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Gill ton in vain as Bangladesh sign off with victory
Shubman Gill’s fifth ODI century and a counter-attacking 42 by Axar Patel were in vain as Bangladesh held their nerve to pick up a thrilling six run win –their third in four ODIs against India — in the inconsequential final Super Fours encounter of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. India rested five key players, having already booked their final berth, and found themselves chasing a competitive 266 after allowing Bangladesh’s tail to script a brilliant death-overs recovery in their batting innings. In reply, Gill held one end up to set up the platform with a 133-ball 121 and Axar provided the late impetus but his penultimate-over dismissal tilted the game in Bangladesh’s favour.
Bangladesh enjoyed the upper hand for most part of India’s chase, managing to break every substantial partnership at crucial junctures. Rohit Sharma chipped the second ball of the chase straight to cover-point to hand debutant Tanzin Hasan Shakib his maiden ODI wicket. The youngster then knocked over India debutant Tilak Varma’s stumps to make it two in his first two overs in international cricket. He finished an extended six-over opening spell with the impressive figures of 6-1-15-2.
Gill began the repair work in the company of KL Rahul, who lent an ideal supporting hand in the 54-run third-wicket stand. The pair got their eye in after the early jitters and steadied the ship but the pressure of dot balls eventually got to Rahul, who drilled one from Mahedi Hasan straight to short midwicket in his attempt to break free. Despite slowing down a tad in his 40s, Gill raised his fifty with a six off Mahedi, dancing down the track to loft it over cow-corner. However, Bangladesh hit back soon after with the wicket of Ishan Kishan, who burnt a review trying to overturn the LBW call against Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Gill got Suryakumar for company as India looked to rebuild again but Bangladesh kept chipping away at regular intervals. Suryakumar made his intentions clear from the word go, sweeping his first ball to the fence and was a more proactive partner in the 45-run partnership over the next nine overs. However, a similar premeditated sweep brought an end to his knock on 26.
Gill sent two tossed up deliveries from Mehidy over long-on to enter 90s in style, but Bangladesh again managed to send back his partner, Ravindra Jadeja, in the over after drinks. The young opener carried on undeterred, welcoming Tanzin back into the attack with a brace to get to triple figures first and then celebrating the landmark with back to back fours. With 64 required off the last seven, Gill decided to step on the accelerator and heaved one over deep midwicket but Mahedi Hasan made a terrific comeback on the very next delivery, throwing it wider and having the opener caught at long-off in an attempt to clear the fence once again.
Down to 209/7, the onus fell on Axar Patel to see India through. His entertaining 34-ball 42, in the company of India’s tail, brought the equation down to 17 off 12 balls but Mustafizur Rahman’s twin strikes in the 49th over effectively put an end to India’s fight.
Earlier, contrasting fifties from Shakib Al Hasan (80 off 85) and Towhid Hridoy (54 off 81) and a fightback from the tail helped Bangladesh to a competitive 265/8 after poor shot selection from the top-order had them reeling at 28/3 shortly after being put in to bat. Mohammed Shami got the early breakthrough when he got one to nip back in, brush Litton Das’s pads and crash into the off-stump, while Shardul Thakur sent Tanzid Hasan and Anamul Haque packing off short balls.
Shakib led from the front in the rescue act, resurrecting the innings through a 101-run stand with Hridoy after Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s dismissal had once left them staring down the barrel at 59/4 inside 14 overs. Shakib built on the reprieve he got on 28, and notched up his 55th ODI fifty. Hridoy joined in after a watchful start and upped the ante by tonking two off Tilak Varma over the ropes. Shakib meted out similar treatment to Axar Patel at the other end, bringing up his half-century with the first.
It was Thakur who broke the blossoming century partnership first ball after drinks. Batting on 80, Shakib dragged an inside edge onto his leg-stump. One brought two and Ravindra Jadeja grabbed his 200th ODI scalp by trapping Shamim Hossain LBW in the very next over. Nasum Ahmed provided the impetus at one end as Hridoy marched on to a 77-ball fifty. He perished soon after but Nasum kept the odd boundary an over coming in his run-a-ball 44 that was instrumental in Bangladesh picking up some much-needed pace in the death overs. Bangladesh’s tail also put their hand up. While Mahedi Hasan (29* off 23) showed excellent running between wickets, debutant Tanzim Hasan Sakib dealt in boundaries in his brief 8-ball cameo of 14, enabling Bangladesh to collect 93 runs in the last 12 overs.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 265/8 in 50 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 80, Towhid Hridoy 54; Shardul Thakur 2-65, Mohammed Shami 2-32) beat India 259 all out in 49.5 overs (Shubman Gill 121, Axar Patel 42; Mustafizur Rahman 3-50, Tanzin Hasan Shakib 2-32) by 6 runs
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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