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New Zealand spinners dent Bangladesh on Day 1
New Zealand’s plan of beating Bangladesh at their own game at home – has started off well, even as Bangladesh got to 310 runs on Day 1 in Sylhet. Glenn Phillips turned up to be the hero for the visitors as he picked four wickets, while Ish Sodhi and Ajaz Patel accounted for three more, as Bangladesh lost nine wickets on the opening day.
Bangladesh ended up on the right side of the toss and as expected decided to pile on the runs. Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan even saw off 10 overs of fast bowling before the latter became the first of the seven casualties to spin bowling. Ajaz Patel slipped a quicker one through that beat Zakir’s attempt to cut and hit the off-stump. Najmul Hossain Shanto arrived with the intention of throwing New Zealand’s spinners off their rhythm as he took on Ajaz. However, Bangladesh’s woes began right at the end of the opening session when Shanto miscued an innocuous full-toss from Phillips while giving him the charge, and hit to Kane Williamson at mid-on.
Mahmudul and Mominul Haque led Bangladesh’s recovery, even as they survived a couple of nicks that flew between the New Zealand slip cordon. The pair batted out majority of the second session, establishing a solid base for Bangladesh to construct a big innings on, with a stand worth 88 runs but once again, Phillips put a spanner in the works with the wicket of Mominul.
He too, like Shanto against Ajaz, went for a cut on a ball that wasn’t there for that shot and ended up nicking it to Tom Blundell behind the stumps. Soon after, Ish Sodhi got the well-set Mahmudul to nick one behind towards Daryl Mitchell at slip, who did extremely well to get his hands under the ball while diving to his right. Bangladesh went to Tea at 184 for 4, and then spiralled even further in the post-Tea session as the ball started to turn a lot more as the day went on.
To their credit, all of the lower-order batters for Bangladesh got starts but none could carry on till stumps to give Bangladesh the early upper hand in the fixture. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shahadat Hossain dragged Bangladesh past the 200-run mark but once again Phillips broke through with the former’s wicket. Mushfiqur gave Phillips the charge and went big, but mistimed it to Williamson at mid-on.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz looked solid for his 20 until a bout of indecision led to him edging one from Kyle Jamieson to Daryl Mitchell at slips. Bangladesh then lost wickets for every 20-odd runs they added as they went from 233 for 6 to 290 for 9.
New Zealand’s hopes of wrapping up the innings on Day 1 didn’t come through though as Taijul Islam and Shoriful Islam batted out 3.1 overs and hit four boundaries in them to take the team past 300. Bad light then intervened, bringing a slightly early end to the day’s proceedings with 85 overs bowled. New Zealand will head back with the joy of having spun a web around Bangladesh’s batting order, but with the surface getting better for spinners, their real progress in the fixture will depend on how well they bat.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh 310/9 (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 86, Najmul Hossain Shanto 37, Mominul Haque 37; Glenn Phillips 4-53, Ajaz Patel 2-76) vs New Zealand
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi arrived in the island a short while ago on a three-day state visit.
The Indian Prime Minister was received at the Katunayake International Airport by Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath.
PM Modi is accompanied by Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Indian Foreign Secretary and several senior officials of the Government of India.
The General Manager of Railways has announced that the following special train services will operate during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period.
1. From Colombo Fort to Badulla – departing Colombo Fort at 1930 hrs on 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th April
2. From Badulla to Colombo Fort – departing Badulla at 1750 hrs on 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th April
3. From Galle to Anuradhapura – departing Galle at 0400 hrs on 12th and 13th April
4. From Anuradhapura to Galle – departing Anuradhapura at 1500 hrs on 12th and 13th April
5. From Colombo Fort to Galle – departing Colombo Fort at 120 hrs on 10th, 11th, 15th and 20th April
6. From Galle to Colombo Fort – departing Galle at 0610 hrs on 11th, 12th, 16th and 21st April
7. From Colombo Fort to Galle – departing Colombo Fort at 1330 hrs on 12th and 13th April
8. From Colombo Fort to Kankasanthurai [Intercity Express] – departing Colombo Fort at 0530 hrs on 11th and 18th April
9. From Kankasanthurai to Colombo Fort [Intercity Express] – departing Kankasanthurai at 1350 hrs on 11th and 18th April
10. From Beliatta to Colombo Fort – departing Beliatta at 0825 hrs on 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th and 20th April
Global stocks have sunk, a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that are forecast to raise prices and weigh on growth in the US and abroad.
Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell for a second day, hot on the heels of the US S&P 500, which had its worst day since Covid crashed the economy in 2020.
Nike, Apple and Target were among big consumer names worst hit, all of them sinking by more than 9%.
At the White House, Trump told reporters the US economy would “boom” thanks to the minimum 10% tariff he plans to slap on imports in the hope of boosting federal revenues and bringing American manufacturing home.
The Republican president plans to hit products from dozens of other countries with far higher levies, including trade partners such as China and the European Union. China, which is facing an aggregate 54% tariff, and the EU, which faces duties of 20%, both vowed retaliation on Thursday.
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries, and Trump’s plan that he announced on Wednesday would hike such duties to some of the highest levels in more than 100 years.
The World Trade Organization said it was “deeply concerned”, estimating trade volumes could shrink as a result by 1% this year.
Traders expressed concern that the tariffs could stoke inflation and stall growth.
In early trading on Friday, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.8%, the Kospi in South Korea was around 1% lower and Australia’s ASX 200 dipped by 1.4%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 – which tracks 500 of the biggest American firms – plunged 4.8%, shedding roughly $2tn in value.
The Dow Jones closed about 4% lower, while the Nasdaq tumbled roughly 6%. The US shares sell-off has been going on since mid-February amid trade war fears.
Earlier, the UK’s FTSE 100 share index dropped 1.5% and other European markets also fell, echoing declines from Japan to Hong Kong.
On Thursday at the White House, Trump doubled down on a high-stakes gambit aimed at reversing decades of US-led liberalisation that shaped the global trade order.
“I think it’s going very well,” he said. “It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on, and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.”
He added: “The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.”
Trump also said he was open to negotiating with trade partners on the tariffs “if somebody said we’re going to give you something that’s so phenomenal”.
On Thursday, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that country would retaliate with a 25% levy on vehicles imported from the US.
Trump last month imposed tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, though he did not announce any new duties on Wednesday against the North American trade partners.
Firms now face a choice of swallowing the tariff cost, working with partners to share that burden, or passing it on to consumers – and risking a drop in sales.
That could have a major impact as US consumer spending amounts to about 10% – 15% of the world economy, according to some estimates.
While stocks fell on Thursday, the price of gold, which is seen as a safer asset in times of turbulence, touched a record high of $3,167.57 an ounce at one point on Thursday, before falling back.
The dollar also weakened against many other currencies.
In Europe, the tariffs could drag down growth by nearly a percentage point, with a further hit if the bloc retaliates, according to analysts at Principal Asset Management.
In the US, a recession is likely to materialise without other changes, such as big tax cuts, which Trump has also promised, warned Seema Shah, chief global strategist at the firm.
She said Trump’s goals of boosting manufacturing would be a years-long process “if it happens at all”.
“In the meantime, the steep tariffs on imports are likely to be an immediate drag on the economy, with limited short-term benefit,” she said.
On Thursday, Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Fiat and other brands, said it was temporarily halting production at a factory in Toluca, Mexico and Windsor, Canada.
It said the move, a response to Trump’s 25% tax on car imports, would also lead to temporary layoffs of 900 people at five plants in the US that supply those factories.
On the stock market, Nike, which makes much of its sportswear in Asia, was among the hardest hit on the S&P, with shares down 14%.
Shares in Apple, which relies heavily on China and Taiwan, tumbled 9%.
Other retailers also fell, with Target down roughly 10%.
Motorbike maker Harley-Davidson – which was subject of retaliatory tariffs by the EU during Trump’s first term as president – fell 10%.
In Europe, shares in sportswear firm Adidas fell more than 10%, while stocks in rival Puma tumbled more than 9%.
Among luxury goods firms, jewellery maker Pandora fell more than 10%, and LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) dropped more than 3% after tariffs were imposed on the European Union and Switzerland.
“You’re seeing retailers get destroyed right now because tariffs extended to countries we did not expect,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategy at Freedom Capital Markets, adding that he expected more turbulence ahead.
[BBC]
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