Sports
Ebadot Hossain headlines Bangladesh’s historic Test win
‘January 5, 2022’ The day would be reverberated in Bangladesh’s cricket history for generations to come. In what turned out to be one of those believe-it-or-not moments in the history of Test cricket, Ebadot Hossain ripped through the heart of New Zealand’s batting unit to pick up a six-for and power the visitors to an unforgettable eight-wicket victory against the World Test Champions at Bay Oval. Just for the record, it was their first Test win in New Zealand and also their first Test victory against New Zealand.
As the final day began, New Zealand were already in tatters at 147 for 5 and their hopes of clawing back into the game rested on the shoulders of the veteran Ross Taylor. However, Ebadot shattered New Zealand’s hopes by castling Taylor. He followed up an away-going delivery with the one that nipped back in a touch to sneak through the defence of Taylor. There was also the customary salute from the paceman as Taylor slowly trudged his way back to the pavilion. A lot of Ebadot’s success in the fixture was down to his ability to generate swing with the old ball and how well he used the crease.
It felt like a knockout punch for New Zealand and it didn’t take long for the pace pair of Ebadot and Taskin Ahmed to run through the rest of the lower order. Kyle Jamieson chipped one to midwicket while Rachin Ravindra fell to a tempter outside off. Taskin then cleaned up Tim Southee to make it nine down.
For a while the last pair of Trent Boult and Neil Wagner resisted. Boult also showed a bit of pyrotechnics by cracking a couple of boundaries. However, by then, it was quite clear that it was just a matter of time before Bangladesh would pick up the last wicket. Eventually, it came in the 74th over when Boult holed out to the substitute fielder Taijul Islam at deep midwicket.
Bangladesh did lose Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain in their small chase but a target of 40 was never going to test the Asian nation. It was perhaps a fitting moment that the most experienced cricketer of the side – Mushfiqur Rahim – provided the finishing touches by cracking a cut off Kyle Jamieson. The sun was shining at Mount Maunganui. It was also shining brightly on Bangladesh’s players as the entire setup celebrated on the balcony.
It wasn’t just one cricketer who played a major part in Bangladesh’s historic win. Mominul Haque and Liton Das were also the cornerstones of the victory as the pair shared a crucial alliance of 158 for the fifth wicket in the first innings. Shoriful Islam, Hasan Joy, Najmul Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan also made useful contributions.
Meanwhile, New Zealand would rue the fact that they were relatively well-placed at 227 for 3 in the first innings, only to be bowled out for 328. Even in the second innings, the hosts had got into the lead for the loss of just two wickets when Ebadot engineered a collapse.
(Cricbuzz)
Delhi Capitals’ (DC) signing of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizure Rahman for the remainder of IPL 2025 has hit a snag, with the BCB stating that it hasn’t been approached for a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Usually, the IPL only announces signings after a player has received an NOC from his home board. According to its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, however, the BCB had yet to receive a request for one.
“Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday. “We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I have also not received any such official communication from Mustafizur either.”
Mustafizur is part of the Bangladesh T20I squad that is due to play back-to-back away T20I series against UAE and Pakistan, both of which clash with the IPL. On Wednesday, hours after the IPL announced his signing as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mustafizur flew out to Dubai with the rest of Bangladesh’s squad.
Bangladesh are due to play two T20Is in the UAE on May 17 and 19, followed by five in Pakistan on May 25, 27 and 30, and June 1 and 3. Those two series are in conflict with the IPL; DC are set to play their last three league matches on May 18, 21 and 24, followed by the playoffs should they get there.
ESPNcricinfo has sought a response from DC on this development.
[Cricinfo]
Sprinter Aruna Dharshana who is undergoing treatments for an injury he sustained during the World Relays, is racing against time to recover for the Asian Athletics Championships which will be held in South Korea later this month.
The 400 metres specialist is one of the two sprinters slated to compete in the one lap race. He is also a key member of the men’s 4×400 metres and 4×400 metres mixed relays alongside Kalinga Kumarage.
“Currently Dharshana is undergoing treatments. We are hopeful that he will recover in time for the Asian Championships,” Dharshana’s coach Asanka Rajakaruna told ‘The Island’.
“Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct a fitness test before the Asian Championships. Hopefully he will be ready by that time,” said Rajakaruna.
Sri Lanka Athletics earlier said that a fitness test will be held to assess the strength of the 20 strong team selected for the biennial event.
Sri Lanka fielded only a mixed relay team for the recently held World Relays in Guangzhou, China where an injury to Dharshana cost them a chance to achieve a top performance and a probable ticket to the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
Sri Lanka won a historic gold medal in the men’s 4×400 metres at the last edition of the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok Thailand where the team inclusive of Dharshana beat India to the second place with a new championship record time of 03:01.56 seconds.
Kalinga Kumarage who did the anchor leg and Dharshana are the only members from that gold winning team selected for the upcoming event.
Dharshana is the only Sri Lankan athlete to have clocked sub 45 seconds in the 400 metres after legendary Sugath Thilakaratne.
Dharshana and Kumarage hold the second and third places respectively in the list of fastest times achieved in the 400 metres by Sri Lankan athletes. Dharshana has a personal best of 44.99 seconds achieved during the last Olympic games.
by Reemus Fernando
110th Colombo Championships
Dinara de Silva bagged her second title of the Colombo Championships as she partnered Inuki Jayaweera to record straight sets victory in the women’s doubles final played at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Wednesday.
Dinara and Inuki beat Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles final.
Incidentally, it was the second title of the tournament for both Dinara and Inuki.
While Dinara won the women’s singles and doubles titles, Inuki was the winner of the mixed doubles and the women’s doubles.
Women’s doubles results
Semi-finals
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala 6-3, 6-2
Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi beat Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya 6-3, 6-0.
Quarter-finals
Venuli Jayasinghe and S. Usgodaarachchi beat Tuvini de Alwis and Hasali Gajaba 6-4, 5-7, 10-3.
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Nimasha Shehara and Arushi Thomas 6-1, 6-3.
Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala beat Diyansa de Silva and Lihini Jayakody 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya received a walkover from Gehansa Methnadi and Akeesha Silva.
NOC issue, fixture clash put Mustafizur’s IPL participation in doubt
Presidential secretariat launches initiative to install sanitation facilities at fuel stations under “Clean Sri Lanka”
Financial assistance from the President’s Fund for next of kin of victims of the Kotmale bus accident disbursed through Divisional Secretariats
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