07/07/2025

SPORTS 28 BANGLADESH held their nerve in a nail-biting finish to clinch a 16-run win over Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Colombo on Saturday, squaring the three-match series at 1-1. Chasing 249, Sri Lanka were down in the dumps at 170-8. A fighting 78 by Janith Liyanage ( pic ) brought the hosts back from the brink and set hearts racing in the packed stands. Needing 27 off the final three overs, Liyanage lofted the first MONDAY | JULY 7, 2025

Bangladesh hold nerve to level ODI series with Sri Lanka

of pace to restrict the visitors. “We are playing at home and we haven’t delivered in this game,” Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka said. “We know we have work to do and we will have a chat and try to bounce back in the final game.”

to produce career-best figures of 5-39 – a match-winning spell that derailed Sri Lanka’s chase. Bangladesh had loaded their side with three seamers anticipating a pace-friendly surface, but it was the spinners who spun a web around the hosts. Earlier, a career-best 4-35 by seamer Asitha Fernando helped Sri Lanka bundle out Bangladesh for 248 inside 46 overs. The 27-year-old right-arm seamer, fresh from an English county stint with Glamorgan, used a mix of short-pitched venom and clever changes

equation to 21 off 20 and sending the Colombo crowd into jubilant mood but the joy was short lived. Mustafizur Rahman slipped in a clever off cutter next ball that Liyanage spooned straight back for a return catch. That proved the turning point, as Bangladesh wrestled back control and closed out a hard-fought win. If there was one man who turned the tide for the visitors, it was Tanvir Islam. The left-arm spinner, playing just his second ODI, rebounded from a torrid start

The third and final ODI will be played tomorrow, followed by three Twenty20 games. “We are a young side and we have fought so well in the series, and we have nothing to lose”, Bangladesh captain Mehidy said. “We will go and give our best”. – AFP Australia seize control control Smith guides visitors to lead in second Test against West Indies

ball of the 48th over into the stands, reducing the

Australia’s Steven Smith in action against West Indies. – AFPPIC

S TEVE SMITH and Cameron Green half-centuries pushed Australia into the ascendancy with a lead of 254 runs at stumps on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada yesterday. Holding a 1-0 lead in the three match series following a 159-run victory in the first Test in Barbados, the tourists have three wickets in hand as they sit on 221-7 going into the fourth day of what has so far been a low-scoring duel. Smith’s innings of 71, his 43rd Test half-century, reflected his awareness of the state of the match as the day progressed. Cautious at first when

of the trademark shots from his considerable repertoire in productive partnerships with Green and then the always aggressive Travis Head. He looked well set to coast to a 37th Test hundred after tea only to be undone by Justin Greaves, the seam bowling all-rounder trapping Smith lbw to end an innings that spanned 119 deliveries and included one six and seven fours. His 93-run fourth-wicket partnership with Green was pivotal in the visitors tilting the balance of play in their favour. “It’s a tricky surface, a bit up and down, a bit of seam movement, so for this innings I decided to bat on middle (stump) and try and be a bit more still to negate lbw as much as possible,” Smith said. “And then anything loose try to cash in on it. You’ve got to try to put the bad balls away to put the pressure back on the bowlers.” For the former captain, the state of the pitch plus effective use of the new ball will give Australia the advantage going into the final

innings of the match. “We’re in a nice spot. I don’t think the wicket is going to get any better to bat,” he said. “I think the new ball will be pretty critical for us when we get that opportunity but hopefully we can first get up to (a lead of) 300.” Green, whose previous three innings in this series in the vital No. 3 position have raised questions about his suitability for the role, displayed commendable discipline and application in working his way to a seventh Test fifty. All his good work was undone though by the vagaries of this two paced pitch as he was bowled off the inside-edge by Shamar Joseph for 52 halfway through the afternoon period. His watchful innings occupied 123 balls during which he stroked five fours. Head was also a victim of uneven bounce, although the persistent pace and accuracy of Shamar Joseph contributed to him being bowled for 39. – AFP

he came to the crease with his side again in early trouble at 28 for three in the first session, Smith unfurled more

Shubman Gill: India’s new cricket king

Kenyans light up Eugene with world records BEATRICE CHEBET shattered the women’s 5,000m world record yesterday with a groundbreaking time of 13min 58.06sec as fellow Kenyan Faith Kipyegon lowered her own 1,500m global record at the Diamond League athletics meeting in Eugene, Oregon. Chebet, Olympic gold medallist at 5,000m and 10,000m in Paris last year, delivered a devastating finish to become the first woman to break the 14 minute barrier in the 5,000. The 25-year-old said she was inspired by her own strong showing in Rome last month, and by Kipyegon’s ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful bid to become the first woman to break four minutes for the mile just over a week ago in Paris. “In Rome I was just running to win a race, but after running 14:03, I said that I’m capable of running a world record,” she said. “When I was coming here to Eugene, I was coming to prepare to run a world record, and I said I have to try. I said ‘If Faith is trying, why not me?’” Jebet Ngetich was second in 14:01.29 and Tsegay – who set the previous world record of 14:00.21 on the same Hayward Field track in September 2023 – was third in 14:04.41. Kenya’s three-time reigning Olympic champion Kipyegon clocked 3min 48.68secs to win at Eugene. She said her preparation for that attempt helped her in her signature event. “I think the changes were that I was preparing myself for something special, which was to run under four minutes in a mile, and I think I pushed myself, getting better and better towards the 1,500, so I knew it was possible to still run under 3:49,” she said. – AFP

INDIA captain Shubman Gill continued to give fresh meaning to the phrase “leading from the front” with a stunning innings of 161 in the ongoing second Test against England at Edgbaston yesterday. The 25-year-old’s second century of the match took his overall tally for the game to 430 runs, a figure bettered by India great Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket’s all-time leading run-scorer, just three times in a series, let alone a match, during his celebrated career. Following his commanding 269 in the first innings, Gill also became the first batsman in 148 years of Test history to make score of 250 and 150 in the same match. All that came after Gill’s 147 in his first Test as captain, India’s five-wicket loss in last week’s series opener at Headingley. But beyond the statistics, it is the way Gill has played that has impressed seasoned observers. In the first innings at Edgbaston, he batted in near flawless-fashion for eight and-a-half hours, with his offside driving standing comparison with cricket’s most elegant batsmen. But in the second innings, with quick runs required to set up a declaration, Gill made 161 off just 162 balls, including 13 fours and eight sixes. India are now well-placed given England, with seven wickets standing, still need a mammoth 536 more runs on the

final day to achieve what would be a Test record fourth-innings victory chase of 608. “Gill is outrageous,” England fast bowling great Stuart Broad, well used to working out world-class

batsmen during a career that yielded 604 Test wickets, told Sky Sports after yesterday’s close. “As a bowler, I’d be looking for technical things so I could expose him, but he’s not shown any obvious

signs of dismissal and he’s played stylishly. He’s played with huge responsibility, under big pressure. “It’s breathtaking … He deserves all the applause he will get.” Gill was born in Fazilka, near the border with Pakistan. The nickname ‘Prince’ has clung to Gill to the extent of sometimes appearing on his bat stickers. Gill now occupies the No. 4 position held by childhood hero Virat Kohli, with his 269 surpassing Kohli’s unbeaten 254 against South Africa in Pune in 2019 as the highest score by an India Test captain. Gill succeeded Rohit Sharma as India captain after the latter announced his retirement from Test cricket in May. – AFP

Shubman Gill hits a boundary on day four of the second cricket Test match between England and India. – AFPPIC