Sports
Shahidi-Omarzai century stand helps Afghanistan post 272
A century partnership between Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) rescued Afghanistan from a precarious 63/3 against India but Jasprit Bumrah’s best World Cup haul of 4-39 only allowed them to finish with 272/8 in Delhi. The two half-centurions managed to keep the Indian attack at bay for the majority of the middle overs, however once the partnership was broken, Afghanistan couldn’t quite get going again at death.
In a four-over opening spell that consisted of 19 dots, Bumrah drew first blood when he nipped the threat of a promising stand in the bud with the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran. The Afghanistan opener escaped a close LBW call despite India’s review, but Bumrah eventually had him nicking behind after a handful of fluent drives in his 22. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who welcomed Shardul Thakur into the attack with a six, brought up his team’s 50 in the 11th over but was bounced out by Hardik Pandya soon after to dent another budding partnership early. Two balls later, Thakur trapped Rahmat Shah in front to reduce Afghanistan to 63/3 just after the drinks break.
The fourth-wicket stand of 121 between Shahidi and a promoted Omarzai helped Afghanistan recover from those early jitters. The pair did take their time settling in before stepping on the accelerator though. Besides a calculated risk Shahidi took in slogsweeping Ravindra Jadeja, because he knew India had one less fielder inside the ring, Afghanistan had gone 11 overs without a boundary. Azmatullah broke the shackles finally in the 25th over when he took on Kuldeep, lofting him down the ground twice in three balls to bring up the half-century of the partnership. Over the next 10 overs, Afghanistan amped up their run-rate by scoring 89 runs. The duo won the middle-overs battle, getting to their respective half-centuries en route Afghanistan’s second best stand in World Cups.
While Shahidi duly punished the two short balls from Pandya – a four and a six – to reach his half-century, the India vice-captain made amends in the next over as he cleaned up Omarzai to break the stubborn partnership. Afghanistan failed to find similar momentum again with Kuldeep returning into the attack to slow them down further. After troubling the Afghanistan skipper a few times, the spinner finally had him trapped LBW on 80 to wrap up a fine spell of 10-0-40-1.
Bumrah’s return at death spelled further trouble. From 184 for 3 in the 35th over, Afghanistan slipped to 235/7 as India’s lead pacer accounted for both of Afghanistan’s big-hitters – Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi – in the same over. Mujeeb ur Rahman and Rashid Khan briefly went after pace, but Bumrah struck again to end the latter’s entertaining cameo 16 in the penultimate over, restricting the visitors.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 272/8 in 50 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 80, Azmatullah Omarzai 62; Jasprit Bumrah 4-39, Hardik Pandya 2-43) vs India
(Cricbuzz)
Chamari Athapaththu’s all-round show helped Sri Lanka level the ODI series against Bangladesh in Rajshahi. The visitors won by four wickets after chasing down the home side’s sub-par 165 all out in 45.5 overs.
Athapaththu, who had missed the first match due to a finger injury, roared back into action with three wickets. She started off with Sarmin Sultana’s wicket in the 16th over, although the batter expressed her disbelief at the umpire’s lbw decision against her. Athapaththu then removed Sobhana Mostary in her next over by having her caught at square leg.
Nilakshika Silva then took a brilliant catch at mid-off to help Athapaththu take her third wicket when Ritu Moni had mistimed a cover drive in the 31st over. Sharmin Akhter, Bangladesh’s top-scorer from the first ODI, fell for a duck to Malki Madara in the fifth over.
Captain Nigar Sultana top-scored on Wednesday with 58 off 101 balls with four boundaries. She had little support at the other end, before Nimesha Meepage had her caught behind in the 41st over.
Madara, Meepage and Inoka Ranaweera took two wickets each while Kavisha Dilhari picked up one.
During the chase, Athapaththu dominated the Bangladesh attack despite little support from her top order. She made 40 off 39 balls with eight fours, before falling to left-arm spinner Nahida Akhter in the 17th over. Nahida gave her a send-off, with Athapaththu staring back at her for several seconds before walking off.
Harshitha Samarawickrema and Hansima Karunaratne then added 79 runs for the fourth wicket to get Sri Lanka close to the 166-run target. Samarawickrama made 50 off 76 balls with seven fours, while Karunaratne struck six fours in her 40 off 64 balls.
Nahida removed both batters, before getting Kaushini Nuthyangana to complete her four-wicket haul. Sultana Khatun and Moni, meanwhile, took one wicket each.
The third and final ODI of the three-match series will also be held in Rajshahi, on April 25.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women
166 for 6 in 38.2 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 40, Harshitha Samarawickrama 50, Hansima Karunaratne 40; Sultana Khatun 1-36, Ritu Moni 1-27, Nahida Akter 4-21) beat Bangladesh Women 165 in 45.5 overs (Sarmin Sultana 25, Nigar Sultana 58, Nahider Akter 20; Malki Madara 2-30, Nimesha Meepage 2-29, Inoka Ranaweera 2-28, Chamari Athapaththu 3-36, ) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 will be held from 10th July to 5 August 2026.
The sixth edition of the much-anticipated T20 league will be played across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RPICS, Colombo; PICS, Pallekele; and RDICS, Dambulla.
The online portal for foreign player registration will open on 4th May 2026.
The tournament will be conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder of the tournament.
The Lanka Premier League, Sri Lanka’s premier domestic T20 tournament with an international flavor, was launched in 2020.
Samantha Dodanwela, who is an Executive Committee Member of the SLC, will continue to function as the Tournament Director.
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