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The ICC, the apex body of world cricket, has lifted the control funding imposed on Nepal.

Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said that the ICC has lifted control funding imposed on Nepal.

The ICC sent a letter on Monday stating that the control funding imposed on Nepal has been fully relaxed and from onwards Nepal will be able to receive financial grants like other associate countries who have achieved one day status and can organize national-level tournaments and activities, the CAN said in the statement.

According to the statement signed by CAN Chairman Chet Bahadur Chand, the ICC lifted the control funding based on evaluation of the best performance in financial transparency.

Australia became the 31st team to book their place at the 2022 World Cup after beating Peru on penalties in an intercontinental play-off in Qatar, BBC reported.

Goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, who replaced Mat Ryan just before the shootout for his third cap, was the hero, saving Alex Valera's final kick.

This will be Australia's fifth World Cup in a row, having qualified every time since 2006.

They will be in Group D alongside holders France, Denmark and Tunisia.

The World Cup's final team will be decided on Tuesday when Costa Rica face New Zealand at the same venue, the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, according to BBC.

That game will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website and app as well as on iPlayer and the Red Button at 19:00 BST

Erling Haaland scored two goals and made another as Norway beat their neighbours Sweden 3-2 in their Nations League Group B4 clash at the Ullevaal Stadium, taking his international goal tally to 20 –including four in two games against the Swedes, The Guardian reported.

The 21-year-old stooped to head home Fredrik Bjorkan’s chipped pass to open the scoring in the 10th minute and added his second from the penalty spot nine minutes into the second half after the goalkeeper Robin Olsen fouled Alexander Sorloth.

Emil Forsberg reduced the deficit shortly after the hour mark with a precise shot into the top corner but Haaland helped snuff out any hope of a comeback for the visitors as he crossed for Sørloth to score in the 77th minute.

Viktor Gyökeres scored for the Swedes in stoppage time to make it 3-2, but group leaders Norway held on to move up to 10 points.

Elsewhere in the Nations League, Serbiathrew away the chance to climb to within a point of Norway, drawing 2-2 with Sloveniaafter going two goals up. The visitors raced into a first-half lead thanks to Andrija Zivkovic and Aleksandar Mitrovic, but a triple half-time substitution from Slovenia spurred a comeback. Adam Gnezda Cerin pulled one back before 19-year-old Benjamin Sesko became his country’s youngest ever scorer with a smartly taken equaliser, according to the Guardian.

Carlos Soler kickstarted Spain’s straightforward 2-0 win over Czech Republic. The Valencia player finished unerringly from Marco Asensio’s pull-back in the first half before Pablo Sarabia wrapped up the win with 15 minutes to go.

Portugal fell a point behind their Iberian neighbours after a shock defeat to Switzerland. Haris Seferovic headed the hosts into a first-minute lead, and Portugal were denied a leveller a quarter of an hour later when Rafael Leão’s goal was ruled out for offside. A heroic second-half goalkeeping display from Jonas Omlin, which saw him deny Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota, helped Switzerland earn their first points of the campaign.

After Northern Ireland’s draw with Cyprus in League C Group 2, Celtic forward Georgios Giakoumakis came off the bench to open the scoring in Greece’s 2-0 win over Kosovo and keep up his country’s perfect record so far. In Group 4, North Macedoniaeased past Gibraltar, Bojan Miovski scoring twice in a 4-0 win, while Georgia stayed top of the group after playing out a goalless draw with Bulgaria, The Guardian reported.

Liverpool are close to signing Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez from Portuguese club Benfica, BBC reported.

The deal is expected to be worth an initial £64m with about £21m in add-ons.

Nunez, 22, scored 34 times in 41 appearances across all competitions for Benfica last season.

He also scored twice against Liverpool as Benfica were beaten 6-4 across two legs by the Reds in the Champions League quarter-finals.

After their second meeting, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp predicted Nunez had "a big career ahead of him", describing him as "physically strong, quick, [and] calm around his finish".

A medical has yet to take place but it is believed Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward was in Portugal over the weekend to hold talks, according to BBC.

Premier League rivals Manchester United were reportedly also interested in signing Nunez, who cost Benfica 24m euros (£20.5m) when he signed from Spanish side Almeria in 2020.

Liverpool's record transfer is the £75m paid for centre-back Virgil van Dijk following his transfer from Southampton in 2018 - and the deal for Nunez could surpass that depending on the amount of the add-ons.

The forward scored six times in 10 Champions League games for Benfica last term, while he managed 26 goals and four assists in 28 league matches. 

Nunez's expected arrival could see him replace Sadio Mane, who is in the final year of his contract with Liverpool and is attracting the interest of Bayern Munich, BBC reported.

The Reds have rejected a deal worth £30m from the German champions for the 30-year-old Senegal forward.

The club's 27-year-old Japan international Takumi Minamino is also attracting the interestof a number of clubs.