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Hridoy, Shanto lead collective effort as Bangladesh post 306/8
Bangladesh batters did well to build useful partnerships throughout their innings against Australia in Pune. Although they lacked a big stand and the fact that most the batters did not convert their starts into a substantial contribution, they rode on a collective batting effort, led by Towhid Hridoy’s 74, before Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored a handy 29 to help Bangladesh post a challenging 306/8 on a pitch that did not offer much for the bowlers.
Josh Hazlewood, as always, bowled tight lines to keep the Bangladesh openers in check after Australia opted to bowl. He conceded only three runs off his first two overs, including a maiden to Tanzid Hasan to start off. Pat Cummins, on the other hand, was slightly erratic with his lines, with as many as seven wides coming off his first two overs. The first four came only in the fifth over when Litton Das pulled a short delivery from Hazlewood. Tanzid got his first boundary by coming down the track to Cummins and driving the ball through cover, followed by a straight push for another four.
The openers, having gained confidence, started dealing in regular boundaries, including three fours for Litton in Sean Abbott’s opening over. The half-century stand, only the second for Bangladesh for the opening wicket in this World Cup, was raised in the ninth over when Tanzid welcomed Mitchell Marsh into the attack with a four over mid on. Bangladesh managed 62 in the first powerplay without losing any wicket – their second highest score in this period in this World Cup, which was also the second highest conceded by Australia and also the fourth time they went wicketless.
The stand finally came to an end in the 12th over when Abbott had Tanzid fending a short ball back to him. Australia went ahead and tried more short balls but Najmul Hossain Shanto was prepared, cracking a couple of pulls off Marsh for boundaries and he also got a four off Travis Head. But the well-set Litton departed soon after, chipping a catch to long on to give Adam Zampa a wicket. There was an immediate transfer of pressure with Zampa and Head bowling well in tandem but Hridoy eased some of it with a six over midwicket off the legspinner. Najmul and Hridoy then came down the track and unsettled the lengths of Marcus Stoinis, collecting boundaries as a result.
Hridoy also too the attack to Head, striking a four and a six, as Bangladesh reached 161/2 at the halfway stage, with the third wicket pair extending their partnership past 50. But it was an abrupt end to the association as a good bit of fielding from Marnus Labuschagne resulted in Najmul being run out for 45. Mahmudullah came out with a positive intent, dealing in sixes, including two in a Marsh over as Bangladesh crossed 200 in the 32nd over. Australia tried to cut off the boundary opportunities but Mahmudullah and Hridoy were busy collecting the singles and maintained a healthy rate until Labuschagne effected a run out again, finding Mahmudullah short of the crease.
Shortly after Hridoy got to his first World Cup fifty, Mushfiqur Rahim sent an Abbott delivery over the midwicket fence as Bangladesh went past 250 in the 42nd over. But Rahim’s stay was cut short by Zampa, who surpassed Brad Hogg’s 21 wickets in 2007 to register the highest tally by an Australian spinner in a World Cup and finished with figures of 2 for 32. Cummins, meanwhile, had an expensive outing as both Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck plenty of boundaries. But Hridoy’s outing ended when he hit a full toss from Stoinis to Labuschagne at deep midwicket. Mehidy helped Bangladesh past 300 before he fell in the final over to Abbott. It was a tidy effort from Australia in the death as they conceded only one boundary in the last four overs.
Australia rested Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc for this game, with Steve Smith returning to the eleven and Abbott also getting an opportunity. Bangladesh brought in Mustafizur Rahman, Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed while Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam and the injured Shakib Al Hasan missed out.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 306/8 in 50 overs (Towhid Hridoy 74, Najmul Hossain Shanto 45; Adam Zampa 2-32, Sean Abbott 2-61) vs Australia.
Three prison guards attached to the Welikada Prison have been arrested by Borella Police following the death of an inmate on Monday (04).
Spanish police have seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”.
The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya.
The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the investigation for legal reasons.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure was “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally”.
The Civil Guard shared a photograph on X showing the drugs stuffed into the hold of the intercepted vessel.
“Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard,” it wrote.
“Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter.”
While the boat was headed to Libya, AFP reported that the pattern of previous operations suggests that it was due to offload the drugs onto smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.
In January, Spanish authorities made its biggest seizure of cocaine at sea from a ship that was carrying almost 10 tonnes.
[BBC]
Three people have died and a UK national is seriously ill in hospital after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operator of the MV Hondius ship, tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died but the cause has not yet been established.
However, the Dutch company said hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hantavirus is usually passed to humans from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness. Rarely, it can be transmitted between people.
The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard.
Oceanwide Expeditions said there were also two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”.
They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. It said it had not been established that hantavirus had been confirmed in the pair. And it added that no other persons with symptoms had been identified.
Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of health, said of the British patient that he was critical and had been admitted to a private facility.
“He’s being taken care of. As you know, hantavirus, like all viruses, don’t have any specific treatment, so they are giving symptomatic treatment and support as much as they could.”
He said health workers and anyone who had contact with the patient would now be traced and tested.
Outlining a timeline, the company said a passenger had become unwell while onboard and died on 11 April.
His cause of death could not be determined, and his body was taken off the ship after it docked at St Helena on 24 April.
The passenger’s wife also disembarked on St Helena and the firm said it was told she had become unwell during the return journey and later died.
“At this time, it has not been confirmed that these two deaths are connected to the current medical situation on board,” it added.
On 27 April, the firm said, another passenger – the British national – became seriously ill and was “medically evacuated” to South Africa.
The 69-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition in Johannesburg after it was confirmed a variant of hantavirus had been identified.
The firm added that on Saturday, a third passenger onboard MV Hondius died.
The cause of death has not been established, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It confirmed the passenger was German.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the cause of the deaths were being investigated.
“The disembarkation of passengers, medical evacuation and medical screening require permission from, and co-ordination with, the local health authorities,” it said. “Local health authorities have visited the vessel and assessed the situation.
“The medical transfer of the two ill persons on board has not yet taken place.”
It added that the option of sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife was being considered “to be the gateway for disembarkation, where further medical screening and handling could take place”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “acting with urgency” to support the MV Hondius, and thanked South African authorities for taking care of the British patient.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, said: “I am in close contact with our teams to ensure a co-ordinated, science-based response.
“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents.
“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
According to the South African government, MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago, before it completed its journey to Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.
It is described as a 107.6m (353ft) polar cruise ship, with space for 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.
One passenger onboard the MV Hondius, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “The latest word is that a plane is on its way and once it gets here three people will be evacuated from the ship and flown straight to Europe.
“Then the rest of us will almost certainly sail to the Canary Islands.
“The Cape Verde authorities clearly want nothing to do with us. This is what we’re hearing from the captain and staff. From what I can see the mood (on the ship) is pretty good.
“Only one person has been tested (the one now in South Africa) and he tested positive for hantavirus. So, we don’t actually know yet if the other cases are that or something unrelated.
“If they are all hantavirus then the transmission is a bit mysterious. We’ve been informed that there are no rodents on board, and person-to-person transmission is difficult/rare.
“Hopefully the other patients on board will be tested soon and then we’ll know better what’s going on.”
President of the Cape Verdean Public Health Institute, Maria Da Luz, said passengers would not be disembarking in Cape Verde in order to protect the local population, Cape Verde’s media outlet A Nacao reports.
Oceanwide Expeditions said strict precautionary measures were in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.
“All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” it said.
“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close contact with those directly involved and their families, and is providing support where possible.”
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC the time between people being exposed to hantavirus and showing symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.
“With this incubation period are we going to see more people coming down with the disease in the next days and weeks?”
The UK Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring reports, and ready to support British nationals.
Hantavirus was in the headlines last year after the wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus in March 2025.
[BBC]
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