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Afghanistan storm into Super Eight; New Zealand knocked out

Published

2 years ago

2024/06/14

Priyan

Fazalhaq Farooqi was named the Player of the Match for his 3 for 16 [ICC]

Afghanistan booked their place in Super Eight, thereby knocking New Zealand out of men’s T20 World Cup 2024 after a seven-wicket win over PNG in Tarouba.

Their win was set up by new-ball spells from fast bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul Haq that saw PNG lose five wickets inside the powerplay. A total of four run-outs did not help PNG’s cause either as they were dismissed for 95.

Afghanistan romped home with 29 balls to spare with Gulbadin Naib staying unbeaten on 49. The result meant that for the first time since 2014, New Zealand bowed out before the semi-final stage of a men’s World Cup – ODI or T20.

With six points and a net run rate of 4.230, Afghanistan lead Group C.

A target of 96 would not have worried Afghanistan. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran had added century stands for the opening wicket in each of their first two games. Gurbaz had struck fifties in those outings. As a result, the middle order had barely had time in the middle. On Thursday, Afghanistan’s worst fears nearly came true.

Semo Kamea brought in for vice-captain Charles Amini, almost struck first ball when Ibrahim was ruled out lbw. He used the DRS to his benefit but lost his stumps three balls later while trying to attack an inswinger from Kamea. In the next over, fast bowler Alei Neo knocked over Gurbaz, who also charged down to heave one across the line. PNG could have put even more pressure on Afghanistan had wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga hung on to Naib’s outside edge in the fifth over.

PNG were left to rue those chances on a surface with dry grass, which, as Daren Ganga had said in his pitch report, contributed to variable bounce. The proof was in Azmatullah Omarzai’s dismissal when a length ball from Norman Vanua barely got up and bowled him.

But Naib, in the company of Mohammad Nabi, countered the conditions to ensure Afghanistan faced no further hiccups.

PNG made almost the right start after being sent in. A double through fine leg, a single through point, a cut shot for four – they were ticking along without any risk. But it all went south when captain Assad Vala was run out in the second over. Going for the third run, his bat was in the air at the non-striker’s end when Gurbaz nailed a direct hit at the bowler’s end. Had Vala slid his bat, he would have been safe.

Farooqi then did what he does best: flummox batters with swing. He had Lega Siaka caught behind by Gurbaz diving full length to his right and then, on the next ball, Sese Bau also nicked one behind.

When Naveen got Hiri Hiri to chop one onto his stumps on the first ball of the fourth over, PNG had lost four wickets in nine balls. Batting first on a used surface that hosted the West Indies-New Zealand clash just 24 hours ago, that was handing over advantage on a platter.

When Naveen crashed through Tony Ura for his 50th T20I wicket, PNG were reduced to 30 for 5. PNG needed to bat a few overs safely at that point, and Chad Soper and Doriga did that for 24 balls while scoring 16 runs. But in the tenth over, both were guilty of ball-watching, which resulted in Soper being run out.

Doriga then used the slog sweep and sweep to rotate strike against Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. Neo punished the seamers when they bowled on his pads. The pair was effective without being enterprising and added 38 off 34 balls.

Once Doriga was done in by a wrong’un from Noor to be trapped lbw, PNG lost their last three wickets for just seven runs.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 101 for 3 in 15.1 overs (Gulbadin Naib 49*; Alei Neo 1-26, Semo Kamea 1-16, Norman Vanua 1-18) beat Papua New Guinea 95 in 19.5 overs (Kiplin Doriga 27; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-16, Naveen Ul-Haq 2-04, Noor Ahmad 1-14) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Advisory for low pressure area over South-east Bay of Bengal Sea area

Published

52 mins ago

2026/01/6

Priyan

The Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology has issued an advisory at 11.30 pm on 05 January 2026 regarding a low pressure area over South-east Bay of Bengal Sea area.

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the Bay of Bengal, to the southeast of the Sri Lanka has intensified into a low-pressure area.

Hence, showery condition over the island, particularly
in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva and Central provinces is expected to enhance from January 8th.

The Meteorological Department is constantly monitoring the behavior of the system.

The general public are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regards.

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Bangladesh bans IPL broadcast over Mustafizur row

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/6

Priyan

The Bangladesh government has banned the broadcast of IPL 2026 in the country as a response to the BCCI’s decision to pull Mustafizur Rahman out of the tournament.

A statement from the ministry of information and broadcasting said that it had “noted that no reason was communicated for the decision behind Mustafizur Rahman’s exclusion [from the IPL]” and that the development had “caused distress among the people of Bangladesh”. The decision had been taken “in public interest”, it said.

The statement was signed by the ministry’s assistant secretary Firoz Khan.

TV channels and streaming platforms have broadcast the IPL in Bangladesh since its inception in 2008. This is also the first time that the Bangladesh government has banned the telecast of an international cricket tournament, anywhere in the world.

On Saturday, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the team that bought Mustafizur at the IPL auction in December, released him following instructions from the BCCI. The BCCI did not specify a reason – its secretary Devajit Saikia mentioned “recent developments” and did not elaborate.

Over the past few days, Indian spiritual and political leaders had criticised KKR and their owner Shah Rukh Khan for including Mustafizur in their line-up at a time when, according to reports, Hindu minorities are being attacked in Bangladesh. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since.

Bangladesh are already petitioning the ICC to shift their T20 World Cup matches out of India. No decision has been made on that front yet. The original schedule has Bangladesh opening their campaign against West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 7.

Dr Asif Nazrul, who is currently the sports adviser to the Bangladesh government, said on Saturday evening that the IPL shouldn’t be shown in Bangladesh. Following that post on social media, the country’s information adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said any decision to stop broadcasting IPL in Bangladesh would be taken after reviewing the legal basis and thoroughly examining the relevant procedures.

Later on Sunday evening, the BCB confirmed that it has written to the ICC seeking relocation of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup matches from India, likely to Sri Lanka, the other hosts of the tournament. They have reportedly also written to the BCCI seeking an explanation about Mustafizur’s withdrawal.

While there has been an unspoken ban in the IPL on players from Pakistan for many years now, several Bangladesh players have taken part in the tournament. Mustafizur was the only one picked by a team for the upcoming season, and has been an IPL regular since 2016, with Shakib Al Hasan (KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad) the other prominent import from the country. Both of them have experience winning the title too.

Abdur Razzak (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Mohammad Ashraful (Mumbai Indians), Mashrafe Mortaza (KKR), Tamim Iqbal (the now-defunct Pune Warriors India) and Litton Das (KKR) are the others from Bangladesh who have been a part of the IPL in previous years. The new season begins on March 26.

(Cricinfo)

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Curran, bowlers lead Desert Vipers to maiden ILT20 title

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/5

Priyan

The victorious Desert Vipers team hold the trophy aloft (Cricinfo)

After two heartbreaks, it was third time lucky for Desert Vipers as they broke the final hoodoo, defeating MI Emirates by 46 runs to claim their maiden ILT20 title in Dubai.

The win was headlined by captain Sam Curran, who held the Vipers innings together with an unbeaten 74 off 51 balls. He was helped by Max Holden (41 off 32) and Dan Lawrence (23 off 15) as Vipers notched up an impressive 182 for 4 in their 20 overs.

MIE never got their chase going, losing wickets at regular intervals. Naseem Shah was at his fiery best, picking up 3 for 18 in his four overs, while Usman Tariq curbed the runs in the middle overs, returning 2 for 20. David Payne also picked up 3 for 42, all three of his wickets coming in an over, as MIE were bowled out for 136 in 18.3 overs. It was fitting that the most consistent team of the season took home the title.

Vipers’ win means that ILT20 has now had a different winner in each of the first four seasons – Gulf Giants, MIE, Dubai Capitals and now Vipers.

Fakhar Zaman didn’t take time to go after Shakib Al Hasan, depositing him over wide long-on second ball of the innings. MIE were sloppy with their fielding, and both Fakhar and Jason Roy cashed in. After Fakhar collected a boundary off first ball off AM Ghazanfar, Roy hit left-arm quick Muhammad Rohid for back-to-back fours as Vipers raced to 34 for 0 after three overs. But Fazalhaq Farooqi helped MIE hit back with a double-wicket opening over.

Roy first flat-batted a short-of-a-length delivery straight to short midwicket before Farooqi cleaned up Fakhar with a peach of an inducker that pitched just outside off and swung back in breaching the opener’s defenses. Curran took five balls to get off the mark but closed out the powerplay in style with three straight fours off Farooqi as Vipers reached 59 for 2 in six overs.

While Holden took his time to settle, Curran kept the scorecard ticking. He pulled offspinner Tajinder Singh twice through midwicket before guiding Kieron Pollard past short third. Holden, going just about a run-a-ball, found his groove as well as he took Tajinder inside out over covers and then planted him over long-on as Vipers raced past 100 in the 12th over.

Mystery spinner Arab Gul broke the 89-run third-wicket stand by accounting for Holden but Lawrence ensured the momentum wasn’t lost. He smoked Gul over covers second ball before Curran reached his fifty off 39 balls as Vipers eyed a late push. That came via a 21-run 18th over with Curran and Lawrence sending Romario Shepherd over the fence three times. Vipers collected 46 runs off the last four overs to breach the 180-mark.

Muhammad Waseem, MIE’s star of the ILT20, started the chase briskly. He clubbed Payne over deep midwicket, while Andre Fletcher sent fast bowler Khuzaima Tanveer straight down the ground for six. Though Fletcher fell, mistiming Naseem to deep midwicket, Waseem kept going. He pulled Naseem through midwicket and then edged Curran past the wicketkeeper. But a flurry of wickets dented MIE’s chase.

Naseem struck for the second time when his pacy indipper had Tom Banton’s bat turning in his hand for a simple catch to Curran at mid-on for 7. Tanveer then got the prized scalp of his countryman Waseem, who in a bid to steer the ball fine, could only manage a thick edge to the wicketkeeper as MIE stumbled to 46 for 3 in six overs. Tariq then got into the act, sending back Sanjay Krishnamurthi. Having managed just 2 off 8, Krishnamurthi tried to pull Tariq over deep midwicket but could only manage a miscue and Hassan Nawaz completed a stunning diving catch low to his right.

With the required rate touching close to 11, it was down to the two experienced heads Shakib and Pollard to try and conjure some magic. They added 60 off 45 balls, but Vipers maintained their lines, not giving much away on a surface which had something for the bowlers throughout. With the required rate almost 14 at the start of the 16th over, Shakib tried to haul Tariq over long-on but failed to generate enough power with Tanveer doing the rest.

Pollard fell six balls later and with that went MIE’s chances of a second title. Payne picked up three wickets in an over before Tanveer closed the chase, sparking wild celebrations in the Vipers dugout. MIE lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs in 3.3 overs to go down in a heap.

Brief scores:

Desert Vipers 182 for 4 in 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 20, Janson Roy 11, Sam Curran 74*, Max Holden 41, Dan Lawrence 23; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-33, Arab Gul 1-14) beat MI Emirates 136 in 18.3 overs (Muhammed Waseem 26, Andre Fletcher 10, Shakib Al Hasan 36, Kieron Pollard 28, Tajinder Singh 12; Naseem Shah 3-18, Davi Payne 3-42, Khuzaima Tanveer 2-22, Usman Tariq 2-20) by 46 runs

(Cricinfo)