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Sarkar, Saif carry Bangladesh to series victory over West Indies
Bangladesh blazed a hole through West Indies in a 179-run win in the third ODI, achieving their first series victory since March last year. Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar put together a scintillating 176-run opening stand which provided the backbone for Bangladesh’s 296 for 8. The visitors lasted 30.1 overs, getting bowled out for 117 in reply.
Rishad Hossain claimed three wickets to take his series haul to 12, becoming the first Bangladesh bowler since 2015 to take more than ten wickets in a bilateral ODI series. Nasum Ahmed also picked up three wickets while Tanvir Islam finished with 8-0-16-2.
Bangladesh got off to a fast start, unusual for this series as it was played on mostly dark, cracked, spin-dominated pitches. Sarkar (91 off 86) and Saif (80 off 72) went on a boundary spree that lasted 25 overs. The two stylish batters matched each other stroke for stroke as they raised Bangladesh’s second highest opening partnership in ODIs and the first century opening stand at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in ten years. .
Saif struck Akeal Hosein for two fours in the first over, followed by his first six in the left-arm spinner’s next over. That inside-out strike over the covers set off the big-hitting spree. Sarkar struck Roston Chase for two sixes, both reverse-hits early in the innings. Saif focused on hitting straight, blazing Chase for his second six before he overturned an on-field lbw decision when he was on 28 and extended his innings.
Justin Greaves broke a sequence of 59 consecutive overs of spin from West Indies, across two matches, and Sarkar welcomed him with two fours through fine leg. Saif, then, played the shot of the innings. He charged Greaves who tried to cramp him, but the batter backed himself and the result was a lovely high-elbow loft that went for a big six down the ground.
Saif struck two boundaries in the 16th over, one bringing up Bangladesh’s 100-run opening stand, and the next one taking him to his maiden fifty. Sarkar wasn’t done at the other end. He slammed Khary Pierre for a straight six before he went after Motie with a six and four in the 25th over. Just like that he was into the nineties.
Chase ended the opening stand in the 26th over when he had Saif caught at long-on. Sarkar was left distraught when he also holed out in the deep, at midwicket, nine short of his fourth ODI ton.
The rest of the Bangladesh batters couldn’t quite do justice to the Saif-Sarkar double act. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy added 50 runs for the third wicket. Alick Athanaze took a tremendous catch to remove Shanto, running back from his bowling mark before diving full length.
West Indies had a bit of respite when Hosein removed Mahidul Islam, Rishad and Nasum, all in the 46th over. Still, Bangladesh’s 296 – which included a record equalling 14 sixes – looked like a formidable total on the Dhaka surface.
West Indies never got their chase going, as they ran into Nasum who took their first three wickets. Athanaze fell lbw trying to paddle Nasum in the fifth over, before Ackeem Auguste, playing a similar shot, also fell lbw for a duck.
Brandon King, who struck a six and two fours, was Nasum’s third wicket, bowled for 18. Shai Hope fell for just 4, mishitting Tanvir Islam in the 14th over. Sherfane Rutherford became Rishad’s first wicket, when he inside-edged one to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at midwicket, having made 12. He had a particularly poor ODI series.
West Indies’ lower half caved in steadily. Rishad bowled a full toss and had Chase out for a duck, before trapping Gudakesh Motie for his third. After winning the first ODI and losing the second in a Super Over, the emphatic victory in the third match sealed the series 2-1 for Bangladesh.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 296 for 8 in50 overs (Saif Hasan 80, Soumya Sarkar 91, Najmul Hossain Shanto 44; Akeal Hosein 4-41, Alick Athanaze 2-37) beat West Indies 117 in 30.1 overs (Akeal Hosein 27; Nasum Ahmed 3-11, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-35, Tanvir Islam 2-16, Rishad Hossain 3-54) by 179 runs
[Cricinfo]
Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.
With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.
But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.
“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.
“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”
Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.
It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.
One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.
Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.
“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”
CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.
“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”
All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.
Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.
With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.
England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.
“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.
That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”
The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.
[Cricinfo]
Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a global journalist union.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the region accounted for 74 deaths last year – more than half of the 128 journalists and media workers killed – in a new report released on Wednesday.
The Middle East was followed by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), according to the report. The vast majority of those killed were men, but the list included 10 women.
“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic; it is a global crisis. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.
Palestinian journalists were the biggest cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals were killed in 2025. Yemen followed, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, according to the IFJ.
The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine last year covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside several colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
The attack also killed Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, Al Jazeera camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, freelance camera operator Momen Aliwa and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi.
IFJ also cited an Israeli strike in early September on a Yemeni newspaper office as “one of the worst-ever attacks on a media office”. Thirteen journalists and media workers at the Houthi-affiliated “26 September” newspaper were killed, along with more than 20 other people.
Another nine deaths were ruled as accidents, while others – including two journalists in Syria and two in Iran – were “targeted and killed” because of their work, IFJ said.
While the Middle East was the deadliest region for the third year in a row in 2025, the Asia Pacific accounted for the largest number of journalists and media workers behind bars. Most cases in 2025 were in China and Hong Kong, which together accounted for 143 journalists, followed by 49 in Myanmar and 37 in Vietnam.
Europe was another detention hotspot last year, accounting for 149 imprisoned journalists. IFJ attributed the figure, up 40 percent from a year earlier, to “intensified repression in Azerbaijan and Russia”.
[Aljazeera]
United States President Donald Trump has said that he will delay the implementation of tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for one year, amid growing concerns over cost-of-living issues.
Trump signed an order on Wednesday night, during the New Year’s Eve holiday, pausing a planned 50 percent tariff on cabinets and vanities and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.
But the order maintained the 25 percent tariff he put in place for those products in September.
The US president had previously described the furniture tariffs as a step to “bolster American industry and protect national security”.
Polls indicate that rising prices and the cost of living are major concerns for people in the US as the country approaches its 2026 midterm elections, scheduled for November.
Voters hold President Trump’s policies, and tariffs in particular, at least partly responsible for their economic woes. A Politico poll released in December found that 30 percent of respondents cited tariffs as the primary reason prices were high, and 32 percent said that Trump bears “full responsibility” for the state of the economy.
A majority of respondents cited the cost of living as a top issue facing the country, while 32 percent cited the state of the economy. Democratic politicians have sought to hammer Trump and his Republican Party on affordability concerns, which Trump has waved away as a “hoax” perpetuated by his political rivals.
The Italian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the US had also agreed to slash proposed import duties on pasta products from 13 companies.
Previously, the Trump administration had threatened the pasta companies with additional tariffs of 92 percent, in addition to import taxes on European Union products.
Italy’s foreign ministry said that the US Commerce Department had agreed to bring that rate down to 2.26 percent for La Molisana and 13.98 percent for Garofalo, two Italian food companies the administration had accused of undercutting other pasta producers through unfairly low prices.
The other companies will face a rate of 9.09 percent.
“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that US authorities recognise our companies’ constructive willingness to cooperate,” the foreign ministry said.
[Aljazeera]
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