15-08-2018

SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2018
9
Bangladesh A started their T20 series against the hosts Ireland A with a 4-wicket victory in the first
unofficial T20 at Dublin.
Photo: BCB
Bangladesh A take 1-0 lead
against Ireland A
Sports Desk: Bangladesh A set 1-0
lead in the three-match unofficial T20
series having a four-wicket victory
against host Ireland A in the first game
at Castle Avenue in Dublinon Monday,
reports UNB.
Winning team captain Soumya
Sarker hit five boundaries and three
sixes for a 41-ball 57 in the day-night
affair for 155 for 6 in 18 overs, in reply
to a total of 152 for all in 20 overs,
posted by Ireland A after opting to bat
first.
Opening the innings for their chase,
Bangladesh A shockingly lost their lefthanded
opener Zakir Hasan on zero as
Andy McBrine bowled him out in the
very first ball, but the three other lefthanded
batsmen Soumya, Nazmul
Hossain Shanto [23-ball 38] and Afif
Hossain [21*-ball 35] boosted the
success with their quick innings.
Another left-handed batsman
Mohammad Saifuddin [4*off 3b]
polished the last boundary of the match
to shore the win after unbeaten Afif's
four boundaries and one six in the
seventh wicket.
Losing his opening partner on
beginning, Soumya controlled his
nerve and built up the solid second
partnership stand of 62 off 7.3 overs
with Shanto, who hammered seven
boundaries in his innings and was
removed from partnership by Peter
Chase.
Adding a steady run-a-ball-21 with
two boundaries in the second
partnership, Soumya continued in the
next wicket of 19-ball 44 partnering
with Mohammad Mithun [7-ball 8;
1x6] to carry the team total to a 106/3 in
10.4 overs before Mithun was caught by
William Porterfield off Andy McBrine.
In the 3rd wicket, Soumya's style was
fierce to hammer three sixes and two
boundaries to contribute a 12-ball 33,
including 5-ball 16 in the 10th over.
Soumya completed his fifth Twenty20
fifty before lbw by Andy McBrinetra on
110/4 in 12.1 overs. Andy McBrine
(3/23) and Peter Chase (2/29) shared
Jury finds Ben Stokes
not guilty of affray
Sports Desk: Ben Stokes has been found
not guilty of affray. Stokes, who was
arrested following an incident in Bristol in
the early hours of September 25, had been
on trial at Bristol Crown Court August 6.
His co-defendant, Ryan Ali, was also
found not guilty.
At the moment that the verdict was
delivered by a jury of six men and six
women, Stokes' wife Clare broke down in
tears, Then Neil Fairbrother, his agent, did
likewise. Stokes himself, who had been
calm in the dock, allowed himself to shut
his eyes for a moment but didn't break
into a smile. He then offered his hand to
Ali, who shook it.
The end of the court proceedings means
that Stokes could, in theory, be cleared to
play in the third Test against India starting
in Nottingham on Saturday. The ECB will
shortly convene a Cricket Discipline
Commission, which will consider whether
Stokes or Alex Hales, who was also
present during the incident, should face
any sanction. It has not gone unnoticed by
the ECB that both men were out late at
night - the incident occurred after 2.30am
- with two games left to play in the series
and that Stokes was alleged to have been
"really very drunk" by the prosecution.
Any possible sanction will take into
account that Stokes has already missed
the Ashes tour as a result of the episode.
Hales also missed two ODIs at the end of
the 2017 English domestic season. During
the trial the jury was shown body-worn
video footage from the arresting police
officer that appeared to show Hales
denying he had been present at the
incident, while both the prosecution and
defence barristers alleged video footage
showed him kicking Ali in the head.
Stokes' barrister, Gordon Cole QC,
suggested that kick could have resulted in
Ali's broken eye-socket.
During the trial, Stokes was alleged to
have lied to the jury, mimicked and bullied
two men on account of their
homosexuality and acted like a football
hooligan. He did not deny punching two
men (Ali and Ryan Hale), but insisted he
did so as he feared for his safety and the
safety of others. Ali was alleged to have
used an upturned bottle in the early
moments of the fracas, while CCTV
footage showed Hale running towards the
incident with an iron bar ripped from a
traffic sign.
Co-accused Ryan Ali, 28, was also
cleared of the same charge by the jury.
five wickets for Ireland A.
In the Ireland A innings, Simi Singh
top-scored with 37-ball 41, including
one boundary and two sixes, before
being caught by Zakir Hasan off
Shariful Islam on 148/7 in 18.4 overs.
Among other Irish scorers, opener
Stuart Thompson [19-ball 28 with four
fours], and Kevin O Brien [12-ball 21
with two boundaries and one six] could
cross the 20-runs mark as Bangladesh
bowlers got wickets in a gradual
interval.
Saifuddin (2/12), Shariful Islam
(2/31) and Taijul Islam (2/35) equally
shared six wickets for Bangladesh A
while Afif (1/16) -- brought the first
breakthrough-and Nayeem Hasan
(1/31) shared two wickets.
The next matches of the series will be
held at Castle Avenue onAugust
15while the third and last match at
Malahide Cricket Club Ground
onAugust 17.
Both matches will begin at
9pm[Bangladesh time].
Booters lose
to Uzbekistan
in Asian
Games
Sports Desk: Bangladesh
U-23 football team made a
losing start in the Asian
Games as they went down a
0-3 goal defeat to the strong
Uzbekistan U23 football
team in their group B
opening match on Tuesday
at the Pakansari Stadium,
Cibinong in Indonesia,
reports BSS.
In the day's match, striker
Zabikhillo Urinboev put
Uzbekistan ahead in the
23rd minute while after the
lemon break Khamdamov
doubled the lead scoring the
second goal for Uzbekistan
in the 57th minute.
Ikromjon Alibaev
completed the winners' tally
scoring the third goal for
Uzbekistan in the 66th
minute of the match.
The boys in red and green
will lock horns against
Thailand on August 16 and
against Qatar on August 19.
Ben Stokes had been arrested on charges of affray after an incident outside a Bristol bar last year.
Photo: AP
Facebook to broadcast
La Liga games for free in
Indian subcontinent
Sports Desk: Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and a host of La
Liga stars will be beamed for free to viewers in the Indian
subcontinent as part of a landmark deal with Facebook to
broadcast live matches, the Spanish top flight division said
Tuesday, reports BSS.
All 380 football matches of the new 2018-2019 La Liga
season, which begins Friday, will be available to watch on the
social media network in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, La Liga said
in a statement.
"We are delighted to team up with Facebook and be able to
bring the action closer to all followers of La Liga in the Indian
subcontinent," said La Liga President Javier Tebas.
"La liga is a reference in world football and it is a great
satisfaction for us that now, the number of people who can
watch matches live in this geographic area will be greater
than ever and they will be able to do so for free through
Facebook."
The deal will last for the next three seasons and will include
pre- and post-match analysis programmes.
The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed in
the statement but Spanish sports daily Marca reported that
La Liga will be available for free on Facebook in Bangladesh.
Australia enlists soldiers
in drive for Olympic gold
Sports Desk: Soldiers have been enlisted to help Australian
athletes perform better under pressure in the lead up to the
2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of a drive to win more medals,
reports BSS.
It follows their smallest haul in 24 years at the 2016 Rio
Olympics, where Australia finished 10th in the table with
eight golds and 29 medals overall.
In a bid to get back to winning ways, members of the
military will mentor elite athletes from November as part of
a partnership announced Tuesday between the army and the
Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The primary focus will be on improving their cognitive and
physical capabilities. AIS director Peter Conde said Australia
at the Rio Olympics had more athletes finish just outside the
medals, in positions 4-8, than any other nation.
"The AIS sees this as an opportunity to develop our sports,
athletes and coaches to help them convert more podium
potential into medal success," he said.Four key areas will be
tackled - mental health and wellbeing, performance under
pressure, injury and illness prevention, and converting talent
into high performance."When people think of army and
sport, the image is often of boot-camps to build resilience,"
said Conde. "This partnership will be far more advanced,
exploring education opportunities, mentoring,
familiarisation techniques and strategies to deal with
pressure. "It's a chance to develop our top athletes' capacity
to reach their peak performance and sustain that under
Olympic conditions."Around 120 athletes and coaches will
take part. Army chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr said the
project would also help the nation's soldiers.
"Army continuously looks at how we get the best out of our
people. This partnership with the AIS focusses on what we
can achieve to continually improve human performance," he
said. "Through cooperation and knowledge sharing with the
AIS, a respected world-leader in elite sport, we will give our
people the best possible chance to out think and out perform
any adversary."
Banned Smith retakes top
spot in ICC rankings
Sports Desk: Banned Australian batsman Steve Smith
reclaimed top spot in the ICC Test batting rankings from
India's Virat Kohli on Monday, despite not having played
since March, reports BSS.
The 29-year-old was suspended for a year and stripped of
the captaincy by Cricket Australia following his part in the
infamous ball-tampering scandal against South Africa, but
his ranking points have not changed.
India skipper Kohli had taken the number one place after
scoring 200 runs in his team's first-Test defeat by England,
but slipped back after managing only 40 in the second match
of the series at Lord's last week.
Smith is currently playing T20 cricket in the Caribbean
Premier League as he prepares for a possible return to the
international game next year.
England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker James
Anderson remains top of the bowlers' rankings after taking
nine wickets in their crushing innings victory in London.
the deal was worth 90 million euros ($105.5 million).
In June La Liga announced it had renewed its contract for
five seasons, between 2019-2024, for the international
broadcast rights for the Spanish championship for around
4.48 billion euros - or about 896 million euros per season, a
30 percent increase over the previous agreement.
The Facebook deal is the latest sign of interest on the part
of tech firms in sports broadcasting.
In June Amazon has secured the rights to show English
Premier League football matches in a pioneering move for
the online sector in the bidding war for sports events.
The global online retailer will show 20 Premier League
matches a season for three years in the UK, starting from the
2019/20 season, the league said Thursday.
The US company breaks up the recent dominance of Sky
and BT Sport of lucrative Premier League TV rights in a first
for the online sector that is threatening to shake up the
traditional sports rights market.
India has a billion-plus mobile phone users - more than
any other country on earth - and close to half a billion people
with internet access, most via their smartphones, that make
streaming video from sites like Facebook possible.
Photo: AP
Williams rebounds from
worst loss to advance in
Cincy tennis
Sports Desk: Serena Williams re-established her
customary superiority, hammering Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2
to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Masters on
Monday, reports BSS.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion showed full recovery in
her first match since suffering the worst defeat of her career
two weeks ago in San Jose when she was crushed 6-1, 6-0 in
51 minutes by British No. 1 Johanna Konta.
But the 36-year-old was all business Monday as she
cleaned up on Australian Gavrilova, with Williams winning
an 11th straight match here.
Though she has not played the tournament in three years,
Williams lifted back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 after
losing the 2013 final to Victoria Azarenka.
Andy Murray's injury comeback was sidetracked as the
three-time Grand Slam champion lost 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 to Lucas
Pouille.
Murray, returning from January hip surgery, was unable to
get past the French 16th seed, hampering his preparations
for the US Open starting on August 27
"Physically, I felt okay. It's quick conditions here," Murray
said. "He was a little bit sharper than me out there.
"I maybe wasn't reacting as quickly to some shots I would
have liked.
Murray last played 11 days ago in a Washington thirdround
match which took him three hours to win and ended
at 3 a.m. The 31-year-old two-time Wimbledon winner is
working his way back slowly and felt he could not subject his
body to a quarter-final just over 12 hours later, prompting
him to withdraw from that event.
"After Washington, I took four, five days off the tennis
court. I did a lot of training, a lot of rehab.
"As the year goes on, I'll be able to get a little bit more
consistency like on the practice court and on the tennis
court."Pouille had lost his previous three matches to Murray,
the last at Dubai in 2017.
Spanish 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta started his week
with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 defeat of France's Richard Gasquet, while
Japan's Kei Nishikori put out Russian Andrey Rublev, 7-5, 6-
3. Peter Gojowczyk of Germany defeated Joao Sousa 2-6, 6-
4, 7-5 and will next line up against seven-time winner Roger
Federer, at second the highest seed in the field after the
precautionary withdrawal of Rafael Nadal.
French players beat a Spanish duo with Benoit Paire
accounting for David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 while Jeremy Chardy
thumped Fernando Verdasco with the loss of three games.
Sam Querrey beat ninth-seeded American compatriot
John Isner 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5).
In the women's first round, Azarenka made her first
appearance here since 2015 count as she defeated Spanish
veteran Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-4.
Double Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova
continued her 2017 injury comeback, beating Swiss Stefanie
Voegele 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5).
US Open finalist Madison Keys, seeded 13th, defeated wild
card Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4; France's
Kristina Mladenovic advanced when Julia Goerges retired
hurt trailing 6-4, 3-2.