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Ali Khan and Monank Patel take USA to historic T20I series win over Bangladesh
Ali Khan played the starring role as USA fought their way to a T20I series win over Bangladesh at home, going up 2-0 in the three-match series in Texas on Thursday. His three-wicket haul helped USA to a six-run win in the second game after they had won the first game courtesy Harmeet Singh’s big hitting.
USA bowled superbly in the death overs with Ali Khan picking up all his three wickets in that period, while Saurabh Netravalkar took one in the 19th over.
On Tuesday, when USA won the first game, it was their first win over a top-ten T20I side. This time, they went one step further. It will be a huge boost for the team ahead of the T20 World Cup next month.
For Bangladesh, it’s a cricketing disaster.
They couldn’t get the 145-run chase on track from the start. They lost two wickets inside the powerplay before a rush of wickets following a 48-run stand between captain Majimul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy. Shakib Al Hassan tried to get them home but Ali Khan removed him in the 18th over to get USA back in the game.
Rishad Hossain led Bangladesh’s efficient bowling effort after they decided to bowl first. He took 2 for 21, his best and most economical spell in T20Is, while Mptafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam also took two each. USA captain Mpnak Patel top scored with 42 while his deputy Aaron Jones got 35, but the home side couldn’t take advantage of a decent powerplay.
In the chase, Netravalkar gave USA the early breakthrough they wanted defending a smallish total. He caught and bowled Soumya Sarkar, who feebly pushed the fourth ball of the innings back to the bowler. Tanzid Hasan hit a six off Ali Khan before tickling a boundary off Steven Taylor in the fourth over. Tanzid, however, threw away his good start when he was bowled attempting to pull a delivery from Jasdeep Singh that wasn’t short enough for the shot.
After that, Shanto and Hridoy, who made a fifty in the first game, added 48 runs for the third wicket. Hridoy and Shanto struck Harmeet for a six each in the tenth over, both hitting the ball relatively straight.
But Shanto and Hridoy got into a mix-up in the 11th over and Shanto was left stranded in the middle of the pitch. Corey Anderson then bowled Hridoy in the 13th over for 25 off 21 balls before Shadly van Schalkwyk did the same to Mahmudullah in the 15th over.
Shakib survived a run-out attempt at the start of the 16th over when the point fielder couldn’t hit the stumps even as Shakib struggled to reach the striker’s end. He shook it off by timing two superb fours off Jessy later in the over, first through point and then tickled past third.
Bangladesh’s joy, however, was shortlived. Jaker Ali fell to van Schalkwyk before Shakib followed him back next ball. Batting on 30, Shakib chopped an away-going delivery from Ali Khan on to his stumps, leaving the tail to finish the job. Ali Khan then trapped Tanzim Hasan lbw for a duck just one ball later, to put USA well and truly on top.
Rishad slammed Ali Khan for a one-bounce four at the end of the 18th over to keep Bangladesh in the hunt but Netravalkar bowled Shoriful in the penultimate over. Mustafizur took a single off the last ball of the over, before running a bye at the start of the last over. Rishad struck Ali Khan for a four through long-on but next ball, Ali Khan took his inside edge as he tried to ramp the fast bowler, sparking huge celebrations for USA.
In the first half, Taylor and Monank took a bit of time to get going but from the fourth over, the USA opening pair strung together a few boundaries. Taylor struck Tanzim for two fours in the fourth over before he cracked Mustafizur and Shakib for a six each in the following overs.
But shortly after finishing the powerplay without any losses, USA lost two big wickets. Rishad floated one through to Taylor, who struck it down wide long-on Tanzid Hasan’s throat. He made 31 off 28 balls with two sixes and three fours. Next ball, Rishad had Andries Gous caught behind for a duck with a beautiful legbreak. He finished with his best T20I figures of 2 for 21 from four overs.
Monank and Jones then added 60 runs for the third wicket but they batted at only 6.42 per over. Jones was more fluent than he was in the previous game, though, hitting Rishad for a six over long-off, but big hits were few and far between in general.
After keeping Jones and Monank on a leash for just under ten overs, Bangladesh got their reward in the last four overs. Mustafizur removed Jones for 35 off 34, caught at long-on. Shoriful bowled both Anderson and Monank in the 19th over. And Mustafizur had Harmeet soon after for a duck. But as it turned out, USA had enough on the board.
Brief scores:
USA 144 for 6 in 20 overs (Monank Patel 42, Aaron Jones 35, Steven Taylor 31; Rishad Hossain 2-21, Shoriful Islam 2-29, Mustafizur Rahman 2-31) beat Bangladesh 138 in 19.3 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 36, Shakib Al Hassan 30, Towhid Hridoy 25; Ali Khan 3-25, Saurabh Netravalkar 2-15, Shadley van Schalkwyk 2-21, Jasdeep Singh 1-20, Corey Anderson 1-11) by six runs
(Cricinfo)
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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