Cricket
BPL: Sylhet regain top spot beating Chattogram
The Sylhet Strikers maintained their dominance in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as they secured a decisive victory over the Chattogram Challengers on Saturday, winning by a comfortable margin of seven wickets and reclaiming the top spot in the points table.
Chattogram Challengers batted first and posted a challenging total of 174/6 in their 20 overs. Mehedi Maruf was the top scorer for the team, making 52 runs off 40 balls, with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Shuvagata Hom also contributed a valuable 54 runs off 29 balls, remaining not out.
Read more: BPL 2023: Barishal grab top place beating Chattogram
Sylhet's bowlers, Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir, were the most successful, taking 2 and 1 wicket respectively.
In response, Sylhet Strikers achieved the target of 175 runs in 18 overs, losing only 3 wickets in the process. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Ryan Burl were the top scorers for the team, scoring 60 and 41 runs respectively.
Shanto's innings included 6 fours and 2 sixes, while Ryan Burl hit 4 fours and 3 sixes. Chattogram Challengers' Vijayakanth Viyaskanth took 2 wickets, dismissing Towhid Hridoy and Ryan Burl.
In the end, Sylhet Strikers comfortably won the match by 7 wickets, thanks to some impressive batting performances. The win helped them to secure the top spot on the points table.
After nine matches, Sylhet now have 14 points from seven wins. They will play two more matches in the league phase of the event.
Read more: BPL 2023: Comilla's winning streak continues
BPL 2023: Comilla Victorians edge out Khulna Tigers by four runs
In a thrilling encounter at the Bangladesh Premier League, Comilla Victorians edged out Khulna Tigers by four runs to strengthen their position in the points table.
Put in to bat first, Comilla scored 165-2 in their allotted 20 overs. Litton Das smashed 50 off 42 balls and Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten on 54 off 47 balls.
In reply, Khulna managed to score 161-6 in 20 overs. Andy Balbirnie top scored 38 off 31 balls for them; Shai Hope scored 33 off 32 balls.
Naseem Shah was the standout performer for Comilla, taking two wickets for 29 runs.
The player of the match award went to Rizwan for his unbeaten 54 runs.
Read more: BPL 2023: Barishal grab top place beating Chattogram
With this win, Comilla secured 10 points from five wins in eight matches. Khulna Tigers earned only four points from seven matches.
Comilla will look to continue their winning ways as they move forward in the tournament. Khulna will be eager to bounce back and make a comeback in their next match.
Spinners lead New Zealand to T20 win in India
Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell strangled India with spin as New Zealand won their first Twenty20 by 21 runs on Friday.
Santner (2-11) and Bracewell (2-31) shared four wickets in eight overs to put the brakes on India’s chase.
New Zealand posted a lofty 176-6 thanks to half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell (59) and Devon Conway (52) and India was tied down to 155-9.
Read: Brian Lara to work with West Indies as performance mentor
It was the fourth time New Zealand has defended a sub-200 total in T20s on Indian soil, the most by any visiting side.
“There was a lot of turn and it continued right through the second innings,” Bracewell said. “We were able to get early wickets and capitalize on that start. It is massive to bounce back from the ODI series.” India swept the ODIs 3-0.
Put in to bat, Finn Allen gave New Zealand a quick start with 35 off 23 balls. He struck four fours and two sixes, putting on 43 off 26 balls with Conway.
Washington Sundar (2-22) struck twice to remove Allen and Mark Chapman, the latter for a duck via a stunning return catch.
Conway, though, scored a half-century off 31 balls, including seven fours and a six to steer New Zealand to 100 in the 13th over.
Read: BPL 2023: Barishal grab top place beating Chattogram
Conway fell on 52 in the 18th over to Arshdeep Singh, but Mitchell pressed on.
His 26-ball half-century powered the total past 170. Mitchell hit three fours and five sixes as Singh gave away 27 runs in the final over.
In reply, India got off to a poor start due to the Kiwi spinners squeezing the scoreboard.
Bracewell bowled Ishan Kishan (4) and Santner got rid of the in-form Shubman Gill (7). Rahul Tripathi was caught behind for a duck and India was down to 15-3 in the fourth over.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 47 off 34 balls and added 68 runs for the fourth wicket with Hardik Pandya, 21.
But the duo were undone when the spinners returned.
Yadav holed out off Ish Sodi, and Pandya fell to Bracewell. Santner had Deepak Hooda stumped on 10 and the India innings was in tatters at 111-6 in the 16th over.
Sundar’s 50 included five fours and three sixes but his maiden T20 half-century off 25 balls could only reduce New Zealand’s winning margin.
The second of three T20s is on Sunday in Lucknow.
Brian Lara to work with West Indies as performance mentor
West Indies cricket great Brian Lara will work with the team as a performance mentor and is joining the squad in Zimbabwe ahead of a two-test series.
Cricket West Indies announced Lara’s appointment on Thursday and said he’ll be involved with all the West Indies national teams and the national academy.
Lara is one of cricket’s best batters of all time, scoring more than 11,000 test runs in a 16-year career between 1990 and 2006. He holds the record for the highest test score with his 400 not out against England in 2004.
“I really believe that I can help the players with their mental approach to the game and with their tactics to be more successful,” Lara said in a statement from Cricket West Indies.
West Indies’ first test against Zimbabwe starts on Feb. 4 in Bulawayo.
BPL 2023: Barishal grab top place beating Chattogram
In the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Shakib Al Hasan's Fortune Barishal secured a three-wicket win over the Chattogram Challengers and secured the top spot on the points table on Friday in Sylhet.
With 12 points from six wins in eight matches, Barishal now leads the Sylhet Strikers by a narrow margin in net run rate.
Chattogram posed a tough challenge while batting first, posting a total of 168 for six wickets, thanks to a 45-run knock off 25 balls from Curtis Campher and solid contributions from Max O'Dowd and Afif Hossain.
But Barishal's bowlers, Khaled Ahmed and Kamrul Islam, were able to take two wickets each to keep Chattogram in check.
Barishal's run chase was led by opener Anamul Haque Bijoy, who scored 78 off 50 balls, including six fours and sixes, to guide his team to victory with four balls remaining.
Despite a mini collapse in the middle order, Barishal was able to secure the win thanks to a quickfire 31 off 12 balls from Karim Janat.
Despite Nihaduzzaman's impressive performance for Chattogram, taking four wickets while conceding only 17 runs, it was not enough to prevent the team's sixth defeat in the league.
BPL 2023: Sylhet Strikers collapse as Rangpur Riders secure easy victory
The Rangpur Riders emerged victorious in the first match of the Sylhet phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday, as they defeated the Sylhet Strikers by six wickets.
The Strikers, who lost the toss and were put to bat first, got off to a dismal start, losing five wickets in the first five overs. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the main opener for the Strikers, was caught by Shoaib Malik off the bowling of Mahedi Hasan for 9 runs. Tom Moores, the other opener, was caught by Nurul Hasan off the bowling of Azmatullah Omarzai for 2 runs.
Read: BPL demonstrates a perfect nail-biter as Sylhet beat Barishal by 2 run
In the same over, Towhid Hridoy and Zakir Hasan were both dismissed, with Hridoy being given out lbw and Hasan being stumped, failing to score any runs. The situation continued to deteriorate for the Strikers as they lost Mushfiqur Rahim and Imad Wasim in quick succession, leaving them reeling at 12/5. Mushfiqur, one of the best batters that Bangladesh ever produced, suffered a duck.
Thisara Perera, the experienced campaigner, was unable to come forward to rebuild the innings, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza scored 21 runs, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib provided some resistance with a well-made 41 runs, but the Strikers could only manage 92/9 in their 20 overs.
Hasan Mahmud and Azmatullah Omarzai were the standout bowlers for the Rangpur Riders, both taking three wickets each.
Chasing 93 runs to win, the Riders got off to a steady start with Mohammad Naim and Rony Talukdar putting on 27 runs for the first wicket. Naim was dismissed for 18 runs, but Talukdar anchored the innings with a well-made 41 not out.
Read: BPL 2023: Comilla's winning streak continues
However, the Riders lost Mahedi Hasan, Azmatullah, and Shoaib Malik in quick succession. Mohammad Nawaz and Talukdar saw the Riders home with an unbroken partnership of 29 runs, with Nawaz finishing on 18 not out.
Mashrafe was the most successful bowler for the Strikers, taking 2 wickets for 19 runs.
It was only the second defeat of the Strikers in the BPL, while it was the fourth with for the Riders so far. The Strikers are at the top of the table with a total of six wins in eight matches. Fortune Barishal are right behind them with five wins in seven matches.
Women's T20 World Cup: Bangladesh look to break losing streak
The upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 is shaping up to be a big opportunity for Bangladesh to make their mark.
Despite playing four T20 World Cups, they could not win a match in the last three. Now they are looking to break the losing streak.
The Tigresses have been preparing for the tournament for the past couple of months, which includes a tour of New Zealand where they played ODI and T20 matches.
While the team did not perform their best, there were some strong individual performances. The team focused on their batting, an area in which they have been struggling for a while.
Now that Bangladesh have already reached South Africa, they are focusing on getting used to the conditions and playing practice matches. They played in South Africa twice before.
On a personal level, players are excited to represent their country at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup for the fourth time. They have seen a lot of changes in the game since their first World Cup in 2016.
As a team, they want to inspire the next generation of women cricketers back home and the best way to do that is by winning matches.
The team's main strength is their unity and they are well balanced, with a mixture of experienced players and talented young ones.
Read more: ICC 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup: Bangladesh’s Squad, Full Fixtures
Salma Khatun is an experienced all-rounder. Nahida Akter and Jahanara Alam are very important to the team's bowling attack, and they are excited to see their young superstar Marufa Akter. Marufa made her senior debut in the recent New Zealand series and has been bowling brilliantly. She is one of three players in Bangladesh's current U19 team who got selected for the T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play four matches in the Group A of the World Cup. Their first match is on February 12 against Sri Lanka at Newlands in Cape Town.The Tigresses will play their second match on February 14 against Australia at St George's Park in Gqeberha. On February 17, they will face New Zealand at Newlands in Cape Town. And finally, on February 21, they will play against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town.
Read more: Bangladesh women's team to play T20 World Cup qualifiers in UAE
U-19 Women's World Cup: Bangladesh knocked out despite beating UAE by 5 wickets
Bangladesh were eliminated from the ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup despite beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by five wickets in their last Super Six match of Group-1 at the North-West University Ground-1 in South Africa's Potchefstroom Wednesday.
After Group-1 Super Six matches, India, Australia, South Africa and Bangladesh secured six points each from four matches. But India (2,844) and Australia (2,210) made the semi-final with a better run rate than Bangladesh (1,226) and South Africa (0.374).
In today's match, the UAE folded for 69-9 in the stipulated 20 overs after choosing to bat first. Only Lavanya Keny (29) and Mahika Gaur (17) reached double digits.
Rabeya Khan grabbed three wickets for 14 runs in her four-over spell; all-rounder Marufa Akter claimed two wickets for 16 runs in four overs.
Chasing 70, Bangladesh scored 73-5 in 9.1 overs. Shorna Akter top scored 38 runs off 19 balls, with four fours and two sixes.
Also, Afia Prottasha scored run-a-ball 15 with three boundaries; Robeya Khan made a 13-ball 14 runs, with two boundaries.
Also read: U-19 Women’s World Cup: Bangladesh to play UAE on Wednesday for a semifinal berth
Samaira Dharnidharka and Indhuja Nandakumar picked up two wickets for 18 and 34 runs, respectively.
Earlier, Bangladesh reached the Super Six after topping Group A with an unbeaten record, securing six points from three straight matches. They earned a seven-wicket victory over giant Australia, a 10-run win over Sri Lanka and a five-wicket victory over the US.
But the young tigresses slipped in the semifinal race after losing their first Super Six match against hosts South Africa by five wickets Saturday.
U-19 Women’s World Cup: Bangladesh to play UAE on Wednesday for a semifinal berth
Bangladesh Women's Cricket team will play United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the last super-six match of the ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup on Wednesday (January 25) at the Absa Puk Oval in Potchefstroom, South Africa to decide a semifinal berth from Group-1.
Bangladesh, the unbeaten champions of Group A, made their semifinal berth difficult after conceding a five-wicket defeat against hosts South Africa in their first super-six match last Saturday (January 21).
To assure one of the two semifinal berths from Group-1, Bangladesh has to beat UAE by a huge margin on Wednesday to improve as their three opponents India, Australia and South Africa enjoying a good advantage in points and positive run-rate.
India assured the semifinal berth from Group-1 securing six points from all the four matches with a good net run-rate of 2.844, followed by Australia, also with six points from all the four outings, having a net run rate of 2.210.
South Africa have secured four points from three matches with a net run rate of 0.508 while Bangladesh bagged also four points from three matches, having a net run rate of 0.251.
South Africa was due to play their remaining super six-match against Sri Lanka Tuesday night (Bangladesh time) while Bangladesh will play their last super-six match against UAE on Wednesday.
So, it will be very difficult for Bangladesh to manage one of the two semifinal berths from Group-1 toppling Australia and South Africa
Earlier, Bangladesh clinched the Group A crown with all-win record securing full six points from straight three matches after a creditable seven-wicket victory over giant Australia, 10-run win over Sri Lanka and five wickets victory over USA, but they went down in the semifinal race losing their first super six match against hosts South Africa by five wickets last Saturday.
BPL demonstrates a perfect nail-biter as Sylhet beat Barishal by 2 run
The Sylhet Strikers secured a dramatic 2-run victory over Fortune Barishal in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Tuesday, which came as a perfect example of a nail-biting finish.
The Strikers, who were put to bat first, put up a strong total of 173 for five in their 20 overs, thanks to a brilliant innings from Najmul Hossain Shanto who remained not out on 89 off 66 balls, including 11 fours and 1 six. He was well supported by Tom Moores who scored 40 off 30 balls, hitting 4 fours and 1 six.
The Strikers' innings got off to a rocky start, losing Zakir Hasan for a duck in the second over, and then losing Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim in quick succession, leaving the team reeling at 15 for 3. But Shanto and Moores put on a 81-run partnership for the fourth wicket to steady the innings. Thisara Perera also contributed with a quickfire 21 off 16 balls. But unfortunately, Imad Wasim retired hurt on 5 off 2 balls.
For Barishal, Mohammad Wasim scalped three wickets conceding 34 runs while Shakib Al Hasan and Kamrul Islam took one wicket each.
In response, Fortune Barishal got off to a good start, with Saif Hassan scoring 31 off 19 balls, including 4 sixes, and Ibrahim Zadran scoring 42 off 37 balls, including 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Also Read: BPL 2023: Comilla's winning streak continues
But the Strikers' bowlers fought back strongly and were able to restrict the Barishal to 171 for 8 in 20 overs. Rejaur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers for the Strikers, taking 3 wickets, while Mohammad Amir and Tanzim Hasan Sakib also chipped in with 2 wickets each.
Despite some strong efforts by Fortune Barishal's batter, they fell short by just 2 runs and the Strikers held on for a dramatic victory.
The Strikers have now earned their sixth win in the BPL, while Barishal have experienced their second defeat in the seven matches the two teams have played thus far in this year’s BPL.