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Muqeem’s 5 for 3 spins Zimbabwe to a new low

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Sufiyan Muqeem walks back after his T20I best figures of 5 for 3 [Cricinfo]

Sufiyan Muqeem spun a web around Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, registering the best figures by a Pakistan bowler in T20Is as his team crushed Zimbabwe by ten wickets to seal the T20I series.

Zimbabwe were skittled for 57, losing their ten wickets over a 20-run period as they fell to their lowest total in T20I cricket. In response, Pakistan coasted to the total with 14.3 overs to spare, marking the biggest win by balls remaining between two Full Members in men’s T20I cricket.

Difficult to believe in hindsight, but Zimbabwe got off to a flying start. Brian Benett and Tadiwanashe Marumani took the attack to Jahandad Khan and Abrar Ahmed, blasting the ball through the infield with superb timing and power on what looked a cracking batting surface – when Sikandar Raza won the toss, he had no hesitation batting first.

Even Haris Rauf’s introduction didn’t stanch the bleeding, Bennett showing his deft skills and picking up two boundaries behind point on the off side. By the end of the fourth over, Zimbabwe sat pretty at 37 for 0.

But what happened after that was as dramatic as it was ignominious for Zimbabwe.

Abbas Afridi had Marumani slash one straight to cover-point, and once that wicket-maiden was complete, Rauf removed Bennett off the first ball of the next over. Zimbabwe needed to rebuild, but never came close to achieving a second wind. Seven balls later came the dagger blow as one snaked back in from Afridi and made a mess of Raza’s stumps.

When Salman Agha brought himself on, he had Dion Myers plumb in front off just his fourth delivery before Muqeem took over. Using the conventional wristspinner and the wrong’un, he had Zimbabwe’s lower-middle order on a string. Ryan Burl was fooled by a googly that struck his pad in front of middle, while Tashinga Musekiwa had no answer to another wrong’un that knocked back his stumps for a golden duck. Clive Madande survived the hat-trick ball, but Muqeem returned to remove another two in his following over, and eventually finished off the innings when Madande top-edged him. He finished with figures of 2.4-0-3-5.

There was nothing complicated about Pakistan’s chase, and the openers knew it.

Raza bowled the first over but Omair Yousuf took 11 off it to set the tone.

Saim Ayub got into the act with a lovely late adjustment that saw him carve Richard Ngarava over the slips for a boundary. Blessing Muzarabani’s poor series continued with both Ayub and Yousuf sending him to the fence, the latter scything him over deep point for six with a shot that oozed confidence.

Ayub wasn’t to be outdone, and there was time enough for his signature shot: a whip off Trevor Gwandu off the pads behind square leg for six. It was Muzarabani’s errant line once more that allowed Ayub to pick up two more boundaries that finished the game off.

It was telling of how little Zimbabwe had tested Pakistan that, on a blazing hot day in Bulawayo, when the openers took their helmets off and shook hands, there was barely a bead of sweat on their foreheads.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 61 for 0 in 5.3 overs (Saim Ayub 36*, OmaIir Yousuf 22*) beat Zimbabwe 57 in 12.4 overs (Brian Benett 21; Sufiyan Muqeem 5-3, Abbas Afridi 2-2) by ten wickets

[Cricinfo]



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Diver dies working on tycoon’s sunken superyacht

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The recovery process is expected to take several weeks [BBC]

A diver has died during preliminary operations to recover British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht from the waters off the coast of northern Sicily, local police said.

The accident happened on Friday while the diver was underwater in Porticello, police said, adding the precise cause of death was still unknown.

According to local Italian media, the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch national who worked for a specialist salvage company.

It comes as salvage ships arrived earlier this month to waters off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, where the Bayesian vessel sank during freak weather last August.

Seven of the 22 people onboard the Bayesian last summer were killed, including  Lynch 59, and his 18 year old daughter Hannah..

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy, 71, US lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo and the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas who was originally from Antigua, also died in the sinking on 19 August.

Fifteen people managed to escape on a lifeboat including a one-year-old and Mike Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares.

The cause of the sinking is still under investigation with naval experts saying a yacht of Bayesian’s calibre should have been able to withstand the storm and certainly should not have sunk as rapidly as it did.

PA Media Hannah Lynch and Mike Lynch smiling at the camera and embracing each other in a street.
Hannah and Mike Lynch were among seven people who died when the Bayesian sank [BBC]

The salvage operation is being overseen by British marine consultancy TMC Marine and led by Dutch-based companies Hebo, a maritime services company from Rotterdam, and SMIT Salvage, with support from Italian specialists.

About 70 specialist personnel have been deployed to Sicily from across Europe to work on the recovery operation

On Thursday, the team said on-site preparations were on schedule and “significant progress” had been made over the past five days.

Analysis of the yacht and the surrounding seabed confirmed there had been no change to its condition since the last inspection, meaning plans to raise the vessel can now go ahead.

Work to move the Bayesian into an upright position and lift it to the surface was scheduled to begin later this month – subject to suitable weather and sea conditions.

Before the vessel is transported to port, sea water will be pumped out of it.

PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE The Bayesian yacht with the lower parts of its white sails visible above the whole of its brown deck. The cabins have white roofs and the hull of the boat is black. About half a dozen people in red tops are visible on deck.
The Bayesian left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August before it sank on 19 August [BBC]

Before the Bayesian is raised it will be held in position by steel slings, as salvage workers detach the vessel’s extensive rigging and 72m (236ft) mast, thought to be one of the tallest in the world.

These will then be stored on the seabed and recovered after the team has recovered the ship’s hull, which investigators say is a primary source of evidence.

There has not been any pollution from the yacht reported, with conditions being monitored and efforts made to secure its tank vents and openings.

A BBC graphic showing the keel operating on a vessel
Inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Mike Lynch and his daughter, and Mr and Mrs Bloomer, who were all British nationals.

Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived in the vicinity of London, and the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.

The tycoon founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.

The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.

[BBC]

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Sri Lanka Coast Guard commence clearing of oil spill in Maduru Oya Reservoir

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The Sri Lanka Coast Guard launched an operation to clear the oil spill  caused by the crash of a Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter into the Maduru Oya Reservoir, during a training flight on 09 May 2025.

The  efforts to clear the oil spill  are ongoing and will continue today, 10 May.

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Virat Kohli tells BCCI that he wants to retire from Test cricket

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Virat Kohli has 30 centuries from his 123 Tests

Virat Kohli has communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI ahead of the big five-match series in England  starting June 20, for which he is expected to be a part of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understands that Kohli has been having these conversations with officials of the BCCI for the past month or so.

If Kohli doesn’t change his mind, he will bring the curtain down on a glorious career that has spanned 14 years and included 123 Tests – 68 of them as captain – in which he has 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.

But it hasn’t been a particularly fruitful time in the format for Kohli of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, has been 32.56 over the last 24 months.

(Cricinfo)

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