David Warner of Australia plays a shot. Photo: Reuters

MELBOURNE: Australia batsman David Warner will join Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise St Lucia Stars later this year as he continues to work towards a return to international cricket following a ball-tampering scandal.

Warner will make his CPL debut replacing fellow Australian D’Arcy Short, who is no longer available for the tournament after being selected for Australia A’s tour of India in August and September.

“We are excited to bring David to the Saint Lucia Stars. David is arguably one of the greatest batsman of the modern era and a winning player,” the Stars’ general manager Mohammad Khan said in a statement.

“He is going to add a lot of value on the field and in the dressing room as we pursue our first Hero CPL title.”

Following his 12-month ban by Cricket Australia for the ball-tampering incident against South Africa in March, Warner has signed on for multiple Twenty20 tournaments and is also set to play grade cricket in Sydney.

Warner and former Australia captain Steve Smith, who was also banned for 12 months after the scandal, will also feature in the inaugural Global T20 Canada league, which begins on June 28.

Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft, who was banned for nine months, will join Warner for a limited-overs tournament in Northern Territory in July.

This year’s CPL will be held from Aug. 8 to Sep. 16.

Serbia’s Aleksandar Kolarov celebrates scoring their first goal. Photo: Reuters

KATHMANDU: Serbia’s captain Aleksandar Kolarov scored a sensational goal courtesy of free-kick to give his team a morale-boosting 1-0 triumph over Costa Rica at the Samara Arena today.

Serbia missed a host of chances before skipper Kolarov strode up to struck a decisive free-kick which curled over the bar and beyond outstretched gloves of Keylar Nevas.

Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was the culprit of missing gilt edge chances to put the game to bed before being withdrawn on the dying minutes of the game to kill some valuable seconds.

In the closing stage, Costa Rica poured men forward in search of an equaliser but the Serbian rearguard stood firm to gain a valuable win.

Serbia, Costa Rica, Brazil and Switzerland are pitted in Group E. The runner-up of this group would potentially face Germany if they top their group F in the next round of 16.

Later today, World Champions Germany will take on Mexico at 8:45 pm kick-off. In late kick-off today, five-time world champions Brazil will lock horns against Switzerland at 11:45 pm.

Mexico fans outside the stadium before the match. Photo: Reuters

MOSCOW: Mexico fans are agreeing among themselves not to chant what is considered a homophobic slur at the World Cup in Russia to avoid FIFA sanctions.

Instead of the chant, Mexicans plan to sing songs related to a couple of recent scandals in their country at Sunday’s Group F match against Germany.

Mexico’s Football Federation has been fined previously for the chant that fans shout out in unison every time the opposing goalkeeper kicks the ball. Despite campaigns to try to stop it, the chant has continued in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico when the national team plays there.

At last year’s Confederations Cup in Russia amid FIFA threats to suspend a match, El Tri fans practically stopped chanting in the Russian stadium. For the World Cup, fans don’t plan to keep quiet like last year, but instead modify the chants.