Sports
Bangladesh beat Nepal to secure Super 8s spot
Bangladesh overcame a spirited performance from Nepal to win by 21 runs and seal their place in the Super 8s stage of the T20 World Cup.
In a tense encounter, Nepal fell short of their first win over a Test-playing side as they failed to chase a target of just 107.
Tigers seamer Tanzim Hasan’s magical 4-7 triggered a top-order collapse to 26-5 but late resistance from Dipendra Singh Airee, with 31, kept Nepal’s hopes alive.
The Associate nation were in the game with 23 needed from the last 17 balls, but Mustafizur Rahman bowled a wicket maiden in the 19th over to all-but secure victory.
The win sees Bangladesh join India, Afghanistan and Australia in Group One for the next round, and eliminated the Netherlands.
Bangladesh suffered a shocking batting collapse of their own, including opener Tanzid Hasan falling from the first ball of the game, slipping to 30-4 by the end of the six-over powerplay.
They played some reckless shots and ran poorly between the wickets in the face of Nepal’s accurate bowling and their high energy in the field, but a late flurry of runs from Taskin Ahmed and Rishad Hossain helped tick the score over 100.
Despite the low total, it proved beyond Nepal’s reach on a pitch offering turn and bounce for the spinners and plenty of seam movement for the pace attack, allowing Bangladesh to successfully defend the lowest total in men’s T20 World Cup history.
The result also ended the Netherlands’ slim hopes of qualification, though they were subsequently heavily beaten by 83 runs by Sri Lanka, who picked up their first win.
Sri Lanka posted 201-6 – the joint-highest total of the World Cup so far.
A maiden Test century for Justin Greaves headlined a dominant day for West Indies against Bangladesh on day two of the Antigua Test. After his 115 helped West Indies post 450 for 9, West Indies bookended the day with two Bangladesh wickets, leaving the visitors 410 behind with eight wickets in hand.
It was a fine recovery after slipping to 261 for 7 despite an overnight score of 250 for 5. Greaves shared a 140-run eighth wicket stand with Kemar Roach, who batted for more than four hours for 47, his highest Test score in his 15-year career.
Greaves’ unbeaten 115 justified his Super50 form, where he struck three consecutive centuries earlier this month. He made a patient effort, striking just four boundaries in his 206-ball stay. It was the perfect follow-up to the nineties that Alick Athanaze and Mikyle Louis had scored on day one to lay the foundation.
Bangladesh continued to give away strong positions with the ball, toiling for 144.1 overs, but unable to bowl out the home side. Hasan Mahmud took three wickets, all of them on the second day. Taksin Ahmed toiled hard and even found the edge of Greaves’ bat once but nobody appealed. The spinners, stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam, shared three wickets from their combined 73.1 overs.
West Indies declared with Bangladesh needing to bat out a maximum time of an hour and 45 minutes. But there was no respite for them against the four-man West Indian pace attack. Zakir Hasan fell for 15 after he under-edged a Jayden Seales delivery onto his stumps. The left-hander struck three fours in his short stay, all off Seales, but was slightly unlucky with the ball shaving the leg-stump. Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for 5, shortly after he was dropped on the same score.
It was a long way from the start of the day for the visitors, having started the day in the best possible way by taking two early wickets.
Mahmud removed Joshua Da Silva with the fifth ball of the morning session, trapped lbw with a delivery that darted into his front pad. This was Mahmud’s first wicket in the game despite bowling well on the first day. It was also his 24th wicket this year, making him the highest wicket-taker in a calendar year among Bangladesh’s pace bowlers.
That number became 25 when Alzarri fell in Mahmud’s next over. Zakir took a superb two-handed catch at gully, reminiscent of how he opened the Pakistan tour with Abdullah Shafique’s catch at gully in August. If Bangladesh sensed they had their opening to bowl out West Indies for under 300 runs, that was blunted by Roach.
He was the right type of foil for Greaves, who was willing to grind out the Bangladesh attack. Greaves handed the strike to Roach from time to time, as the pair didn’t allow any more wickets in the first session. There were only two boundaries in those 26 overs too, but that hardly bothered the home side who needed a recovery.
Greaves started the second session with his third boundary when he pulled Taskin through midwicket. He, however, survived a caught-behind chance on 77 with neither Taskin nor wicketkeeper Jaker Ali (who was deputizing for Litton Das after the first session) hearing a faint nick. it was only a replay on the big screen that showed what Bangladesh missed out on.
Shortly afterwards, a Roach single brought up the team’s maiden century partnership for the eighth wicket against Bangladesh. It was followed by a rain break of seven minutes, after which Roach slammed Mehidy over his head for his first boundary. Mahmud finally removed Roach with a fine angling delivery, clipping the top of his middle-stump. Their 140-run stand was West Indies’ third-highest for the eighth wicket.
Greaves soon reached his century with his fourth boundary shot, driving Taijul through the covers. It was potentially his best shot of the innings and the landmark was only his second first-class ton.
West Indies declared in the 145th over of their innings, after their tail-enders Seales and Shamar Joseph struck some meaty blows. That left enough time for the bowlers to have a crack, which they successfully did.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 40 for 2 in 20 overs (Alzarri Joseph 1-2,Jayden Seales 1-15) trail West Indies 450 for 9 in 144.1 overs (Justin Greaves 115, Mikyle Louis 97, Alick Athanaze 90, Kemar Roach 47, Kavem Hodge 25, Kemar Roach 47; Hasan Mahmud 3-87, Taskin Ahmed 2-76, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-99) by 410 runs
[Cricinfo]
by Rex Clementine
When Sri Lanka pulled off a heist for the ages in 2019, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with Kusal Janith Perera’s jaw-dropping unbeaten 153, cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar didn’t pull any punches. The maestro declared that had this innings come from the willow of an Australian or Englishman, it would have been heralded as the “greatest knock in the history of Test cricket.” Facing a fiery South African attack, on a crumbling fourth-innings pitch, with only the last pair standing, Perera’s heroics helped Sri Lanka achieve what no other Asian side has managed: a Test series win in South Africa.
Fast forward to 2024, and the stage is set once again.
In a twist of fate—or perhaps sheer oversight by the hosts—Sri Lanka will once again take the field in Durban and Port Elizabeth, the very venues of their historic triumph. You’d think the South Africans would have learned their lesson by now. These are the slowest pitches in the country, and the moment Sanath Jayasuriya glanced at the schedule, he must have been grinning like a Matara cat. For Sri Lanka, it’s a dream itinerary.
With both teams vying for a spot in the World Test Championship final, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Sri Lanka’s cricketing renaissance has been nothing short of remarkable. Critics who once dismissed their dominance at home on spinning tracks have had to eat their words. This team has proven their mettle away from home, notching three overseas Test victories where it was the pacers, not the spinners, who delivered the goods.
Leading the charge is Asitha Fernando, the spearhead of the Sri Lankan pace attack. While most quicks revel in swinging the new ball, Asitha is a master of the old ball, unleashing devastating reverse swing.
Then there’s Lahiru Kumara, a fiery enigma prone to injuries but unstoppable when in rhythm. Though he hasn’t bagged a Man of the Match award recently, Kumara’s role in Sri Lanka’s overseas wins has been pivotal. The fastest bowler in the Sri Lankan camp, Kumara also has a flair for theatrics. His on-field antics in England, where he sledged Dan Lawrence with the cheeky “Do you think this is T20 cricket?” and vowed revenge against Olly Stone in Sinhala, have made him a cult figure. Characters like Kumara bring colour to a game increasingly devoid of mavericks.
Kumara is knocking on the door of an elite club, needing just a handful of wickets to join Chaminda Vaas, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, and Dilhara Fernando in the 100-Test-wicket fraternity.
The supporting cast includes Vishwa Fernando, a dependable left-armer fresh off a stint with Yorkshire, Milan Ratnayake, whose athleticism on the field is as sharp as his bowling, and Kasun Rajitha, a reliable workhorse likely to feature only if injuries strike.
With this being their swan song in South Africa, stalwarts Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, and Angelo Mathews will be itching to make their mark. For them, there’s more than just pride on the line; a World Test Championship final spot adds extra spice to an already tantalizing contest.
Meanwhile, the spotlight will be firmly on Kamindu Mendis, whose meteoric rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. With three of his five Test hundreds scored on foreign soil, Mendis has drawn comparisons to the greats. His partnerships with the ever-reliable Kusal Mendis, batting at number seven, were instrumental in the series win over New Zealand. Together, they form a batting spine that can weather any storm.
While the seamers are expected to hog the limelight, don’t write off Prabath Jayasuriya just yet. Durban is known to turn, and Port Elizabeth pitches crumble quicker than a biscuit in hot tea. If Jayasuriya finds his rhythm, he could end up bagging a rich haul of wickets and leaving the Proteas scratching their heads.
After a 17-wicket Day 1, Australia’s bowlers were made to do the hard yards without anything to show for it on as KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal hit fifties to put India on top in the Perth Test. The openers took the first-innings lead of 46 – earned through a Jasprit Bumrah fifer – and stretched it past 200 by the end of day’s play.
The day began with Jasprit Bumrah quickly ending Australia’s hopes of a big comeback by dismissing the in-form Alex Carey off the first ball he bowled. Carey came in with runs under his belt in first class cricket, but nicked one to Rishabh Pant in the second over of the day. India bowled with a spring in their step as Harshit Rana operated from the other end, bantering Mitchell Starc and making Nathan Lyon smell leather with short deliveries.
Lyon gloved one such bouncer to KL Rahul at third slip to leave Australia nine down for 79. Then began a stubborn final-wicket stand worth 25 runs across 18 overs – the best of the Aussie innings – between Starc and Josh Hazlewood that allowed the hosts to go past 100. Rana returned to end the innings on 104 with the wicket of Starc, giving India a vital 46-run lead.
The Australian quicks got the ball to seam a lot lesser in the second innings, paving the way for an excellent opening stand between Rahul and Jaiswal that saw them score patient fifties and gain control of the proceedings. The duo started out watchfully – Rahul continued to play inside the line of the ball and with soft hands, and Jaiswal curbed his urge to look for quick runs, before making hay in bright sunshine and on a flattened out surface. They took their chances against Cummins, cutting and pulling him for fours. Jaiswal even comfortably pulled off an uppercut off a short ball from the Australian captain. Short burst of a spell from Nathan Lyon was also dealt with ease, as they took India to the next break without any damage.
They kept that up in the final session too, even as the ball began to take uneven bounce. Rahul became just the second batter after Virender Sehwag to be involved in three 100-plus opening stands in SENA countries since 2000. There were a couple of instances Australia came close to breaking through – Starc got Jaiswal to nick one towards Usman Khawaja at first slip. The ball got low on him and he failed to get his palms underneath as the red cherry dropped just in front of him. He suggested it fell short but Starc was peeved nonetheless.
On the very next ball, Rahul survived a run out chance as he dashed off for a quick single after Jaiswal pushed a Lyon delivery towards point. The left-hander however sent Rahul back after he’d covered two-thirds the distance, and had to hare back. Fortunately for him, Steve Smith couldn’t throw the stumps down directly. Jaiswal got to his fifty first – ninth in the format – off 120 deliveries – and Rahul reached his milestone in 124. Jaiswal also hit Starc for a flicked six, and then indulged in some exchange of words with the fast bowler. He hit another six – off Lyon over the long-on fence to break the record for most sixes in Tests in a calendar year (34).
That India went past their first innings total without losing a wicket and that Australia ended both their bowling sessions with the medium-pace of Marnus Labuschagne summed up the sea change in the conditions and the upper hand that the visitors gained.
Brief Scores: [Stumps Day 2]
India 150 & 172/0 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 90*, KL Rahul 62*) lead Australia 104 (Mitchell Starc 26; Jasprit Bumrah 5-30, Harshit Rana 3-48) by 218 runs
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