Sports
Farhan, Nawaz and Abrar heroics put Pakistan 2-0 up
Pakistan won their first T20I series at home after three years when they beat Bangladesh by 57 runs in the second game in Lahore. Sahibzada Farhan and Hasan Nawaz struck fifties to set up Pakistan’s 201 for 6, before Abrar Ahmed’s three wickets sparked a collapse that saw Bangladesh go from 44 for 0 to 56 for 5 in three overs.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib, in at No. 9, struck his maiden T20I fifty to finish as the innings’ top scorer for the visitors. He became the first batter to score a half-century from No. 9 or lower in T20Is for a Full Member nation. Tanzim’s 50 came off 31 balls, with five sixes, after he came to bat with the side reeling on 77 for 7 in the tenth over.
It was Pakistan’s batting that was more entertaining, with Farhan hitting a superb 74 off 41 balls, that included six sixes. He added 103 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Haris who made a 25-ball 41, before Nawaz struck the ball cleanly for his unbeaten 51.
Farhan had a bit of luck in the first over when Tanzid Hasan couldn’t latch on to his top edge running back from cover. He would enjoy another piece of luck after he completed his first T20I fifty, but it was a memorable knock from the opener who had just top scored with 449 runs at a strike rate of 152.20 in the PSL.
Pakistan also got some luck when left-arm quick Shoriful Islam left the field after bowling three balls with a groin injury. Farhan launched Mehidy Hasan Miraz for two successive sixes in the third over, before slamming Hasan Mahmud for two fours and a six in the following over. Another six came off Tanzim, before Haris struck Mahmud for three fours in a row in the sixth over. Their 67 runs in the powerplay equaled Pakistan’s highest in the powerplay against Bangladesh, from a game in Nairobi in 2007.
Farhan struck two more sixes off Rishad, before Tanzim broke the 103-run second wicket stand. He removed Haris (41 off 25 balls) with a slower legcutter that he struck straight to point. Farhan was caught behind in the next over, when he under-edged Rishad, who was otherwise quite expensive.
Bangladesh were in danger of conceding a big 200-plus score, especially seeing how Pakistan captain Salman Agha and Hasan kept finding the big hits after the two set batters fell in quick succession. Salman timed Rishad for two fours, before Nawaz managed to toe-end a six off Mehidy. He slammed Rishad for a four and six in the 14th over, but they relatively slowed down in the last five overs.
Pakistan got only two fours and a six in this period. Mahmud yorked Salman who was trying to play a ramp shot, before Shadab fell trying to clear long-on. Nawaz got to his half-century in the last over, but Tanzim finished well with the wicket of Faheem Ashraf.
Tanzid got Bangladesh off to a flyer with 17 runs from the first over of their 202-run chase. He struck Salman for two fours, before slamming him for a six over extra cover to end the over. Tanzid kept up the pressure against Hasan Ali who went for 15 in the second over, before striking Ashraf through point for another boundary.
Haris Rauf struck back in his first over, removing Parvez Hossain Emon for 8. Hasan took a good catch tracking back from mid-on, as Parvez skied the ball quite high over his head. Ashraf then removed Tanzid with a half-tracker, which the left-hander just swung into short fine leg Abrar’s lap in the fifth over.
The onus was on captain Litton Das to build on the rapid start but he first lost his cool at his batting partner Towhid Hridoy for refusing a single. Next ball, he toe-ended a pull straight to mid-on. Bangladesh had given away a good start, and it was about to get much worse.
Abrar was struck for two sixes in his first over in the first T20I, but this was a different story. He spun one through Hridoy’s to trap him lbw for 5. Hridoy had a word with the umpire, but replays showed it was quite adjacent to the stumps. Abrar got another lbw decision next ball, a much easier one for the umpire, when Jaker Ali failed to read his googly. It was a rare failure for Jaker, who is Bangladesh’s form batter in the middle order.
Shamim Hossain staved off the hat-trick ball but struck one down Saim Ayub’s throat at deep midwicket in Abrar’s next over. Rishad was gone next over, caught behind chasing a wide one from Shadab. From there, it was just about damage control for Bangladesh.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 201 for 6 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 74, Mohammad Haris 41, Hasan Nawaz 51*, Salman Agha 19; Hasan Mahmud 2-47, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-36, Rishad Hossain 1-50) beat Bangladesh 144 in 19 overs (Tanzim Hasan Sakib 50, Tanzid Hasan 33, Mehidy Haan Miraz 23; Hasan Ali 1-21, Faheem Ashraf 1-08, Haris Rauf 1-23, Abrar Ahmed 3-19, Shadab Khan 1-13, Kushdil Shah 1-25, Saim Ayub 1-14) by 57 runs
[Cricinfo]
Qualifier Maja Chwalinska is one win away from a fairytale French Open triumph after setting up a final showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The Polish world number 114, who had only ever won one match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, continued her astonishing run at Roland Garros by beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three weeks and nine matches after her French Open campaign began, Chwalinska dropped to the ground after firing in the 32nd and final winner of another scintillating display.
With that, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and the crowd chanted her name as she spoke in her post-match interview.
On Saturday, she will attempt to become only the second qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam after Britain’s Emma Raducannu at the 2021 US Open.
It would be a fitting conclusion to a French Open filled with spectacular shocks from the outset.
But, on the evidence of her dominant victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the in-form Andreeva will provide the sternest test of her credentials to date.
A beaten semi-finalist in 2024, the 19-year-old was hugely impressive in a 6-1 6-3 victory that made her the third-youngest woman to reach the Roland Garros showpiece this century, after Coco Gauff and Kim Clijsters.
Should she prevail in her first major final, eighth seed Andreeva would become the third-youngest first-time Grand Slam champion this century, after Maria Sharapova and Raducanu.
(BBC)
Pakistan edged home in a low-scoring tussle to secure their third straight ODI series win against Australia. They batted with grit and patience to scale the target of 158 with four wickets and 49 balls remaining on a square-turner in Lahore.
Pakistan – in a surprising move – produced spin-heavy surfaces for this series, which was supposed to test their player pool ahead of the next year’s ODI World Cup in southern Africa and the pitch for the last match offered extra bite to the spinners as the ball turned and bounced sharply, making run-scoring a difficult proposition, especially during the chase.
Maaz Sadaqat seemed aware of how tough batting would get as the innings progressed and he provided Pakistan a rapid start with a 26-ball 27, hitting five fours. He must have taken notes watching Josh Inglis bat in the first innings, as the Australia captain picked up boundaries in the first powerplay to make the most of the run-scoring opportunities with the balls – one from each end – hard and new.
However, Sadaqat was trapped in front by Matt Short as he looked to paddle-sweep his off-break. The left hander did not curb his attacking instincts despite the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan in the third over as he fell prey to Nathan Ellis’ vicious off-cutter.
The chase was anchored by Babar Azam who made a gutsy 40. He hit only three boundaries – two off Matt Kuhnemann and the other off Ellis – in his 84-ball vigil at the crease. Ellis, who had removed him in the previous two matches, tested his defences with his variations, but Babar had done his homework and seemed to be picking his cutters and slower-ones from the hand rather than the pitch.
The highlight of his stay was his battle with Kuhnemann, who beat his outside edge on myriad occasions. The left-arm finger spinner dragged him forward with his tossed up deliveries on a length and spun the ball away from him sharply. Babar, on each occasion, covered his off stump intelligently, bringing his bat and front foot in unison. But he was undone when Kuhnemann dragged his length back a fraction and produced a magnificent delivery which ripped past the outside edge as Babar went on the back foot.
Kuhnemann had previously removed Ghazi Ghori and Salman Ali Agha to keep Australia in the contest and he finished with 3 for 38. When Matt Renshaw also struck for his first ODI wicket, having Arafat Minhas held at slip by Cameron Green after a bobble, Pakistan were wobbling on 112 for 6
They were dragged over the line by Shadab Khan, who Pakistan feel is their next batting allrounder, as he made an unbeaten 29 off 42 in an unbeaten partnership of 49 with Abdul Samad.
Australia had been skittled for 157 in 42 overs, losing 7 for 38 from 119 for 3, as Shaheen Shah Afridi took three wickets alongside two apiece for Abrar Ahmed and Shadab after Inglis decided to bat having comfortably defended 232 in the previous match.
The decider began 15 minutes late because of a brief downpour. The only innings of note in the first half of the match was posted by Inglis who made 65 off 71 balls having been moved up to open, with the next best score was 19.
After Short had picked out mid-on second ball of the match (following Alex Carey’s first-ball dismissal two days ago) Inglis batted with fluency. He took on Afridi and welcomed Minhas with a crunching drive for four then a monstrous inside-out six over cover. In an innings in which he scored heavily on the off side, Inglis unfurled reverse sweeps against the spin. He made only 13 out of 65 runs on the leg side.
Marnus Labuschagne’s struggles in ODIs and on this tour continued as a mix up in the 12th over curtailed his stay. He was supporting Inglis by milking the spinners and seemed to have settled when Inglis did not return his call for a second. He had to scramble back from the middle of the wicket only to fall short of a Minhas’ direct hit from the non-striker’s end.
Carey provided a supporting hand to Inglis in a 52-run partnership before a scorching delivery from Haris Rauf nipped into him and struck the top of middle stump. It sparked a collapse and soon Afridi had Inglis and Cameron Green caught across three balls at the start of his second spell.
Salman then took a sharp catch at slip as Abrar lured Renshaw – Australia’s best batter on the tour – into a drive. Abrar also bowled Cooper Connolly in his next over as Australia slipped from 119 for 3 to 131 for 7. Connolly, who replaced Tanveer Sangha, was playing as a batter only as he continues to recover from a back injury which prevented him bowling during the IPL.
Shadab’s wicketless patch finally ended after five ODIs (and more than 300 deliveries) when Ghori took a spectacular catch as the ball looped off Oli Peake’s foot after taking an inside edge. It was after the second ODI that Mike Hesson, the Pakistan head coach, had relegated Shadab to the fifth bowler in this line-up, but the legspinner bowled with good rhythm, bringing the stumps into play more often by tossing the ball on length regularly.
He had Adam Zampa bowled off a ball that stayed low in the 42nd over before the run out of Ellis brought an end to the innings.
Whether producing rank-turners for these three games was the best preparation for the 2027 World Cup which will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia is debatable. That Pakistan have something to celebrate after their poor ODI and Test tour of Bangladesh and a hapless outing in the T20 World Cup will motivate this side.
Scores:
Pakistan 161 for 6 in 41.5 overs (Babar Azam 40, Shadab Khan 29*; Matthew Kuhnemann 3-38) beat Australia 157 in 42 overs (Josh Inglis 65; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-30, Abear Ahmed 2-19, Shadab Khan 2-28 ) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
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