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Tanvir five-for spins Bangladesh to series-levelling win

Published

5 months ago

2025/07/6

Priyan

Tanvir Islam delivered a telling spell in just his second ODI [Cricinfo]

Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam ripped out Sri Lanka’s middle order after Bangladesh’s batters had scrapped together a workable 248, thanks to gritty half-centuries from Parvez Hossain Emon and Towhid Hridoy.

The defining period of Sri Lanka’s chase was the patch between the tenth and 30th overs, when they lost five wickets for 57 runs off 122 balls. Although Janith Liyanage produced a valiant 78 off 85 balls, the lower order was simply left with too much to accomplish. They eventually fell short by 16 runs.

Sri Lanka’s loss was despite a scorching 56 off 31 balls by Kusal Mendis, who had smote his way to a 20-ball fifty – the fastest ever for men’s ODIs at this venue, and the fourth fastest ever by a Sri Lanka battter (Kusal is also third on this list). Seam bowler Asitha Fernando had also been impressive, taking 4 for 35 in his nine overs. In fact, Sri Lanka had bowled out Bangladesh as early as the 46th over.

But ultimately, Bangladesh put on the more impressive team performance. Though their best batting partnership was worth only 63, Emon, Hridoy and later Tanzim Hasan Sakib made valuable contributions that kept the total ticking even while wickets fell. Sakib’s contribution, a stroke-filled 33 not out off 21 balls, proved invaluable in the end.

All told, it was Sri Lanka’s middle-order collapse that defined the outcome. Tanvir, the hero of that passage, had in fact begun quite poorly, conceding 22 runs in his first two overs with Kusal hitting him for three fours and a six. But captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz persisted with him inside the powerplay, and Tanvir rewarded him with Nishan Madushka’s wicket in the tenth over, as the batter sent an outside edge aerially to backward point after Tanvir had beaten him in the flight.

His work through the middle overs was much more impressive. He took the key wicket of Kusal, who came down the track hoping to clip through midwicket, only for Tanvir to slip one into his front pad. The lbw appeal was turned down on the field but was reviewed successfully by Bangladesh. Kusal had been easily the most fluent batter on this track.

Next over, Tanvir had Kamindu Mendis chipping tamely to midwicket, the ball perhaps stopping on the batter. Then later, in his final over, he had Dunith Wellalage caught bat-pad. In between the Tanvir wickets, Mehidy and offspin allrounder Shamim Hossain also imposed themselves. Shamim’s economy rate was especially impressive – he gave away only 22 in nine overs, and took the wicket of the in-form Charith Asalanka.

Later, Liyanage began to hit out in the company of the tail and found success with his big hits, much to the Khettarama crowd’s joy. He even struck two death-overs sixes down the ground to keep the required rate manageable. Had he batted till the end, Sri Lanka may have won, but Mustafizur Rahman duped him with a slower one and had him caught and bowled with 21 runs to get off 17 balls. Though Dushmantha Chameera had protected his wicket well until that point, this was too much for the last pair.

In Bangladesh’s innings, their best partnership came early on. Tanzid Hasan was out edging an Asitha slower ball in the third over, but Emon took the reins in a brisk 63-run partnership to which Najmul Hossain Shanto’s contribution was only 14. Emon preyed on errors of length especially. He hit three sixes, two of them over deep midwicket, and scored 72% of his runs on leg side.

Hridoy was more cautious than Emon had been, with Asitha, in particular, taking out other batters in the middle order. But he still prospered mostly square of the wicket, hitting just two offside fours in an innings in which he struck at 73.

Shamim and Jaker Ali also scratched out 20s, as Wanindu Hasaranga, Asitha, and Chameera combined through the late middle overs to make regular breakthroughs. No. 8 batter Sakib struck the ball most cleanly of all Bangladesh’s batters as Sri Lanka hunted for the final few wickets. He hit two sixes down the ground off Hasaranga, before Hasaranga caught Mustafizur in front, later in that 46th over of the innings.

The victory brought Bangladesh level with Sri Lanka in the three-match series. The decider will be played in Pallekele on Tuesday.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 248 in 45.5 overs (Parvez Hosain Emon 67, Towhid Hridoy 51, Shamim Hossain 22, Jaker Ali 24, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 33; Asitha Fernando 4-35, Wanidu Hasaranga 3-60) beat Sri Lanka 232 in 48.5 overs (Janith Liyanage 78, Kusal Mendis 56, Kamindu Mendis 33, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-34, Tanvir Islam 5-39)by 16 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Death toll 635 as at 06:00 AM today [09]

Published

6 hours ago

2025/12/9

Priyan

The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center at 06:00 AM today [09th December] confirms that 635 persons have died due to floods and landslides that took place in the country within the past two weeks. The number of persons that are missing is 192.

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Critical moment to ramp up support for Ukraine, European allies say

Published

7 hours ago

2025/12/9

Priyan

[pic BBC]

European leaders have said “now is a critical moment” to ramp up support for Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to bring an end to the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to discuss the latest version of a peace plan, drafted between Ukrainian and US officials last week.

The European leaders said more work was needed to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine, as the US puts pressure on Kyiv to agree a swift deal with Russia.

Zelensky, who travelled on to Brussels to meet Nato officials, said that Ukraine would share a revised plan with the US on Tuesday.

Last week, Ukrainian officials spent three days with the US negotiating team in Florida pushing for changes to a US-backed peace proposal which has been widely considered favourable to Russia.

Answering questions from journalists after Monday’s meeting in London, Zelensky said that the “most certainly anti-Ukrainian points have been removed” from the initial deal proposed in November.

But the Ukrainian president acknowledged that there were some outstanding concerns about ceding territory and a compromise had “not yet been found there”.

The US has proposed that Ukraine pulls its forces entirely out of eastern regions which Russia has attempted to take by force, but has been unable to capture in full. In return, the US says Russia would withdraw elsewhere and there would be a cessation of fighting.

But this is an unpalatable option for Zelensky, who refuses to reward Moscow for its aggression and who has repeatedly warned that Russia would use any foothold in the eastern regions to launch future assaults on Ukraine.

“Americans are inclined, in principle, to finding a compromise,” Zelensky said on Monday.

He added that the issue of security guarantees – which Ukraine wants to ensure Russia would be deterred from carrying out future attacks in the event of a peace deal – had yet to be resolved.

A spokesperson for the UK prime minister’s office said: “The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war.

“The leaders discussed the importance of the US-led peace talks for European security and supported the progress made,” the statement said.

Leaders also “underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which includes robust security guarantees”, it added.

Ahead of the talks he hosted at Downing Street, Starmer said there needed to be “hard-edged security guarantees” in a peace deal for Ukraine.

Merz stated he was “sceptical” about some of the details of the potential plan coming from the US side. “But we have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he added.

Following the meeting, France said work would be “intensified” to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.

There is nervousness in Kyiv and across Europe that the US could end its support of Ukraine over frustration with the slow progress of negotiations. “We can’t manage without Americans, we can’t manage without Europe and that is why we need to make some important decisions,” Zelensky said in London.

Although the White House has been pushing Kyiv and Moscow to swiftly agree to a multi-point plan to end the war, there has been little sign of a breakthrough.

A five-hour meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week failed to yield tangible results.

Those talks were followed by three days of discussions between Zelensky’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and his US counterparts in Miami, which resulted in vague but positive statements of “progress” from both sides.

However, on Sunday Trump accused Zelensky of not having read the draft of the revised deal.

“I’m a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal,” he said, while insisting Russia’s Vladimir Putin was “fine with it”.

Almost simultaneously, Zelensky stated that he expected to be briefed on the negotiations by Umerov either in London or Brussels on Monday. “Some issues can only be discussed in person,” he said.

The talks in London were the latest attempt by Ukraine’s European allies to carve out a role in the US-led efforts to end the war, which they fear will undercut the long-term interests of the continent in favour of a quick resolution.

Despite significant economic pressure and sustained battlefield losses, the Kremlin has shown little sign that it is willing to compromise on its key demands, including ruling out any future path to Ukraine joining the Nato military alliance.

Last week, Putin also restated his willingness to continue fighting until his forces take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, 85% of which is currently occupied by the Russian army.

Reuters A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. — *The fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (pictured in August 2022) is a sticking point in negotiations to end the war, a US official said [BBC]*

As talks in the US and Europe continue, so does the war.

Between Sunday and Monday a total of 10 people were killed and 47 were injured as Russian forces attacked nine regions using drones, glide bombs and missiles.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Since then, thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed or injured, with Ukraine’s cities continuing to come under fire on an near nightly basis.

[BBC]

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Northern Japan hit by M7.5 earthquake, tsunami advisories lifted

Published

8 hours ago

2025/12/9

Priyan

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck northern Japan on Monday. Tsunami advisories have been lifted for the Pacific coastline in northern Japan. But officials have issued an alert for a potential megaquake in northern Japan.

Strong tremors felt across the region

The earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture at 11:15 p.m. on Monday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has downgraded the magnitude of the quake centered off the Pacific coast in Aomori Prefecture to 7.5 from 7.6.

The depth has also been adjusted to 54 kilometers, from an initial estimate of 50 kilometers.

Tremors with an intensity of upper 6 on the Japanese intensity scale of 0 to 7 were observed in the city of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture.

As of 1:00 a.m., six people in Aomori have been injured by either falling down or getting hit by falling objects at their homes.

Tsunami advisories lifted

Authorities had issued a tsunami warning for Iwate Prefecture and parts of Hokkaido and Aomori.

At Kuji Port in Iwate, a tsunami measuring 70 centimeters was observed. In Hokkaido, a 50-centimeter tsunami was seen in Urakawa Town and a 40-centimeter tsunami was observed at Mutsuogawara Port.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says: it is the first time the agency has issued a tsunami warning since July, when a powerful quake off Kamchatka, Russia, prompted it to issue one for Japan’s Pacific coastal areas.

Over 3 hours later, authorities downgraded the tsunami warning to advisories. And they lifted all tsunami advisories for the Pacific coastline of northern Japan at 6:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

‘Long-period ground motions’ recorded

According to authorities, long-period ground motions were recorded during the Monday earthquake.

The motions are slow, large-amplitude seismic waves with frequencies of 2 seconds or longer that occur during a large earthquake. Such motions are known to have a significant impact on high-rise buildings.

Strong long-period motions, classified class-3, the second highest in the 4-level scale were observed in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture. Such class-3 waves are strong enough to make it difficult for people in a high-rise building to stand up.

‘An alert for a potential mega quake’ issued

Officials at Japan’s Meteorological Agency have issued an alert for a potential mega quake following Monday’s quake.

A mega quake could trigger tsunami along Japan’s Pacific coast from Hokkaido to Chiba Prefecture.

Officials are urging people to check evacuation routes, prepare emergency kits, secure home furniture and confirm backup food, water and portable toilets.

People along the Pacific coast in those areas should remain on the alert during the next week, even though an evacuation recommendation will not be issued.

The alert is the first since this category of warning was started in 2022.

Morikubo Tsukasa, Cabinet Office official for disaster preparedness, has held a news conference over a potential mega quake.

Morikubo: Based on the statistics of earthquakes that have occurred around the world so far, there is a possibility that a large-scale earthquake with a magnitude of 8 or higher could occur as a follow-up earthquake along the Japan Trench and the Chishima Trench off Hokkaido. It is unclear whether a large-scale earthquake will occur. But everyone should heed the call to take precaution to protect their own lives.

Residents ordered to evacuate

After tsunami warnings were issued, some municipalities in Hokkaido, and the Tohoku region issued evacuation orders to residents.

Traffic disrupted on Monday

East Japan Railway Company says that as of Tuesday, outbound trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen have been suspended between Fukushima and Shin-Aomori stations due to the earthquake. The company says three trains stopped in this section.

The company says that it is checking for any damage to railway tracks and that it remains unclear when services will resume.

The Morioka branch of East Japan Railway says that as of midnight on Tuesday, services on the Tohoku Main Line were suspended in Iwate Prefecture.

It says two trains made emergency stops. It remains unclear when services will resume. There are no reports of injuries.

As for Hokkaido, the operator of its busiest airport, New Chitose Airport near Sapporo, says that as of 11:40 p.m. on Monday, it was checking whether there are any abnormalities on two runways.

Highways have been affected. East Nippon Expressway Company says that as of 11:45 p.m. on Monday, traffic was completely stopped between the Shiraoi and Shinchitose Airport Interchanges and between the Tomakomai Higashi and Numanohata Nishi Interchanges.

Major traffic disorder unlikely on Tuesday

East Japan Railway Company says there has been no impact on its bullet train and regular train services after authorities issued the alert for potential megaquake following magnitude-7 or over quakes related to Monday’s quake. The operator, however, warns that delays or cancellations are still possible if damage to infrastructure is confirmed.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines say they plan to operate as usual starting Tuesday.

According to Cabinet Office guidelines, no restrictions will be placed on railways, airports and roads, even after such an alert is issued. The authorities are supposed to provide the public with information about locations they consider being vulnerable to a possible major quake, as well as evacuation sites.

In August 2024, authorities issued a Nankai Trough megaquake advisory after a powerful earthquake struck in southern Japan. The operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen was forced to slow down its bullet trains in some sections over the ensuing one-week period.

Power Companies: No abnormalities at nuclear plants

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has confirmed that there are no abnormalities at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants.

The company says it halted the release of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at 11:42 pm on Monday, as per predetermined procedures.

The facility suffered a triple meltdown during the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The water used to cool molten fuel has been mixing with rain and groundwater.

That has been treated to remove most radioactive substances, except tritium. It’s then diluted, reducing levels of tritium to well below the World Health Organization’s guidance for drinking water, before it is released into the ocean.

TEPCO also ordered some employees at the facility to evacuate. There have been no reports so far of injuries at the nuclear power plant.

Tohoku Electric Power Company says no abnormalities have been detected at the Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture and the Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture.

Hokkaido Electric Power Company says no problems have been found at the Tomari nuclear power plant in the prefecture.

Government bracing for damages

The Japanese government set up a task force at the crisis management center in the prime minister’s office at 11:16 p.m. on Monday in response to the earthquake.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae entered the prime minister’s office shortly after 11:50 p.m.

She instructed the government to immediately provide information on any tsunami and evacuation orders to the people in an appropriate manner, take thorough measures to prevent harm, such as evacuating residents, and get a grasp of the extent of damage as soon as possible.

Takaichi: The central government will work closely with local governments and make the utmost effort to carry out measures, such as emergency response, including rescue for the affected people.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru held a news conference on Tuesday. Kihara said the government continues to assess the extent of the damage.

He added that the government is devoting all its efforts to disaster prevention measures, with rescue and relief efforts as its top priority, led by the police, fire departments, Self-Defense Forces, and Japan Coast Guard.

Expert view on the quake

Sakai Shinichi, professor at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, says: If this was a shallow earthquake centered in the sea, there is a high possibility that a tsunami has already occurred. People should stay away from the coast. It is important to evacuate and to take measures to stay warm.

Sakai says: The epicenter may be north of the epicenter area of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This time, the earthquake is believed to have occurred at the plate boundary, so I think it was a slightly larger earthquake. The magnitude could be revised in the future.

[NHK]