United News of Bangladesh

West Indies clinched the T20I series against Bangladesh with a 14-run win in the second match at the Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday. Before the T20Is, Bangladesh beat the West Indies in a three-match ODI series. The visitors defended 149 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match contest. West Indies won the toss and batted first to post 149 for 9, led by half-centuries from Alick Athanaze (52 off 33) and captain Shai Hope (55 off 36). The pair added 105 runs for the second wicket after Brandon King fell early. Bangladesh hit back in the latter overs as Mustafizur Rahman took 3 for 21 and Nasum Ahmed 2 for 35, while Rishad Hossain also picked up two wickets. Bangladesh’s chase began steadily, with Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan putting on 35 for the second wicket. Tanzid struck 61 off 48 balls with three fours and three sixes, but wickets kept falling around him. Litton made 23, and Jaker Ali added 17, yet none of the middle-order batters could provide the support needed to reach the target. Romario Shepherd, named Player of the Match, was the standout bowler for West Indies, taking 3 for 29, while Akeal Hosein matched him with 3 for 22. Jason Holder added two wickets for 20 runs as Bangladesh ended on 135 for 8. With the win, West Indies secured the series and extended Bangladesh’s wait for a comeback. The final match, on October 31 at the same venue, will now be a chance for the hosts to avoid a clean sweep and finish the series on a positive note.  

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat first in the second T20I against Bangladesh at the Bir Shreshtho Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday. The visitors, who lead the series 1–0, will look to seal the three-match contest with another win, while Bangladesh must win to stay alive and push the series to a decider on October 31. West Indies captain Shai Hope said his team would stick to the same approach that brought them victory in the first match. “We are going to do the same again; we will bat. Runs on the board are always good. The pitch looks a little drier than the first one. If we follow the same template, we can get a good score — hopefully 20 runs more than the last game,” Hope after the toss.  The visitors named an unchanged side for the match. Bangladesh captain Litton Das said his team needed to improve with the bat. “The bowlers have done their job in the last few series, but as batters, we have to step up. The wicket looks good, and dew might come in later. Anything around 180 will be a good total to chase,” he said. “When you are chasing a big score, the top four have to bat at least 15 overs; that makes things easier for the rest,” Litton added.  Bangladesh made one change, with wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali returning to the lineup in place of Nurul Hasan. The move offers Jaker a chance to reclaim his spot in the middle order after being left out in recent matches. Playing XIs: West Indies: Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope (captain, wicketkeeper), Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales. Bangladesh: Litton Das (captain, wicketkeeper), Tanzid Hasan, Saif Hassan, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Taskin Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.  

Bangladesh aim to keep the T20I series alive today as they face West Indies in the second match at the Bir Shreshtho Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram. Bangladesh lost the opening match at the same venue. West Indies, confident by their 16-run win in the opening game, trained in high spirits on Monday under the afternoon sun. The win was their first step toward ending a long run of disappointment — they have gone seven T20I series without a victory, excluding a rain-affected series against Ireland. For Bangladesh, the equation is simple: win to stay alive. The hosts have won their last four T20I series, but that streak is now at risk. In the first match, early batting collapses left them chasing too much too late. Bangladesh’s middle order remains a major concern. In 25 T20Is this year, their middle-order batters have averaged a strike rate of only 119.83 — the lowest among Test-playing nations. Across those matches, only two half-centuries have come from middle-order players: one by Jaker Ali and one by Towhid Hridoy. Team management will hope for someone to step up and take responsibility today. Bangladesh’s top order also needs to find a rhythm. Losing four wickets inside the Powerplay in the previous match left them no room to recover, even on a batting-friendly pitch in Chattogram. The third and final match of the T20I series will take place on the 31st of October.  

England's top order again failed to fire as New Zealand bowled out the tourists for 175 in 36 overs Wednesday in the second one-day cricket international at Seddon Park. New Zealand won an advantageous toss and chose to bowl on a pitch which had been covered in recent days and produced variable bounce, some slow seam movement and even turn later in the innings. England slumped to 56-6 in the first ODI on Saturday before captain Harry Brook's 135 lifted them to 233. New Zealand won that match by four wickets. On Wednesday, England was 105-6 when Brook was dismissed by New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner for 34. Of the rest of the England top order, Jamie Smith made 13, Ben Duckett 1, Joe Root 25, Jacob Bethell 18 and Jos Buttler 9. Jamie Overton, who batted at No. 8, top-scored with 42 from 28 ball. Overton made 46 in a partnership of 87 with Brook in the first match. Blair Tickner, who was recalled to play his first ODI for New Zealand since 2023, was the top wicket-taker for the hosts with 4-34 from eight overs. Duckett was the first batter to fall in the third over, caught by wicketkeeper Tom Latham from the bowling of Jacob Duffy. Root hit two fours in the same over and Smith hit a six of Zak Foulkes in the next as the England batters felt compelled to keep up a high scoring rate. Smith was caught by Kane Williamson off Foukes in the sixth over and England was 49-2 at the end of the first power play. Root was caught down the leg side by Latham off Tickner in the 12th over. The two previous balls from Tickner passed outside leg stump but were not called wides because Root had stepped inside the line and both balls were inside the wide line. Root attempted to flick the third ball on a similar line but only managed a fine touch to Latham. Bethell was caught by Foulkes from the bowling of Nathan Smith from the first ball after the drinks break and Buttler was trapped lbw by Smith when England was 81-5. Brook fell to an excellent diving catch by Will Young off a ball from Santner which gripped and turned away from the batter. Curran was beaten by a ball from Bracewell which also turned and hit the top of off stump.

India’s bid for a maiden Women’s Cricket World Cup crown has suffered a setback after in-form opener Pratika Rawal was ruled out of the semifinal clash against defending champions Australia due to injury. Rawal picked up an ankle injury while attempting to prevent a boundary in India’s final league match against Bangladesh on Sunday, a game that was eventually washed out. In a message posted on social media, Rawal expressed her disappointment, saying, “Tough to sit out due to injury, but my heart is with the team. Best of luck, India!” The 24-year-old batter has been a standout performer for India in the tournament, amassing 308 runs in the group stage, including a century in a crucial win over New Zealand. Only teammate Smriti Mandhana has scored more, with 365 runs to her name. The International Cricket Council has cleared Shafali Verma as Rawal’s replacement for the knockout fixture. India finished fourth in the league standings, a run that included a high-scoring defeat to Australia earlier in the tournament. The first semifinal will see England take on South Africa on Wednesday, while India and Australia face off the following day for a place in the final.   Source: AP

West Indies beat Bangladesh in the first T20I of a three-match series at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Monday. With this win, they took the lead 1-0. West Indies won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted 165 for 3, with captain Shai Hope anchoring the innings with 46 not out off 28 balls. Rovman Powell posted 44 not out after a slow start. Earlier, Alick Athanaze made 34 and Brandon King 33. Taskin Ahmed took two wickets for Bangladesh, while Rishad Hossain picked up one. Chasing 166, Bangladesh started brightly with Tanzid Hasan striking a six and a four in the opening over, but the early promise quickly faded. Tanzid fell in the second over, followed by Litton Das and Saif Hassan as the home side lost four wickets inside the Powerplay. Towhid Hridoy scored 28, while Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s 33 off 27 balls gave brief hope before the innings ended at 149 in 19.4 overs. Jason Holder and Jayden Seales shared three wickets each, with Akeal Hosein taking two. Player of the Match Rovman Powell said after the win that conditions were not easy for batting early on. “At the end of the innings, I was really pleased. It was difficult for me to start on the wicket; at one point, I was about 7 off 20 deliveries,” he said. “I just kept believing that if I could get a good shot, a good boundary, I would turn it around. We just needed to go as deep as possible. Fortunately for the captain and me, by the 18th over we had some balls under our belt, so we could maximize the scoring.” Bangladesh captain Litton Das admitted his side struggled with both early batting and late bowling execution. Spinners bag all wickets as Bangladesh outclass West Indies to win the series “I thought they batted really well in the first 10 overs. The wicket was on the slower side. If we had taken early wickets, they would have been under pressure,” he said. “We lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. I was upset with Shamim Hossain’s batting — he has to take more responsibility. We bowled well overall except for the last over. They fielded brilliantly; we need to take those catches and learn from this.” The second T20I will be played at the same venue on October 29, where Bangladesh will look to level the series. The third and final of the series will take place on October 31.//  

During a cricket match in Khulna, Barishal cricket team’s physio Hasan Ahmed died of a cardiac arrest on Monday. He was 47.  The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has expressed deep sorrow at his death.  According to the BCB, Hasan collapsed during the third day’s play of the NCL fixture between Khulna Division and Barishal Division at the Khulna Divisional Stadium and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Hasan had been associated with Barishal’s first-class setup for more than a decade, serving as team physio in the NCL. He was also the programme manager at the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims (BRCT). In a statement, the BCB extended its deepest condolences to Hasan’s family and colleagues, acknowledging his long contribution to domestic cricket.  

Babar Azam gets an opportunity to answer all the questions from white-ball coach Mike Hesson over his technique and skillset in Twenty20 cricket when Pakistan takes on South Africa in a three-match series starting Tuesday. Babar, who needs only nine runs to break Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in T20 internationals, hasn't been selected in the format since December. In that time, Pakistan has played 26 T20s. Babar has scored 4,223 runs at an average of 39.83, but Hesson had concerns over the premier batter’s strike rate of 129.22. He also wanted improvement in Babar’s technique. Since taking over in July, Hesson has favored Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman for the top three batting slots. Without Babar, Pakistan won a bilateral home series against Bangladesh before losing 2-1 in Bangladesh. Pakistan also won 2-1 against West Indies and the tri-series in the United Arab Emirates before losing three times to archrival India in the “no handshake” Asia Cup. Now the absence of Zaman for the series against South Africa has forced Hesson to “endorse” Babar at No. 3, a batting position where he has scored 1,166 runs in 35 T20s at an average of 44.84. According to Hesson, Zaman wanted to play in first-class cricket to gear up for the ODI series against South Africa in Faisalabad next month and team management agreed to give the left-hander a break from T20 cricket. “That’s created an opportunity for another top-order player and it’s a great opportunity to get Babar back into the squad," Hesson said. "He’s likely to bat at three so it’s a role that I’m very confident that he’ll be able to do well, and it also gives our squad some options coming into the World Cup.” Popular pick Babar has a strong fan base, and strong crowds turned out in Lahore and Rawalpindi to cheer for their star player during the recent drawn 1-1 test series against South Africa. They left the stadium in big numbers the moment Babar got out. Babar scored 131 runs in four test innings against South Africa, falling to spinners three times. His top score of 50 was not enough to save Pakistan from an eight-wicket loss at Rawalpindi in the second test. Understrength South Africa Injury to David Miller forced the Proteas to hand over the T20 captaincy to Donovan Ferreira, who recently endured a shocking four-wicket loss to Namibia in a one-off game. Miller strained his right hamstring during a training camp in South Africa. Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was also ruled out of the white-ball tour to Pakistan because of a pectoral muscle injury he sustained against Namibia, when he was limited to 1.3 overs. Another promising fast bowler, Kwena Maphaka, was ruled out with a hamstring strain. Matthew Breetzke, who will lead South Africa in the ODI series against Pakistan, and uncapped Tony de Zorzi were drafted into the T20 squad. The series will also mark the return of Quinton de Kock in white-ball format after the left-hander reversed his ODI retirement last month. He hasn’t played in the shortest format since South Africa lost last year’s T20 World Cup final to India.

Australia captain Pat Cummins is aiming to make his comeback in the second Ashes Test after failing to recover in time for the series opener against England in Perth. Rumors about Cummins’ availability had circulated for weeks before Cricket Australia confirmed on Monday that the fast bowler would miss the first Test, which begins on November 21. “We’ve simply run out of time, but we’re very optimistic and hopeful he’ll be ready for the second Test,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald told reporters in Canberra on Monday. McDonald said Cummins would resume bowling this week, and he'd need four weeks to be ready for test cricket. The fact that 32-year-old Cummins would soon be bowling was a “huge step," McDonald said. He hasn’t bowled since Australia’s 3-0 series sweep of the West Indies in the Caribbean in July. England cruise past New Zealand; rain washes out India-Bangladesh clash Former skipper Steve Smith will lead Australia in Cummins’ absence when the biggest test series on the 2025 calendar gets started. The second test, a day-nighter in Brisbane, starts Dec. 4. The five-match series then moves to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Cummins' absence means Scott Boland is likely to join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Australia's pace attack in Perth, where conditions usually favor pace bowling. In nine home tests, Boland has taken 49 wickets at an average of 12.63 — including his debut in 2021 when he snared six wickets for seven runs in a second-innings burst that secured a huge win for Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. New Zealand opts to bowl first in opening ODI against England “When you talk about Scott Boland being a potential replacement, it’s not a bad position to be in,” McDonald said of selections for the Ashes. “Ideally, we want our captain available for stability and decision-making. But as I said, Steve Smith will slide into that position. And yeah, I suppose you get excited about when (Cummins) does come back, what an injection that will be to the group.”  

England wrapped up their league campaign at the Women’s Cricket World Cup with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over New Zealand on Sunday, overshadowing White Ferns captain Sophie Devine’s farewell to one-day internationals. Later in the day, persistent rain brought India’s match against Bangladesh to a premature end. India were comfortably placed at 57 for no loss in 8.4 overs, chasing Bangladesh’s 119-9, when play was abandoned. The match had already been shortened to 27 overs a side because of earlier showers. New Zealand were dismissed for 168 in 38.2 overs after electing to bat first. Left-arm spinner Linsey Smith led England’s attack with 3-30, while Devine contributed 23 in her final ODI and Georgia Plimmer top-scored with 43. In response, England reached 172-2 in 29.2 overs. Opener Amy Jones anchored the chase with an unbeaten 86 off 92 deliveries. The four-time winners concluded the league stage in second place behind defending champions Australia, collecting five wins and one no-result from seven matches. Their only defeat came against Australia. England’s finish pushed South Africa to third, setting up a semifinal clash between those two sides in Guwahati on Wednesday. Australia will face fourth-placed hosts India on Thursday. New Zealand ended sixth with just one victory and two no-results, marking their leanest World Cup campaign since 1978. England dominate with the ball Suzie Bates fell early, caught off Smith in the sixth over, but Plimmer and Amelia Kerr rebuilt with a 68-run stand for the second wicket. England regained control when Kerr (35) was dismissed in the 19th over and Plimmer trapped lbw by Charlie Dean soon after. The last seven New Zealand wickets tumbled for just 67 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt took 2-31, including Devine’s wicket, while Smith added two more scalps and Alice Capsey finished with 2-34. Kapp stars as SA crushes Pakistan by 150 runs at Women’s CWC Jones and Tammy Beaumont (40) set the tone in the chase with a 75-run opening partnership. Devine claimed one last memorable moment by trapping England captain Heather Knight for 33, ending an 83-run stand for the second wicket. Jones earned player-of-the-match honors, while Devine received a guard of honour from both teams as she exited the field. Rain frustrates India-Bangladesh fixture In Navi Mumbai, India chose to bowl first after Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss for the first time in the tournament. The start was delayed twice due to a wet outfield and heavy rain. Bangladesh reached 39-2 in 12.2 overs before another downpour forced match officials to cut the game to 27 overs each. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, making her first appearance this tournament, impressed with 3-30 and Shree Charani added 2-23. Sobhana Mostary’s brisk 26 from 21 balls and Sharmin Akhter’s 36 off 53 provided resistance. Smriti Mandhana (34 not out) and Amanjot Kaur (15 not out) had India cruising when rain returned to end proceedings. India were left with an injury concern as opener Pratika Rawal left the field after hurting her knee and ankle. The BCCI said the medical team is monitoring her closely ahead of the knockouts. Source: AP