Bangladesh’s bowlers combined to trounce Pakistan by 104 runs in the first Test in Dhaka. Nahid Rana struck decisive blows while Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam were among the wickets as the home team put together a rare triumph on the fifth day. This is now Bangladesh’s third consecutive win against Pakistan, after they won the 2024 series by 2-0 margin.

Rana removed Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan in a fiery spell, before he took down Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi to finish with figures of 5 for 40 from his 9.5 overs. Taskin and Taijul took two wickets each while Mehidy, who took a five-for in the first innings, took one wicket.

For most of their fourth innings, Pakistan were kept together by debutant Abdullah Fazal.  He initially overcame Pakistan’s early loss of Imam-ul-Haq before lunch, when he struck Mehidy for consecutive fours just after lunch. Rana then went for three fours in a row; Fazal edged twice through the slips before driving hard down the ground.

Mehidy brought back Bangladesh immediately when he bowled Azan Awais next over. The opener was undone by a delivery that held its line before sliding into the stumps. Awais, who made a century in the first innings, fell for 15 this time.

When Rana removed Masood soon after, Pakistan were 68 for three staring at trouble. Fazal reached his half-century with an upper-cut off Ebadot Hossain. He is now the sixth Pakistan batter to get fifties in both innings of his debut Test.

Fazal however fell in the first over after tea when Taijul got the ball to spin sharply into the left-hander’s defensive prod, with the TV umpire confirming the dismissal through a review. Fazal made 66 off 113 balls, with eleven fours.

Soon after, Taskin had Salman Ali Agha caught at second slip. Shadman Islam however had to walk off after the catch hit his chest, although he held on to the chance.

Earlier in the day, the home side jumped into action in the fifth morning, adding 88 runs in 20 overs. They lost six wickets in the process, but Bangladesh made a laudable approach to keep the game alive. The morning however began with Hasan Ali removing Mushfiqur Rahim, caught at mid-off for 22.

Hasan then took an excellent catch at the fine-leg boundary after Litton Das top edged a hook off Shaheen Afridi after making eleven runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck couple of fours and a six before Noman removed him for 24. It was his 100th wicket.

Shanto fell to Noman too, lbw for 87 while trying to play a reverse sweep. Shanto missed out on becoming only the fourth batter, after Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting and David Warner, to score twin hundreds in a Test on three occasions.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 413 [Monimul Haque 91, Najmul Hossain Shanto 101, Mushfiqur Rahim 71; Shaheen Shah Afrid 3-113, Mohammad Abbas 5-92] and 240 for 9 dec [Mominul Haque 56, Najmul Hossain Shanto 87;  Hasan Ali 3-52, Noman Ali 3-76] beatPakistan 386 [Azan Awais 103, Abdullah Fazal 60, Salman Agha 58, mohammad Rizwan 59; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-102] and 163 [Abdullah Fazal 66, Salman Agha 26; Nahid Rana 5-40] by 104 runs

[Cricinfo]

South Africa fast bowler Shabnim Ismail has reversed her international retirement and is included in the Proteas’ squad for this summer’s T20 World Cup in England.

Ismail, 37, is one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket and is her country’s all-time top wicket-taker in the format despite making her last appearance more than three years ago.

She is joined in the squad by fellow opening bowler Marizanne Kapp, who has recovered from illness, while Dane van Niekerk, who has also come out of retirement in the past year, is included following a calf injury.

South Africa, who were runners-up at the past two Women’s T20 World Cups, open their campaign against Australia on 13 June before facing Pakistan, India, the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

They recently enjoyed a 4-1 series win against ODI world champions India.

“Having someone like Shabnim back adds a lot of value to the group,” said head coach Mandla Mashimbyi.

“We had good conversations and you could see the hunger she still has to represent South Africa and help this team achieve something special.”

South Africa squad:
Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Sune Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Kayla Reyneke, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe Tryon, Dane van Niekerk.

[BBC Sports]

The Bangladesh government has formed a committee to look into the previous government’s decision to not allow the team to play its 2026 T20 World Cup matches in India, a move that led to Bangladesh being removed from the tournament in February and March.

The sports ministry made an announcement on Monday that additional secretary Dr AKM Wali Ullah will head the committee that includes chief selector Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain, and Faisal Dastagir. The trio has been asked to look into all matters related to Bangladesh not sending a team to the T20 World Cup. They will be expected to submit a report within 15 working days.

The sequence of events that culminated in Bangladesh missing the tournament began on January 3, when the BCCI directed Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad for an unspecified reason, at a time when relations between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments were strained.

In the next 24 hours, Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh’s sports adviser (minister) at the time, posted on his official Facebook account that he wanted the ICC to move Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup matches out of India and to Sri Lanka. Nazrul was an adviser in Bangladesh’s interim government that was formed in August 2024 after a student-led uprising toppled the Awami League regime.