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Ali Khan and Monank Patel take USA to historic T20I series win over Bangladesh
Ali Khan played the starring role as USA fought their way to a T20I series win over Bangladesh at home, going up 2-0 in the three-match series in Texas on Thursday. His three-wicket haul helped USA to a six-run win in the second game after they had won the first game courtesy Harmeet Singh’s big hitting.
USA bowled superbly in the death overs with Ali Khan picking up all his three wickets in that period, while Saurabh Netravalkar took one in the 19th over.
On Tuesday, when USA won the first game, it was their first win over a top-ten T20I side. This time, they went one step further. It will be a huge boost for the team ahead of the T20 World Cup next month.
For Bangladesh, it’s a cricketing disaster.
They couldn’t get the 145-run chase on track from the start. They lost two wickets inside the powerplay before a rush of wickets following a 48-run stand between captain Majimul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy. Shakib Al Hassan tried to get them home but Ali Khan removed him in the 18th over to get USA back in the game.
Rishad Hossain led Bangladesh’s efficient bowling effort after they decided to bowl first. He took 2 for 21, his best and most economical spell in T20Is, while Mptafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam also took two each. USA captain Mpnak Patel top scored with 42 while his deputy Aaron Jones got 35, but the home side couldn’t take advantage of a decent powerplay.
In the chase, Netravalkar gave USA the early breakthrough they wanted defending a smallish total. He caught and bowled Soumya Sarkar, who feebly pushed the fourth ball of the innings back to the bowler. Tanzid Hasan hit a six off Ali Khan before tickling a boundary off Steven Taylor in the fourth over. Tanzid, however, threw away his good start when he was bowled attempting to pull a delivery from Jasdeep Singh that wasn’t short enough for the shot.
After that, Shanto and Hridoy, who made a fifty in the first game, added 48 runs for the third wicket. Hridoy and Shanto struck Harmeet for a six each in the tenth over, both hitting the ball relatively straight.
But Shanto and Hridoy got into a mix-up in the 11th over and Shanto was left stranded in the middle of the pitch. Corey Anderson then bowled Hridoy in the 13th over for 25 off 21 balls before Shadly van Schalkwyk did the same to Mahmudullah in the 15th over.
Shakib survived a run-out attempt at the start of the 16th over when the point fielder couldn’t hit the stumps even as Shakib struggled to reach the striker’s end. He shook it off by timing two superb fours off Jessy later in the over, first through point and then tickled past third.
Bangladesh’s joy, however, was shortlived. Jaker Ali fell to van Schalkwyk before Shakib followed him back next ball. Batting on 30, Shakib chopped an away-going delivery from Ali Khan on to his stumps, leaving the tail to finish the job. Ali Khan then trapped Tanzim Hasan lbw for a duck just one ball later, to put USA well and truly on top.
Rishad slammed Ali Khan for a one-bounce four at the end of the 18th over to keep Bangladesh in the hunt but Netravalkar bowled Shoriful in the penultimate over. Mustafizur took a single off the last ball of the over, before running a bye at the start of the last over. Rishad struck Ali Khan for a four through long-on but next ball, Ali Khan took his inside edge as he tried to ramp the fast bowler, sparking huge celebrations for USA.
In the first half, Taylor and Monank took a bit of time to get going but from the fourth over, the USA opening pair strung together a few boundaries. Taylor struck Tanzim for two fours in the fourth over before he cracked Mustafizur and Shakib for a six each in the following overs.
But shortly after finishing the powerplay without any losses, USA lost two big wickets. Rishad floated one through to Taylor, who struck it down wide long-on Tanzid Hasan’s throat. He made 31 off 28 balls with two sixes and three fours. Next ball, Rishad had Andries Gous caught behind for a duck with a beautiful legbreak. He finished with his best T20I figures of 2 for 21 from four overs.
Monank and Jones then added 60 runs for the third wicket but they batted at only 6.42 per over. Jones was more fluent than he was in the previous game, though, hitting Rishad for a six over long-off, but big hits were few and far between in general.
After keeping Jones and Monank on a leash for just under ten overs, Bangladesh got their reward in the last four overs. Mustafizur removed Jones for 35 off 34, caught at long-on. Shoriful bowled both Anderson and Monank in the 19th over. And Mustafizur had Harmeet soon after for a duck. But as it turned out, USA had enough on the board.
Brief scores:
USA 144 for 6 in 20 overs (Monank Patel 42, Aaron Jones 35, Steven Taylor 31; Rishad Hossain 2-21, Shoriful Islam 2-29, Mustafizur Rahman 2-31) beat Bangladesh 138 in 19.3 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 36, Shakib Al Hassan 30, Towhid Hridoy 25; Ali Khan 3-25, Saurabh Netravalkar 2-15, Shadley van Schalkwyk 2-21, Jasdeep Singh 1-20, Corey Anderson 1-11) by six runs
(Cricinfo)
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 13 October 2026
Issued at 2.00 p.m. on 12 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
A low-pressure area may form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal by 13 October.
Under the influence of this system, an increase in rainfall is expected over the island and the deep and shallow sea areas around the island during the next few days from tomorrow (13).
The general public, as well as the naval and fishing communities, are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces.
Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.
Maaz Sadaqat crashed 96 off 51,Sahibzada Farhan clobbered 73 off 44, and Pakistan scorched their way through the last 12 overs of their innings to mount a fearsome total of 215 for 3. Pakistan reaped 156 runs just in the last 12 overs of their innings, as a 73-run stand between Sadaqat and Farhan was followed by a manic 72-run partnership between Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz.
Sri Lanka’s batting was woeful in response. They slumped to 64 for 5 by the 11th over, with none of their top seven managing to get to 30. They limped to 133 for 7, having had their hopes of leveling the series wrecked by quicks Mohammad Imran and Salman Mirza, who took five wickets between them.
Sadaqat propels Pakistan into the stratosphere
The openers had laid a decent platform with Pakistan having got to 55 for 1 by the end of the seventh over. But it was Sadaqat who injected the energy that truly set Pakistan on course to their mammoth total. Having gone at less than a run a ball in his first eight balls, Sadaqat unleashed a spectacular lofted square drive off Eshan Malinga to collect his first six, before pumping the same bowler down the ground later in the 10th over.
Sadaqat would go on to clobber six further sixes and five further fours. The big hits tended to come down the ground, while his fours were more square of the wicket. Of the 125 runs Pakistan plundered in the second half of their innings, 79 off 40 came from Sadaqat, who pummeled both pace and spin with equal relish. Off the sixteenth over, bowled by Maheesh Theekshana, Sadaqat thumped three sixes in the arc between long on and midwicket.
Sadaqat, whose previous top score in three T20Is had been 50, could have gone to triple figures off the last ball of the innings, but holed out to deep cover instead, unable to quite find the power to lift a Malinga slower ball over the ropes. He had utterly dominated the middle and late overs, however.
Farhan sets the tone
On another flat Rawalpindi deck, Farhan made the first big charge, although he waited until spin came on to really get into high gear. Theekshana was one of his main victims as well. Farhan’s first six came from a slog sweep off Theekshana in the seventh over, before he launched the same bowler over wide long on and cow corner off successive balls in the ninth over. Getting to his 12th T20I fifty off the 31st ball he faced, Farhan began to aim big blows off the seamers as well. He was caught at deep third off the bowling of Dasun Shanaka, in the 15th over.
Sri Lanka stumble in the powerplay
An excellent Salman Mirza bouncer took the glove of Lahiru Udara in the first over, ending the innings of one of Sri Lanka’s few form batters for a mere five runs. And although Sineth Jayawardena – playing his first international in a full-strength Sri Lanka side – hit three consecutive boundaries in the third over, Sri Lanka were unable to build up any momentum in the powerplay. By the end of the sixth over, they had laboured to 35 for 2.
Imran’s spell lights up the middle overs
A full house in Rawalpindi was treated to some excellent fast bowling by Imran, who finished with the game’s best figures of 3 for 11 from his four overs. Having got Jayawardena to top-edge a desperate pull shot at the end of his second over, Imran had Kusal Mendis caught behind off a slower delivery, before two balls later (a wide in between), he took Sahan Arachchige’s edge with a quick delivery angled across the left-hander. Wicketkeeper Khawaja Nafay made two diving grabs to convert these chances in the eighth over.
All through his unbroken spell, Sri Lanka’s batter struggled to so much as hit Imran off the square, despite the good batting conditions on offer. Imran mixed up his pace, frequently going to slower balls, but his line and length control were also excellent through the spell. When he finished his unbroken spell at the end of the 10th over, Sri Lanka’s required rate had climbed past 15.
Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Theekshana struck some late boundaries, but by the time they came to the crease, Sri Lanka did not have a realistic shot at levelling this series. They lost by 82 runs in the end.
Scores:
Pakistan 215 for 3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 73, Fakhar Zaman 22, Maaz Sadaqat 96, Hasan Nawaz 19*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-55, Eshan Malinga 1-41,Dasun Shanaka 1-30) beat Sri Lanka 133 for 7 (Sineth Jayawardena 22, Kamnbdu Mendis 23, Chamindu Wickremasinghe 29, Maheesh Theekshana 32*; Salman Mirza 2=28, Mohammad Imran 3-11, Saim Ayub 1-19, Shadab Khan 1-19) by 82 runs
[Cricinfo]
At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died and 84 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations migration agency.
In a statement on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) quoted survivors as saying that the incident happened near Guhere off Djibouti’s eastern coast in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandeb strait from Thursday night to before dawn on Friday.
The boat was heading from Djibouti to Yemen with more than 300 people on board. More than 80 people – all Ethiopians – survived the shipwreck while Djiboutian search and rescue operations continued.
“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac said, lamenting the “devastating loss of life”.
That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won’t be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the Associated Press.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac added.
[Aljazeera]
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