Bangladesh’s moment of history against Sri Lanka

The 2-1 triumph in the ODI series over Sri Lanka will hold Bangladesh in good stead as it prepares to compete against England and Australia later this year.

The Bangladesh and Sri Lanka pose for a group photo after the third ODI in Dhaka on May 28.

Bangladesh is passing through a golden period as a developing country. Sri Lanka, the closest spectator, will agree. If the economy is booming, cricket — a major source of revenue — cannot be far behind.

At a time when Bangladesh’s central bank approved a $200 million currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka to help Colombo tackle its foreign exchange crisis, the cricket team tasted its maiden series win, across formats, against the islanders.

The 2-1 triumph in the ODI series will hold Bangladesh in good stead as it prepares to compete against England and Australia later this year.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz returned 4/30 and 3/28 in the first two ODIs that sealed the deal for Bangladesh. He also rose to the second position in the ICC bowling rankings thus becoming the third player from Bangladesh, after Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak, to break into the top two.

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“In ODI cricket, what I try to do is contain the runs. I never think about wickets. If I can dry up the runs, it increases the chance of getting wickets.

“If I can stay in the top 10 now, it is a big gift. I hope I can fine-tune myself from here on. These things boost your confidence and you start believing in your abilities a little bit more,” Miraz told Sportstar .

Conway double

New Zealand opener Devon Conway sent a strong message to the Indian cricket team by smashing a double hundred on Test debut against England at Lord’s in the first Test.

He was dismissed for 200 off 347 balls (22x4, 1x6).

The left-hander became the seventh Test batsman to score a double ton on Test debut and the second Kiwi cricketer to do so. Matthew Sinclair was the first to score a double (214) against the West Indies in 1999.

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The knock, a fortnight before the World Test Championship final against India in Southampton, broke many records including that of K. S. Ranjitsinhji’s 125-year-old record of the highest score by any batsman on Test debut in England.

Ranjitsinhji had scored an unbeaten 154 against Australia in 1896 in Manchester, while W. G. Grace had scored 150 not out in 1880 at the same venue. Conway also broke Sourav Ganguly’s 25-year-old record of the highest runs (131) on debut at Lord’s.

Devon Conway was dismissed for 200 off 347 balls (22x4, 1x6).

 

The 29-year-old earned his Test spot after scoring a fifty in the intra-squad game. The unbeaten 55 against Kane Williamson's side, who watched him bat while fielding, helped his case.

Conway is also the latest South African player to make an impact in top-flight cricket but not for the Proteas. He underwent the same grind in the Gauteng school cricket team with Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma as team-mates back in the day but he left South Africa for better opportunities and landed in Wellington.

Embarrassing debut for Robinson

Social media can be a strange place. On the day of his Test debut for England against New Zealand at Lord’s, fast bowler Ollie Robinson had to face major embarrassment as a chain of his racist and sexist tweets from nine years ago resurfaced on social media.

The revelations were all the more ironic as the player had participated in the Moment of Unity before the match to show solidarity against racism, sexism and religious attacks on the human race.

By lunch, Robinson was viral on the Internet and at stumps, he apologised via a statement. “On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public. I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist, and deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks.”

Ollie Robinson had to face major embarrassment as a chain of his racist and sexist tweets from nine years ago resurfaced on social media.

 

On the field, Robinson was the most successful English bowler with figures of 4/75.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has launched an investigation and he could face serious sanctions ahead of the second Test.

The Dutch restart

One will be surprised to know that cricket was a major sport in the Netherlands towards the late 1800s. With time, football became more popular.

The Netherlands has been part of four World Cups from 1996 to 2011. Its one-run victory over Test-playing nation Ireland in the World Cup Super League — the qualifying tournament for the 2023 edition in India — will be a massive boost.

Chasing a target of 196, Ireland needed 12 off the final over. Bowling all-rounder Simi Singh was batting on 44 but the team had only two wickets in hand. His run out off the first ball crushed all hopes.

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The Netherlands skipper Pieter Seelaar, a left-arm orthodox bowler, returned 3/27 while fast bowler Logan van Beek picked up two crucial wickets besides defending 12 in the last over.

Fast bowler Timm van der Gugten was the top-scorer (49) for the Dutch. He also picked up a wicket to earn the man of the match award.

Ireland batsman Paul Stirling’s composed 69 went in vain.