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Iran's U-18 women's futsal team secured a spot in the semi-finals of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games after achieving an impressive 5-3 victory over Cameroon in the second group stage match.

For Cameroon, which had lost its first match, the encounter was decisive. The African team started the game convincingly, utilizing their physical advantage and fast attacks to capitalize on moments of Iranian carelessness and take a two-goal lead early on.

Nevertheless, the team led by Fatemeh Sharif demonstrated immense character and fighting spirit, managing to turn the tide of the game and secure all three points with a confident 5-3 win.

The goals for Iran were scored by Narges Amirmahseni, who netted a brace, as well as Tanaz Bagherinia, Nafiseh Mohammadi, and Setaeesh Rezaei-Salehi.

Sharif stated: 'I dedicate this victory to the people of Iran, especially the great futsal family, and congratulate everyone on reaching the semi-finals. It was an extremely difficult match. Cameroon came out with everything they had, knowing they needed a result to keep hopes alive. They had a physical advantage over us.'

She added: 'We conceded twice, but my players truly fought for every ball and showed tremendous character to come back into the game.'

By earning three points from Cameroon, Iran accumulated six points and mathematically guaranteed its place among the four finalists of the tournament.

However, Sharif emphasized that her team would quickly shift its focus to the final group stage match against Italy, where they are firmly aiming for first place in the group.

'Our qualification is secured, but the match against Cameroon is behind us. The entire coaching staff and players are focused on the quarter-final match against Italy. Our main goal is to win and take first place in the group, which will give us the best position before the semi-finals,' she said.

Sharif also highly praised her players and acknowledged the support of the coaching staff, the Football Federation, and the Women's Committee, calling this achievement a historic milestone for women's futsal in Iran.

'Reaching the semi-finals is a historic achievement for women's futsal in our country, and its positive impact will be seen in the coming years. The players on this team are invaluable assets with a bright future ahead of them. They will be able to achieve great success over many years and become a solid foundation for the Iranian national team,' she concluded.

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has once again claimed the title of leader in the ICC Test Bowlers ranking, which was published on Wednesday, November 4th. A significant contribution to this achievement came from his nine wickets taken in the third and final match against South Africa, held in Cape Town. Starc moved up one position, surpassing Marco Jansen of South Africa.

Previously, Starc first reached the number one spot in August, when he overtook Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. However, after Jansen took 6 wickets in the second match in Gqeberha, he rose to the top of the rankings. In the Cape Town match, Jansen managed only 3 wickets, while Starc collected 9 wickets. Thanks to this, Starc achieved his best career Test bowler ranking.

Two other players from South Africa are also listed in the top 10 Test bowlers. Off-spinner Simon Harmer demonstrated outstanding play in the Cape Town match, taking 6 wickets in the latter half of Australia's innings, which played a key role in the team's victory and series win. This success allowed him to climb 9 positions, securing seventh place, and overtaking his teammate Kagiso Rabada.

Despite Jansen leaving the top spot in the bowling rankings, his dominance in the Test all-rounder list has strengthened. After scoring a half-century in the third match, he reached his best career ranking. Viyyan Mulder climbed one step, taking third place, and Harmer made a leap of three positions, reaching fifth place.

South African athletes also showed improvements in the Test batters ranking. Aiden Markram moved up one position to take 11th place, Mulder jumped seven places to take 17th place, and Ryan Rickelton rose 25 positions to reach 23rd place. Rickelton also achieved his best career ranking.

Cameron Green from Australia climbed three positions to take 19th place jointly with Alex Carey, who also improved his position by two spots. Furthermore, Justin Griffiths, after West Indies defeated Bangladesh in the first match, rose 12 places to take 38th place jointly, which is his best career ranking. West Indies won the match in Mirpur by 8 wickets. Following this performance, Jomel Warrican climbed 6 places in the Test bowlers ranking, taking 30th place, and Roston Chase rose 8 places in the Test all-rounders ranking, taking 23rd place.

The results of the recently concluded three-match ODI series in Pakistan were also reflected in the ICC rankings. The host captain, Shakib Al Afridi, moved up one position to take fifth place among ODI bowlers. Garry Rose made a jump of five positions, taking 24th place.

In the ODI batters ranking, Fakhar Zaman moved up 9 positions to take 37th place. Ben Duckett from England moved up one position to take sixth place, and Pathum Ratnaratne from Sri Lanka made a major leap of 20 positions, taking 16th place.

Many players improved their positions in the T20 rankings. Indian captain Shreyas Iyer, who won the series against New Zealand, benefited in the batters ranking, moving up two positions to take seventh place.

Glenn Phillips from New Zealand climbed 13 positions in the T20 batters ranking, taking 24th place. Mitchell Santner in the bowlers ranking moved up two positions, taking fifth place, and Jacob Davies made a leap of 23 positions, taking 23rd place.

In the T20 all-rounders ranking, Ajmatullah Umrozai from Afghanistan also improved his position by three steps. He secured third place thanks to the player's performance in the recent UAE series against Zimbabwe.

In the first day match between India and New Zealand, held at Eden Park stadium in Auckland, the Indian batsmen demonstrated an impressive performance. Before the powerful displays by the Indian players, the New Zealand team was struggling, losing 9 wickets for 146 runs.

At this moment, fast bowler Blair Tickner came onto the field to bat at number 11 and created a real storm. Tickner launched a lightning attack, scoring 34 runs with one four and four sixes in just 23 balls, thereby setting a major world record in ODI cricket format.

During this aggressive innings, Blair Tickner hit three sixes in the last over bowled by Arsh Deep Singh. Because of this, he became the third player in ODI history to hit four sixes in a single innings while batting at number 11. Before him, this feat was achieved only by Mohammad Amir of Pakistan (four sixes against England in 2016) and Naseem Shah of New Zealand (four sixes against New Zealand in 2025).

Tickner's achievement broke the 23-year record set by legendary fast bowler Shane Bond. Bond hit three sixes against India in Auckland on January 11, 2003. Now, after 23 years, Blair Tickner has created new history by hitting four sixes. This elite group also includes Chris Priingle (2 sixes against West Indies in 1994) and Trent Boult (2 sixes against Sri Lanka in 2015).

Thanks to this counter-attacking innings, the New Zealand team managed to achieve a competitive total of 185 runs in 40.2 overs. In the New Zealand team, Tim Seifert scored 38 runs, and Glenn Phillips scored 30 runs. For India, Arsh Deep Singh took 4 wickets, Gurnoor Barar took 3 wickets, and Anshul Kamboj took 2 wickets.