24-10-2021

SUnDAY, oCtoBer 24, 2021
9
Consistency the key if Bangladesh want to
finally have a T20 World Cup to remember
SportS DeSk
Bangladesh have been trying to nail a
T20 World Cup for a long time. As far
back as 2012, they decided that playing
plenty of T20Is just before the
tournament will give them a good
chance. But like a student who tries to
cram the night before the exam, things
never really came together, reports AP
Their record in T20Is is not very
good, and it gets much worse in World
Cups. Only one of their seven wins
since 2007 has come against a
traditional big team. They lost to Hong
Kong in the 2014 edition at home, while
in 2016, they missed the mother of all
open nets against India.
This time too Bangladesh come into
the tournament with cracks, despite
recently seeing off Australia and New
Zealand at home. On tailor-made home
pitches that helped the spinners, the
visiting batters had very little clue what
was happening - but so did the home
batters, and it seems that has hurt
Bangladesh.
Their shock loss to Scotland in the
first round showed signs of their
batters' lack of confidence. The top
order was gone quickly, before
Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan
stalled for several overs, trying to
rebuild. That didn't work out and then
captain Mahmudullah, the team's best
T20 batter, couldn't time his big hits.
Their subsequent wins over Oman
and PNG ensured a spot in the Super
12s, but Bangladesh have to play a lot
better and with more consistency in
this round if they are to reach the
tournament goal they have set for
themselves: reach the semi-finals.
Bangladesh came into the
tournament with three consecutive
series wins over Zimbabwe, Australia
and New Zealand. But they lost two out
of three warm-up games earlier this
month, before crashing against
Scotland in the first round. They
recovered against Oman and PNG.
Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and
Shakib remain in charge of
Bangladesh's batting, despite the
emergence of several talented batters in
recent years. If these three fire together,
expect a big score. If they have a
combined bad day, the whole team
seems to slow down.
Mohammad Naim, Liton Das and
Afif Hossain have shown signs of
standing on their own, but don't seem
to be quite there yet. In Liton's case, he
has been around for six years, but
consistency hasn't been his companion.
Nurul Hasan has emerged as a bighitter
down the order, as well as a
skillful wicketkeeper. Soumya Sarkar
and Shamim Hossain are the back-up
batters in the squad.
Spin usually dominates Bangladesh's
bowling plans, particularly with Shakib
as the leader of the attack. The left-arm
spinner's varied pace and flight and
subtle turn translate into the most
bankable four overs. Offspinner
Mahedi Hasan has started well in the
tournament, and they also have Nasum
Ahmed, Player-of-the-Series against
New Zealand last month, waiting in the
wings.
Mustafizur Rahman is their best fast
bowler, a proper T20 star who has
excelled at the IPL. He has been around
a long while, yet he still bamboozles the
best of batters. Taskin Ahmed and
Mohammad Saifuddin complement
him with pace and variations, while the
left-arm quick Shoriful Islam is waiting
for his first opportunity.
There are very few cricketers in the
world currently who can bring as much
to his side as Shakib Al Hasan does to
Bangladesh. He is the team's best
player for sure, but he is also pushing
for bigger honours. He had a great 2019
Word Cup - he was one of three batters
to tally over 600 runs, to go with 11
wickets - but after that, he had the low
of the ICC suspension to contend with.
Since his return, he has worked his
way back to his best, recently breaking
the record for most T20I wickets. In the
UAE, Shakib will bat at No. 3, and be
expected to bowl in different situations
with his new shorter run-up. He
bowled superbly at the IPL and has
brought his form with the ball over to
the T20 World Cup. His batting will be
all the more important to Bangladesh
in the absence of Tamim Iqbal.
they have a woeful record in this competition and a shaky batting order to contend with. But they
also have a premier match-winner in Shakib Al Hasan.
photo: BCB
Houston Astros defeat
Boston Red Sox to
reach World Series
SportS DeSk
The Houston Astros
booked their third trip to
the World Series in five
seasons on Friday,
defeating the Boston Red
Sox 5-0 to wrap up a 4-2
victory in the American
League Championship
Series, reports BSS.
The Astros, who will face
either the Atlanta Braves or
Los Angeles Dodgers in
Major League Baseball's
showpiece, edged out a
dogged Red Sox
performance at Minute
Maid Park in Houston.
Houston outfielder Kyle
Tucker put the seal on a
clinical win for the Astros,
smashing a three-run home
run in the eighth inning to
effectively put the game out
of Boston's grasp.
Earlier, Cuban slugger
Yordan Alvarez drove in the
opening run for Houston in
the bottom of the first
inning, doubling on a fly
ball to centerfield to score
shortstop Alex Bregman.
A tense pitching duel then
unfolded over the next four
innings, with Boston starter
Nathan Eovaldi digging in
to prevent the Astros
adding to their lead. Astros
rookie pitcher Luis Garcia
was superb from the
mound, giving up only one
hit across 5.2 scoreless
innings with seven
strikeouts.
Houston finally added to
their lead in the sixth inning
when Tucker grounded into
a double play at first base as
Alvarez crossed home plate.
Warner backed to fire as Windies
seek World Cup revival
SportS DeSk
Australia will look for misfiring David Warner
to rediscover his form against South Africa in
the opening second round game of the T20
World Cup on Saturday, reports BSS.
Australia and South Africa, who are both
chasing their first T20 world title, get the Super
12 stage underway at Zayed Cricket Stadium in
Abu Dhabi.
Defending champions West Indies then face
England in Dubai in a repeat of the 2016 final
in Kolkata. Warner is a proven match-winner
but has endured a miserable time in the format
recently. He was dropped by his Sunrisers
Hyderabad team at the recent IPL, also played
in the UAE.
Warner hasn't played an international T20
this year while, in 2020, he made just 186 runs.
"I'm backing Dave's ability. I'm backing his
judgement," said Australia skipper Aaron
Finch. "I think, if you look at his World Cup
history, he's just bloody good. Would he have
liked more runs? Absolutely.
Everyone would like more runs all the time.
"He's one of the greatest players that
Australia has ever produced, and I've got no
doubts that come Game 1 he'll be up and firing
and ready to go."
Warner has scored more runs in T20s
against South Africa than any other country
with 457 from 14 matches. His average is a
commendable 35.35.
South Africa are without AB de Villiers, who
confirmed his retirement from international
cricket earlier in the year, and former captain
Faf du Plessis, who was available but not
selected.
However, the team is on a streak of seven
successive T20 international wins,
encompassing series victories against West
Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka - all achieved
away from home.
Skipper Temba Bavuma is hoping to break a
long-running history of failure at ICC events
since the country won the ICC Knock-Out
Trophy, forerunner of the Champions Trophy,
in 1998.
Australia will look for misfiring David Warner to rediscover his
form against South Africa in the opening second round game of the
t20 World Cup.
photo: Ap
Cristiano ronaldo and Mohamed Salah will go head to head for the right to be billed as the premier
League's top dog when Manchester United face arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday. photo: Ap
China's Zhang
edges Hashimoto
for world all-around
gymnastics title
SportS DeSk
China's Zhang Boheng won
the men's all-around title at
the world gymnastics
championships on Friday,
edging out Olympic
champion Daiki Hashimoto
on his home turf in Japan,
reports BSS.
Zhang, who was
controversially omitted from
his country's team for the
Tokyo Games, came through
a tight contest in Kitakyushu
that went down to the wire.
The Chinese gymnast held
a slender lead going into the
final apparatus -- the
horizontal bar that
Hashimoto had claimed
individual Olympic gold on
just months previously.
But Zhang held his nerve to
clinch victory with a score of
87.981, ahead of Hashimoto
on 87.964.
Ukraine's Illia Kovtun
finished third with a score of
84.899.
Zhang became the first
Chinese men's all-around
world champion since Xiao
Ruoteng in 2017.
He was passed over for
China's Olympic team this
summer despite scoring
higher than rival Lin
Chaopan. Russia's Angelina
Melnikova won the women's
all-around title on Thursday.
Partey ends goal drought
as Arsenal beat Villa
SportS DeSk
Thomas Partey scored his
first goal for Arsenal as the
Gunners beat Aston Villa 3-1
to extend their unbeaten run
in the Premier League to six
matches on Friday, reports
BSS.
Partey's first half header
broke the Ghana midfielder's
goal drought in his 40th
appearance in all
competitions since his move
from Atletico Madrid 12
months ago.
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang bagged
Arsenal's second goal when
he converted the rebound
after his penalty was saved.
Emile Smith Rowe put the
result beyond doubt early in
the second half as Arsenal
climbed to ninth place in the
Premier League.
After losing their first three
league games, Arsenal have
gradually recovered their
equilibrium.
Successive draws against
Brighton and Crystal Palace
had brought renewed
pressure on Arsenal boss
Mikel Arteta, but this was a
tantalising glimpse of what
they could be under the
Spaniard.
"I'm proud of the team.
This is when we are good,
when we play with real desire,
real commitment and can
have clear ideas of how to
attack," Arteta said.
Ronaldo's duel with Salah
takes centre stage as Man
Utd face Liverpool
SportS DeSk
Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah will
go head to head for the right to be billed as
the Premier League's top dog when
Manchester United face arch-rivals
Liverpool on Sunday, reports BSS.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp risked irking
United striker Ronaldo ahead of the crunch
clash when he hailed Salah as the best player
in the world last weekend. The Egypt
forward has been in superb form, with his
sublime strikes against Manchester City and
Watford already goal of the season
contenders.
But Ronaldo hasn't been far behind with a
series of crucial goals underlining his
superstar status.
While Paris Saint-Germain duo Lionel
Messi and Kylian Mbappe can also stake
their claim to be the world's best, in the
Premier League there is little doubt that
Ronaldo and Salah are the main men.
So who will be this season's preeminent
force? Sunday's crucial showdown at Old
Trafford will go some way to deciding that
question.
Without a win in their last three league
games, United are four points behind
second-placed Liverpool.
United need Ronaldo to continue his
knack of rising to the big occasion, while
unbeaten Liverpool hope Salah can continue
his blistering streak.
Salah has scored 12 times in 11 games this
season, with Ronaldo netting six times in
eight matches since returning to United from
Juventus in August.
Salah became the first Liverpool player to
score in nine consecutive games after
striking twice in the Champions League win
at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Just 24 hours later, Ronaldo stole the
European spotlight with the late headed
winner that completed United's fightback
from two goals down to beat Atalanta 3-2.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
naturally leans towards his player in any
debate about the best of the best.
But he admitted Salah's red-hot run makes
him a fearsome proposition.
I'll always back Cristiano in any
competition. He's unique. That being said,
Salah, at the moment, he's on fire," Solskjaer
said. "We know we have to be at our best to
defend against him. We have to focus on
them for 95 minutes to keep a clean sheet.
"I'm a big fan of Liverpool's front three.
We have to enjoy the players, though not
Salah on Sunday, of course." - True greatness
- Asked to debate the virtues of the pair on
Friday, Klopp took a diplomatic approach as
he highlighted each star's quality.
"Why should we compare Cristiano
Ronaldo and Mo Salah? Obviously both are
world-class players, so that's how it is," he
said.
"Even when Ronaldo's left foot is not that
bad, I would say Mo's left foot is probably
better.
Messi in Marseille:
Classic French rivalry
has Argentine accent
SportS DeSk
The experience of a football match in
Argentina is almost unmatched for the raw
passion of the crowd, the spectacle in the
stands often more eye-catching than events
on the pitch, reports BSS.
Yet if there is one place in Europe that can
match it then it might be the Velodrome in
Marseille, where fiery Argentine coach Jorge
Sampaoli now prowls the touchline while up
to 65,000 supporters generate a spinetingling
atmosphere.
That can be the case for any game, but
when Paris Saint-Germain come to town it is
very special indeed.
They love their football in the French
Mediterranean port city, but they always
hated PSG, even before Qatar bought the
capital club in 2011.
"Le Classique" -- as it is sometimes known
-- is the biggest fixture in French football,
and on Sunday it will have a distinctly
Argentinian flavour.
This will be Sampaoli's first match against
PSG as Marseille coach. In thenaway dugout
will be his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino.
In the away team will be Lionel Messi,
getting his first taste of France's biggest
grudge match.
Messi was the hero of so many Clasicos for
Barcelona against Real Madrid and is the alltime
top scorer in the history of that fixture.
He will be conspicuous by his absence
when the Spanish giants go head to head on
Sunday afternoon.
Instead he will take to the field at the
Velodrome a few hours later, ensuring
possibly greater interest globally than ever
before in a Marseille- PSG game.
Table-toppers PSG are overwhelming
favourites. They have lost just once to OM in
10 years.
PSG now totally dominate French
football, but once Marseille were the
country's pre-eminent club, and they remain
the only French winners of the Champions
League, in 1993.
They have a proud history, and in
Sampaoli they have a man capable of giving
new hope to a city obsessed with "l'OM".
"It is the kind of club I like. Clubs like
Marseille and Galatasaray who have that
support, the clamour of the people that
means the city explodes if you win
something," he once told the magazine So
Foot.
Sampaoli, 61, was born in Casilda, an hour
outside Messi's home city of Rosario.
Like Messi, Sampaoli played in the youth
ranks at Newell's Old Boys. While Messi left
for Barcelona aged 13, Sampaoli's playing
career was halted by injury before it properly
began.
There are parallels between Sampaoli and
Marcelo Bielsa, who became a cult hero in
charge of Marseille in 2014-15 and who
managed Pochettino at Newell's, the pair
reaching the Copa Libertadores final in 1992.
Sampaoli, like Bielsa before him, can be
seen pacing nervously up and down his
technical area during games at the
Velodrome. In contrast Pochettino usually
cuts a cooler figure.