Mushfiqur Rahim stars in Bangladesh's 137-run win over Sri Lanka

Agencies
September 16, 2018

Dubai, Sept 16: Mushfiqur Rahim's superb hundred complemented by a collective effort from the bowlers saw Bangladesh thrash Sri Lanka by 137 runs despite Lasith Malinga's brilliant international comeback in the Asia Cup opener here Saturday.

Mushfiqur scored a career-best 144 off 150 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes for his sixth ODI hundred as Bangladesh scored 261 all out in 49.3 overs after opting to bat.

Save the 131-run stand with Mohammed Mithun (63) for the third wicket, the former skipper didn't get any assistance from other Bangladesh batsmen as the wily Malinga showed that he is still a force to reckon with.

Malinga, whose last ODI was against India in a home series in September 2017, took 4/23 on his return.

Chasing 262 for a win, Sri Lanka suffered a batting collapse with none of their batsmen showing intent to stay at the crease as they were all out for 124 in 35.2 overs. This was Sri Lanka's lowest ODI total versus Bangladesh.

There was no rotation of strike and no partnership worth the name. The highest partnership for Sri Lanka was the 27 for the eighth wicket.

Sri Lanka showed the intent of a strong start as opener Upul Tharanga (27) struck a six and three fours in the first two overs but he and his partner Kusal Mendis (0) perished in quick succession.

Mendis was the first to go in the final delivery of the second over bowled by Mustafizur Rahman while Tharanga departed the next over off Mashrafe Mortaza to leave Sri Lanka at 28 for 2 in the third over.

Sri Lanka needed a top order batsman to stick around but one down Dhananjaya de Silva (0) was not able to do that as he was trapped LBW off Mortaza as the ball nipped back in from off-stump. Sri Lanka were 32 for 3 then.

The next four overs gave just four runs as Sri Lanka went into a shell but Bangladesh still found a way out to get a wicket as Mehidy Hasan sent Kusal Perera (11) back in the dressing room.

Perera went forward to defend but the ball beat the bat and struck the pad for the umpire to raise his finger. Sri Lanka were in deep trouble then as they were 42 for 4 after the first powerplay 10 overs.

Sri Lanka survived for another six overs with captain Angelo Mathews (16) and Dasun Shanaka (7) trying to settle down and stitch a partnership. But just as it seems they were on course for that, Sri Lanka put themselves in further trouble with Mathews making an error of judgement. He first called and then sent Shanaka back after working the ball to the leg side off a Shakib al-Hasan delivery.

But Shanaka had already made more than half the pitch and not in a position to return when Mehidy Hasan broke down the stumps.

Mathews himself did not survive for long as he perished in the next over LBW off a delivery from Rubel Hossain to virtually end the run chase.

All the six Bangladesh bowlers got at least a wicket. Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy Hasan grabbed two wickets each while Shakib Al-Hasan, Rubal Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain took one each.

Earlier, Mushfiqur scored the bulk of the Bangladesh runs as he and Mithun took their side out of the woods after being reduced to one run for two wickets and opener Tamim Iqbal returning to the pavillion after an injury only to come back at the fag end of the innings.

Tamim's heroic act will be remembered as he came out to bat despite having retired hurt with a fractured wrist. He allowed Mushfiqur to have one final blast during the slog overs.

Once Malinga and off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva (2/38) reduced Bangladesh to 203/8, Mushfiqur shielded no 11 Mustafizur Rahaman (10) during the 26-run stand.

Once Mustafizur was out, Tamim removed his hand-cast and came out in order to allow his partner to play the final three overs.

The Tamim-Mushfiqur pair added an invaluable 32 runs in 2.4 overs and it could well be crucial in the final context of the match.

However, Malinga's superb effort was story of the initial part of the match. Coming back from semi-retirement with a slight paunch and a shorter run-up, Malinga showed his mastery as he bowled four different deliveries to get his scalps.

Liton Das (0) nicked an outswinger in the slip cordon, Shakib Al Hasan (0) was castled by his signature inswinging yorker, Mithun skied a slower delivery while Mosddek Hossain was done in by a slow bouncer.

Even Mushfiqur failed to score runs off the slinger who bowled as many as 44 dot balls and didn't concede a single boundary in his 10 overs.

However, the seasoned Mushfiqur got runs off spinners, scoring on both sides of the wicket. He used his feet well against left-arm spinner Malmiga Aponso and off-spinners Dilruwan Perera and De Silva.

However, as wickets fell at the other end, it became difficult for Mushfiqur, who considerably slowed down in his 90's. His hundred came with a glide off Suranga Lakmal off 123 balls.

But once Mustafizur was out and injured Tamim came in for support, Mushfiqur just cut loose getting 32 runs in 2.4 overs before he was the last batsman to be dismissed.

Tamim, however,, will not take any further part in the tournament as he will be out with a broken wrist.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

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