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Pakistan pacers bowl out Bangladesh for 204
Shaheen Afridi (3/23), Mohammad Wasim Jr (3/31) and Haris Rauf (2/36) produced a riveting bowling display to bowl Bangladesh out for a low score of 2004 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday (October 31).
Opting to bat, Bangladesh only had four batters getting into double digits and none of them converted their starts into a substantial score. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals barring one partnership and Pakistan’s pacers extracted reverse swing at the back end to mop up the innings with 29 deliveries remaining.
Shakib Al Hasan’s decision at the toss probably had to do with how his team fared against Netherlands at the same venue a few days ago, where they couldn’t chase a below-par total. Given the slow nature of the surface, Bangladesh fancied doing what they generally do back home in white-ball cricket: put runs on the board and then use their bowling to defend on slow pitches. However, they got off to a shocking start as Afridi struck twice very early in the innings and went past 100 ODI wickets. He first got one to come back in to rap Tanzim Hasan LBW and then got Najmul Hossain Shanto to chip a dolly to short mid-wicket to give Pakistan the early advantage.
Rauf dealt the big blow as crisis-man Mushfiqur Rahim nicked one behind after having just struck the pacer for a glorious boundary on the off-side. At 23/3, Bangladesh were tottering. In a surprising yet logical move, Mahmudullah was promoted to no.5 and he combined for a 79-run stand with Litton Das as both batters weathered the initial storm. Despite the sluggish nature of the track, neither had any trouble in accumulating runs and they also managed to give some impetus to the Bangladesh innings. Just when they were set for a significant partnership, the part-time spin of Iftikhar Ahmed got Litton, this being another soft dismissal.
Once that partnership was broken, the run flow reduced significantly and although Shakib got some runs, the Bangladesh skipper’s stay at the crease was a scratchy one. He took a lot of time to settle in and wasn’t able to force the issue, except for a single over against Iftikhar. Pakistan’s bowlers used the pitch smartly, operating around the good length spot and allowing the variable bounce to do its bit. Mahmudullah looked set for a big score before he was opened up by Afridi in the pacer’s second spell. The innings nosedived after that with Afridi and Wasim Jr making full use of the reverse swing that was available.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz threw his bat around a bit and that’s primarily what got the total beyond 200, but that was little solace for Bangladesh who have produced another underwhelming performance. There was a baffling lack of clarity on pacing the innings and the two-paced nature of the pitch didn’t help their cause. Pakistan were relentless as they produced a complete bowling performance.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 204 in 45.1 overs (Mahmudullah 56, Litton Das 45; Shaheen Afridi 3-23, Mohammad Wasim Jr 3-31) vs Pakistan
(Cricbuzz)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur as part of a regional push to shore up Beijing’s trade relationships.
The diplomatic stop on Wednesday marks the second leg of Xi’s three-nation tour, which also includes Vietnam and Cambodia, and comes amid sharp tariffs imposed by the United States that are reshaping the global economic landscape.
Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Xi in a colourful ceremony at the golden-domed Istana Negara palace before his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the administrative capital of Putrajaya.
Xi touted a “new golden era” of Chinese-Malaysian relations, following the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year. The king announced new cooperation between the countries in various fields, including artificial intelligence.
“This is a hugely significant visit,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Putrajaya. “It takes place during this unprecedented trade war that is developing with the United States, with both Malaysia and China finding themselves in the middle.”
Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor in the department of international and strategic studies at Malaya University, said the visit offered a chance to “test the waters for regional solidarity” amid the US trade disruptions.
“It’s not just about friendship, it’s about realigning the regional centre of gravity towards Beijing,” she said.
Malaysia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, whose members are among the hardest hit by new US tariffs.
ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 percent tariffs, and Cambodia, a significant producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands, was hit with a 49 percent duty.
Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a lower tariff of 24 percent. Though the measures have been paused for 90 days, President Donald Trump has warned that no country is “off the hook”.
[Aljazeera]
Police urge motorists who intend to use the Ella – Wellawaya Road to use alternative roads as there is a severe vehicle congestion due to inclement weather condition.
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously backed the biological definition of “woman” under the 2010 Equality Act.
It marks the culmination of a long-running legal battle which could have major implications for how sex-based rights apply across Scotland, England and Wales.
Judges sided with campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought a case against the Scottish government arguing that sex-based protections should only apply to people that are born female.
Judge Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be seen as a triumph of one side over the other, and stressed that the law still gives protection against discrimination to transgender people.
The Scottish government argued in court that transgender people with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women.
The Supreme Court was asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Britain.
Lord Hodge said the central question was how the words “woman” and “sex” are defined in the legislation.
He told the court: “The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
“But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not.”
He added that the legislation gives transgender people “protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender”.
Campaigners who brought the case against the Scottish government hugged each other and punched the air as they left the courtroom, with several of them in tears.
The Equality Act provides protection against discrimination on the basis of various characteristics, including “sex” and “gender reassignment”.
Judges at the Supreme Court in London were asked to rule on what that law means by “sex” – whether it means biological sex, or legal, “certificated” sex as defined by the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
The Scottish government argued the 2004 legislation was clear that obtaining a GRC amounts to a change of sex “for all purposes”.
For Women Scotland argued for a “common sense” interpretation of the words man and woman, telling the court that sex is an “immutable biological state”.
Outside the Supreme Court, For Women Scotland co-founder Susan Smith said: “Today the judges have said what we always believed to be the case, that women are protected by their biological sex.
“Sex is real and women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women and we are enormously grateful to the Supreme Court for this ruling.”
A UK government spokesman said: “This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the ruling as a “victory for all of the women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious”.
But Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: “This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.
“It could remove important protections and will leave many trans people and their loved ones deeply anxious and worried about how their lives will be affected and about what will come next.”
The Scottish government has not yet commented on the ruling.
[BBC]
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