Sports

Afif, Mustafizur give Bangladesh consolation win

Published

3 years ago

2022/08/12

Bangladesh Tour of Zimbabwe, 2022

After two famous run chases, Zimbabwe finally got one wrong in the third and final ODI against Bangladesh and went down by 105 runs. Chasing a target of 257, the hosts were bowled out for only 151 in 32.2 overs. The silver lining was that Zimbabwe soon got their hands on the trophy, with the 2-1 scoreline in their favour. For Bangladesh, it was a bittersweet finish too. They wrapped up the tour with an impressive performance but it doesn’t hide the fact that they lost both the T20I and ODI series on the tour, drawing sharp criticism from the fans and board alike.

Defending what was a decent target on a fresh surface, Bangladesh got off to the best of starts as Hasan Mahmud trapped Takudzwanashe Kaitano with the fifth ball of the innings. In the next over, Mehidy Hasan Miraz followed up with the wicket of Tadiwanashe Marumani that had Zimbabwe reeling at 7/2. It soon became 18/4 when Ebadot Hossain picked the wickets of Wesley Madhevere and in-form batter Sikandar Raza with consecutive deliveries. Raza, who scored unbeaten match-winning hundreds in the first two ODIs, got a first-ball duck this time.

With Raza gone, Taijul Islam and Mustafizur Rahman sliced through the middle order, picking between them the next four wickets to fall. The visitors, however, were caught unaware by the 68-run stand for the tenth wicket between Richard Ngarava (34* off 27) and Victor Nyauchi (26 off 31). Both the batters counterattacked from their ends, making Bangladesh huff and puff for about 10 overs to get the elusive final wicket and the win.

Earlier in the day, Afif Hossain’s 85* and Anamul Haque’s 76 propelled Bangladesh to 256/9 after Zimbabwe won the toss and put them in. Bangladesh openers negotiated the early swing and seam on offer to add 41 runs before Tamim Iqbal’s run out triggered a collapse. From 41/0, Bangladesh were 47/3 in a matter of eight balls as Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim fell in a Brad Evans over moments after Tamim’s run out. Mushfiqur’s wicket in particular was down to Richard Ngarava’s diving catch running in from third man.

Anamul then added 77 runs for the fourth wicket with Mahmudullah, bringing up his fifth ODI fifty in the process. The opener even smashed a six onto the roof at the Harare Sports Club. It was Jongwe who got him caught-behind in the end, striking once again with the old ball in the middle overs.

But the breakthrough didn’t quite materialize for the hosts as Afif Hossain took over for Bangladesh from thereon. It didn’t help that Innocent Kaia dropped a regulation return chance when Afif was on 2; the batter would go on to add 83 more runs to his tally and help Bangladesh reach a competitive total. Four wickets fell in the last 10 overs as Zimbabwe continued to strike, with each of Sikander Raza, Luke Jongwe and Richard Ngarawa striking on either side of Taijul Islam’s run out. So it was largely down to Afif that Bangladesh scored 35 in the last four overs.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh

256/9 in 50 overs (Afif Hossain 85*, Anamul Haque 76; Jongwe 2-38, Evans 2-53) beat Zimbabwe 151 all out in 32.2 overs (Ngarava34; Mustafizur 4-17) by 105 runs

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Sports

Sri Lanka cement top spot with crushing win

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/21

Thilina Walpola

Vimath Dinsara played a captain's knock for Sri Lanka

ICC Youth World Cup

Sri Lanka cemented the top spot of Group A points table with a crushing win over Ireland in their second match of the ICC Youth World Cup in Windhoek on Monday.‎The team led by Vimath Dinsara have the heighest net run rate (3.09) of the tournament following their 106 runs victory.

‎While Sri Lanka lead Group A with two wins followed by Australia, who have played only one match, India (Group B), England (Group C) and Afghanistan (Group D) are the leading teams in the other Groups after having won two matches each.

‎Mahanama College all-rounder Dulnith Sigera and Lyceum International speedster Rasith Nimsara were mainly responsible for the distruction as they shared seven wickets between them to restrict Ireland to 161 runs. Sigera completed notable figures of 4.1-0-19-4, while Nimsara ended up with three wickets.

‎Earlier, after the in-form openers were dismissed cheaply skipper Vimath Dinsara held the middle order together with a top score of 95 runs for Sri Lanka to post 267 for five wickets.

‎Ireland’s new ball bowlers dismissed Dimantha Mahavithana and Viran Chamuditha for one digit scores after Sri Lanka decided to bat first. The Sri Lankan openers had posted a record breaking first wicket stand against Japan in their first World Cup encounter at the same venue two days earlier.

‎Sri Lanka were 59 for three wickets when Royal College batsman Dinsara joined Kavija Gamage to steady the innings with a stand of 80 runs. While Kingswood batsman made 49 before being run out, Dinsara went on to add another hundred runs partnership with Mahanama batsman Chamika Heenatigala.

‎Dinsara was dismissed five runs short of the three figure mark in the 46th over.

‎Heenatigala remained unbeaten to post 51 in 53 balls.

‎Dinsara’s knock which came in 102 balls included six fours and a six.

‎For Ireland Oliver Riley took two wickets.

Sports

Leaving out KJP is a no-brainer

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/21

Thilina Walpola

Caption: Kusal Janith Perera

Indications are that Sri Lanka will head into the T20 World Cup without Kusal Janith Perera and that decision may well draw the curtains on his international career. KJP turns 36 in August and if he chooses to walk off into the sunset soon, few will be shocked.

But is this really the right call? The selectors, the only voices that matter, clearly think so. A sizeable chunk of the public, however, remains unconvinced.

At his best, KJP is as clean a striker as you’ll find, a batsman who clears the front leg and goes over the top rather than nudging for singles. That high-octane approach comes with baggage: live by the sword, die by it. Low scores arrive more often than he’d like. Yet the flip side is priceless, he can win games single-handedly. Only last year he smashed a T20I hundred in New Zealand, a feat achieved by just three other Sri Lankans. That alone puts him in rare air.

Yes, the runs dried up after that purple patch. But when the pressure cooker is on and the margins are razor thin, players with big-match temperament are worth their weight in gold.

What makes the decision harder to swallow is the replacement. If KJP had been swapped for a bottom-hand heavy batter built for the death overs, the logic might hold. Instead, he has made way for a top-hand operator in Dhananjaya de Silva, a square peg for a round hole in the shortest format.

Sri Lanka, uniquely, seem determined to juggle three captains across formats and then squeeze all three into the T20 side. That thinking, to put it mildly, is flawed. Balance goes out the window, roles blur and the team ends up batting with the handbrake half on.

The bigger question is timing. Why press the panic button with the World Cup at the doorstep? This Dhananjaya de Silva experiment has been tried before and found wanting. Reheating yesterday’s leftovers on the game’s biggest stage feels like tempting fate.

Little wonder Sri Lanka have become a laughing stock. Cast your mind back to the 2019 World Cup, when England captain Eoin Morgan delivered a barb that still stings. Asked if Jofra Archer was the tournament’s surprise package, Morgan replied, “I think Sri Lanka are the surprise package.”

“I’ve been playing international cricket for over a decade,” he added, “and I’ve never come across some of these guys.”History, it seems, is in danger of repeating itself.

by Rex Clementine ✍️

Sports

Red-hot Royal Challengers Bengaluru stay perfect ain 20nd march into playoffs

Published

22 hours ago

2026/01/20

Priyan

Gautami Naik blazed 73 off 55 deliveries ( BCCI)

Gauttami Naiks’s 73 and a combined effort from their bowlers powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a comprehensive win against Gujarat Giants sealing their playoffs spot in WPL 2026. RCB maintained their perfect record in the tournament, winning five games in a row to become only the second team after the Mumbai Indians in 2023 to achieve this feat; they also posted their biggest win by runs (61) in the tournament.

Playing the first match of the season at the Kotambi Stadium ing Vadodara, RCB recovered from 9 for 2 to post 178 for 6 thanks to Naik’s half-century and handy contributions from Richa Ghosh and Radha Yadav. In return, Giants could only make 117 for 8, losing their second match in a row to RCB.

It wasn’t an easy start for RCB. Renuka Singh struck with the final ball of the opening over, dismissing Grace Harris, who chipped a simple catch to mid-on. Georgia Voll, who made her RCB debut in the previous game and made a fifty, followed soon after, attempting a cut and losing her stumps.

Giants captain Ash Gardner brought herself on, eyeing a favourable match-up against Smriti Mandhana, but Mandhana countered her with a couple of boundaries. Naik at the other end took some time to get going. Her first boundary came off a drive, before a pick-up shot over deep square leg signalled her intent. But even after that, she was moving at just under run a ball. With the duo slowly rebuilding, they brought up their fifty-run stand at the end of the eighth over.

But Gardner returned in the ninth and showed why she dominated the match-up against Mandhana, removing her for the fourth time in the WPL in eight innings.

With Naik getting on with the rebuild, she also found the gaps occasionally. She got to her fifty off 42 balls as she became the first uncapped Indian player in the WPL to hit a half-century, also surviving a dropped catch shortly after. Ghosh, meanwhile, upped the tempo, hitting three sixes in her 20-ball stay before she was caught at long-on off a full toss, which she reviewed for no-ball to no avail.

After a solid start with the ball, Giants let the momentum slip away, conceding 94 runs in the middle overs. They also went on to concede 40 runs off the last four, with Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil taking Gautam for four fours in the last over. Giants were also sloppy on the field and conceded 21 runs as extras on the day, the joint second-most by a team in the WPL.

If Lauren Bell doesn’t get you, Sayali Satghare will. Giants may have escaped the first over from the clinical Bell, but lost both openers cheaply in the second over to Satghare – Beth Mooney bowled for 3 and Sophie Devine holing out for a duck.

It was then Bell’s turn as she got one to swing back in to knock Kanika Ahuja’s stumps over, leaving Giants at 5 for 3 at that point. Anushka Sharma, who was returning from an injury, then timed a few boundaries to perfection but could not build on the start, slicing a Nadine de Klerk slower ball to Radha. Giants went on to lose their next two batters cheaply, reeling at 56 for 6.

Chasing 163 off the final six overs, the equation was steep, but Gardner found her rhythm after a stuttering start. She took Radha for three boundaries and launched a big six off Bell to raise a fighting half-century. Satghare, however, returned to end Gardner’s resistance and finish with three wickets, as Giants eventually slipped to a big defeat.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women 178 for 6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 26, Gautami Naik 73, Rich Ghosh 27, Radha Yadav 17; Renuka Singj 1-27, Kashvee Gautam 2-38, Ashleigh Gardner 2-43, Sophie Dev8ne 1-25) beat Gujarat Giants Women 117 for 8 in 20 overs (Anushka Sharma 18, Ashleigh Gardner 54, Bharati Ful,ali 14, Tanuja Kanwar 11*; Lauren Bell 123, Sayal8 Satghare 3-21, Nadine de Klerk 2-17, Radha Yadav 1-34, Shreyanka Patil 1-19) by 61 runs

(Cricinfo)