CRICKET
Late pair win match
Bangladesh yesterday recovered from an early collapse to defeat Afghanistan by four wickets in the first one-day international of a three-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Afif Hossain (93 off 115 deliveries) and Mehidy Hasan (81 off 120) shared a 174-run seventh-wicket stand as Bangladesh recovered from 45-6 to reach 219-6 in 48.5 overs after Mustafizur Rahman’s 3-35 helped the hosts bowl out Afghanistan for 215 in 49.1 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi claimed 4-54 for Afghanistan, taking all of his wickets in his first five overs and seemingly sealing Bangladesh’s fate. However, Hossain and Hasan, who were united in the 11th over, put together the second-highest ODI partnership for the seventh wicket to steal victory. Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid scored 177 for England’s seventh wicket in an ODI against New Zealand in Birmingham in 2015. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said he did not believe a win was on the cards after their sixth wicket fell. “I’m very proud and happy for the two for their incredible innings,” he said after the match. Hasan was named player of the match for his effort with the bat and his spell of 0-28. In the first innings, Najibullah Zadran top scored with 67 from 84 deliveries, but was unable to build a big partnership, with a succession of middling scores at the other end. Ibrahim Zadran (19), Rahmat Shah (34), Hashmatullah Shahidi (28), Mohammad Nabi (20) and Gulbadin Naib (17) failed to provide the support needed to reach what would have been considered a defendable score. The second match is to be played tomorrow and the third on Monday next week, both at the same ground. The teams then move to Mirpur for two T20 matches.
SOCCER
Mourinho receives ban
AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho on Tuesday was banned for two games as punishment for an outburst when his team drew 2-2 against Hellas Verona in Serie A on Saturday. Mourinho, who was red carded, encroached onto the field in the game to argue with the referee and then kicked a ball into the crowd. The Portuguese coach acted in a “threatening” manner, Serie A said in its disciplinary announcement. The league also fined him 20,000 euros (US$22,700). Eighth-place Roma are winless in their past three league games — all draws, including one against relegation-threatened Genoa. The ban means Mourinho will not be on the touchline for Roma’s games against Spezia on Sunday and at home against Atalanta BC on March 5.
TENNIS
Medvedev moves closer
Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday continued his pursuit of the No. 1 ranking with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Benoit Paire to move into the second round at the Mexican Open. The 26-year-old Russian can overtake Novak Djokovic for top spot in the men’s tennis rankings if he wins the title. In the doubles, Germany’s Alexander Zverev was withdrawn from the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco for “unsportsmanlike conduct” after his round-of-16 match, the men’s tour said. Zverev, partnering Brazilian Marcelo Melo, came perilously close to hitting an umpire when he repeatedly assaulted the umpire’s chair with his racket after their 2-6, 6-4, 6-10 defeat against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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