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Taijul takes five as Zimbabwe collapse after bright start to second Test
Taijul Islam sparked Zimbabwe’s batting collapse on the first day of the second Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, in Chattogram. He took the 16th five-wicket haul of his career, finishing the day with 5 for 60. The visitors were steadily batting at 200 for 4 at one stage, before Taijul got into the act with three quick wickets and a run-out. Zimbabwe eventually finished day one on 227 for 9, a far cry from how positively they had started their innings.
Sean Williams top-scored with 67, while Nick Welch got 54, before cramps on his hands forced him off the field shortly after tea. Welch was Taijul’s fifth wicket. Meanwhile, Nayeem Hasan picked up two wickets, and debutant Tanzim Hasan took one.
Zimbabwe began brightly, with Brian Bennett striking five boundaries in the first ten overs. He was lucky with the first one, but it was followed by a scrumptious straight drive, and his trademark cover drive. But once again, Bennett got caught behind trying to drive on the up to give Tanzim his first Test wicket.
Bangladesh could have had their second in a short span, but Shadman Islam dropped a sitter to give Welch a life in the 14th over. At that time, Welch was on 1. Shortly afterwards, Ben Curran and Welch went on a six-hitting spree. Curran slammed Mehidy Hasan Miraz over midwicket before Welch stunned Tanzim with a pull that produced a sweet sound off the bat. Welch followed it up with a slog-swept six against Mehidy in the following over.
Taijul removed Curran shortly afterwards, getting him to inside edge the ball on to his leg stump for 21 off 50 balls. But Zimbabwe consolidated by not losing a single wicket in the second session. Welch, who had struck a few boundaries in the morning, was more circumspect in the afternoon, adding just 22 runs in 77 balls after lunch. Williams, though, dominated their third-wicket partnership, hitting six fours during this time at the crease.
Williams struck the ball sweetly through the covers for two boundaries, apart from two more through point, and on the leg side each. His only six came against Mehidy, as he skipped down the wicket to deposit him over long-on.
Williams and Welch got into a mix-up once in the 33rd over, but Bangladesh messed up the chance with poor communication among themselves. First, the point fielder threw at the wrong end. Wicketkeeper Jaker Ali, to whom the throw went, in turn threw poorly towards the non-striker’s end while Williams struggled to get back. Zimbabwe’s only worry towards the end of the second session was Williams and Welch both suffering cramps. Williams needed attention on his calf and hamstring, while Welch’s hands were cramping up.
Welch, however, didn’t last long after tea, when he walked off with cramps after just playing one ball. Nayeem then got into the act, removing the Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine for 5. Williams was next to go, Tanzim taking the catch brilliantly at backward square leg. He struck a six and seven fours in his patient 67 off 166 balls.
Bangladesh conceded just 18 runs in the first 16 overs of the final session, before Wessly Madhevere struck a couple of boundaries against Nayeem. Taijul, however, removed Madhevere with a beautiful delivery that spun slightly away, and dismissed him for 15.
Taijul continued Zimbabwe’s collapse with the wickets of Wellington Masakadza and Richard Ngarava in the first over with the second new ball. Tafadzwa Tsiga was run-out after falling way short of the crease at the non-striker’s end, before Welch returned to the crease to continue his innings. It didn’t last long, though, as Taijul bowled him to complete his five-for.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 227 for 9 in 90 overs (Brian Bennett 21, Ben Curran 21, Sean Williams 67, Nick Welch 54, Taijul Islam 5-60, Nayem Hasan 2-42) vs Bangladesh
[Cricinfo]
Donald Trump has stressed that any deal with Iran must result in the country’s “unconditional surrender”, setting maximalist war objectives for the United States.
The US president’s remarks on his Truth Social platform on Friday appear to reject the prospect of a compromise amid Iranian confirmation of diplomatic mediation to end the conflict.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote.
“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had said earlier that some countries are engaging in mediation efforts to end the war, emphasising that Iran is committed to peace in the region but prepared to defend itself.
“Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict,” Pezeshkian said in a social media statement.
The conflict has spread across the Middle East, igniting Iranian attacks across the Gulf and a war between Hezbollah and Israel, resulting in a mass displacement crisis in Lebanon.
Iran has been launching missiles and drones at Israel and US interests and assets across the region. Iranian forces have also targeted energy and civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries, straining ties with the Arab world.
The violence, which saw Iran largely succeed in closing down the Strait of Hormuz, has sent oil prices soaring globally.
Iranian officials have expressed defiance since the start of the war, stressing that they are ready for a long conflict and prepared to fend off a US ground invasion should it occur.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a message to Trump on Thursday that the US plan for a “clean rapid military victory failed”.
“Your Plan B will be even a bigger failure,” Araghchi wrote on X.
On Friday, Iran’s top diplomat posted a photo of the coffins of a mother and child, the apparent victims of US-Israeli attacks. “Our Brave and Powerful Armed Forces will avenge each and every Iranian mother, father, and child who has been targeted by hostile forces,” Araghchi wrote.
The war has killed at least 1,332 people in Iran, among them 181 children, according to UNICEF.
The deadliest incident was a strike on a girls’ primary school in the southern city of Minab on the opening day of the conflict, which Iranian authorities said killed about 180 pupils and staff.
The Trump administration has pushed to project confidence and dominance over Iran, with top officials saying that the US would “rain missiles”, “death and destruction” on the country.
In recent days, Trump has repeatedly said that he would like to replicate the Venezuela playbook in Iran – keeping the governing system in place but installing a leader who is friendly to US interests.
On Wednesday, Trump said he has to be “involved” in choosing the successor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli attack on Saturday.
Trump told CNN later on Thursday that the situation in Iran is going to work “easily” like it did in Venezuela when Delcy Rodigues replaced President Nicolas Maduro after he was abducted by US forces in January.
Rodriguez, who previously served as Maduro’s vice president, has allowed Washington to sell Venezuela’s oil and cut off petroleum supplies to Cuba under the threat of further US strikes.
Trump said he does not mind of the next leader of Iran is a religious figure.
“I’m saying there has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just. Do a great job. Treat the United States and Israel well, and treat the other countries in the Middle East — they’re all our partners,” he told CNN.
The supreme leader of Iran must be a Shia Muslim religious scholar.
Khamenei’s successor will be selected by an elected council of 88 members known as the Assembly of Experts.
[Aljazeera]
A tiny possum with one extra-long finger on each hand is one of two species thought to have been extinct that have been discovered in West Papua, in what’s been called an “exceptional” scientific discovery.
The other is a a ring-tailed glider with a tail that can grasp branches. Both have been found living in remote rainforests after they were thought to have disappeared 6,000 years ago.
Finding living examples of a lost species is rare, but discovering two is “remarkable,” say scientists who published their findings in the Records of the Australian Museum journal on Friday.
Such discoveries are known as “lazarus taxon”, a term inspired by a biblical figure who was raised from the dead.
“The discovery of one lazarus taxon… is an exceptional discovery,” said Prof Tim Flannery, a prominent Australian scientist best known for his 2005 The Weather Makers book about climate change.
“But the discovery of two species, thought to have been extinct for thousands of years, is remarkable.”
The first rediscovered species was the pygmy long-fingered possum, a striped marsupial weighing about 200g, which is understood to have vanished from Australia during the Ice Age.
A distinguishing feature is that on each hand, the possum’s fourth finger is twice the length of other digits, which scientists say help it dig out wood-boring insect larvae, it’s main source of food.
The second species is the ring-tailed glider, and just like its Australian cousin the greater glider, it lives in the hollows of tall trees.
The discoveries were made by piecing together parts of a puzzle with scientists combing through decades-old fossils, rare photos and old specimens to gather clues before making visits to remote New Guinea locations.
Flannery, along with another of the paper’s co-authors Prof Kris Helgen and researchers from the University of Papau, spoke to local elders from the Tambrauw and Maybrat clans – some of whom have only had contact with the modern world since the 1960s.
Identification of the species would not have been possible without their help, according to Rika Korain, a Maybrat woman and another co-author.
“They’re very traditional people,” Flannery added, and regard the glider as so sacred that “not only won’t they hunt it, they won’t mention its name”.
But the gliders habitat was increasingly coming under threat from logging in the area, Flannery said.
This, in part, has prompted efforts by scientists and wildlife groups to try secure native title for the forests to ensure logging cannot be carried out without consent from locals, he said.
(BBC)
The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon this week has risen to at least 123 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health says, as a new wave of strikes pounded the country and Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5km (3 miles) of their northern border, in one of the fiercest fronts in the wider United States – Israel war on Iran.
“The toll from the Israeli aggression on Monday, increased to 123 martyrs and 683 wounded,” a ministry statement said on Thursday.
Lebanese state media said early on Friday that Israel had launched air strikes on several towns in southern Lebanon.
“Enemy warplanes launched nighttime strikes on the towns of Srifa, Aita al-Shaab, Touline, as-Sawana and Majdal Selem,” the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Another strike hit the eastern Lebanese town of Douris at dawn, the NNA said.
The Israeli army also reported a new attack on the suburb of Dahiyeh in Beirut.
It has also continued attacks in southern Lebanon with raids on the area’s biggest city Sidon, according to sources on the ground.
NNA also reported Israeli warplanes over the southern towns of Tyre and Bint Jbeil.
(Aljazeera)
‘No deal with Iran except unconditional surrender,’ Trump says
Tiny possum and glider thought extinct for 6,000 years found in remote West Papua
Maldives Coast Guard Ship Huravee departs island
Cost to US for war on Iran is $3.7bn in first 100 hours, says think tank
More than 120 killed in Israel’s Lebanon attacks as Beirut, south, east hit
Hungary confirms it is holding seven Ukrainian bank workers and $80m
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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