Sports

Battling Zimbabwe fall short as Bangladesh win in chaotic final-over finish

Published

3 years ago

2022/10/31

Mosaddek Hossain held his nerve, twice in the space of one legal delivery in a chaotic finish, for Bangladesh to earn a three-run win against Zimbabwe, whose semi-final hopes have now been dented.Zimbabwe needed 16 from the final over, and after Mosaddek got rid of Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava got a leg-bye four and slammed a huge six over fine-leg to give them a chance. With five required in two balls, Mosaddek had a charging Ngarava stumped, bringing Blessing Muzarabani to middle, and he had to hit the ball to the boundary. But Mosaddek beat his big swing and he was stumped off the last ball.Or so everyone thought. But wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan had collected the ball in front of the stumps, which became a no-ball, and a free hit.

The players had left the ground, the broadcasters had started setting up for the presentation ceremony, but they had to go out and the players had to come back for one more tilt. But Muzarabani missed the last-last ball too, and the show was over.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan’s gamble of using his fast bowlers – Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud – in the 16th, 17th and 18th overs paid off, only just. They combined to concede 30 runs, Shakib himself bowled well in the penultimate over, giving away ten runs and pulling off a sensational run-out, of top-scorer Sean Williams, and Mosaddek had just about enough to defend. He did well, keeping Ryan Burl off strike completely. Though Burl might rue not being a bit more aggressive earlier, his unbeaten 27 off 25 balls a somewhat dour effort in the circumstances.

In the first half, too, Zimbabwe fell short. Muzarabani bowled just two overs and picked up two wickets, and the catching was poor.

Najmul Hossain Shanto took advantage with his maiden T20I fifty, and his first T20 half-century in 25 innings. His 71 got Bangladesh to a fighting 150 for 7 before Taskin and Mustafizur blew away Zimbabwe’s top order in the powerplay.Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman picked up two wickets each in the powerplay

Taskin, Mustafizur have a ball

Taskin gave Bangladesh early breakthroughs for the third game in a row. Wessly Madhevere played a poor shot to a wide short ball, and was caught at deep third by Mustafizur, who nearly spilled the chance with a reverse cup around his chest. In his next over, Taskin tested Craig Ervine with a slightly wide one again, with the Zimbabwe captain nicked to Nurul.

Mustafizur, under fire before the tournament, then gave Bangladesh further cause for joy. In his first over – the last one in the powerplay – he had Milton Shumba caught at mid-off, where Shakib took a sharp catch. The bigger blow came three balls later when Sikandar Raza, the big man for Zimbabwe, top-edged a pull. Afif Hossain took the catch, and the celebrations proved how big the moment was for Bangladesh. Zimbabwe were 35 for 4 in the powerplay and very much on the back foot.

Williams takes it deep

After Raza’s dismissal, it was down to the three frontline batters left – Williams, Regis Chakabva and Burl – with Williams the main man.Williams kept things ticking over in his own way, nurdling, pushing and prodding the ball around for ones and twos. He added 34 runs for the fifth wicket with Chakabva, who made 15 off 19 balls. After the returning Taskin removed Chakabva, Bangladesh had an immediate chance when Burl top-edged to deep fine-leg, but Mahmud dropped the sitter. Burl was on four, and the ball went over for his first six.

Zimbabwe, however, couldn’t quite get the acceleration going, and that hurt them in the end. As did their mistakes in the first half.Blessing Muzarabani picked up both the Bangladesh wickets to fall in the powerplay•Getty Images

Muzarabani hurts Bangladesh

Zimbabwe’s tall fast bowlers were always going to be a handful for Bangladesh, especially with the new ball in operation. Muzarabani got cracking in the second over, when he had Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a duck. The delivery wasn’t high pace, but the full length and wide line beat Soumya.

(cricinfo)

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Ticket sales announced for 2026 T20 World Cup

Published

14 hours ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

Jasprit Bumrah with the trophy after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup [Cricinfo]

Tickets for the 2026 T20 World Cup will go on sale at 18.45 IST and Sri Lanka time (13.15 GMT) on December 11, with the tournament slated to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.

Prices for phase one of the ticket sales start at INR 100 (USD 1.1) at some venues in India and LRK 1000 (USD 3.2), the ICC said on Thursday. The dates for phase two of the ticket sales will be announced soon. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.cricketworldcup.com.

“Phase I of ticket sales is an important milestone in our journey towards delivering the most accessible and global ICC event ever staged,” ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said. “Our vision for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is clear: every fan, regardless of background, geography or financial means, should have the chance to access an in-stadia experience of world-class marquee cricket.

“With tickets starting from just INR 100 and LKR1000, we are putting affordability at the centre of our strategy. This is about opening the gates wide and inviting millions to be part of a global celebration of cricket, not as spectators from afar, but as active participants in the energy, emotion and magic that only a stadium can offer.”

The 2026 T20 World Cup will be contested by 20 teams and comprises 55 matches. The games start at 11am (0530 GMT), 3pm (0930 GMT) and 7pm IST (1330 GMT). The format for the tournament is the same as the previous edition in 2024, where the teams were divided into five groups of four each.

The first-round groups are as follows:

Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Sri Lanka, Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, Italy
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE

The top two teams from each of the groups progress to a Super Eight phase, where they will be further divided into two groups of four each.

The Super Eight groups are as follows, assuming these teams qualify from the first round; if another team qualifies, they will take the place of the team from their group that failed to make it:

Super Eight Group 1: X1 (India), X2 (Australia), X3 (West Indies), X4 (South Africa)
Super Eight Group 2: Y1 (England), Y2 (New Zealand), Y3 (Pakistan), Y4 (Sri Lanka)

Each team will play the other three in their Super Eight group, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. The two semi-finals are in Kolkata – or Colombo if Pakistan qualify – on March 4, and Mumbai on March 5. The final of the tournament will be played in Ahmedabad on March 8 – if Pakistan qualify, it will be held in Colombo.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Fifties from Conway, Hay extend New Zealand’s advantage

Published

20 hours ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

Devon Conway raises his bat after getting to his first half-century against West Indies [Cricinfo]

Despite a bright bowling performance from the West Indies seamers, half-centuries from New Zealand’s Devon Conway and Mitchell hay extended the hosts’ advantage after an absorbing second day of the Wellington Test. New Zealand secured a 73-run first-innings lead before a double-wicket burst from their quicks left West Indies still 41 behind with eight wickets in hand.

West Indies produced bursts of quality with the ball to keep pegging New Zealand back, and several home batters contributed to their own dismissals with loose shots. But the visitors also offered enough scoring opportunities for Conway and Hay to make valuable inroads.

Conway’s 60 – his first fifty against West Indies and 13th overall – anchored one end, while debutant Hay struck an enterprising 61 from No. 6. Their efforts allowed New Zealand to declare at 278 for 9, with the injured Blair Tickner not batting.

With the relatively new ball, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields and Anderson Phillip consistently challenged the batters as the ball swung both ways and occasionally jagged off the surface. Conway, however, punished the loose deliveries, hitting eight fours – mostly cuts and flicks – to keep New Zealand moving.

From the non-striker’s end, he saw Tom Latham (11) lose his off stump to a nip-backer from Roach from around the wicket, before watching Kane Williamson (37) have his off stump pegged back by an Anderson Phillip delivery that squared him up. After lunch, Rachin Ravindra – who made 176 in Christchurch – was caught behind off Roach while chasing a wide one. Conway himself was then caught down the leg side off a poor Justin Greaves delivery, thanks to a superb diving take from Tevin Imlach. At that stage, New Zealand seemed to be wobbling at 117 for 4.

A fifth-wicket stand of 73 between Daryl Mitchell (25) and Hay – the latter playing in place of the injured Tom Blundell – brought New Zealand closer to West Indies’ first-innings score of 205. Mitchell was conservative, while Hay leaned on his white-ball instincts to score his runs, producing strong cuts through the off side and, when tested with short balls, pulling confidently over the leg side.

Mitchell, like Conway, was eventually strangled down the leg side off Phillip. Hay later fell to the short-ball tactic: after striking back-to-back fours behind square leg, he miscued a pull off Shields straight to Roach at deep-backward square and walked back bitterly disappointed. At 213 for 6, New Zealand then leaned on Glenn Phillips (18) and the lower order to extend their lead.

West Indies continued to pepper Phillips with short balls in a cat-and-mouse exchange that brought body blows and top-edges over the keeper. Seeking a change, captain Roston Chase turned to spin for the first time in the innings, and needed only four deliveries to tempt Phillips into a slog that failed to clear deep midwicket.

Zak Foulkes then batted 43 balls and frustrated West Indies with deflections off the seamers’ through the gully region on his way to an unbeaten 23. Jacob Duffy added further runs with boundaries to long-off and long-on, and No. 10 Michael Rae joined a rare group of batters to begin their Test careers with five runs off an overthrow boundary. Rae reached 13 before the expensive Seales finally claimed his first wicket of the match, knocking back the debutant’s leg stump.

New Zealand’s batting may have been patchy, but their bowlers restored control with a sharp ten-over burst late in the day. John Campbell fell in the seventh over, beaten by a Rae delivery that zipped in to hit off stump. Next over, nightwatcher Phillip initially survived a DRS review for caught behind off Duffy, but a second look confirmed he was lbw instead. Brandon King (15*) and Kavem Hodge (3*) saw out the final few minutes, but West Indies still face a steep challenge when play resumes on Friday.

Brief scores:
West Indies 205 and 32 for 2 (Brandon King 15*; Michael Rae 1-4, Jacob Duffy 1-8) trail New Zealand 278 for 9 dec (Mitchell Hay 61, Devon Conway 60; Andeson Phillip 3-70) by 41 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Olympics decision on gender eligibility to come in early 2026

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry says a decision about eligibility criteria for transgender athletes will come in the early months of 2026 [Aljazeera]

The International Olympic Committee says it will announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes early next year, after months of deliberation as it seeks to find a consensus on how to protect the female category.

The issue has been a source of controversy, with no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.

The IOC, under its new President Kirsty Coventry, did a U-turn in June, deciding to take the lead in setting eligibility criteria for Olympic participation, having previously handed responsibility to the individual sports federations, leading to a confusing patchwork of different approaches.

In September, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, made up of experts as well as representatives of international federations, to look into how best to protect the female category in sports.

“We will find ways to find a consensus that has all aspects covered,” Coventry told a press conference on Wednesday following an IOC executive board meeting. “Maybe it is not the easiest thing to do, but we will try our best, so when we talk about the female category, we are protecting the female category.”

Coventry said a decision would come in the first months of 2026.

“We want to make sure we have spoken to all stakeholders, taken adequate time to cross the Ts and dot the Is,” she said.

“The group is working extremely well. I don’t want to try to constrain the working group by saying they need to have a specific deadline, but I am hopeful in the next couple of months and definitely within the first quarter of next year we will have a clear decision and way forward, which I think we are all looking forward to,” said Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion.

Before Coventry’s decision in June, the IOC had long refused to apply any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines. Under current rules, still in force, transgender athletes are eligible to take part in the Olympics.

Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Currently, some international federations have rules in place, but others have not yet reached that stage.

US President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the United States, which civil society groups say infringes on the rights of trans people, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Trump, who signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games.

[Aljazeera]