In a remarkable display of sustained disciplined bowling, Australia restricted India to 240 all-out in 50 overs in the final of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday in Ahmedabad. India was asked to bat first after losing the toss - a huge call by Pat Cummins that defied conventional wisdom. World Cup 2023: Kohli Falls as Australia Take Control The hosts struggled to establish effective partnerships when they needed them most. Credit goes to the Australian pace attack, which denied the Indian batting line-up the chance to settle in. Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul both secured half-centuries, and the responsibility rested on them to carry India's hopes further. However, they couldn't defy the disciplined Australian attack. World Cup 2023 Final: India stumble, lose 3 wickets before reaching 100 Mitchell Starc led the charge, taking three wickets for 55 in 10 overs. He initiated the breakthrough by dismissing Shubman Gill. India lost three wickets before even reaching 100 runs. As on other occasions, Rohit Sharma had a promising and explosive start, but the Indian captain couldn't sustain his aggression. Shreyas Iyer, like Gill, failed to deliver on the biggest match of their lives. ICC World Cup 2023 Final: Australia ask India to bat first Josh Inglis, the Australian wicketkeeper, took five catches behind the wicket. For Australia, Starc claimed three wickets, while Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins took two wickets each. Prior to this match, Australia and India faced each other in another final of the ICC World Cup, which Australia won.

Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions reached the final of the women's football at the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 after winning the semi-finals at the BFF Artificial Turf in Motijheel Wednesday. In the women's semi-final, Rangpur made the final after thrashing Chattogram 7-2 riding on four goals from Swapna. Also, Rivana netted two goals in the 57th and 71st minutes; Mowrashi scored one. Menti Chakma scored both goals for Chattogram in the 75th and 88th minutes. Read more: Malan century guides England home as Tigers bemoan batting woes In today's other semi-final, Rajshahi managed to secure their place in the final after beating Dhaka 3-2 in the tie-breaker as the regular time ended in a 0-0 draw. The men's gold medal match between Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions will be held Friday at 3 pm at the Paltan Maidan Outer Stadium.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday inaugurated the final round of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 in the capital. The curtain of the week-long final round was lifted at Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani after the successful conclusion of the inter-upazila and inter-district phases, held from January 02 to 22, 2023. Some 4,000 (Under-17) promising athletes are taking part in the final round of the meet for the 193 gold, 193 silver and 287 bronze. They are competing under 24 disciplines including individual and team in the second edition of sports event. Meanwhile, both the men's and women's football competitions of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 held on the opening day of the meet at two city separate venues in the capital. Read more: Doing our best to keep economy going amid global recession: PM Hasina Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) organised the Youth Games for the first time in 2018. The main motto of the Games was to select future players for national teams in various disciplines and to groom the talents of young athletes. State Minister for Youth and Sports Md Zahid Ahsan Russel and BOA President General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed spoke at the opening ceremony, while BOA General Secretary Syed Shahed Reza delivered the welcome speech.

Tickets for the final of the ongoing season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will be available for purchase from tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 February 2023. The final of BPL 2023 promises to be an exciting event for cricket fans, with an added bonus of a grand concert featuring some of the best local bands and singers. According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer, Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, the concert is expected to start at approximately 3 pm on match day, followed by the final match at 6:30 pm. Fans can buy tickets for the match from the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur and the ticket booth adjacent to Gate 1 of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, also in Mirpur. The ticket prices for the different stands are as follows: Grand Stand - TK 2,000, VIP Stand - TK 1,500, Club House - TK 800, North/South Stand - TK 400, and Eastern Stand - TK 300. The tickets will be sold on match day and the day before. Ticket counters and booths will open from 9:30 am and continue until 7:30 pm, subject to the availability of tickets.  

Both the semifinals and final of the 32-team Kool-BSJA six-a-side Media Cup Football Tournament'2023 will be held on Wednesday (January 25), the closing day of the five-day meet at the Artificial Turf of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) here.   Boishakhi TV will play Kalbela in the first semifinal at 9:30 am while Channel i will face DBC TV in the other semifinal, also at 9:30 am on Wednesday. Read more: Kool-BSJA Media Cup Football moves to quarter-finals The final match will commence at 11:30 am on the same day at the same venue. In the day's quarterfinals, Kalbela beat RTV 2-0; Boishakhi TV defeated Bangladesh Tribune 1-0; DBC eliminated Daily Star 2-0 while Channel i outplayed Jagonews 3-1 Tuesday morning.

It is now or never for Lionel Messi. The Argentina superstar’s once-in-a-generation career will be defined — for many — by whether he leads his country to the World Cup title on Sunday. Can he finally, at the age of 35, win soccer’s biggest prize to secure his place alongside Pelé and Diego Maradona in the pantheon of the game’s greatest ever players? Standing in his way is France, the defending champion, and Kylian Mbappé, the player best positioned to take over from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as soccer’s marquee name. That’s if he hasn’t already. Mbappé also is standing on the cusp of history heading into the match at the 80,000-seat Lusail Stadium, a title decider that is filled with storylines. The 23-year-old France forward is looking to emulate Pelé by being a champion at his first two World Cups and set up the prospect of a third title, a feat only ever achieved by the Brazil great who has been hospitalized during this year’s tournament because of a respiratory infection. Read: FIFA World Cup Final 2022 Argentina vs France LIVE Streaming: Where and How to watch online and TV Channel, Predicted XI Mbappé was 19 when he led France to its second World Cup title in 2018, becoming the youngest scorer in a final since a 17-year-old Pelé did so in 1958. While Pelé ended up being a peripheral figure in Brazil’s 1962 triumph — he didn’t play in the knockout stage because of injury — Mbappé has been France’s go-to player in the team’s bid to repeat. Indeed, Mbappé enters the final tied as the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals. The player alongside him? Messi, of course. Who wins the Golden Boot — the award for the top scorer — is just one of the many other narratives around the final. There’s France, the dominant national team of this generation, looking to become the first to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962. The country that produced Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and now Mbappé will be playing in the final for the fourth time in the last seven World Cups, more than anyone else. Then there’s Didier Deschamps, a World Cup winner as a player in 1998 and now bidding to win it two times as a coach. Vittorio Pozzo was the only other man to coach two world champion teams, with Italy in 1934 and 1938. Like France, Argentina is seeking a third World Cup title — after 1978 and 1986 — to move into outright fourth place in the all-time list. It would end a 36-year wait for soccer’s biggest prize, since Maradona’s string of virtuoso performances in Mexico in 1986. That made Maradona forever a hero in Argentina, and an icon around the soccer world. Messi now appears to be at that level — win or lose on Sunday when he’ll play in a record 26th World Cup match. Messi has evoked comparisons with Maradona in the way he has pushed Argentina to the final, scoring five goals, setting up three more and thrilling his team’s legion of fans, who have poured into Qatar throughout the World Cup in numbers only really matched by those from Morocco. In that sense, it will seem like a home game for Argentina, with France’s supporters sure to be heavily outnumbered amid a sea of blue-and-white jerseys — many of which will have “MESSI 10” written on them. It is hard to pick a winner. France is a hardened tournament team with plenty of experience and the quality to eke out wins when not playing at its best. Deschamps has kept France’s level high despite losing key players ahead of the tournament like Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Presnel Kimpembe and Karim Benzema, the reigning world player of the year. Read: In footsteps of France's Mbappé, kids and parents dream big The French are the masters of being pragmatic, defending compactly and breaking at pace, typically through Mbappé down the left and through Antoine Griezmann, reinvented over the past month as a midfield playmaker. Indeed, expect to see Mbappé and Messi walking around a lot during the game, not bothering to defend or press. That is in the script, rather than them being lazy. Part of the skill of Deschamps and Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni is their ability to forge a team that has learned to defend a man light. As for Argentina, the team is largely set up simply to get the best out of Messi, with Scaloni likely to select a quartet of central midfielders like in the 3-0 win over Croatia in the semifinals. They will scrap and press, and then give the ball to Messi to weave his magic. Or to Julián Álvarez, the striker who started the tournament as a backup for that unthinkable 2-1 opening loss to Saudi Arabia and now is undroppable with four goals to his name. Álvarez is pinching himself that, at 22 and pretty much at the start of his career, he is the attacking foil for Messi at the great man’s last World Cup. Similarly, the tens of thousands of spectators inside the stadiums in Qatar, and the millions watching on television around the world, have continued to be amazed at the magic Messi keeps on delivering. Anyone who isn’t French, or maybe a fervent fan of Ronaldo, is likely to be willing on Argentina’s diminutive No. 10 in the biggest match of his career. Eight years ago, Messi walked away from the 1-0 loss to Germany in the 2014 final with the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player. This time, he’ll want instead to be lifting another trophy, made of 18-carat solid gold, to cap a career like no other.

Asian giant India and current 50-over world champions England will meet Thursday at the Adelaide Oval in the second T20 World Cup semi-final, with Pakistan waiting in the final. Both India and England previously played two finals of the T20 World Cups, and each won a title and lost one. India won the first edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 after beating Pakistan in the final. And England won the T20 World Cup 2010, beating Australia in the final and losing the final of the 2016 edition to the West Indies in India. Red more: T20 World Cup: Knocking out New Zealand, Pakistan moves to final India has been playing in the ongoing World Cup with their strong brand of T20 cricket. Virat Kohli, who had been struggling to do well, is now the top run-scorer of the World Cup. Suryakumer Yadav has also been doing well. Team India also have a strong bowling line-up, with Arshdeep Sing taking 10 wickets so far in the event. And for England, Alex Hales has been the best batter, scoring 125 runs so far with a fifty. The other England batter who hit a fifty in this World Cup is Jos Buttler. Sam Curran is the main star in the English bowling line-up. He has bagged 10 wickets so far in this world cup, and his performance is key for England in the semifinal clash against India. Read more: T20 World Cup: Pakistan restrict New Zealand to 152 in 1st semi-final While India and England are gearing up for another final berth, Pakistan has booked a place in the final. They beat New Zealand by seven wickets on Wednesday and marched to the final on November 13 in Melbourne.    

BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy on Wednesday said their party’s ongoing agitation is just a rehearsal for the ‘final' movement to oust the Awami League government. "Obaidur Quader (AL Secretary General) often says we have no strength to wage a movement…why do you talk so much? This is just a rehearsal and our leaders and workers have not started the final movement yet," he said. Speaking at a rally, the BNP leader called upon party leaders and workers to keep their current 'fearless' spirit to initiate an all-out movement in the days to come. “The way you are waking up and bravely standing up before police instead of running away, just keep it up.” Mirpur zone of Dhaka north city unit arranged the rally on a road near Mirpur-6 kitchen market protesting the price hike of fuel, daily essentials and the killing of three opposition leaders in Bhola and Narayanganj in police firing. Gayeshwar, a BNP standing committee member, said their party leaders and activists will not return home from the streets without ensuring the voting rights of  people. “Those who sacrificed blood in the movement will not go in vain. We’ll restore democracy through the sacrifice of blood. He said the freedom fighters who liberated Bangladesh through a war would not allow anyone to run the country in a despotic manner. “We’re on a movement not to go to power, but to free people from the chains of autocratic rule.” Read: BNP forms convening committees for Dhaka’s south, north The BNP leader also called upon his party colleagues to get ready for a hit back if they are attacked by their political opponents. He also urged the law enforcers to discharge their responsibilities impartially. “We call upon the democratic world to stand by the people who are on a movement. We seek your support as members of the democratic world for the restoration of democracy and our right to vote. You don't have to bring anyone to power. Let people decide who will be there in power,” Gayeshwar said.

Fortune Barishal defended a moderate total of 143 to storm to the final of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) beating Comilla Victorians by 10 runs on Monday.  Comilla will now take on Chattogram Challengers on February 16 in the second Qualifier. Chattogram defeated Khulna Tigers in the Eliminator.  While chasing 143, Comilla failed to finish well. They needed 22 off the last 12 balls, but they fell short of 10 runs despite having six wickets in hand. Off the 19th over, Mehedi Hasan Rana conceded only four runs and picked up one wicket.  In the last over, Mujeeb Ur Rahman conceded seven runs and picked up two wickets, and Barishal sealed the match.  Comilla had a 62-run opening stand by Liton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy. Despite having this good foundation, they failed to carry on the good run. READ: Four uncapped players called up to Bangladesh ODI team vs Afghanistan Mahmudul, who has been playing well in BPL, played 30 balls to score 20 runs with only a six. His sluggish effort made it tough for the late order to come up with the required response.  Faf du Plessis started well but fell for 21 off 15 with a four and a six, and Moeen Ali scored 22 off 15 balls. Any one of these two needed to stay in the middle and finish it off, but they couldn't. For Barishal, Shafiqul Islam was the best bowler who took two wickets conceding only 16 runs in four overs while Mehedi Hasan Rana also did well taking two conceding 15 in three overs.  Shakib Al Hasan failed to take any wickets, but he was economical with the ball giving away only 27 runs in four overs.  Earlier, Barishal posted a moderate total of 143 for eight in 20 overs.  Munim Shahriar, the opener, once again helped lay down a good foundation scoring 44 off 30 balls with two fours and four sixes. In the opening stand, Barishal scored 58 in 6.2 before losing Chris Gayle to Shohidul Islam. READ: Tamim finds commentary an ‘interesting’ job Barishal’s middle-order failed to deliver well as Shakib returned posting only a run while Ziaur Rahman and Towhid Hridoy posted 17 and one retrospectively before Dwayne Bravo scored 17.  For Comilla, Shohidul Islam bagged three wickets while Moeen Ali took two. In the league phase, Barishal took on Comilla twice and won one with losing the other match. If Comilla can beat Chattogram in the second Qualifier now, they will have a great chance to lift the BPL title for the third time.

After winning two consecutive matches, Walton Central Zone lost their third match against BCB South Zone by five wickets in the ongoing Independence Cup on Thursday in Sylhet. Despite this defeat, Central Zone, along with South Zone, marched to the final of the event which will be played on January 15. Central Zone batted first after losing the toss and posted a moderate total of 220 runs for eight wickets. Abu Hider Rony was the most exciting batter for them hitting 54 only for 27 balls with six fours and four sixes. Along with him, Abdul Mazid and Mosaddek Hossain also have done well with the bat scoring 46 and 44 respectively. Also read: Central Zone continue on winning streak For South Zone, Mustafizur Rahman bagged four wickets conceding 63 runs while Mahedi Hasan took three wickets. In reply, Pinak Ghosh and Towhid Hridoy scored 54 and 65 runs respectively to guide South Zone to a five-wicket victory. Zakir Hasan has also done well scoring 40 runs. Hasan Murad scalped two wickets for the Central Zone but the other bowlers failed to do well for them. In the other match of the day, Islami Bank East Zone beat BCB North Zone by four wickets. Imrul Kayes hit 71 for East Zone and won the player of the match award. Also read: Most Fierce Bowling Performances in BPL History North Zone batted first and posted 216 losing all wickets with the help of the fifties by Marshal Ayub, 54, and Mahmudullah Riyad, 66. In reply, East Zone chased the target in 37.5 overs with Imrul scoring the highest for them. Tamim Iqbal scored 35 for them.