A dramatic batting collapse turned the second and final Test England’s way at Old Trafford after Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal crashed his second exhilarating century in as many matches on Saturday. Off-spinner Graeme Swann took five for 76 as Bangladesh, replying to England’s 419, slumped from 126 for nought to 216 all out.
It was quite a turnaround after Tamim’s breathtaking 108 from 114 balls, his fourth Test century, and Bangladesh now seem unlikely to grab the victory they need to draw the series.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan produced a late burst of wickets to finish with five for 121.
The day, though, belonged to Tamim again.
Following his sparkling knocks of 55 and 103 in the first Test at Lord’s, the aggressive youngster cut, drove and slashed anything loose in an innings reminiscent of India’s fast-scoring opener Virender Sehwag.
He initially provided Strauss with a major problem as England’s four-man attack struggled in hot and sunny conditions.
Tamim skipped down the pitch and drove Swann over long-on for six to reach his 50 in 43 balls and went on to crack a total of 11 boundaries before he was caught behind off James Anderson trying to cut.
Earlier, he shared an opening stand of 126 with Imrul Kayes who fell for 36 when he hooked paceman Steven Finn to fine-leg.
“When I started Test cricket, I was just trying to survive and when I tried to play a shot I was getting out,” Tamim said.
“I spoke to [coach] Jamie [Siddons] and he said when you are batting in the one-dayers, enjoy yourself, and I thought that’s the way I should play in Test cricket,” he said. “Some days I will look fantastic and some days I will look ugly, but I think I need to keep going this way.”
After England resumed their first innings on 275 for five, Bell reached his century before being bowled by a sharply spinning delivery from Shakib.
Prior then seemed set for his own ton until he offered a catch off Shakib while reverse sweeping.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite