Sports
New Zealand take 1-0 lead after Sodhi’s career-best show
Ish Sodhi’s career-best performance (6-39) in ODI cricket set up New Zealand’s 86-run victory in the second ODI against Bangladesh as they took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. After a useful contribution with the bat that lifted New Zealand to 254, Sodhi bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs to skittle Bangladesh out for 168 in Dhaka on Saturday (September 23).
Litton Das reviewed in the very first over of the chase to reverse a leg-before decision after being struck on the pad by Trent Boult. The openers, though, weren’t able to score freely as Boult and Kyle Jamieson bowled in the right channels to keep Litton and Tamim Iqbal in check. New Zealand reaped the reward soon as Litton, in his attempt to upper-cut a Jamieson delivery, was caught at third man. Tamim, who was on 10 off 20 at that stage, picked up pace with his scoring with regular boundaries – including three in an over off Jamieson.
Tanzid Hasan also dealt in fours before Sodhi ended a promising stand by having the No.3 caught at mid off. Soumya Sarkar fell for a two-ball duck, handing a catch back to Sodhi in the same over. Sodhi bagged his third as he had Towhid Hridoy bowled with a wrong ‘un. The senior pair of Tamim and Mahmudullah tried to steady the ship but their partnership ended on 22 as Sodhi struck again. Attempting a sweep, Tamim got a bit of a glove through to the ‘keeper. The onfield decision was not out and New Zealand took the review but Tamim decided to walk, departing for 44 to leave Bangladesh at 92/5.
Mahedi Hasan got an lbw decision overturned and then put on a 42-run partnership with Mahmudullah as they tried to get Bangladesh back in the chase. However, their association was ended by Sodhi as he had Mahedi bowled for 17. A few overs later Mahmudullah was dismissed by Cole McConchie on 49, caught at backward square leg. Sodhi returned to the attack and picked up his sixth, getting Hasan Mahmud bowled with a googly. Jamieson and Ferguson cleaned up the tail as New Zealand secured a facile win, ending Bangladesh’s innings in the 42nd over.
Earlier, Bangladesh’s pacers and spinners complemented each other well as they combined to restrict New Zealand with disciplined bowling. Mahedi and debutant Khaled Ahmed picked up three wickets each after Mustafizur Rahman made early inroads with a couple of scalps. Tom Blundell resurrected the innings with a 66-ball 68 and put on 95 for the fourth wicket with Henry Nicholls (49). But Bangladesh hit back with quick wickets and it took Ish Sodhi’s 35 to help them past the 250 mark.
After New Zealand skipper Lockie Ferguson decided to bat first, New Zealand suffered early setbacks as Will Young departed for an 8-ball duck, edging a Mustafizur delivery to the ‘keeper, and the left-arm seamer also accounted for Finn Allen, getting him to edge to slip. Chad Bowes, who looked in good touch, was the next to depart as he flicked Khaled’s short delivery straight to square leg. A good partnership between Blundell and Nicholls ensued, with timely boundaries and smart rotation of strike helping build the fourth wicket stand. But Nicholls missed out on a fifty by a solitary run, getting an edge off Khaled. Rachin Ravindra began in a positive manner while Blundell hit the first six of the innings as they added 26 before Mahedi ended Ravindra’s stay. Mahmud then bagged the important wicket of Blundell and McConchie was out lbw to Nasum Ahmed as Bangladesh reduced New Zealand to 187/7.
New Zealand received some much needed impetus in the death overs through Jamieson and Sodhi as they pressed on the accelerator. The eighth wicket stand, however, came to an end on 32 when Mahedi outsmarted Jamieson. In late drama, Mahmud had Sodhi, who had ventured out of the crease, run out at the non-striker’s end but captain Litton Das decided to call back the batter. Ferguson scored some useful runs as he struck a four and a six before getting out stumped off Mahedi. Sodhi then hit a six off Mahedi, who finished with career-best figures of 3-45. Sodhi got his third six when Sarkar parried the ball over the boundary in the final over but Khaled ended his stay soon after, having him caught behind to pick up his third – with Bangladesh having to use a review.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 254 in 49.2 overs (Tom Blundell 68, Henry Nicholls 49; Mahedi Hasan 3-45, Khaled Ahmed 3-60) beat Bangladesh 168 in 41.1 overs (Mahmudullah 49, Tamim Iqbal 44; Ish Sodhi 6-39) by 86 runs.
(Cricbuzz)
It is understood the ICC has told the BCB to inform the Bangladesh government that if Bangladesh continues to refuse to travel to India to play its matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup, then they will be replaced by another team at the tournament. That decision was followed by a vote, where the majority of the ICC Board was in favour of having a replacement.
BCB have been given one more day to come back to the ICC on its stance on playing in India.
If that is the case, then Scotland is likely to replace Bangladesh in Group C at the World Cup. Scotland had failed to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup, having finished behind Netherlands, Italy and Jersey at the European Qualifier.
[Cricinfo]
Harry Brook admits he was fortunate to keep his job as white-ball captain following a latte night alteraction with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, and says he is in the process of regaining the trust of his team.
Brook, now in Sri Lanka for England’s ODI series which gets underway on Thursday, was speaking for the first time since news broke that he had been disciplined for the incident in Wellington in October, for which he was fined £30,000 and put on a final warning for his off-field conduct.
“Obviously I made a terrible mistake,” Brook said. “Not only as a player, but as a captain. It’s very unprofessional and I should be leading from the front. “I’ve learnt from my mistakes, I’ve reflected a lot on what’s happened and I know it wasn’t the right thing to do. I want to say sorry to my team-mates, to all the fans that travel far and wide to watch, spend a lot of money on coming out to watch us play cricket and supporting us, and to the ECB for putting them in a tricky situation, and it’ll never happen again. I’m extremely sorry.”
Brook, along with a number of other England players, had been out drinking the night before the third ODI against New Zealand, with the match the final competitive fixture for England before the Ashes began three weeks later.
Brook, who says he then went on his own to a nightclub, says he was “clocked” by a bouncer when attempting to get in.
“We went out for a couple of drinks beforehand and then I took it upon myself to go out for a few more and I was on my own there,” Brook said. “I was trying to get into a club and the bouncer just clocked me, unfortunately. Like I said, I shouldn’t have been in that situation from the start. I wasn’t absolutely leathered, I’d had one too many drinks.”
Brook reported his actions to the management mid-game the next day, and came close to being sacked from his position as captain as a result.
“It was definitely going through my mind,” Brook said of the potential that he would lose his job, before adding that he had not at any stage considered resigning. “Never came into my mind. I left that decision to the hierarchy and, look, if they’d have sacked me from being captain, then I’d have been perfectly fine with it, as long as I was still playing cricket for England.
“Probably, yeah,” he added, when asked if he felt lucky to keep his job. “I think I’ve got a little bit of work to do to try and regain the trust of the players. I said sorry to them yesterday. I felt like I needed to say sorry for my actions. It’s not acceptable as a player, but as a captain it’s really not acceptable to do what I did in New Zealand. I’ll be the first person to say that. I hold my hands up.”
In the aftermath of the incident, which was kept private by England until after the Ashes had concluded, Brook sought help from Test captain Ben Stokes, who himself was involved in a high-profile nightclub fight in 2018.
“He obviously wasn’t best pleased at what I’d done,” Brook said. “But he tried to help me through it and he knows exactly what it feels like to be in this situation. We had a few conversations, but we quickly moved on.”
The news broke amid allegations of a drinking culture in English cricket, after players were regularly seen drinking alcohol during England’s tour of Australia.
“No, there’s no drinking culture at all,” Brook said. “Like I said, everybody has the ability to say no. If you want a drink, if you don’t want a drink, you’re allowed to make that decision yourself.
“It wasn’t just drinking [in Australia]. We weren’t just going out and getting leathered every day. We were having a few drinks here and there. We were playing plenty of golf, going to nice cafes, having coffees but we had a few drinks here and there. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s just what human beings do.”
Despite this, England have introduced a curfew for their tour of Sri Lanka, with playing staff not allowed out past midnight.
“That’s been made as a group decision,” Brook said. “We think that it’s the best thing going forward, for the time being, to be able to put us in situations where we can win games of cricket and perform to the best of our ability.”
England play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday in Colombo, before playing three T20Is ahead of next month’s World Cup. England have struggled of late in the 50-over format, losing 11 of their past 15 matches. That poor run of form will add extra pressure to the position of head coach Brendon McCullum, whom Brook threw his support behind, calling him “the best head coach I’ve had by a million miles”.
England have made a number of changes to their team since their last outing against New Zealand three months ago, with the return of Zak Crawley to the top of the order the most noticeable change. Crawley replaces Jamie Smith as opener, and will play his first List A game in over two years, having last played for England in December 2023. Elsewhere, Liam Dawson has been selected as the second spinner to accompany Adil Rashid in the middle-overs.
England : Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
[Cricinfo]
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pavan Rathnayake, Dhananjaya de Silva, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Eshan Malinga.
ICC board votes to replace Bangladesh if they don’t travel to India
Sri Lanka is an example of hope, recovery and resilience in a world of conflict – PM
Brook needs to ‘regain trust of players’ after New Zealand nightclub incident
Navy seizes 02 Indian fishing boats poaching in northern waters
Prime Minister participates in high-level bilateral meetings at World Economic Forum
Dushmantha Chameera, Dhananjaya de Silva return for England ODIs
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Editorial4 days agoIllusory rule of law
-
News5 days agoUNDP’s assessment confirms widespread economic fallout from Cyclone Ditwah
-
Business7 days agoKoaloo.Fi and Stredge forge strategic partnership to offer businesses sustainable supply chain solutions
-
Editorial5 days agoCrime and cops
-
Features4 days agoDaydreams on a winter’s day
-
Editorial6 days agoThe Chakka Clash
-
Features4 days agoSurprise move of both the Minister and myself from Agriculture to Education
-
Features3 days agoExtended mind thesis:A Buddhist perspective