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DT<br />
24<br />
Sport<br />
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER <strong>25</strong>, <strong>2016</strong><br />
TOP STORIES<br />
Prosecutors seek<br />
2-yr jail for Neymar<br />
Spanish prosecutors<br />
recommended that Neymar be<br />
handed a two-year jail sentence<br />
and a fine of 10 million euros for<br />
alleged corrupt practices in his<br />
transfer to Barcelona, a court filing<br />
revealed. PAGE <strong>25</strong><br />
Du Plessis hits ton to<br />
silence boos<br />
South Africa’s Faf du Plessis<br />
silenced the boos of the Adelaide<br />
crowd with a ton before declaring<br />
on <strong>25</strong>9-9 and giving his bowlers a<br />
crack at Australia in the final hour<br />
of the opening day of the daynight<br />
third Test. PAGE 26<br />
Barca, City into R16<br />
as PSG control fate<br />
Argentine maestro Lionel Messi<br />
fired Barcelona into the last 16<br />
of the Champions League on<br />
Wednesday after a 2-0 win at<br />
Celtic as they were joined in the<br />
knockout rounds by Manchester<br />
City. PAGE 27<br />
Liverpool great<br />
Gerrard retires<br />
Former Liverpool captain Steven<br />
Gerrard announced his retirement<br />
a week after confirming he<br />
wouldn’t be returning to play for<br />
LA Galaxy. “Following speculation<br />
surrounding my future I can<br />
confirm my retirement,” Gerrard<br />
said in a statement. PAGE 28<br />
Rangpur Riders captain Naeem Islam and Rajshahi Kings skipper Darren Sammy share a light moment during training in Mirpur yesterday<br />
BPL 4 enters business stages today<br />
• Ali Shahriyar Bappa<br />
The third and final phase of the<br />
ongoing Bangladesh Premier<br />
League Twenty20’s fourth edition<br />
will start today in Mirpur’s Sher-e-<br />
Bangla National Cricket Stadium.<br />
The top two teams of the points<br />
table – Rangpur Riders and Khulna<br />
Titans - will face Rajshahi Kings<br />
and Barisal Bulls respectively.<br />
Rangpur have played dominant<br />
cricket this season, losing just<br />
once in their six matches. They<br />
will face Rajshahi in the day game<br />
today. Rangpur spinners are in<br />
good rhythm and will definitely<br />
eye another solid display against<br />
Rajshahi.<br />
Local spinners Sohag Gazi and<br />
Arafat Sunny are providing constant<br />
breakthroughs during their<br />
spells and their experienced foreign<br />
recruit Shahid Afridi is also<br />
bowling very well in the middle<br />
periods of an innings.<br />
All three spinners have bowled<br />
economically so far and have taken<br />
key wickets. Afridi has bagged<br />
11 wickets with an economy rate<br />
of 5.43 while Gazi has grabbed<br />
nine wickets with an economy<br />
rate of 5.55.<br />
The one thing Rangpur will be<br />
hoping for is the return to form of<br />
opening batsman Soumya Sarker.<br />
The dashing left-hander is having<br />
a poor tournament with the bat<br />
and will be desperate to score significantly<br />
to finally make his mark<br />
in the tournament.<br />
In contrast, Rajshahi have only<br />
managed two wins from their six<br />
matches. They have suffered defeats<br />
in a couple of close matches<br />
where they were in a winning<br />
position but eventually lost the<br />
game. They will surely try to avoid<br />
repeating such mistakes in close<br />
encounters as the tournament enters<br />
its business stages.<br />
Mominul Haque and Samit Patel<br />
are in good touch and Rajshahi<br />
will be looking to capitalise on<br />
their form. Besides the in-form<br />
Mominul and Samit, Rajshahi will<br />
hope their star player Sabbir Rahman<br />
scores some big runs, much<br />
like his magnificent hundred<br />
against Barisal in the first phase.<br />
Meanwhile, it was learned that<br />
Afridi will be unavailable for today’s<br />
game. He will be in contention<br />
for a place in the playing XI<br />
after today’s game.<br />
Khulna, second in the points<br />
table, are playing impressive<br />
cricket right from the start of the<br />
tournament, clinching five wins in<br />
seven games.<br />
Although Khulna are second,<br />
their batting remains a big concern<br />
at the moment. Captain Mahmudullah<br />
played some useful innings<br />
but all the other batsmen, both local<br />
and foreigners, have failed to<br />
score big in the tournament so far.<br />
However, Khulna’s bowling<br />
unit are performing very well.<br />
And their Pakistan paceman Junaid<br />
Khan has vowed to continue<br />
their good form.<br />
“We have a good combination<br />
of bowlers. Kevon Cooper, Mosharraf<br />
[Hossain] Rubel and myself<br />
are bowling well. I hope this will<br />
continue,” said Junaid.<br />
On the other hand, Barisal<br />
made a good start in the tournament<br />
by winning three out of four<br />
MD MANIK<br />
matches in the first phase. But<br />
they lost the momentum during<br />
the Chittagong phase where they<br />
lost all three games. So they will<br />
be desperate to return to winning<br />
ways against Khulna. •<br />
TODAY’S MATCHES<br />
Rangpur Riders v Rajshahi Kings, 1:30pm<br />
Barisal Bulls v Khulna Titans, 6:15pm<br />
Both games will be held at SBNS, Mirpur<br />
POINTS TABLE<br />
Teams Mat Won Lost Pts<br />
Rangpur 6 5 1 10<br />
Khulna 7 5 2 10<br />
Dhaka 7 4 3 8<br />
Chittagong 8 4 4 8<br />
Barisal 7 3 4 6<br />
Rajshahi 6 2 4 4<br />
Comilla 7 1 6 2
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