Bangladesh secured their maiden Test win against Sri Lanka and their second against a major Test-playing nation in the past five months, with an eventful four-wicket victory on the final day of the second Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo yesterday.
Playing their 100th Test overall, the tourists chased down their target of 191 in the final session to level the two-match series at 1-1.
Bangladesh had lost 15 Tests and drawn two of their previous 17 matches in the five-day format against Sri Lanka and yesterday’s victory was undoubtedly their best away from home after they beat England in Dhaka in October last year.
Photo: AFP
The South Asian nation’s other Test successes have come against the West Indies, whose glory days are long past and are no longer considered to be among Test cricket’s major players, and Zimbabwe.
It was a great comeback for Bangladesh after they lost the opening Test in Galle by 259 runs to a side that blanked Australia 3-0 at home last year.
“The way we are improving, down the line we will win some games,” said Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was named player of the series. “We are having a very good time at home, but it’s time for us to play outside [of Bangladesh] and play well. It’s a very good sign for our cricket that we are improving as a team.”
Experienced opening batsman Tamim Iqbal anchored the chase with a stroke-filled 82 after home captain Rangana Herath had picked up two wickets in successive deliveries to reduce Bangladesh to 22-2.
Tamim, who hit seven fours and a six, added 109 for the third wicket with Sabbir Rahman, before the latter fell for 41.
“I think this win started when we lost the match in Galle,” man-of-the-match Tamim said. “We had a long chat with the coach and the players stepped up.”
“We are bitterly disappointed, but it’s part of the game,” Herath said. “I think every single area, bowling, batting and fielding, will need to improve, but this is not the time to talk about it. We will have a discussion later with the coaches.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite