Mathews rallies Sri Lanka past winless Bangladesh

March 7, 2014

Mathews_ralliesDhaka, Mar 7: Sri Lanka battled hard to beat hosts Bangladesh by three wickets in the final league match of the Asia Cup in Dhaka on Thursday, reaching the final with a perfect record.

Sri Lanka, who will meet defending champions Pakistan in the final on Saturday, restricted Bangladesh to 204-9 before overcoming early jitters to chase down the target in 49 overs.

The four-time champions won all their four matches, this time with some tight bowling and resilient batting led by skipper Angelo Mathews, who hit an unbeaten 74.

Mathews and Chaturanga de Silva (44) lifted Sri Lanka from a perilous 75-5 with a sixth-wicket stand of 82 runs.

Mathews was in command throughout his 103-ball knock, hitting seven boundaries and a six, while de Silva ably supported him during his 52-ball innings, smashing five fours.

Despite two late wickets, Mathews kept his cool, hitting the winning boundary toward mid-wicket.

Paceman Al-Amin Hossain finished with figures of two wickets for 42 runs.

Bangladesh, whose dreams of reaching the final were shattered by Tuesday’s three-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan, had a sniff of a victory after Al-Amin removed Kusal Perera (naught) and in-form Kumar Sangakkara (two) in his first two overs.

Mahela Jayawardene (naught), Lahiru Thirimanne (33) and Ashan Priyanjan (24) were also removed before Mathews took over the responsibility of steering the team to victory.

Mathews was happy with his team’s performance.

“I was under a little bit of pressure, to be honest,” said Mathews. “We were losing wickets and had to consolidate. Chaturanga batted beautifully and we had a good partnership, which augurs well.” Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said his side had room for improvement.

“We have a couple of areas to work on. We had a chat and said what we showed against Afghanistan (defeat) was not good enough for international cricket, and was disappointing for the fans.” Bangladesh, who won the toss and opted to bat, struggled after a good start.

Sri Lankan spinners Priyanjan (2-11) and Ajantha Mendis (2-55) put the brakes on before Thisara Perera and Suranga Lakmal, also with two wickets apiece, wrapped up the middle and lower order.

Opener Anamul Haque, who scored a brilliant hundred in Bangladesh’s highest one-day score of 326-3 against Pakistan on Tuesday, was once again the mainstay of the batting with an 86-ball 49.

Anamul and Shamsur Rahman (39) gave the home team a solid 74-run start before Mendis struck twice, dismissing Shamsur and Mominul Haque (one) within the space of a few balls.

Nasir Hossain (30) and Mohammad Mahmudullah (30) shared an innings-repairing sixth-wicket stand of 55 to give the scoreboard some respectability. Shakib Al Hasan made 20.

Bangladesh, who were runners-up to Pakistan in the last Asia Cup in 2012, finished the event with four defeats in as many matches.

Five-time champions India lost two of their four matches, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, while Afghanistan recorded one win and three defeats.

SCOREBOARD

Bangladesh innings:

A. Haque c Thirimanne b Priyanjan 49

S. Rahman lbw b Mendis 39

M. Haque b Mendis 1

Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b de Silva 4

S. Al Hasan c Mathews b Priyanjan 20

N. Hossain c Jayawardene b Lakmal 30

M. Mahmudullah b Lakmal 30

Z. Rahman b Thisara 12

A. Sunny not out 2

R. Hossain b Thisara 0

A. Hossain not out 0

Extras: 17

Total: (for 9 wkts; 50 overs) 204

Fall of wkts: 1-74, 2-76, 3-87, 4-106, 5-119, 6-174, 7-183, 8-203, 9-203.

Bowling: Lakmal 10-0-32-2 (1w), Thisara 8-0-29-2 (1w), Senanayake 10-1-37-0 (2w), de Silva 10-0-33-1, Mendis 9-0-55-2 (6w), Priyanjan 3-0-11-2.

Sri Lanka innings:

K. Perera c Anamul b Al-Amin 0

L. Thirimanne c Hossain b Sunny 33

K. Sangakkara c Nasir b Al-Amin 2

M. Jayawardene run out 0

A. Priyanjan c Anamul b Rahman 24

A. Mathews not out 74

C. de Silva c Anamul b Mahmudullah 44

T. Perera run out 15

S. Senanayake not out 7

Extras: 9

Total: (For 7 wkts; 49 overs) 208

Fall of wkts: 1-0, 2-6, 3-8, 4-47, 5-75, 6-157, 7-193.

Bowling: Al-Amin 10-2-42-2 (1w), Hossain 6-0-25-0, Shakib 10-0-27-0 (2w), Rahman 10-0-34-1, Sunny 7-0-46-1 (1w), Mahmudullah 6-1-30-1 (1w).

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Auckland, Jan 27: : K.L. Rahul made an unbeaten 57 Sunday to steer India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the second Twenty20 international and to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Rahul and Shreyas Iyer put on 86 for the third wicket as India cruised past New Zealand's total of 132-5 with 2.3 overs to spare. Shivam Dube (13 not out) hit a six from the bowling of Tim Southeein in the 18th over to lift India to 135-3.

Iyer made 58 not out and Rahul 56 as India beat New Zealand by six wickets with an over to spare in the first match of the series.

New Zealand made 203-5 batting first in that match but on Sunday, on the same pitch, it struggled to achieve any real momentum. During the second match the pitch played much slower and India bowled expertly to restrict New Zealand's total.

Martin Guptill made 33 in a 48-run opening partnership with Colin Munro and Tim Seifert made an unbeaten 33 at the end of the innings but New Zealand wasn't able to reach a total that could stretch India's deep batting lineup.

Rohit Sharma (8) and captain Virat Kohli (11) were out relatively cheaply but Rahul and Iyer (44) sped India towards a comprehensive victory.

Dube came to the crease shortly before the end and quickly brought the match to a conclusion.

"I think we backed up the first match with a very good performance today, especially with the ball," Kohli said. "We demanded that the bowlers stood up and took control of what we wanted to do out there.

"I think our line and length and the way we wanted to bowl on that wicket, sticking to one side of the wicket and being shorter was a very good feature of us as a team and helped us restrict a very good New Zealand team."

New Zealand's total was inadequate, even on a slower pitch, and India almost toyed with the home side as it made its way to a comfortable win.

New Zealand named the same team that lost the first match of the series and batted after winning the toss, just as it batted when it was outplayed in the first match of the series.

The match raised further questions about the coaching and captaincy of the New Zealand team after its humiliating test series loss in Australia last month. New Zealand showed again Sunday it hasn't the talent to compete with the best teams in the world.

"As a batting unit we probably needed another 15 or 20 to make that total more competitive," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "But credit to the way the India side bowled, they're a class side in all departments and they put us under pressure throughout that middle period."

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News Network
April 22,2020

Dhaka, Apr 22: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has decided to auction the bat he used during the 2019 ODI World Cup to help raise money for the fight against deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Shakib, who is currently serving a two-year ban from all forms of cricket -- one of which is suspended -- for not reporting corrupt approaches, is the second Bangladeshi cricketer after wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim to auction a personal cricketing gear to raise money for the cause.

"I had said before that I want to put up a bat for auction. I have decided to auction the bat I used in the 2019 World Cup. It's a favourite bat of mine," Shakib said during a Facebook live session.

The 33-year-old all-rounder had a hugely successful World Cup in England last year, scoring 606 runs in eight matches at an average of 86.57, which included two centuries and five fifties.

Besides, he also picked up 11 wickets in the tournament and became the only cricketer to score 600 plus runs and scalp 10 wickets in a single edition of the World Cup.

"I had a good World cup with the bat and ball. There were some good performances especially with the bat. I had used a single bat throughout the World Cup and even used tapes on it to get through games," Shakib said.

"It's not that this bat has only been used at the World Cup. I have scored over 1500 runs with this bat and had used it prior to the tournament and after it as well.

"Although I like the bat a lot but I have decided to put it up for auction with the thought that maybe it can leave some contribution to forming a fund during the ongoing coronavirus crisis."

The money raised from the auction will go to the Shakib Al Hasan foundation.

"This is a very special bat to me, but my people are even more special to me," Shakib said.

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