United News of Bangladesh

Shakib Al Hasan once again registered a five-wicket haul in Tests taking five for 96 in the Dhaka Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. It was Shakib’s 19th five-wicket haul in the format. His last five-wicket haul in Test was in 2018 against West Indies in Kingston. It was Shakib’s longest period of time between two five-wicket hauls in Tests. However, Sri Lanka managed to secure a 141-run first-innings lead riding on the centuries of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal. Also read: Sri Lanka continue thriving as Mathews, Chandimal hit tons Chandimal fell for 124, but Mathews remained unbeaten for 145. For Bangladesh, Shakib bagged five and Ebadot Hossain took four.  

The two most experienced batters of Sri Lanka— Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal—hit a ton each in Dhaka Test against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka continued to thrive.  At the tea of day four, Sri Lanka were batting at 459 for five with Mathews batting at 123 and Chandimal batting at 120. In the sixth wicket stand, they added 193 runs so far.  Also read:Mushfiqur, the world's best Test scorer! At this point of the match, Sri Lanka have already secured a lead of 94 runs with five wickets in hand. With four more sessions to play in this Test, Bangladesh will have to face a stiff challenge.  It was the second ton of Mathews in this series. He had also hit a ton in the first Test in Chattogram.  The stand between Mathews and Chandimal came as a perfect reply to the 282-run sixth-wicket stand by Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das of Bangladesh.  Bangladesh bowlers were disappointing in the morning session as they were unable to pose any notable challenge to the Lankan batters. Ebadot Hossain bowled a few deliveries at the pads without any luck, and spinners also looked helpless. Bangladesh captain Mominul rolled his hand but failed to break the stand.  Also read:Dhaka Test: Mathews, Chandimal pose strong challenge With five more sessions to go in this Test, Bangladesh are in a challenging situation. They will now have to wrap up the Lankans in a smaller lead. Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted a total of 365 with centuries from Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das. It was a tremendous effort from them after six Bangladeshi batters were unable to score anything. 

Gujarat Titans qualified for the IPL 2022 final after defeating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in the Qualifier 1 match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday (May 24). They are now awaiting their opponent in the championship match, which will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 29). The Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match will determine the Gujarat Titans' final opponent. The preview of the qualifier 2 match of the 2022 IPL is discussed in this article. IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 Preview: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore  Both sides have met each other twice in this season’s Indian Premier League, with each winning once. So, the qualifier 2 match will be their third encounter in the ongoing season. Since this will be a do-or-die contest and the winner will secure a place in the IPL 2022 final, therefore, no team should be considered as favourite. Whoever plays with full potential and executes their game plan properly in order to overcome their opponent is likely to advance to the championship match. Rajasthan Royals The individual brilliance of a couple of players has carried Rajasthan Royals this far in the competition. One of them is English power-hitter Jos Buttler. His contribution to the bat has been unbelievable. The charismatic batter has made 718 runs with a record of 3 hundred. Buttler has maintained a 51.28 average and is striking the ball at a 148.34 rate, which clearly indicates his contribution to the team. Along with him, skipper Sanju Samson has continued his strong batting performance this season. Read IPL 2022: The Qualified Teams in the Playoffs and Fixtures Besides, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been outstanding with the ball, giving Rajasthan the necessary breakthroughs when needed. He is the highest wicket-taker in the IPL 2022 season with 26 wickets in 15 innings. These three players have to be in their best shape against Bangalore. However, other players like Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Ashwin, Jaiswal, and Hetmyer also have to raise their performance levels in order to take Rajasthan to the final.  Predicted Playing XI Top-Order: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (captain); Middle-Order: Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult; Lower-Order: Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy. Read IPL 2022: Who will make the playoffs from Delhi and Bangalore? Royal Challengers Bangalore  The Bangalore side’s biggest strength is their bowling. Sri Lankan recruits Hasaranga de Silva, Harshal Patel, and Josh Hazlewood have all been in great form with the ball. They have the ability to pick up wickets even though the economy is quite high. So, these players will be crucial for Bangalore against Rajasthan. However, none of their batters have been consistent this season. Skipper Faf du Plessis is the highest run-scorer for them with 443, while Virat Kohli is the second-highest scorer with 334. Heading into the qualifier-2 match, Bangalore can take some inspiration from Rajat Patidar’s whirlwind 112 off 54 ball knocks against Lucknow SuperGiants, which literally sealed the match for them. He will be crucial again in the next match for the Challengers, along with Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik, and Harshal Patel.  Predicted Playing XI Top-Order: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar; Middle-Order: Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel; Lower-Order: Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj. Read IPL 2022: Favourites to Reach the Playoffs Match Time (RR vs RCB) The qualifier-2 match will be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (May 27). The game will start at 8 p.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time). Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals: Head-to-Head Record Both sides have met each other 27 times. Bangalore have a slight advantage in head-to-head duels, having won 13 times while Rajasthan have won 11 times.  Verdict The Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match is expected to be fiercely contested. Therefore, picking a winner is extremely difficult. However, given both teams' overall performances in the IPL 2022 season, Rajasthan should be confident in their ability to defeat Bangalore and go to the IPL 2022 final. Read Mushfiqur, the world's best Test scorer!

A recent unbeaten knock of 175 helped Mushfiqur Rahim climb a mountain. He is now the best batter in the world in terms of scoring runs in Tests at the highest average. He has an outstanding average of 58.94 — the highest among the batters who played at least 20 innings since 2020 in Tests. Even batters like Joe Root, Babar Azam and Marnus Labuschagne are behind him.  Also read:Mushfiqur, Liton stand tall after disastrous start

Sri Lanka managed to have a wicketless session on day four of the Dhaka Test on Thursday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  The visitors were batting on 369 for five at lunch of day four, having a lead of four runs and with five wickets in hand.  Also read:Dhaka Test: Sri Lanka respond well on rain-hit day Angelo Mathews looked good to score another hundred in this series. He was unbeaten for 93 while Dinesh Chandimal scored 61.  Bangladesh bowlers were disappointing in the morning session as they were unable to pose any notable challenge to the Lankan batters. 

Rain ate up more than four hours of play on day three of the ongoing Dhaka Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Despite that, the visitors responded well adding 139 runs for three wickets on the day at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  At the end of day three, Sri Lanka were batting at 282 for five with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal— the two most experienced campaigners of Sri Lanka— scoring 58 and 10 respectively.  They still are trailing by 83 runs in reply to Bangladesh’s first innings of 365 runs. While Sri Lanka will look forward to adding more runs on the board on day four, Bangladesh will have to ponder to get more wickets and give fewer runs away.  In the first session of the day, Ebadot Hossian removed the nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha for a duck, and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s most successful bowler so far taking three wickets in this match, removed overnight half-centurion Dimuth Karunaratne who was able to add only 10 runs on day three.  READ: BAN vs SL 2nd Test 2022: Bangladesh require aggressive mindset in 3rd innings Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva were the mainstays of Sri Lanka on the day adding more than 100 runs on the board on the fifth wicket. They made it tough for the hosts’ bowling attack to put more pressure on them.  The most exciting prospect of this match is now that the spinners started to get some bite off the surface which would make the wicket more difficult to bat in the next two days. And so the match could see a result unlike the first Test in Chattogram.  In the first innings of the match, Bangladesh posted 365 despite six of their batters failing to score anything.  Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das came up to rescue the hosts adding 282 runs on the board in the sixth wicket stand— the highest in history after losing five under 25 runs.  This series is part of the ICC World Test Championship. Bangladesh played seven matches in this prestigious event and won only a match against New Zealand early this year. 

The second session of day 3 of the BAN vs SL second Test 2022 was rained out. Both teams must approach the game with an aggressive mindset if they want to win the contest. If not, the game will most likely finish in a disappointing draw. Prior to the rain, Sri Lanka scored 210/4 in response to Bangladesh's 365. With only two days remaining in the match, Bangladesh must bat aggressively in their second innings in their quest to clinch the series. The BAN vs SL Second Test Match Scenario Bangladesh got off to a bad start in the series-deciding Test at SBNCS in Dhaka, losing five wickets for 24 runs. The hosts were guided to a dominant total of 365 owing to Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das's stunning 272-run sixth-wicket partnership. Litton Das’s great run of form in Test cricket has continued as 141 runs came from his willow. It was Litton’s sixth fifty-plus score in 13 innings, which clearly indicates that he is enjoying the format at the moment. On the other hand, Mushfiqur Rahim was unbeaten with 175*. Read Litton Das: The Classical Bangladeshi Batter Discovers Rhythm in Test Cricket The biggest surprise in the first innings was the performance of the Sri Lankan pacers. Both Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando were brilliant with the ball. They picked up 9 wickets, while the other one was run out. None of the Lankan spinners got a wicket in the innings. Trailing by 365 runs, the Sri Lankan openers made an aggressive start by putting up a 95-run partnership at 3.65 economy rates. Their positive mindset forced Bangladesh on the defense. However, Bangladesh did take a couple of wickets as Sri Lanka closed day-1 on 143/2. Bangladesh bowled 24.1 overs in the morning session of Day 3 before the rain interrupted the play. They lost two more wickets for a total of 67 runs. Bangladesh bowlers were economical and focused on making the Sri Lankan batters work even harder. However, the second session was totally abandoned due to heavy rain. Read BAN vs SL Second Test 2022: Mushfiqur-Litton Partnership Evaluation in Records Book What should be Bangladesh's approach in the third innings? With two more days left in the contest, Bangladesh's team management should reflect the scenario properly before it’s too late. The hosts need to adopt a more aggressive approach in order to overcome the visitors on day 4. Players need to raise their performance level on the field and have to show urgency to bowl Sri Lanka out as early as possible. They also can't afford to be in a position where they could lose the battle. Sri Lanka will bat for how long? What will their ultimate score be at the end of the first innings? This will help Bangladesh in formulating a strategy for the third innings. One thing is certain: they will need to bat aggressively in order to set a challenging target for the Lankans. Furthermore, the number of overs Sri Lanka bats in the fourth innings will determine the final outcome of the BAN vs SL second Test 2022 match. In the present match conditions, it's crucial to know the Bangladesh team's performance record in the third innings at the SBNCS, Mirpur. Bangladesh have batted eleven times in the third innings at this venue, with their best total of 312 coming against India in 2010. It was also the only occasion Bangladesh scored more than 300 runs in the third innings at Sher-e-Bangla. Bangladesh also failed to score more than 200 runs only once, against South Africa in 2008. They were all-out for 182 runs in that encounter against the Proteas national team. Read IPL 2022: The Qualified Teams in the Playoffs and Fixtures Bangladesh's top five third-innings total at SBNCS, Mirpur Score Overs Opposition Year 312 90.3 India 2010 296 66.5 England 2016 285 102 England 2010 269/3 89 New Zealand 2013 253 57.3 India 2007    Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Bottom Line Bangladesh have never beaten Sri Lanka at home. Therefore, they have a great chance to beat the Lankans and win the series. Given the present scenario of the match, Bangladesh should adopt a positive mindset when they bat again in their second innings. Because playing safe would not put them in a position to win against Sri Lanka. However, the BAN vs SL Second Test 2022 will likely go down to the wire. Read BAN vs SL Series 2022: Statistics Favour Spinners to be Game Changers in the Mirpur Test

Litton Das is considered as one of Bangladesh's most stylish batters. The classical right-hander has no shortage of skill, and the selectors always back him up so that he can flourish on the international level. He was criticized for not being as consistent for the national team in the longer-version format. However, Litton's transformation in the Test format since the beginning of 2021 has been quite astounding. He is among the leading run scorers in the format in the current season. Let's take a look at Litton Das's recent Test performances. Litton Das's Test Performances from 2015 to 2020 In 2015, Litton Kumer Das made his Test debut at home against South Africa. He scored fifty against the Proteas and showed some potential during the series. He couldn't continue his momentum for the next five years, despite getting enough chances in the longer-version format. Litton only managed 859 runs in 34 innings, averaging 26.03 runs per innings. He had his top score of 94 against Sri Lanka in 2018. He also batted in a variety of positions during this period, which may have hampered his improvement in the format. Litton Das batted in three positions: opener, middle order, and lower middle order, making it tough for him to find consistency with the bat. Read: BAN vs SL Second Test 2022: Mushfiqur-Litton Partnership Evaluation in Records Book Litton Das’s Test batting stats (2015-2022) Span Match Innings Runs HS Ave 50s 2015-2022 20 34 859 94 26.03 5    Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Test Performances of Litton Das from 2021 to the Present Many of Bangladesh's many international cricket matches were postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. The world saw a new version of Litton Das when Bangladesh's international cricket resumed in January 2021. The elegant right-hander has improved his batting consistency and composure. He has obviously made some batting adjustments that have helped him perform consistently for the Tigers. Furthermore, he has secured a permanent batting spot in the team, allowing him to flourish with the bat. He has batted in the late middle order since last year, primarily at No. 6 or No. 7. Read: Bangabandhu Cricket Tournament held in Lisbon Since 2021, Litton Das has been one of the top run scorers in the Test format. His Test performance over the last year and a half is in stark contrast to his first five years. He has 1,100 runs in 21 innings with a more than 50 batting average since January of last year. He has also accumulated 3 hundreds and 7 fifties during this period. Top five most runs in Tests since January 2021 (as on 24 May, 2022) Player Innings Runs HS Ave 100s Joe Root 39 2,066 228 54.36 8 Dimurth Karunaratne 20 1,209 244 60.45 5 Litton Das 21 1,100 141 52.38 3 Rishabh Pant 28 1,077 101 43.08 2 Kraigg Brathwaite 26 1,016 160 42.33 2     Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Litton Das is also one of the top two Test run scorers in 2022, trailing only Usman Khawaja of Australia. He has struck 506 runs for an average of 56.22 so far this season. This year has also seen two of his three hundred, including his highest-ever 141-run score against Sri Lanka. Read Liton hits ton to guide Tigers Top five Test run scorers (1 January – 24 May 2022) Player Innings Runs HS Ave 100s Usman Khawaja 9 751 160 125.16 4 Litton Das 9 506 141 56.22 2 Dean Elgar 12 439 96* 39.90 0 Temba Bavuma 12 428 93 42.80 0 Abdullah Shafique 6 397 136* 79.40 1    Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Way Forward Litton is a solid player with the potential to be the heart of Bangladesh's batting order. While the senior players approach the end of their careers, others must step up to fill their position. The stylish Bangladeshi Batter Litton Das is undoubtedly one of them, and recent statistics back up his contribution to Bangladesh Test cricket.  Read IPL 2022: The Qualified Teams in the Playoffs and Fixtures. 

The Embassy of Bangladesh in Portugal organised a cricket tournament in Lisbon on Tuesday to mark the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and highlight his work and ideals to today's youth. The Bangabandhu Cricket Tournament 2022 was held amid much enthusiasm and interest among members of the Bangladeshi community in Portugal, particularly the youth, the Bangladesh Mission said in a release on Wednesday. The semi-final and final matches were held at Jamur Stadium, with the participation of 20 teams. Lisbon Sixers emerged as the champion, while Young Tigers were the runners-up. Read: FM inaugurates Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament in Sylhet Tariq Ahsan, Bangladesh Ambassador to Portugal, was the chief guest at the event. At the prize distribution ceremony, Ambassador Tariq said the Bangabandhu Cricket Tournament would be continued as an annual event by the Bangladesh Mission in Lisbon to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation and promote cricket among the youth in Portugal. He hoped that the bond of harmony among the expatriate Bangladeshis would be further strengthened through this event.

Sri Lanka are trailing by 222 runs at the end of day two of Dhaka Test against Bangladesh on Tuesday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  The visitors were batting at 143 for two in 46 overs with Dimuth Karunaratne batting at 70 and the nightwatchman Kasun Rajitha remaining not out for zero.  In reply to Bangladesh’s first inning total of 365, Sri Lanka made a good start as both the openers— Oshada Fernando and Karunaratne— hit a fifty each. Oshada was going well but a wonderful catch at the slip by Najmul Hossain Shanto sent him back. Ebadot Hossain got the first wicket.  Also read:Dhaka Test: Bangladesh end first innings on 365 Kusal Mendis was removed by Shakib Al Hasan for 11. It was a straight delivery from Shakib. After the ball hit his pads, Kusal did not even bother to call for a review. He just started to walk off the field.