Bangladesh pulled a stunning five-wicket upset over India at the World Cup, with teenage batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Sakim Al Hasan scoring important half-centuries.
Pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza's four-wicket burst pierced through India's famed batting order to bundle it out for 191, its lowest total against Bangladesh, before the young batsmen took center stage.
Bangladesh lost five wickets reaching the victory target of 192 with nine balls to spare, posting the first major upset of the current World Cup.
PHOTO: AFP
The players from India, the 1983 World Cup winner and 2003 finalist, had to stand back and watch as Bangladesh players celebrated its first victory in the World Cup in eight years.
It was only Bangladesh's second win against a test nation at the World Cup, following its upset over Pakistan in 1999.
"This win has given us a fair chance to qualify for the second round. This is a great day for Bangladesh cricket," Bangladesh captain Habibal Bashar said. "We would like to dedicate this win to our friend Manjural Islam."
PHOTO: AP
Players from both squads observed two minutes' silence before the match in honor of test player Manjural, who died on Friday in a traffic accident in Bangladesh.
Left-arm spinner Manjural, 22, played six tests and 25 limited-overs internationals, but did not make Bangladesh's 15-man World Cup squad.
India captain Rahul Dravid said inconsistent batting let his team down.
"Quite a disappointing day," he said. "We didn't bat well. They bowled well, the spinners bowled really well. We lost a few quick wickets in the end and that hurt us. Credit to them. They came in and got off to a good start. We have our backs to the wall and need to fight really hard."
Batting first after Dravid won the toss, India lost five wickets for two runs in 16 deliveries as Bangladesh seized control of the match through paceman Mortaza, who claimed figures of four for 38.
Left-arm spinners Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzaq took three wickets apiece.
Bangladesh's victory has added a new twist to preliminary Group B. In the only other match to date, 1996 World Cup winner Sri Lanka trounced Bermuda by 243 runs.
India now faces the real prospect of being knocked out in the first round, unless they win their remaining two matches.
Iqbal, who will turn 18 tomorrow, set off the victory chase with a smashing 51, his maiden half-century in five one-dayers. Iqbal's 53-ball knock contained two sixes and seven boundaries.
Iqbal was caught behind by Mahendra Dhoni off seamer Munaf Patel, but the blazing start allowed time for Hasan and Rahim to graft for runs.
Hasan, 19, compiled an 86-ball 53 and shared an innings-building partnership of 84 for the fourth wicket with 18-year-old Rahim, who top-scored with an unbeaten 56.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS