Sports

A decade of dominance for MAS as they become Mercantile Tennis champs

Published

3 months ago

2025/11/20

The victorious MAS Holdings Tennis Team

MAS Holdings clinched their tenth consecutive Championship Trophy win at the Mercantile Tennis Tournament 2025 which concluded recently at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Green Path Colombo. MAS bagged five championships and five runner-up titles in the tourney.

A total of 42 players represented the MAS contingent with Mark Seneviratne leading the victorious outfit as captain. Anjalika Kurera (women’s) and Yasitha de Silva (men’s) bagged major honours in the tourney with their exceptional performances winning multiple events. The champion duo clinched the Mixed Double’s just like they did last year. Yasitha pairing up with skipper Mark also secured the Men’s Double title for MAS.

Championship Points Standing

MAS Holdings – 62,244, Lanka Minerals & Chemicals – 37,638, Standard Chartered – 28,544, Acuity Knowledge Partners – 27,182, Sysco Labs – 13,988

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Bowlers, Marsh orchestrate consolation Australia win

Published

8 mins ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Mitchell Marsh hit seven fours and four sixes en route to Australia's victory [Cricbuzz]

It was a result that one could have foreseen from a distance. As much as Oman have shown glimpses of their potential at this T20 World Cup, Australia were always going to be a difficult proposition, despite all the backlash surrounding their shocking early exit. And the 2021 champions brought the curtains down on a disappointing campaign with a resounding nine-wicket win over Oman in Pallekele on Friday (February 20).

After the Aussies elected to bowl first, Xavier Bartlett got the ball to hoop around, cleaning up Aamir Kaleem with a ripping outswinger off the first ball of the match. It was a sign of things to come as Australia struck twice more in the PowerPlay, even as Glenn Maxwell spilled a sitter at second slip to deny Bartlett a second in the opening over. Nathan Ellis got the ball to skid off a hard length as Karan Sonavale chopped it onto his stumps, before Bartlett castled Jatinder Singh with an away-swinger that then jagged back in upon pitching.

In between these wickets, Oman’s batters looked to remain positive in the PowerPlay and even closed out the phase with a six off Hammad Mirza’s bat. But soon enough, Adam Zampa spun a web around the rest of the batters, getting the ball to beat Mirza before delivering the sucker blow – a quicker one that skid quickly off the pitch to bowl him on the heave. A successful review then saw the leggie trap Mohammad Nadeem on the paddle-sweep and what ensued was a free fall, despite Wasim Ali mustering some sort of a fight with his 33-ball 32.

Australia’s players didn’t necessarily wear huge smiles, fittingly reflective of a team that had no business crashing out of the tournament as early as they have. But there were no issues in cleaning up the Oman lineup. So much so that for all his woes, Maxwell picked up a couple of wickets which included his 50th T20I scalp. Zampa completed the clean-up act with consecutive wickets as Jay Odedra holed out to long on, before last man Shafiq Jan went for a slog-sweep, only to see his furniture disturbed.

The Mitchell Marsh-Travis Head duo then picked up from where they left off against Sri Lanka. Three boundaries in the opening over set Marsh on his way before he slammed a six in the next. Head thrashed left-arm spinner Shakeel Ahmed for a couple of cracking boundaries before Marsh continued to butcher the ball. The duo brought up a second fifty-run stand in as many games, ending the PowerPlay on 73/0 as Marsh reached his half-century with a delightful extended loft over mid-off.

Australia were in a hurry as the boundaries kept coming at a blistering pace. There was one moment of excitement in an otherwise dull affair – Shakeel got Head to slog-sweep the ball a mile up on the leg-side before the bowler and wicket-keeper Vinayak Shukla both went for the catch. Neither called decisively and Shukla clung on despite a juggling act, taking off on a celebratory sprint and unleashing Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siuuu’ celebration. But it was all but the minutest deviation before the inevitable outcome of a whopping Australian win, with Josh Inglis sealing the deal with a boundary.

Australia got the job done with a whopping 62 deliveries to spare, catapulting their net run-rate above that of table-toppers Zimbabwe too. It counted for little, however, as they head home before the Super Eights.

Brief Scores:
Oman 104 in 16.2 overs (Jatinder Singh 17, Karan Sonavale 12, Hammad Mirza 16, Wasim Ali 32; Marcus Stoinis 1-16, Nathan Ellis 1-14, Adam Zampa 4-21, Glenn Maxwell 2-13, Xavier Bartlett 2-27) lost to Australia 108/1 in 9.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 64*, Travis Head 32, Josh Inglis 12*; Shakeel Ahmed 1-29) by 9 wickets

[Cricbuzz]

Sports

BCB central contracts: Taskin, Mushfiqur demoted; no player in A+ category

Published

4 hours ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Taskin Ahmed was the only player in the A+ category in 2025 [Cricinfo]

The BCB has demoted Taksin Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim to lower grades in their 2026 central contracts for the national men’s cricketers. Taskin was the only player in the A-plus category in 2025, with a monthly salary of BDT 1 million (US $8169 approx.), but now he joins the Test, ODI and T20I captains Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton Das, respectively, in category A.

This is the second tier in the BCB’s gradation policy, in which each player earns BDT 800,000 (US $6535 approx.) per year. No player has been placed in the A+ category this time.

It is unclear why Taskin has been demoted despite his strong performances with the ball. The team management has typically reduced his workload to prolong his effectiveness across all three formats. Meanwhile, Mushfiqur, who retired from ODIs in 2025, was in Grade A last year, but now finds himself in Grade B, where he will earn BDT 600,000 (US $4901 approx.) per month. Ten other players are in this category, including Test specialists Monimul Haque, Taijul Islam and Shadman Islam.

Shadman is also among four players promoted from Grade C to B, along with Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Mahedi Hasan.

The BCB has also expanded Grade D from last year, when only two cricketers were in that category. This time, there are seven players, including Saif Hasan and Nurul Hasan, who returned to the T20I setup last year.

Grades C and D pay BDT 400,000 (approximately US$3,267) and BDT 200,000 (approximately US$1,633) per month, respectively.

Bangladesh have made a slow start to the year, though, after the government decided not to send the team for the ongoing T20 World Cup. They resume playing international cricket with a three-match ODI series against Pakistan at home on March 12, 14 and 16.

2026 Bangladesh central contracts

Grade A: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das and Taskin Ahmed
Grade B: Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Towhid Hridoy, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana
Grade C: Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan, Nasum Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed
Grade D: Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Shamim Hossain and Nurul Hasan

[Cricinfo]

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‘Best time to crush’ Australia, says Oman captain Jatinder Singh

Published

11 hours ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Oman are hoping to get more exposure for their players in franchise leagues [Cricinfo]

Oman have suffered three heavy defeats to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and Ireland at the 2026 T20 World Cup, and had been thumped by Australia the only other time these two teams met, at the 2024 edition. But captain Jatinder Singh says his team sees their final match of this tournament as an opportunity to surprise a wounded Australia team.

Australia have nothing to gain from the match against Oman in Pallekele on Friday, aside from preserving some pride. Perhaps the gloom around the Australia camp will give Oman an opening. In fact it might be “the best time to crush them”.

“One hundred percent this is an opportunity,” Jatinder said. “And our boys are looking forward to it. Because T20 is a game of momentum and the moments, and if you play those moments right, you can do anything on that particular day. Australia is not doing well at the moment… it is the best time to crush them.

“The boys are really positive. They are looking forward to the match against Australia to make their mark.”

On how to make Oman more competitive in the long term, Jatinder believed franchise cricket opportunities for Oman players could be one route. Oman did not have a heavy cricket schedule in 2025, playing only 15 T20Is that year in addition to eight ODIs.

“Well if I have to sum up how Oman can improve, it would be if we have the franchise cricket happening in the country or our guys get a chance to play franchise cricket elsewhere,” Jatinder said. “I think we can fill that gap and they can bring vast amount of experience for our national team.

“But if we don’t get to play competitive cricket, whereas other teams are getting to play the competitive cricket, we will need to fill that gap. There have been instances where we’ve been inviting the teams to come and play in Oman. The response has been really delayed, or we don’t get any response. So I think if we have the franchise cricket, that would really fill the gap.”

[Cricinfo]