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Djokovic admits travel declaration had incorrect information
Novak Djokovic has acknowledged that his Australian travel declaration form contained incorrect information, as the government nears a decision on whether to deport the Serbian tennis star, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, on public interest grounds.
The men’s tennis No. 1 had his visa canceled on arrival in Melbourne last week when his vaccination exemption was questioned, but he won a legal battle on procedural grounds that allowed him to stay in the country. He still faces the prospect of deportation — a decision that is entirely at the discretion of Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke if deemed to be in the public interest for health and safety reasons.
Hawke has been considering the question since a judge reinstated Djokovic's visa on Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said most Australians disapproved of the nine-time and defending Australian Open champion coming to Melbourne to compete in breach of the nation’s tough pandemic quarantine rules.
“Most of us thought because Mr. Djokovic hadn’t been vaxxed twice that he would be asked to leave,” Joyce told Nine Network television on Thursday. “Well, that was our view, but it wasn’t the court’s view.”
“The vast majority of Australians ... didn’t like the idea that another individual, whether they’re a tennis player or ... the king of Spain or the Queen of England, can come up here and have a different set of rules to what everybody else has to deal with,” Joyce added.
The draw to determine men’s and women’s singles brackets at the tournament was scheduled to be held at 3 p.m. local time (0400 GMT) in Melbourne, but a tournament official told waiting media that the ceremony had been postponed until further notice and declined further comment.
Read: Judge asks what more Djokovic could have done for a visa
There was speculation that the delay reflected uncertainty over whether Djokovic will be able to compete.
The debate over Djokovic's presence in Australia rages against a backdrop of surging COVID-19 infections across the nation.
Victoria state, which hosts the Australian Open, on Thursday eased seven-day isolation rules for close contacts of those infected in sectors including education and transport to curb the number of employees staying away from work.
The state recorded 37,169 new COVID-19 cases in the latest 24-hour period on Thursday, as well as 25 deaths and 953 hospitalizations.
Ticket sales to the tennis tournament have been limited to reduce the risk of transmission.
In a statement posted to his social media accounts on Wednesday, the tennis star blamed “human error” by his support team for failing to declare that he had traveled in the two-week period before entering Australia.
Giving false information on the form could be grounds for deportation, the latest twist in a saga over whether the athlete should be allowed stay in Australia despite not being vaccinated. The initial news that Djokovic was granted an exemption to strict vaccination rules to enter the country provoked an outcry and the ensuing dispute has since overshadowed the lead-up to the Australian Open.
Djokovic acknowledged the lapses when he sought to clarify what he called “continuing misinformation” about his movements after he became infected last month — though he did not spell out what inaccuracies he was referring to.
The statement was posted while Djokovic was in Rod Laver Arena holding a practice session, his third on the tournament’s main court since being released from four nights in immigration detention.
Djokovic remains in limbo before the year’s first tennis major starts Monday. The stakes are particularly high since he is seeking a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title.
Deportation could result in sanctions ranging up to a three-year ban from entering Australia, a daunting prospect for a player who has won almost half of his 20 Grand Slam singles titles here.
Court documents detailing Djokovic’s positive test sparked speculation over the star player’s attendance at events in his native Serbia last month. Further questions also were raised about errors on his immigration form that could potentially result in the cancellation of his visa yet again.
On the form, Djokovic said he had not traveled in the 14 days before his flight to Australia, despite being seen in Spain and Serbia in that period.
In his statement, Djokovic described recent commentary as “hurtful” and said he wanted to address it in the interest of “alleviating broader concern in the community about my presence in Australia.”
The 34-year-old Serb said he’d taken rapid tests that were negative and he was asymptomatic before he received his positive result from a PCR test he undertook out of an “abundance of caution” after attending a basketball game in Belgrade on Dec. 14.
He received the result late Dec. 17, he said, and scrapped all his commitments except a long-standing interview with L’Equipe newspaper the following day.
“I felt obliged to go ahead ... but did ensure I socially distanced and wore a mask except when my photograph was being taken,” Djokovic said.
The L’Equipe reporter who interviewed the athlete wrote in the newspaper that he and a photographer were also masked during the session — and kept their distance except for a brief moment as Djokovic said goodbye. The reporter said he tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday, and did not mention the photographer’s status.
“While I went home after the interview to isolate for the required period, on reflection, this was an error of judgment,” Djokovic said.
Read:Will he stay or will he go? Djokovic’s hearing looms large
At the time, Serbia required those who were infected with COVID-19 to isolate for at least 14 days. But Djokovic was seen a little over a week after his positive test on the streets of Belgrade, though he said he had tested negative in between.
Meanwhile, Djokovic addressed the Australian travel declaration by saying it was submitted by his support team and “my agent sincerely apologizes for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box.”
“This was a human error and certainly not deliberate,” he wrote. “My team has provided additional information to the Australian Government to clarify this matter.”
The decision could take a while — but there is time pressure since the draw to determine brackets for the Australian Open is set to take place Thursday.
Hawke’s office issued a statement on Wednesday saying Djokovic’s legal team had filed further documents and added: “Naturally, this will affect the timeframe for a decision.”
At issue is whether he has a valid exemption to strict rules requiring vaccination to enter Australia since he recently recovered from COVID-19.
His exemption to compete was approved by the Victoria state government and Tennis Australia, the tournament organizer. That apparently allowed him to receive a visa to travel.
But the Australian Border Force rejected the exemption and canceled his visa upon arrival before a federal judge overturned that decision. Lawyers for the government have said an infection was only grounds for an exemption in cases in which the coronavirus caused severe illness — though it’s not clear why he was issued a visa if that’s the case.
The initial decision to let him compete sparked complaints that Djokovic was being given special treatment — and the subsequent cancellation of his visa raised allegations that he was being targeted once the issue became political. The saga is playing out against the backdrop of growing concern in Australia over surging COVID-19 cases — and the government’s strategy to contain them.
If Djokovic’s visa is canceled, his lawyers could go back to court to apply for an injunction that would prevent him from being forced to leave the country.
Sydney-based immigration lawyer Simon Jeans said if Djokovic's visa were canceled, he would likely be held in immigration detention. Djokovic could apply for a bridging visa to compete in the tournament pending the appeal. The immigration department would have two business days to decide that application. If Djokovic were refused such a visa, an appeal would typically take weeks, Jeans said.
Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Federico Valverde Scores Winning Goal for Los Blancos’
Real Madrid earned a spot in the 2021-2022 season Supercopa final after winning their fifth straight El Clasico match on Wednesday. They defeated arch-rivals FC Barcelona 3-2 in the semifinal match hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid won their 100th El Clasico overall and their 9th in the Supercopa de Espana. Real Madrid will face either Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao in the championship match. Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde scored the winning goal for Los Blancos' in extra time. The match report of Barcelona vs. Real Madrid is discussed in this article.
Supercopa Semifinal Match Report: Barcelona vs Real Madrid
Central midfielder Federico Valverde scored in the 98th minute to help Real Madrid to a decisive victory over Barcelona, progressing them to the Supercopa de Espana final.
Real Madrid began the encounter with a lot of aggression, as they created many chances in the first half-hour. Madrid players tried their luck by shooting from outside the D-Box to put Ter Stegen to the test. Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior gave Real Madrid an early lead in the 25th minute after winning a one-on-one fight with keeper Ter Stegen.
Read Ballon d'Or 2021 Winner: Lionel Messi wins the coveted award record seventh time
Barcelona's attack always came to a standstill in the opponent's half despite having more ball control, demonstrating their lack of quality in the forward lines. After conceding an early goal, Barcelona players pressed Madrid's defense hard and leveled the scoreline courtesy of a lucky strike by Luuk de Jong. When a low cross came into the right post, he was in the correct place, and the ball just went into the net after being deflected by Luuk's foot. Barca leveled the score at 1-1 in the 41st minute.
After the first half, Real Madrid continued to attack in the opponents' half, creating chances, and in the 72nd minute, their star striker Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid the lead. He smashed a cross into the net after spotting it in the penalty area.
However, Real Madrid lost the advantage once again as Ansu Fati equalized with a stunning header in the 83rd minute.
The game continued into extra time when Real Madrid scored after only 8 minutes. The job was done for the Los Blancos this time by Uruguayan Valverde. Real Madrid won the match with a final score of 3-2.
Read Bangladesh’s U-19 SAFF Women’s Championship victory to serve as a harbinger of success in football
Real Madrid vs Barcelona Supercopa Semifinal Match Stats
The winner of the match Real Madrid had less possessions of the ball than FC Barcelona. According to the match statistics, the Los Blancos had 46 percent ball possession while the Blaugranes had 54 percent ball possession.
Real Madrid completed 640 passes, while Barcelona completed 704 passes. Both teams had quite a similar passing accuracy. Barcelona had a passing accuracy of 88 percent, while Real Madrid had a passing accuracy of 85 percent.
Barcelona committed 18 fouls, while Real Madrid committed 11. Each squad received two yellow cards.
Read Top 10 Most Memorable Football Moments of 2021
Aftermath
The head coach of FC Barcelona Xavi Hernandez was under pressure heading into this match since his team has been struggling this season. Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League group stage last December. They are presently in sixth place in La Liga with 32 points, 17 points behind league leader Real Madrid. Therefore, the Barcelona campaign was expecting to put up a positive effort in this semifinal match. They did play some amazing football, but Real Madrid came out on top in the end. Overall, it was an exciting Barcelona vs Real Madrid contest, with the best team advancing to the final. The Championship match will be contested at the same venue on January 16.
BPL 2022 Live Streaming: Where to Watch the Most Anticipated Domestic Cricket Matches?
After a long gap from March 2021, the opening ceremony of the 8th season of BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) is going to happen on January 21, 2022. This competition between the domestic cricket franchises will continue till February 18, 2022. Streaming channels are ready to cheer the fans with cricket fever at home. Let's find out where to keep an eye for BPL 2022 live streaming.
BPL 2022 Live Streaming Channels
GTV (Gazi TV), Maasranga, and T Sports (Titas Sports) will live telecast the BPL 2022 organized by BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board). Smartphone users can also enjoy each match from the channels app.
Furthermore, People can watch the contest between the local cricket stars on BTV (Bangladesh Television), a regular broadcaster of Bangladesh Cricket.
Read BPL 2022: The Favourites, Outsiders and Underdogs
What is more? The BPL festival is also accompanied by Rabbithole, a popular sports OTT platform in the country. This time, as always, the opportunity will be open for users of both Android and iPhone.
BPL 2022 Tournament
BCB, excluding Rangpur Rangers and Rajshahi Royals, finalized the six teams on December 12, 2021. They are- Dhaka Stars, Chittagong Challengers, Comilla Victorians, Fortune Barisal, Khulna Tigers, and Sylhet Sunrisers.
The format of the entire tournament will be Double-Robin-Round and Playoffs. Under the rules, six teams will play two matches with each other. The team that wins the least in these 30 matches will automatically be eliminated. One of the remaining five teams will be eliminated in an eliminator match. The other four teams will then face each other in two qualifier matches and the final will be held with the winner of these matches.
READ: BPL Fixtures 2022: Full Bangladesh Premier League Schedules, Dates, Times, Venues
BPL 2022 fixture
Chittagong Challengers vs Fortune Barisal - January 21 at 2 pm and February 1 at 6:30 pm
Khulna Tigers vs Dhaka Stars - January 21 at 7 pm and February 9 at 1:30 pm
Comilla Victorians vs Sylhet Sunrisers - January 22 at 1:30 pm and February 9 at 6:30 pm
Chittagong Challengers vs Dhaka Stars - January 22 at 6:30 pm and February 8 at 1:30 pm
Fortune Barisal vs Dhaka Stars - January 24 at 1:30 pm and February 11 at 7 pm
Read BPL 2022: SWOT Analysis of all Six Teams
Chittagong Challengers vs Khulna Tigers - January 24 at 7:30 pm and January 26 at 2 pm
Sylhet Sunrisers vs Dhaka Stars - January 25 at 1:30 pm and January 26 at 7 pm
Comilla Victorians vs Fortune Barisal - January 25 at 6:30 pm and February 8 at 1:30 pm
Khulna Tigers vs Fortune Barisal - January 29 at 1:30 pm and January 31 at 7:30 pm
Chittagong Challengers vs Sylhet Sunrisers - January 29 at 6:30 pm and February 12 at 1:30 pm
Chittagong Challengers vs Comilla Victorians - January 31 at 1:30 pm and February 3 at 6:30 pm
Comilla Victorians vs Dhaka Stars - February 1 at 1:30 pm and February 4 at 7 pm
Khulna Tigers vs Sylhet Sunrisers - February 3 at 3:30 pm and February 8 at 6:30 pm
Sylhet Sunrisers vs Fortune Barisal - February 4 at 2 pm and February 7 at 6:30 pm
Khulna Tigers vs Comilla Victorians - February 11 at 2 pm and February 12 at 6:30 pm
Read BPL 2022: Five Promising Young Players to Watch
Eliminator match - February 14 at 1:30 pm
Qualifier-1 match - February 14 at 6:30 pm
Qualifier-2 match - February 16 at 6:30 pm
Final - February 18 at 7 pm
READ: Liton earns career-best ranking in Test
In a nutshell
For two long years, thousands of expectations have been accumulated among cricket lovers including the players for BPL 2022. Now it's time to rejoice once again in the great performances of the favorite stars in the live streaming of BPL 2022.
Bangamata Football: Mymensingh, Rajshahi earn victories
Mymensingh and hosts Rajshahi District won their respective final round matches of the Bangamata National Women’s Football Championship at the Shaheed Muktijoddha Smriti Stadium in Rajshahi on Wednesday.
In the day’s first match, a brilliant hattrick by Shikha guided Mymensingh to beat Nilphamari District by 5-1 goals.
Apart from Shikha’s three goals in the 34th, 58th and 73rd minutes, Selina and Soma netted one goal each for Mymensingh in the 50th and 80th minutes respectively.
Masuda Akhter scored the consolation for Nilphamari in the 66th minute.
In the day’s other match, hosts Rajshahi beat Magura District by 2-1 goals.
Swornali scored both the goals for the home team in the 44th and 89th minutes while Ria Khatun netted the lone goal for Magura in the 41st minute.
U-19 World Cup: Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 155 runs in lone warm up match
Bangladesh earned a convincing 155- run victory over Zimbabwe under D/L method in a rain affected lone warm up match at Warner Park in St Kitts on Tuesday ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup Cricket.
The 16-team ICC Under-19 World Cup Cricket’2022 will begin in the West Indies on January 14.
Bangladesh, which was placed in four-team Group A with England, Canada and UAE, will start their World Cup campaign taking on England in their first match on January 16 at Warner Park in St Kitts.
Favored by coin in the day’s warm up match, Bangladesh opened the innings first and piled up a comfortable 277 runs for all in 49.5 overs. It featured an 81-run 4th wicket stand by Aich Mollah and Mohammad Fahim.
Number five batter Aich Mollah contributed the match highest run-a-ball 82 hitting five fours and three sixes while wicket keeper Mohammad Fahim scored 38-ball 33 runs with four hits to the boundaries.
READ: BCB announces official schedule of BPL
Besides, opener Ariful Islam made 52-ball 40 runs with three fours and one six, lower order Ripon Mondal quickfired 26-ball 39 runs hitting four fours and a six while captain Rakibul Hasan scored 36 runs off 45 balls with three fours and a six, were the main scorers for Bangladesh .
Connor Mitchell was the most successful among the Zimbabwean bowler grabbing four wickets 30 runs while Mathew Schonken took two wickets for 48 runs.
Chasing a revised target of 256 runs, Zimbabwe were forced to fold their innings at 110 runs in 35.2 over to suffer a huge defeat.
Steven Saul (39), Tashinga Makoni (22), Brian Bennett (12), and Connor Mitchell (10) were the notable scorers for Zimbabwe.
READ: Liton earns career-best ranking in Test
Naimur Rahman captured three wickets for 18 runs while Ariful Islam and Abdullah Al Mamun took two wickts each conceding 6 and 15 run respectively.
BCB announces official schedule of BPL
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday unveiled the official schedule of the eighth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), rebranded as Bangabandhu BPL.
The first match of this year BPL is set to take place on January 21 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, when Chattogram Challengers will take on Fortune Barsihal at 1:30 p.m.
READ: Liton earns career-best ranking in Test
A total of 34 matches will be played in this year’s BPL across three venues in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet, and a total of six teams will compete in this T20 event.
All the teams have finalized their squads in the players draft in Dhaka on December 27. All the teams will start preparation on January 15.
The official schedule of BPL: Dhaka phase: 21 JanuaryChattogram Challengers vs Fortune BarishalKhulna Tigers vs Minister Group Dhaka
22 JanuaryComilla Victorians vs Sylhet SunrisersChattogram Challengers vs Minister Group Dhaka
24 JanuaryFortune Barishal vs Minister Group DhakaChattogram Challengers vs Khulna Tigers
25 JanuarySylhet Sunrisers vs Minister Group DhakaComilla Victorians vs Fortune Barishal
Chattogram phase:
28 JanuaryChattogram Challengers vs Khulna TigersSylhet Sunrisers vs Minister Group Dhaka
READ: BPL Fixtures 2022: Full Bangladesh Premier League Schedules, Dates, Times, Venues
29 JanuaryKhulna Tigers vs Fortune BarishalChattogram Challengers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
31 JanuaryChattogram Challengers vs Comilla VictoriansKhulna Tigers vs Fortune Barishal
01 FebruaryComilla Victorians vs Minister Group DhakaChattogram Challengers vs Fortune Barishal
Dhaka phase:
3 FebruaryKhulna Tigers vs Sylhet SunrisersChattogram Challengers vs Comilla Victorians
4 FebruarySylhet Sunrisers vs Fortune BarishalComilla Victorians vs Minister Group Dhaka
Sylhet phase:
7 FebruaryComilla Victorians vs Fortune BarishalKhulna Tigers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
8 FebruaryChattogram Challengers vs Minister Group DhakaSylhet Sunrisers vs Fortune Barishal
9 FebruaryKhulna Tigers vs Minister Group DhakaComilla Victorians vs Sylhet Sunrisers
Dhaka phase:
11 FebruaryKhulna Tigers vs Comilla VictoriansFortune Barishal vs Minister Group Dhaka
12 FebruaryChattogram Challengers vs Sylhet SunrisersKhulna Tigers vs Comilla Victorians
Play-offs14 FebruaryEliminator: third place vs fourth place First Qualifier: first place vs second place
16 February Second Qualifier: loser of First Qualifier vs winner of Eliminator
18 February Final: winners of qualifiers.
Liton earns career-best ranking in Test
Right-handed Bangladesh batter Liton Das earned his career-best ranking in the Test, according to the latest ranking update by the ICC.
Liton is currently standing at 15— jumping up from 32. He is only the second Bangladeshi batter after Tamim Iqbal to enter to top 15 batters in Test. Tamim was at 14 after home series in 2017.
Read: Bangladesh end New Zealand tour with Liton’s imperious ton
Liton was outstanding in the just-concluded two-match Test series in New Zealand where he posted 86 in the first match and registered a solid ton in the second match.
Bangladesh won the first Test by eight wickets, their maiden win in New Zealand in any format of international cricket. But the Tigers lost the second match with poor perfornance in the first innings.
They responded well in the second innings led by Liton’s second century in Test, but they eventually lost the match to the hosts.
Read: Bangladesh takes lead after Mominul, Liton heroics
Imperious batting display in New Zealand has helped Liton to earn his career-best ranking.
Bangladesh team will return home on January 15. After that, the players will get busy with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) starting from January 21 in Dhaka.
BPL Fixtures 2022: Full Bangladesh Premier League Schedules, Dates, Times, Venues
The BCB had to postpone the franchise-based BPL competition in 2021 because of the covid-19 epidemic. Instead, the Bangladesh Cricket Board hosted a twenty20 event in December 2020 involving domestic players. No foreign players were allowed in that competition. Since the BPL is returning with a franchise system, foreign players will be featured at this year's event. Therefore, the enthusiasm among BPL fans has returned. The tournament's entire schedule has already been confirmed. Let's take a look at the complete BPL fixtures 2022.
Read:Virat Kohli returns to lead India in the series-deciding Test against South Africa
The Rules of BPL 2022
Only three foreign players are allowed in a match, which is a significant change in the rules. Moreover, teams were permitted to sign one local player from any category and a maximum of three international players before the draft. Besides, a team can sign a maximum of 14 local and 8 overseas players.
BPL 2022: The Complete Fixtures
The eighth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League will include a total of six franchises. Chattogram Challengers, Comilla Victorians, Minister Group Dhaka, Fortune Barishal, Khulna Tigers, and Sylhet Sunrisers are among the teams that will compete. The event will be held at three venues: Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, and Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet.
The BPL 2022 league stage will include two matches every day. The first match will begin in the afternoon, followed by the second match in the evening. The tournament will begin on January 21 with a match between Chattogram Challengers and Fortune Barishal.
The Complete BPL Fixtures 2022
Phase 1 (Dhaka)
Date
Fixture
Tentative Time (Bangladesh Standard Time)
January 21
Chattogram Challengers vs Fortune Barishal
2 pm
January 21
Dhaka vs Khulna Tigers
7 pm
January 22
Comilla Victorians vs Sylhet Sunrisers
1.30 pm
January 22
Chattogram Challengers vs Dhaka
6.30 pm
January 24
Dhaka vs Fortune Barishal
1.30 pm
January 24
Chattogram Challengers vs Khulna Tigers
6.30 pm
January 25
Dhaka vs Sylhet Sunrisers
1.30 pm
January 25
Comilla Victorians vs Fortune Barishal
6.30 pm
Phase 2 (Chattogram)
January 28
Chattogram Challengers vs Khulna Tigers
1.30 pm
January 28
Dhaka vs Sylhet Sunrisers
6.30 pm
January 29
Fortune Barishal vs Khulna Tigers
1.30 pm
January 29
Chattogram Challengers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
6.30 pm
January 31
Chattogram Challengers vs Comilla Victorians
1.30 pm
January 31
Fortune Barishal vs Khulna Tigers
6.30 pm
February 1
Comilla Victorians vs Dhaka
1.30 pm
February 1
Chattogram Challengers vs Fortune Barishal
6.30 pm
Phase 3 (Dhaka)
February 3
Khulna Tigers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
1.30 pm
February 3
Chattogram Challengers vs Comilla Victorians
7 pm
February 4
Fortune Barishal vs Sylhet Sunrisers
2 pm
February 4
Comilla Victorians vs Dhaka
7 pm
Phase 4 (Sylhet)
February 7
Comilla Victorians vs Fortune Barishal
1.30 pm
February 7
Khulna Tigers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
6.30 pm
February 8
Chattogram Challengers vs Dhaka
1.30 pm
February 8
Fortune Barishal vs Sylhet Sunrisers
6.30 pm
February 9
Dhaka vs Khulna Tigers
1.30 pm
February 9
Comilla Victorians vs Sylhet Sunrisers
6.30 pm
Phase 5 (Dhaka)
February 11
Comilla Victorians vs Khulna Tigers
1.30 pm
February 11
Dhaka vs Fortune Barishal
6.30 pm
February 12
Chattogram Challengers vs Sylhet Sunrisers
1.30 pm
February 12
Comilla Victorians vs Khulna Tigers
6.30 pm
Knockout Stages (Dhaka)
February 14
Eliminator (3rd placed team vs 4th placed team)
TBD
February 14
1st Qualifier (1st placed team vs 2nd placed team)
TBD
February 16
2nd Qualifier (Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator)
TBD
February 18
Final
TBD
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021%E2%80%9322_Bangladesh_Premier_League
Read:Five Shining Stars of Bangladesh in NZ vs BAN Test Series 2022
Verdict
According to the BPL fixtures 2022, the league phase of the competition will end on February 12 with a match between Comilla Victorians and Khulna Tigers. There will be five phases to the league stage. The first, third, and fifth phases will all be held in Dhaka. Phase 2 will take place in Chattogram, while phase 4 will be held in Sylhet. The Playoffs will take place from February 14 to 16, with the final match taking place on February 18. Dhaka will host the entire knockout round.
Virat Kohli returns to lead India in the series-deciding Test against South Africa
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli was unable to participate in the second match in the ongoing Test series against South Africa due to an injury. KL Rahul-led team India lost that match by 7 wickets and South Africa leveled the series. As a result, the third Test match in Cape Town is now a do-or-die contest for both teams. Virat Kohli has returned to lead India in this crucial match, but they only managed to score 223 in their first innings. The first-day match report of the third Test between South Africa and India is discussed in this article.
SA vs IND 3rd Test 2022: First Day Match Report
India decided to bat first in the hopes of amassing a strong first-inning total. The Indian batters did not impress with the bat, as they were all out for only 223 runs after the tea interval. Captain Virat Kohli fought hard in the middle and batted well. However, the elegant right-hand batter squandered another chance to make his 71st international century.
India’s First Innings
India's innings got off to a shaky start, with KL Rahul (12) and Mayank Agarwal (15) falling within just 13 overs. India had a score of 75/2 at lunchtime.
Cheteshwar Pujara (43) and skipper Virat Kohli attempted to rebuild the innings with a 62-run third-wicket partnership. However, Pujara lost his wicket to Marco Jansen inside an hour of the post-lunch session. Kagiso Rabada then sent Ajinkya Rahane back to the pavilion after only a few overs.
Read: Five Shining Stars of Bangladesh in NZ vs BAN Test Series 2022
The right-arm fast-medium bowler Kagiso Rabada was outstanding with his line and lengths in the first innings. In fact, the battle between Rabada and Virat was one of the day's main highlights. Virat had a lot of trouble with Rabada's fiery deliveries. The charismatic Indian Captain had attacked him in an attempt to disrupt his rhythm. The South African pacer eventually won the battle by dismissing Virat Kohli after the tea break. Virat Kohli batted patiently but fell short of scoring his 28th Test century. He made 77 off 201 balls.
Rishab Pant and Shardul Thakur provided solid support in the middle for Virat Kohli as the Indian innings progressed. India were bowled out for a low total after 77.3 overs in the first innings. South Africa's most successful bowler was Kagiso Rabada, who got four wickets, and Marco Jansen took three wickets.
The ongoing first innings of South Africa
South Africa responded by scoring 17 runs for the loss of Dean Elgar at the end of day one. Medium-pacer Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the left-hander with a brilliant in-swinging ball. Bumrah was outstanding in the closing hour of day one, bowling four overs without conceding a run. He will be a key player for India on day 2. Aiden Markram (8*) and Keshav Maharaj (6*) have stayed unbeaten at the crease.
Read: Indian police probe rape threats to Virat Kohli's daughter
South Africa will almost certainly try for a strong first-innings lead, which will be difficult to achieve at Newlands in Cape Town.
Bottom Line
South Africa have a huge opportunity of taking control of the third Test if they bat well on day 2. South African batters must be determined to score 400 runs in order to take a healthy lead in the first innings. On the other side, India have to keep South Africa to under 250 runs to stay firm in the game. The current Indian Test bowling lineup is one of the best in the world, and they can surely disrupt the Proteas batting lineup's rhythm. Overall, the two teams will face off in a gripping battle on the second day of the contest.
Read: Virat Kohli to step down as India's T20 skipper
Bangamata Football: Ansar &VDP, Narayanganj earn convincing win
Bangladesh Ansar & VDP and Narayanganj District earned comfortable win in the final round of the Bangamata National Women’s Football Championship at Shaheed Muktijoddha Smriti Stadium in Rajshahi on Tuesday .
In the day’s first match, Narayanganj District, riding on hat-trick by Fahmida, earned a 5-1 goal victory over Satkhira district.
Read:Bangamata Football: Mymensingh, Rajshahi earn comfortable win
Apart from Fahmida’s three goals in the 16th, 46th and 74th minutes, Lamia and Eti netted one each for the port city team in the 39th and 89th minute respectively
Sumaiya scored the consolation goal for Satkhira in the 80th minute.
In the day’s 2nd match, Bangladesh Ansar & VDP outplayed Rangpur District by 4-0 goal.
Sadiya struck twice in the 57th and 71st minute while Munni and Shirin netted one each for Ansar & VDP in the 35th and 52nd minute respectively.