New Zealand hope the return of Daniel Vettori can inspire a victory over South Africa in Mirpur today and take the Black Caps to a sixth World Cup semi-final.
Vettori strained ligaments in his right knee against Pakistan and missed New Zealand's final two group games, including last Friday's heavy defeat by Sri Lanka.
The all-rounder, 32, told reporters yesterday that he "should be fine" for today's quarter-final. Wearing strapping on his knee, Vettori later took part in a training session at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, missing a warm-up game of rugby but staying behind afterward to practise his bowling with Nathan McCullum.
New Zealand are also set to be boosted by the return of Kyle Mills, the pace bowler, after a calf strain, and Vettori said Brendon McCullum, the opening batsman and wicketkeeper, will continue to play through a knee problem.
Today's game could be Vettori's last as captain of the one-day side. The veteran of 270 ODIs intends to give up the captaincy of the one-day and Twenty20 sides after the tournament, and he is reportedly considering retiring from limited-overs internationals altogether.
The left-arm spinner's return could be crucial to New Zealand. In beating the West Indies at the same ground on Wednesday, Pakistan's three spinners combined to take eight for 64, and South Africa's slow bowlers were central in bowling out Bangladesh for 78 on Saturday.
Vettori was more concerned that his hit-and-miss batsmen deliver today. "They will be the key to our success," he said. "We played our best game against Pakistan when our batting fired, we got a guy through to a hundred, and had a couple of crucial partnerships. We've been at our worst when those things haven't happened."
Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, is not underestimating New Zealand and he said: "New Zealand have always been a very street-smart team and they've always played well to their abilities and they've always got a lot of guys that can contribute so you need to play well to beat them."
South Africa sailed through the group stages with wins over the West Indies, Netherlands, Ireland, Bangladesh and India, while they lost to England in a low-scoring game. Smith said the Proteas wanted to continue their dominance, but hinted it would be a tight game.
"It's two quality teams, anyone from here can win the World Cup and that's what makes this tournament exciting," he said. "They have some power batters, some guys that really take the game to you. From a bowling point of view, they always take the pace off the ball, they have a lot of guys that can change the pace."
But Smith was confident South Africa could reach the last four.
"We're in a great place at the moment. We've had 10 days in Bangladesh so we've had to keep ourselves busy a little bit outside training sessions, just keep things a bit fresh in the mind," he said.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
The specs
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Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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