cricket
Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup: Bangladesh upset Australia by 7 wickets
Bangladesh made a big upset in the ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup after beating Australia by seven wickets with 12 balls to spare in the opening Group A match in South Africa's Benoni Saturday.
Australia scored 130 for five in 20 overs after choosing to bat first at the Willowmoore Park. Claire Moore top scored 52 runs off 51 balls for the Aussies, with seven boundaries.
Also, Ella Hayward, Amy Smith and captain Rhys McKenna scored 35, 16, and 12, respectively, for their team.
Bangladesh captain Disha Biswas and Marufa Akter grabbed two wickets for 25 runs and 29 runs, respectively.
Chasing 131, Bangladesh scored 132 for the loss of three wickets in 18 overs.
Wicketkeeper batter Dilara Akhter top scored 40 runs off 42 balls with seven boundaries. She was named the player of the match.
Read: Shakib guides Barishal to 3rd BPL 2023 win
Besides, Sumaiya Akhter (31no), Afia Prottasha (24) and Shorna Akter (23) were the other major contributors to Bangladesh's win.
Chioe Ainsworth took two wickets for nine runs while Rhy Mckenna claimed one wicket, giving away 31 runs in her three overs spell.
In the day's other match, the UAE beat Scotland by six wickets at the Willowmoore Park B field in Benoni.
Bangladesh will play Sri Lanka on Monday and the US on Wednesday.
Shakib guides Barishal to 3rd BPL 2023 win
Shakib Al Hasan powered Fortune Barishal to their third victory in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with the bat Saturday in Chattogram.
Riding on the all-rounder's 45-ball 81, Barishal beat Comilla Victorians by 12 runs.
Earlier, Comilla won the toss and sent Barishal in to bat first. The opening batters failed to get going, but Shakib, coming in at number four, played a gem of a knock with eight fours and four sixes, helping his team post 177 for six in 20 overs.
Read: BPL 2023: Usman ton powers Chattogram to nine-wicket win over Khulna
Also, Ibrahim Zadran and Chaturanga de Silva scored 27 and 21 runs, respectively, for Barishal.
For Comilla, Tanvir Islam bagged four wickets for 33 runs.
Chasing 178, Comilla managed to score 165 for seven in 20 overs.
Khushdil Shah scored 43 for them; Imrul Kayes and Mosaddek Hossain scored 28 and 27, respectively.
Read: Shakib lands in hot water yet again
However, Pakistani opener Mohammad Rizwan could not do well with the bat for Comilla. He scored 18 runs off 11 balls.
While Barishal registered their third win in the BPL, Comilla are yet to win a match.
BPL 2023 Chattogram phase begins Friday
The Chattogram phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will take off Friday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Home team Chattogram Challengers will take on Fortune Barishal at 2pm.
In the initial phase of the league, eight matches were held in Dhaka. Sylhet Strikers, led by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, have topped the points table with eight points from four wins from as many matches.
Tickets for the Chattogam phase are now available. Spectators can collect tickets from Thursday. Also, ticket booths will remain open on match days.
Seven teams are participating in this year's BPL.
Read more: Azam Khan smashes first BPL 2023 century
After the Chattogram phase, the BPL will be back in Dhaka for a two-day phase before an eight-match phase in Sylhet. After that, the competition will return to Dhaka for the final phase.
The final of this year's BPL will be played in the capital on February 16.
Australia pulls out of Afghanistan cricket series
Australia has pulled out of its upcoming men’s one-day international cricket series against Afghanistan, citing further restrictions on women’s rights imposed in the country by the ruling Taliban government.
Australia was set to meet Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates for three matches in March. But following consultation with the Australian government and other groups, Cricket Australia said Thursday it would scrap the series.
Read more: Afghan women athletes barred from play, fear Taliban threats
When Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, the extremist group banned women from playing sports on the grounds that doing so would contravene Islamic laws requiring their hair and skin to be covered.
In a statement on Thursday, Cricket Australia said the decision to withdraw from the men’s one-day international series followed recent Taliban restrictions placed on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms.
“CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country,” CA said.
The cancellation of the series comes after Australia cited similar reasons for scrapping a one-off test match against Afghanistan that had been set to be played in Hobart, Australia in November 2021.
Read more: 4 NGOs suspend work in Afghanistan after Taliban bar women
In December, the Taliban banned women from completing higher education, having prohibited attendance at gyms and parks a month earlier.
According to the United Nations, women are also banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade and working most jobs outside of their homes.
In November 2021, the ICC formed a working group aiming to support and review women’s and men’s cricket in Afghanistan but more than a year later, the country remains the only full member of the ICC without a fully operational women’s team.
Kohli scores 45th ODI ton, India beats Sri Lanka by 67 runs
Virat Kohli scored his 45th ODI hundred on his return to the national team as India beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in their series opener on Tuesday.
Kohli, who missed India's 2-1 win in the T20 series against Sri Lanka, hit an 87-ball 113 to put India in control of the first one-day international after the hosts were asked to bat first at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
India reached a commanding 373-7 in its 50 overs with half-centuries from captain Rohit Sharma (83) and Shubman Gill (70). Sri Lanka was restricted to 306-8 in reply as skipper Dasun Shanaka’s 108 runs not out off 88 balls went in vain as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The wisdom of Sri Lanka's decision to bowl first looked doubtful from the start as Sharma and Gill put on 143 runs off 118 balls for the first wicket.
Returning from a finger injury, Sharma reached 50 off 41 balls. At the other end, Gill continued his good ODI run with 50 off 51 balls.
Shanaka (1-22) got the breakthrough before Kohli arrived at the crease and batted almost to the end of the innings.
It was Kohli’s ninth ODI hundred against Sri Lanka, overtaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of eight centuries for India against the same opposition. Kohli is also now four short of Tendulkar’s all-time record of 49 ODI hundreds. Overall, it was Kohli’s 73rd international century.
Read more: India, Sri Lanka face off in a crucial encounter in Asia Cup 2022
“I was hitting the ball nicely. It was close to the template I play with," Kohli said. "I am in a comfortable career space now and playing for the right reasons.”
Kohli scored 12 fours and a six as India crossed 200 in 27 overs. He brought up his 50 off 47 balls.
India lost Shreyas Iyer (28) in the 30th over. Kohli then added 90 runs for the fourth wicket with Lokesh Rahul (39) to take India past the 300 mark. India added 79 runs in the final 10 overs.
Sri Lanka faltered against disciplined fast bowling. Mohammed Siraj (2-30) struck early blows, removing Avishka Fernando (5) and Kusal Mendis (0).
Umran Malik (3-57) dismissed Charith Asalanka (23) to reduce Sri Lanka to 64-3 in 14 overs. Pathum Nissanka helped to hold the innings together with 72 off 80 balls, including 11 fours.
Sri Lanka was down to 206-8 but Shanaka was unperturbed in a run-a-ball half-century.
Read more: IND vs SL 2022: India celebrate thumping victory, Virat’s 100th Test touches another milestone
He hit 12 fours and three sixes to accelerate to a second ODI hundred. He added 100 runs off 73 balls for the unbroken ninth wicket with Kasun Rajitha only contributing 9 runs as the pair reduced the scale of defeat for Sri Lanka.
The second ODI is on Thursday at Kolkata.
Shakib lands in hot water yet again
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) continues to generate discouraging headlines, with Shakib Al Hasan taking the lead in typical fashion. Most recently, Shakib violated regulations by entering the playing field during the contest between his team Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders, on Tuesday.
The BPL authority took a stern action this time, imposing a fine of 15% of their match fees on the players who were found to have breached the Code of Conduct.
Due to Shakib's transgression, the match was briefly halted while the on-field umpires spent some time attempting to persuade Shakib to return to the dugout.
The incident took place ahead of Barishal’s innings in reply to Rangpur’s first innings. Barishal’s opener Chaturanga de Silva, a left-handed batter, took the strike to open the batting for Rangpur as Rakibul Hasan, the left-arm spinner, was about to bowl.
But seeing Chaturanga taking the strike, Nurul Hasan, the Rangpur captain, changed the bowler bringing Mahidy Hasan, a right-handed spinner, assuming that a right-spinner could do well against a right-handed batter.
Read more: “If I were CEO of BPL, it’d take me 1 or 2 months to make necessary changes”: Shakib
But the Barishal openers, Chaturanga and Anamul Haque, decided to change their end, prompting Nurul to change the bowler again. And at this stage, Shakib entered the field and went to the umpires to clarify his point.
It was a clear violation of role— a batting team player cannot just enter the field whenever he wants without the approval of the umpires. At the conclusion of the match day, the BCB issued a punishment to Shakib and the other players involved in the incident.
A BCB release said: “Shakib and Nurul were both found in breach of Article 2.4 of the BCB Code of Conduct for Players, which refers to disobeying an umpire’s instruction during a match.”
It also read that: “Anamul, meanwhile, was penalized for a breach of Article 2.8 of the BCB Code of Conduct for Players for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.”
BCB confirmed that in addition to the fines, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of each player.
Read more: BCB has no answers to Shakib's truth bombs on BPL
It was just one instance of the many unfortunate incidents that occurred during the ongoing season of BPL, involving the country's best cricketer, Shakib.
Naseem's 5-57 sets up Pakistan's ODI win over NZ
Fast bowler Naseem Shah took five wickets as Pakistan cruised to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the first one-day international on Monday.
Naseem, aged 19, snapped up 5-57 as New Zealand was made to bat first and was restricted to 255-9.
Mohammad Rizwan, who was rested for the preceding drawn two-test series, top-scored with an unbeaten 77 off 86 balls and eased Pakistan to 258-4 in 48.1 overs.
“You enjoy your performance more when you win the match,” Naseem said. “The pitch was good for batting and initially there wasn’t much assistance for the bowlers but the (old) ball started to reverse.”
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam made 66 off 82 balls and continued his red-hot form in white-ball cricket with his 19th ODI fifty. Opener Fakhar Zaman also made a fine 56 in his comeback match from a knee injury.
New Zealand batters couldn’t convert good starts on a slow pitch against disciplined bowling by debutant legspinner Usama Mir (2-42) and Mohammad Nawaz (1-38) in the middle overs.
Naseem dismissed opener Devon Conway for a first-over duck off a full-pitched delivery as the left-hander tried to flick the fast bowler but the ball ricocheted off his back leg onto his stumps.
Hard-hitting Finn Allen (29) successfully overturned a lbw decision against him in Haris Rauf’s first over. Allen hit Naseem for two boundaries in an over and smashed Rauf for three boundaries in a row before falling to a spectacular Agha Salman diving catch at short extra cover.
Mir tied down New Zealand through his googlies and sharp legspin, and stunned Kane Williamson on 26 off a turning delivery which knocked back the off stump.
Tom Latham (42) and Daryl Mitchell (36) rebuilt the innings with a half-century stand before falling to Mir and Nawaz respectively. New Zealand slipped to 147-5 in the 32nd over.
“We just didn’t quite do things for long enough with the bat,” Latham said. “Whenever we threatened for a big partnership, we lost a wicket . . . if we’re able to close to that 300 mark, then maybe things would have been different.”
Michael Bracewell, who top-scored with 43 off 42 balls, and Glenn Phillips (37) also had good starts before Naseem returned and picked up four wickets in his return spell.
Naseem was on a hat trick after he clean bowled Bracewell and debutant Henry Shipley, but Tim Southee denied the pacer.
Mitchell Santner made a brisk 21 and Southee contributed 15 to get New Zealand past 250 runs.
Babar featured in two half-century stands with Zaman and Rizwan after offspinner Bracewell (2-44) dismissed Imam-ul-Haq (11) early in Pakistan’s chase.
Latham dropped a tough edge by Zaman before the left-hander's 15th half-century. Zaman was clean bowled soon after while going for a slog sweep against Bracewell.
Babar also survived two close lbws against the spinners. Latham stumped him off part-time spinner Phillips.
Rizwan kept his cool and batted with cramps in the latter half of the run chase. Salman, 13 not out, hit the winning runs with a straight six against Southee.
The second ODI is on Wednesday followed by the last match on Friday.
BPL 2023: Usman ton powers Chattogram to nine-wicket win over Khulna
Pakistan's Usman Khan smashed his first T20 century to help Chattogram Challengers get their first victory in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after defeating Khulna Tigers on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka's Mirpur.
Batting first, Khulna Tigers posted 178 runs, riding on the century of another Pakistani, Azam Khan.
In response, Usman upstaged Azam to power Chattogram to a nine-wicket win. He remained unbeaten on 103 off 58 balls, with five fours and three sixes.
Chasing 179, Usman and Max O'Dowd shared an opening stand of 141 runs.
Read more: BPL 2023: Who Can Win the 9th Bangladesh Premier League
Nahidul Islam broke the partnership, but it was too late for Khulna.
Earlier, Azam hit the first ton of the BPL 2023, helping Khulna post 178 for five with his unbeaten 109 off 57 balls.
Azam came to the crease as the number four batter after Khulna lost two wickets for only 12 runs.
On the way to his first T20 century, Azam hit nine fours and eight sixes. His previous best in T20 was 88.
Earlier, Khulna played their first match against Dhaka Dominators, which they lost by six wickets.
Read more: Azam Khan smashes first BPL 2023 century
Azam Khan smashes first BPL 2023 century
Pakistan's Azam Khan hit the first century of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka's Mirpur.
The right-handed batter is playing for Khulna Tigers in the BPL. Riding on his 58-ball century, Khulna posted 178 for five against Chattogram Challengers.
On the way to his first T20 century, Azam hit nine fours and eight sixes. His previous best in T20 was 88.
Azam came to the crease as the number four batter after Khulna lost two wickets for only 12 runs. He remained unbeaten on 109.
Earlier, Khulna played a match against Dhaka Dominators, which they lost by six wickets.
BPL 2023: Sylhet Strikers continue winning streak
The Sylhet Strikers continued their impressive winning streak in the current season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), beating the most successful team in the tournament, the Comilla Victorians, by a margin of five wickets today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The Sylhet Strikers, led by former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, achieved their third consecutive victory, while the Comilla Victorians suffered their second consecutive defeat.
The Victorians batted first and put up a formidable 149 runs for the loss of six wickets. In response, the Strikers successfully chased down the target of 150 with five wickets still in hand at the end of 17.4 overs.
Read more: BPL 2023: Ticket prices for first phase revealed
Mohammad Haris, the Pakistani opener of the Sylhet Strikers, fell short of expectations, scoring only six off three deliveries. Abu Hider broke the opening stand with his early dismissal. However, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy then stitched together a good partnership, providing a strong platform for the Strikers to build on.
Najmul scored 19 runs off 21 balls, while Towhid remained steadfast in the middle, smashing a 56 from just 37 deliveries, with three fours and four sixes. His performance was truly remarkable against a quality Victorians bowling attack, which includes the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Mohammad Nabi. It was a triumphant day for the batter.
Zakir Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim scored 20 and 28 runs respectively, helping the Strikers secure the victory.
For the Victorians, Mohammad Nabi and Khushdil Shah put up a valiant effort, bagging two wickets each, but it was not enough to avoid a defeat.
Read more: BPL 2023: Who Can Win the 9th Bangladesh Premier League
Earlier, Jaker Ali aided the Victorians in setting a challenging total of 149. He scored 57 off 43 balls, hitting two fours and three sixes. Dawid Malan also performed well, scoring 37, but it was not enough to meet the Comilla Victorians' expectations. Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera and Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir bagged two wickets for Sylhet Strikers, while Mashrafe and Imad Wasim scalped one wicket each.