkling all-round performance floored England and handed India an unbeatable 2-0 lead after they cantered home to a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the third Test on Tuesday.

Joe Root fell after a defiant 78 as India claimed three wickets on the fourth morning to inch closer to a comprehensive victory in the third Test against England on Tuesday.

Andy Murray could round off his sensational year which has seen him finish as men's tennis world number one and win both Wimbledon and the Olympic title with a historic third BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

New Zealand's pace bowlers sparked a final session collapse to dismiss Pakistan for 230 and give them a 138-run victory in the second Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday, a win that also clinched a first series triumph over Pakistan since 1985.

After being at the receiving end of a 64-run drubbing in the opening game against India, Bangladesh bounce back strongly as they beat Thailand by 35 runs in the 5th match of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup at the Asian Institute of Technology ground in Bangkok.