United News of Bangladesh

Defending champions of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Fortune Barishal, beat Sylhet Strikers by seven wickets on Tuesday in Sylhet. It was Barishal’s third win in the event in four matches. They are now in second place in the points table right behind Rangpur Riders who won five out of five matches they have played. Sylhet batted first and tumbled for a modest 125 in 18.2 overs. Jahandad Khan was the best bowler for Barishal taking three wickets in his three overs. He bagged the crucial wickets of George Munsey, 28 off 13, and Aaron Jones, who suffered a duck. Rishad Hossain also impressed with 3 wickets for 15 runs, while Faheem Ashraf contributed by taking two wickets for 23 runs. Sylhet failed to build partnerships when they needed it most. They were 76 for two, but from there, they collapsed to 125 all out. George Munsey and Zakir Hasan provided brief resistance, with Munsey smashing 28 off 13 and Zakir adding 25 off 26. BPL: Usman Khan’s ton power Chittagong Kings' big win over Durbar Rajshahi While chasing, Barishal lost Tamim Iqbal for a golden duck. Najmul Hossain Shanto also fell for only four runs. But Kyle Mayers and Towhid Hridoy steered the chase with a dominating 116-run partnership. Mayers remained unbeaten on 59 off 31, hitting five fours and four sixes, while Hridoy contributed 48 off 27 with eight boundaries and two sixes. Barishal reached the target in just 10.3 overs, with 7 wickets to spare.

Rangpur Riders won their fifth match in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Tuesday beating Dhaka Capitals by 7 wickets in Sylhet. It was the Riders’ fifth win in the fifth match, and in contrast, it was the fourth defeat of Dhaka in as many matches. Nahid Rana took three wickets for 21 runs for the Riders to seal the game for them. Opting to bowl first, Rangpur’s bowlers, led by Rana, dismantled Dhaka’s batting lineup, restricting them to a mere 111 runs in 16.3 overs. The other Rangpur bowlers provided strong support. Akif Javed and Khushdil Shah took two wickets each, while Mahedi Hasan and Kamrul Islam Rabbi picked up one apiece. Dhaka made a promising start with Jason Roy, 18 off 12, and Tanzid Hasan, 20 off 16, making a good impression. But they lost wickets on regular intervals that prevented them from making good partnerships. Read: Hales guides Rangpur Riders to big win over Sylhet Chasing 112, Rangpur Riders made quick work of the target. Alex Hales played a steady hand with 44 off 27 balls, smashing four boundaries and three sixes. Khushdil Shah ensured a swift finish, scoring an unbeaten 27 off 13 balls with four fours and a six. Riders reached the target in just 13.2 overs, finishing at 113 for 3 with 40 balls to spare. Azizul Hakim (5) and Saif Hassan (13) also contributed for them, but Hales and Khushdil were the main contributors in the chase. While the Riders are continuing on their winning streak, Dhaka have been struggling to make a good show in this BPL so far.

The ICC has fined Pakistan players 25 percent of their match fee and also docked the team five World Test Championship points for maintaining a slow over-rate against South Africa in the second test at Newlands. South Africa, which will take on Australia in the WTC final at Lord’s in June, swept Pakistan 2-0 in the series with a 10-wicket win inside four days in the second test. Defiant Masood narrows Pakistan's deficit to 109 in 2nd test against South Africa The ICC said in a statement that match referee Richie Richardson of the West Indies imposed the sanction after “Pakistan was ruled to be five overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.” According to the ICC code of conduct, players are fined five percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. The teams are also penalized one WTC point for each over short. The ICC also said that Pakistan captain Shan Masood accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. Pakistan is at No. 8 in the points table just above last-placed West Indies.

Pakistan captain Shan Masood continued to defy South Africa as the tourists cut down the deficit to 109 runs on the fourth day of the second and final test on Monday. Masood progressed to a defiant 137 off 232 balls and led Pakistan to 312-3 at lunch with Saud Shakeel getting a lucky escape and staying unbeaten on 16. South Africa enforced the follow-on after Pakistan collapsed to 194 on a dry wicket in reply to the home team’s massive first innings score of 615. Shakeel could have been out leg before wicket to Kwena Maphaka in the penultimate over before the break, but South Africa didn’t go for a television review against Indian on-field umpire Nitin Menon’s not out decision. TV replays clearly showed the ball would have hit the leg stump of the left-hander and earned South Africa its third wicket of the session. But Masood stood firm and continued to lead Pakistan’s strong fightback on Monday after sharing a record-breaking double century opening partnership with Babar Azam (81) that had anchored the tourists to 213-1 on Day 3. Nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad (18) frustrated South Africa in the morning before Marco Jansen (2-74) had him caught at point. Jansen came close to getting Kamran Ghulam (28) out without scoring in the same over, but David Bedingham missed a sitter in the first slip. Ghulam hit four boundaries but was undone by Kagiso Rabada’s (1-81) off a delivery that just came back enough to hit the off stump as the batter attempted a loose drive and missed the line of the ball. Masood, resuming on 102, kept batting solidly against the pace and left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj as the left-hander hit just two boundaries in the first session in his patient knock. South Africa sealed its place in June’s World Test Championship final against Australia after narrowly beating Pakistan by two wickets in the first test at Centurion. Australia booked its place in the WTC final at Lord’s after it clinched a six-wicket victory against India on Sunday in the fifth and final test at Sydney. Australia also regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the 3-1 series win against India for the first time in 10 years.

Alex Hales hit a century in the first match of the Sylhet phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as the Rangpur Riders beat the Sylhet Strikers by eight wickets on Monday. Sylhet batted first after losing the toss and posted 205 for four. Rony Talukdar and Zakir Hasan scored fifties for them, while a quickfire innings from Jaker Ali and Aaron Jones gave them a strong total to defend. Sylhet post big total against Rangpur in home ground Sylhet managed 74 runs in the last five overs, with Jones and Jaker hitting four sixes in the final over, bowled by Akif Javed. Mohammad Saifuddin was the most effective bowler for the Riders, picking up two wickets for 31 runs in his four overs. In reply, the Riders lost their opener, Azizul Hakim, for a duck. But Alex Hales and Saif Hassan were the mainstays for them to chase a big total. Alex hit a ton—113 off 56 with 10 fours and seven sixes, while Saif scored 80 off 49 balls with three fours and seven sixes.Their batting approach kept the asking rate under control throughout the chase. Saif fell in the 18th over, but the Riders were already within touching distance of the target. BPL: Mehidy shines as Khulna Tigers beat Dhaka Capital by 20 runs Riders completed the chase in 19 overs, finishing on 210 for two. Alex Hales was named Player of the Match for his match-winning century. It was the Riders’ fourth win in as many matches, while it was the second defeat in two matches.

Sylhet Strikers' local players shone in front of their home crowd as the Sylhet phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) began on Monday. Riding on home boys — Zakir Hasan’s (50) and Jaker Ali’s (20 off 5) batting, and half-century from Rony Talukdier and a quickfire 38 from Aaron Jones, Sylhet posted 205 for four. BPL: Mehidy shines as Khulna Tigers beat Dhaka Capital by 20 runs Former champions Rangpur Riders won the toss and chose to field. Sylhet’s openers gave them a strong start, adding 47 runs in five overs before George Munsey fell for 18. Rony Talukdar kept the momentum, smashing 54 off 32 balls with seven fours and three sixes. Zakir Hasan, batting at number three, contributed 50 off 38 deliveries, including four sixes. BPL: Usman Khan’s ton power Chittagong Kings' big win over Durbar Rajshahi In the final five overs, Sylhet added 74 runs, with Aaron Jones and Jaker Ali finishing strong. They struck four sixes in the last over, bowled by Akif Javed. For the Riders, Mohammad Saifuddin was the pick of the bowlers, claiming two wickets.

The Sylhet phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Cricket begins on Monday (December 6) at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. League leader Rangpur Riders will play home team Sylhet Strikers in the first  match at 1:30 pm while defending champions Fortune Barishal will counter Durbar Rajshahi in the day’s other match at 6:30 pm. On the following day (Tuesday), Rangpur Riders will face Dhaka Capitals at 1:30 pm at the same venue while holders Fortune Barishal will play Sylhet Strikers at 6:30 pm. After the Dhaka phase matches at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on January 3, Rangpur Riders dominated the league table with all-win record securing full six points from straight three matches with net run rate of +2.018, Khulna Tigers followed the leaders also with all-win run collecting full four points from two matches having run rate of +1.425 . Chittagong Kings are in the 3rd slot securing two points from two matches with a run rate of +1.700 while holders Fortune Barishal are in the 4th slot also with two points from two matches having net run rate of -0.797 while Durbar Rajshahi remained at the 5th place securing two points from three matches with net run rate of -1.771 Dhaka Capitals and Sylhet Strikers remained at the bottom in the seven-team league without any point playing three and one match respectively . On completion of the Sylhet phase matches on January 13, the Chittagong phase matches will be held on January 16-23 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city. Later, the BPL matches will again shifted to Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka from January 27 for the remaining league basis, eliminator and qualifiers The final match between the winners of first qualifiers and the winners of 2nd qualifier will be held in Dhaka on February 7 at 7pm.

South Africa’s youngest test cricketer Kwena Maphaka got the key wicket of Babar Azam as Pakistan slipped to 155-6 on the third day of the second and final test on Sunday. The 18-year-old Maphaka celebrated his maiden test wicket in his debut test when the left-arm fast bowler had Babar caught down the leg side and left the visitors still trailing by 460 runs at lunch. Pakistan is effectively seven down because Saim Ayub has been ruled out of competitive cricket due to a fractured right ankle for at least six weeks after the opening batter sustained the injury on the first day. Aamer Jamal was unbeaten on five with tailender Khurram Shahzad yet to score at the interval as Pakistan still needed 261 runs to avoid the follow-on. Babar and Mohammad Rizwan (46) had thwarted the pace of Kagiso Rabada (2-28) and Marco Jansen (1-36) in the first hour after Pakistan resumed on a precarious 64-3. Pakistan's premier batters extended their fourth-wicket stand to 98 despite Rabada and Jansen beating Rizwan's outside edge. Babar completed his second successive half century of the series with back-to-back boundaries against Rabada with the first one flying above the slips cordon before he fell for 58 off 127 balls with seven boundaries. Once Maphaka got the crucial breakthrough, the tourists lost two more wickets in quick succession. Rizwan attempted a poor shot against Wiaan Mulder and under-edged the left-arm fast bowler back onto his stumps. Keshav Maharaj further punished Pakistan at the stroke of the lunch interval when he deceived Salman Ali Agha (19) off a flighted delivery and had the batter stumped. South Africa had posted a mammoth 615 in its first innings with Ryan Rickelton scoring a career-best 259 while captain Temba Bavuma (106) and Kyle Verreynne (100) also scored centuries. South Africa sealed its place in June’s World Test Championship final against Australia after narrowly beating Pakistan by two wickets in the first test at Centurion. Australia booked its place in the WTC final at Lord’s against South Africa after it clinched a six-wicket victory against India earlier on Sunday in the fifth and final test at Sydney. Australia also regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the 3-1 series win against India for the first time in 10 years.

Australia has regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since in 10 years by winning the fifth and final test by six wickets against an Indian team deprived of their captain and star bowler at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. The hosts chased down the 162-run target just after lunch on the third day after it had earlier wrapped up India’s second innings in quick time for 157. Australia won the series 3-1 after victories in Adelaide and Melbourne, to go with a nervy, yet successful, run-chase in the final innings in Sydney. India won the first test at Perth and the 3rd test at Brisbane was a draw. Sunday’s victory also means the hosts booked their spot in a second straight World Test Championship final where it will play the already-qualified South Africa at Lord’s in June. In a devastating setback for India’s hopes of bowling out Australia to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for a record-extending fifth consecutive time, star bowler and captain Jasprit Bumrah did not bowl during Australia's second innings. Bumrah’s injury occurred on Saturday and had only been described as “ back spasms” by the India team after the star seamer had returned from medical scans at a nearby clinic. Bumrah had back surgery to repair a stress fracture in April 2023. Read: Rickelton smashes double ton as South Africa cruises to 429-5 in 2nd test against Pakistan The 31-year-old, who has taken 32 wickets in the series — the highest ever by an Indian bowler in a single series in Australia — to almost single handedly keep India in the contest did not warm up with the other India bowlers prior to play Sunday and looked uncomfortable when he did come out to bat as the tourists tail was quickly swept up by the hosts. Even without its talisman, India’s attack still sent jitters through Australia’s batting as it had the hosts at 71-3 at lunch and then removed Usman Khawaja (41) to seed more doubt. But Travis Head (34 not out) — a frequent thorn in India's side in recent years — and debutant Beau Webster (39 not out) guided Australia home for a landmark series win under captain Pat Cummins.  

Avishka Fernando scored a gritty half century in an 87-run partnership with Janith Liyanage which helped Sri Lanka to 178 as it batted first Sunday in the first one-day international against New Zealand. Matt Henry took 4-19 from his 10 overs for New Zealand as Sri Lanka was bowled out in 43.4 overs. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner took a wicket, effected a run out and claimed three catches from Henry's bowling. Sri Lanka had slumped to 23-4 after being sent in on a greenish pitch at the Basin Reserve before Fernando's fifth one-day international half century and Liyanage's 36 gave some substance to the innings. New Zealand fielded a four-pronged seam attack and Henry, Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith all took early wickets while Santner broke Fernando and Liyanage's stubborn fifth wicket stand. Sunday's match was played in bitterly cold, windy conditions and under the constant threat of rain. A potential sell out crowd was reduced substantially as only hardy fans turned out to watch the opener to the three-match series in wintry conditions. After a watchful start, Sri Lanka lost the key wicket of opener Pathum Nissanka in the fifth over. Nissanka made 141 runs at an average of 47 in the three-match Twenty20 series which New Zealand won 2-1. He had made only 9 Sunday when he tried to work a ball from Henry through midwicket but, as it seamed away, managed only to loop it to Santner at mid-off. Kusal Mendis, Nissanka's partner in a 121-run stand in the first T20, was 2 when he was bowled by Jacob Duffy off the inside edge. The ball cut back at Mendis at waist height and he was hurried in defense. Read: Rickelton smashes double ton as South Africa cruises to 429-5 in 2nd test against Pakistan Santner produced a sharp piece of fielding to run out Kamindu Mendis (3) and captain Charith Asalanka was caught by wicketkeeper Mitchell Hay from Smith's bowling. Asalanka was given not out by the on-field umpire but New Zealand reviewed and the replay showed the ball had just brushed the shoulder of the bat. Fernando and Liyanage steadily rebuilt the Sri Lanka innings, carrying it to 108-4 after 25 overs. The 26-year-old Fernando produced a defiant innings, reaching his half century from 52 balls with six fours and a six. Liyanage tried to hoist a ball from Santner over the off side but skied it from a top edge and was caught by the substitute fielder Michael Bracewell falling backwards at mid-wicket. Fernando was out in the next over, driving at a ball from Smith which sliced to Glenn Phillips at backward point. Read more: Bumrah sidelined but India builds 145-run lead after wild Day 2 of 5th test against Australia Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Wanindu Hasaranga put on 48 for the seventh wicket before Henry returned and dismissed Wickramasinghe on 22. Hasaranga made 35 from 33 balls in an innings full of adventurous strokeplay before he also fell to Henry. Eshan Malinga who made 4 on debut gave Henry his final wicket.