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Afghanistan smother Netherlands with spin and sharp ground fielding
Afghanistan smothered Netherlands with spin and sharp ground fielding as the batting side folded for just 179 in the 47th over. As many as four batters were run out, including Sybrand Engelbrecht (58 off 86) and Max O’Dowd (42 off 40) – the only two who showed a semblance of resolve on a tough evening in Lucknow.
Netherlands’ decision to bat first was dented in the first over when Mujeeb Ur Rahman trapped new opener Wesley Barresi leg before with a wrong one and earned his 100th ODI wicket. Max O’Dowd however, got his team a swift move-on in the company of one-drop batter Colin Ackermann. The pair gave Netherlands what they’ve lacked all World Cup – a solid base provided by the top-order as they raced away to 66/1 at the end of the PowerPlay. O’Dowd was particularly fiery, hitting nine fours in this period by himself as Afghanistan lost control with the ball.
But an acrobatic effort from Azmatullah Omarzai pulled it back for Afghanistan as his direct hit from fine leg clipped O’Dowd’s wings and sent him packing in the 12th over. Just when Ackermann and Engelbrecht were starting to rebuild through the middle overs, a poor call for a run from the latter after hitting to mid-off led to the former’s run out, for 29. Afghanistan then dented the Dutch when captain Scott Edwards went for a sweep on the first ball he faced, underedged the ball and wandered out of the crease without realising where the ball had gone. Wicketkeeper Ikram Ali Khil, kept really busy for the entirety of the innings, ran the Netherlands captain out. Netherlands went from 66/1 in 10 overs to 97/4 in 20, and the curve continued to spiral downwards in the next 10 overs too.
It began when Nabi had Bas de Leede caught behind while trying to play a straight delivery down towards third man. While Netherlands batters were carefully trying to play out Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shahidi introduced his left-handed clone – Noor Ahmad in the 24th over. Saqib Zulfiqar became Noor’s first wicket in the evening when he nicked one to Ali Khil while trying to cut a straight delivery outside the off-stump.
Logan van Beek kept Engelbrecht company for five overs while the latter attempted to rescue his team out of the mess they were in, but Nabi came back to break the brief resistance. Van Beek gave the offie the charge for a big shot but missed completely and Ali Khil once again swung into action to take the bails off and leave Netherlands six down for 134. Engelbrecht brought up a gritty half-century but paid the price for another instance of poor decision-making while running between the wickets. Roelof van der Merwe nudged a ball to the leg side and set off for a tight single but Nabi fired a superb throw from midwicket and Ali Khil ran another batter out.
The only positive for Netherlands on the day was that they could render Rashid wicketless. But that didn’t make any difference to the bowling side as Netherlands folded in the 47th over for just 179 – the lowest-total Afghanistan have bowled out an opposition for in an ODI World Cup. A successful chase will take Afghanistan to fifth above Pakistan, and keep their hopes of sneaking into the semis alive.
Brief Scores:
Netherland 179 in 46.3 overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 58, Max O’Dowd 42, Colin Ackerman 29; Mohammad Nabi 3-28, Noor Ahmad 2-31) vs Afghanistan
Cricket Canada CEO Salman Khan, who was appointed in the job in January this year, has dismissed reports on his alleged arrest and release on bail on charges of theft and fraud as “completely false”. He, along with one other individual, had been charged earlier this month with theft and fraud by the Calgary Police in relation to his earlier role as president of the Calgary and District Cricket League between 2014 and 2016.
It is understood that initially the case was a civil suit, but now criminal charges have been laid.
Khan, posting on the Facebook page of Alberta Cricket Association, said: “I see many fake and self-created posts circulating around, and I want to set the record straight. First of all, these are all fake. I have never been arrested, detained, or on any bail. These claims are completely false, and those spreading these rumors will have to answer for it.
“Here’s the truth: A police complaint was filed against me more than 7 years ago. A police investigator approached me and said he wanted to hear my side of the story and see the evidence I have to defend myself. He told me that if I didn’t provide my side, he would proceed with charges. I told him I would visit after Ramadan, but he didn’t want to wait and decided to post charges without even hearing my side or my evidence.”
Khan said nothing had been proven against him in seven years, and he would keep fighting the case. “Let me make this clear: They have nothing to prove against me – in 7 years they were not able to prove anything in the civil case, and certainly not in any criminal case. I have over 21 transcripts, with the complainant even admitting that everything was false.
“I am not worried at all. I’m ready to fight just like I’ve been doing for the past 8 years.”
[Cricinfo]
Mahmudullah has called time on his international career after announcing his retirement from ODIs through a social media post on Wednesday [12th March 2025]. Mahmudullah, who turned 39 last month, had already retired from Tests in 2021 and T20Is in 2024.
“All praises only for the Almighty Allah. I have decided to retire from international cricket,” Mahmudullah wrote on his official Facebook page. “I would like to thank all of my team-mates, coaches and especially my fans who have always supported me. A big thank you to my parents, my in-laws, especially my father in law & most importantly my brother Emdad Ullah, who has been there for me constantly since my childhood as my coach & mentor.”
“And finally, thanks to my wife & kids, who have been my support system through thick & thin. I know Raeid will miss me in red and green jersey. Not everything comes to an end in a perfect way, but you say yes and move forward. Peace, Alhamdulillah. Best wishes to my team & Bangladesh cricket.”
Mahmudullah finishes as Bangladesh’s fourth-highest run-getter, behind Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, with 5689 runs at an average of 36.46, including four hundreds and 32 fifties. His retirement comes a week after Mushfiqur, his long-time team-mate and brother in law, had also retired from ODIs.
On Monday, when the BCB informed in its press release that Mahmudullah had requested that the board not consider him in the central contracts list after February 2025, it was seen as a sign of impending retirement.
All of Mahmudullah’s centuries came in ICC tournaments. After scoring two hundreds in the 2015 ODI World Cup, he made an unbeaten 102 against New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy in Cardiff. More recently, in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, he scored 111 against South Africa in Mumbai.
The ODI retirements of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur come after Bangladesh suffered an early exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Mahmudullah played just one innings, managing 4 off 14 balls against New Zealand in Rawalpindi. Mahmudullah’s form in the lead-up to the tournament, though, was excellent: he had scored four ODI fifties in a row, against Afghanistan and West Indies, away from home late last year.
Mahmudullah made his ODI debut in 2007 as a utility player, batting mostly at No. 7 and bowling offspin. His first turning point came in the 2011 World Cup agsinst England, when he added an unbroken 58 for the ninth wicket with Shafiul Islam to guide Bangladesh to a two-wicket win. In the following year, his unbeaten fifties helped Bangladesh to a 3-2 ODI series win against West Indies.
He enjoyed more success in the 2015 World Cup, when he struck centuries against England and New Zealand in successive matches while batting at No. 3. His hundred against New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy, in a 223-run stand with Shakib, is an iconic innings in Bangladesh cricket history.
Mahmudullah made a comeback ahead of the 2023 World Cup after he had been dropped from the side. He also proved his value with the ball, taking 82 wickets at an economy rate of 5.21. Mahmudullah never led Bangladesh in ODIs, though he had captained them in T20Is and Test cricket.
Mahmudullah’s retirement brings the curtain down on Bangladesh’s most successful quintet of cricketers who played between 2006 and 2025 in white-ball cricket.
Apart from Mahmudullah, Tamim reconfirmed his retirement from international cricket earlier this year. Shakib had announced his Test and T20I retirement in India last year, while also informing at the time that the Champions Trophy would be his last ODI assignment. Having missed the tournament due to various reasons, his ODI career now seems finished, too.
Mashrafe Mortaza last played ODIs in 2020, when he also signed off from captaincy. Mushfiqur has retired from ODIs and T20Is, but is in line to become the first Bangladesh cricketer to reach the 100-Test landmark.
[Cricinfo]
Even though both Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians come into the eliminator after losing their last league games, Mumbai look a little more wounded. They lost their first home game at Brabourne Stadium in the WPL on Tuesday, they dropped four catches in the game, leaked a lot of runs in the field, and they are playing non-stop cricket at the end of the tournament. The eliminator on Thursday will be their third game in four days after back-to-back matches to start the week and should they make the final, it will be four games in the span of six days for Mumbai.
Giants have no such issues. The margin of their loss to Mumbai on Monday was just nine runs after Bharti Fulmali’s blazing finish, their Indian players are stepping up at the right time to take some of the load off the overseas stars, and their run of three straight wins before heading to Mumbai would have given them bundles of confidence.
Except they have never beaten Mumbai. In these three seasons of WPL, Mumbai boast of a 6-0 record against Giants but going by their last clash, the next contest may not be as lopsided as this stats suggests. One of the factors behind Giants’ rise in the points table was their middle-order batting led by captain Ashleigh Gardner and Deandra Dottin, even if they struggled to find the perfect opening partner for Beth Mooney. Giants have been the slowest starters in the powerplay this WPL (run rate 5.97), but then they pick up fabulously in the middle overs with a scoring rate of 8.81 (better than anyone else), and have been the second-best finishers at the death (10 per over) behind only Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Going by this WPL’s trends, what could possibly decide the match will be Giants’ middle overs, when they will be looking to press the pedal but will be up against the mighty bowling of Mumbai – the best bowling side in that phase. Amelia Kerr, their star bowler in the middle overs, might have leaked plenty of runs on Tuesday, but had all the catches been taken off her bowling her figures might have been different. Her ability to excel under pressure – as was seen in the T20 World Cup last year – could be on display again on Thursday.
Going into the toss, both captains would be relieved to know which way the coin falls might not matter too much: while teams have still been opting to chase, the tide has turned at the end of the league stage with teams batting first winning the last three games. Before that, only two games had been won batting first out of 17.
While Mumbai will be eyeing their second final in three years after losing to RCB in the eliminator last year, the onus is on Giants to not make this year’s final match-up a repeat of what we saw in 2023.
Both teams went unchanged into their last league games but will be concerned about their opening combinations. If Giants haven’t found anyone to partner Mooney, Mumbai’s strategy to promote Kerr to the top hasn’t worked in three attempts.
Gujarat Giants (probable): Beth Mooney (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner (capt), Phoebe Lichfield, Deandra Dottin, Bharti Fulmali, Simran Shaikh, Tanuja Kanwar, Meghna Singh, Priya Mishra
Mumbai Indians (probable): Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amanjot Kaur, Yastika Bhatia (wk), G Kamalini, S Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Parunika Sisodia
Cricket Canada CEO says reports on his alleged arrest ‘completely false’
Mahmudullah calls time on international career
Gujarat Giants face bogey team Mumbai Indians in bid for final spot
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