Shakib Al Hasan compiled a maiden double-century and Musfiqur Rahman scored 159 in a record fifth-wicket partnership yesterday which lifted Bangladesh to 542-7 at stumps on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Playing his 45th Test, the 29-year-old Shakib became only the third Bangladesh batsman to score a Test double-century after teammates Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur. At 206 he passed Tamim’s record for the highest score by a Bangladesh batsman in Tests and he was out just before stumps for 217.
The pair put on 359 for the fifth wicket, the highest partnership for Bangladesh for all wickets against all nations, and the best for the fifth wicket by any nation against New Zealand.
Photo: AFP
Bangladesh’s total was their highest in Tests against New Zealand, beating the previous best of 501, and was their fourth-highest overall.
“It feels great when you contribute for your country,” Shakib said. “It was important for me and the team to play well. We played ODIs and T20s against New Zealand and didn’t do well [losing both series 3-0], but we knew we had the capability of doing better, so today was the time for us to put our hand up and show we can do it in these kind of conditions. We didn’t talk much. We just kept batting, and thinking of our way of playing our shots and scoring runs.”
The records might keep coming as skipper Mushfiqur showed no signs of declaring, even when Bangladesh lost three wickets, including Shakib’s, in the day’s final five overs.
Bangladesh steadily ground down the New Zealand bowling attack, scoring 388 runs for the loss of only four wickets in the 94 overs that were bowled yesterday. The first of those wickets fell in the second over of the day when Mominul Haque was out caught behind for his overnight score of 64, but the next, Mushfiqur’s, fell 82 overs and 359 runs later.
Runs came at a rate of four per over and there had been 80 fours and two sixes in the Bangladesh innings.
“Our plan was just to keep watching the ball and playing the ball on its merits,” Mushfiqur said. “We hadn’t thought about a big partnership like this, but if you could apply yourself and survive the initial burst Shakib told me it was pretty good to bat on if your are executing your shots. Probably there is part of the job done in the first innings, but there is still three days to go and the wicket is really good, so our bowlers will have to work really hard, but I thought there is something there if our bowlers bowl well.”
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB