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guyanatimesGY.com
tuesday, january 28, 2014
Quicks bundle Bangladesh out for 232 I
f Sri Lanka arrived in Bangladesh having freshly learned about the perils of negative cricket in Sharjah, their hosts illustrated there is also danger in aggression. Having been asked to bat, Bangladesh lost their top four to intense seam-bowling before lunch, and though they mustered a better middle session through a rapid Shakib Al Hasan riposte and a more measured Mushfiqur Rahim resistance, callousness marked the tail-end of their surrender for 232 as well. Five of Bangladesh’s top eight had perished trying to take the bowlers on, when perhaps some circumspection was warranted on a Mirpur pitch that rewarded fast bowling more than usual. When Shakib and Mushfiqur had asked for a sporting surface before the game, they perhaps did not envision the frailty of their team’s batting in such conditions would be so markedly exposed. By stumps, the Sri Lanka openers had trod a more secure path to 60. Shaminda Eranga provided more proof of his ample potential as he led the Sri Lanka attack in spirit and method, bruising Bangladesh with a brace of sharp, short balls. His returns of 4 for 49 were the best in the innings and indeed, a statistical best for himself. Suranga Lakmal found success in imitating Eranga’s preferred length in the innings, taking 3 for 66, while the spinners and Angelo Mathews provided able assistance, sharing three wickets between them. Eranga had bowled balls moving both ways off the seam in the morning, but after his first bouncer leapt up to shoulder-height, he rarely let an over pass without aiming several at the body and the head. He should have had Tamim Iqbal for 6 in his fourth over, but Kaushal Silva at short-leg fumbled the take. He did not have to wait long, how-
Mushfiqur Rahim played Sri Lanka’s pace attack well before falling for 61
ever. Next over Eranga baited Tamim into a hook and, failing to control the ball which had reached him at above head height, Tamim sent it off the top-edge to fine leg. His next victim did not fall to a short ball, but perhaps the shot Shamsur Rahman played, to end a bright but streaky debut innings of 33, was a knock-on effect of the short barrage. Having ducked or weaved around several short ones in the over, Shamsur drove at one that was swinging away from him, and was caught by gully. At the other end, Angelo Mathews had nailed Marshall Ayub with an in-ducker, before Lakmal got Mominul Haque - also with a short ball - to have Bangladesh at 59 for 4. Though they were on the ropes after the first session, Shakib thought his team would punch their way out of it. He dealt with the pace of the pitch and Sri Lanka’s short balls better than anyone, murdering three off them to the square-leg fence. His audacity almost cost him his wicket three times but Shakib did not see it as cause to temper his advance, nor did it encourage Sri Lanka to press for his wicket. They put men back on the square fence and waited for his mistake, and it came after he had
crossed 50. Rangana Herath - Sri Lanka’s most expensive bowler of the day - beat Shakib’s ambitious sweep with one that dipped and straightened. Mushfiqur’s progress was steadier and more secure. He fended away the short stuff and met moving deliveries with a dead bat, but as the pace in the pitch rewarded stroke-making as well, he was quick to climb into balls he fancied - particularly wide of offstump.
Unsurprisingly, he also made the top score of 61, and was perhaps unlucky to be dismissed. Lakmal got one to move into him appreciably after tea, but the dual noise in the replay and Mushfiqur’s surprise upon seeing the umpire’s raised finger suggested he might have got an inside edge to the ball that struck him on the thigh. The Sri Lanka spinners also found some assistance, but they were prevented from settling into a rhythm by Bangladesh’s enterprising batting. Both Shakib and Sohag Gazi used their feet to Dilruwan Perera, and walloped him towards the sightscreen. Gazi’s 42 from 56 effectively epitomised the Bangladesh batting effort: promising and fun to watch, but of no great substance in the end. Eranga was most pumped up when he had Nasir Hossain leaping with an arched back, as the batsman attempted to avoid another bouncer and the ball clipped glove on the way through. Eranga came back to end the innings with a deserved fourth wicket. (Cricinfo)
SCOREBOARD Bangladesh 1st innings Tamim Iqbal c Lakmal b Eranga 6 Shamsur Rahman c Perera b Eranga 33 Marshall Ayub lbw b Mathews 1 Mominul Haque c Vithanage b Lakmal 8 Shakib Al Hasan lbw b Herath 55 Mushfiqur Rahim*† lbw b Lakmal 61 Nasir Hossain c †Chandimal b Eranga 4 Sohag Gazi c Eranga b Lakmal 42 Robiul Islam c Perera b Eranga 5 Rubel Hossain b Herath 2 Al-Amin Hossain not out 6 Extras: (lb 4, nb 5) 9 Total: (all out; 63.5 overs) 232 Fall of wickets 1-35 (Tamim Iqbal), 2-40 (Marshall Ayub), 3-40 (Shamsur Rahman), 4-59
(Mominul Haque), 5-145 (Shakib Al Hasan), 6-150 (Nasir Hossain), 7-203 (Mushfiqur Rahim), 8-219 (Sohag Gazi), 9-222 (Rubel Hossain), 10-232 (Robiul Islam) Bowling: RAS Lakmal 18.1-3-663, RMS Eranga 17.4-2-49-4, AD Mathews 6-3-18-1, MDK Perera 11-2-45 0, HMRKB Herath 11-1-50-2 Sri Lanka 1st innings FDM Karunaratne not out 28 JK Silva not out 30 Extras: (w 1, nb 1) 2 Total :(0 wickets; 19 overs) 60 To bat KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, LD Chandimal†, AD Mathews*, KDK Vithanage, MDK Perera, RMS Eranga, HMRKB Herath, RAS Lakmal Bowling: Robiul Islam 4-1-120, Al-Amin Hossain 5-1-180, Rubel Hossain, 4-0-20-0, Sohag Gazi 5-2-8-0, Shakib Al Hasan 1-0-2-0
Lionel Messi: Forward is not for sale, says Barcelona president
B
arcelona forward Lionel Messi is not for sale and the club plans to discuss a new contract with the Argentine, says president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Four-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, 26, is reported to be a target for French side Paris St-Germain. In an interview with radio station RAC1, posted on Barcelona’s website, Bartomeu said: “The club will sit down and negotiate a new contract. “We will do what we have to, to ensure he’s the best-paid player.” Messi scored 60 goals in 50 appearances last season but has struggled to match that goalscoring form in 2013-14. He has scored 18 goals so far but
just eight of those have been in the league, although he has provided 36 assists in 20 appearances. His last league goal came in September, before he was out for five weeks with a hamstring injury. “He can do everything,” said Barca coach Gerardo Martino. “If he succeeds in other facets of his game, it doesn’t matter if he scores. “Nothing surprises me with him. He controls the game well, passes the ball well, he is a good finisher, he can press and recover the ball. “He sees passes that most people can only see whilst watching the game on TV or in the stands, not ones that you can normally see on the field.” (BBC
Sport)
Lionel Messi
Keith Myers heads Berbice basketball after elections
advisor to the executive committee. In a brief statement after the elections the newly elected president said while clubs on the West Berbice were not represented on the executive, it is a start towards the resuscitation of basketball in Berbice. None of the West Berbice club officials attended the elections and were therefore not eligible for election.
Berbice Basketball Association President Keith Myers
T
he Berbice Basketball Association (BBA) has moved one step toward being able to source assistance from the international body for the development of the sport in Berbice. This follows the holding of elections for office bearers of the sub association. Keith Myers is the new President of BBA. Myers received tremendous support from clubs in both East and West Berbice at the elections, which were held at the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry's Smithfield Drop-in Centre in New Amsterdam on Sunday. The first vice president is Amanda Henry of Rose Hall Town with former national distance runner Neil Rudder as the second vice president. The third vice president is Robbert Esseboom while Petra Ford was voted as the secretary for the association. The association’s treasurer is Ryan Alexander and the assistant secretary/treasurer is Pinky Author. Eli Hazel is the public relations officer (PRO). The association has named former Chief Labour Officer Norman Semple as
'Defunct'
Former president of the ‘defunct’ BBA under the old constitution Kirk Fraser did not attend the elections. Fraser had been accused of running a one-man show forcing both corporate citizens and interested persons to distance themselves from the sport in Berbice. Fraser had been responsible for the staging of the Mackeson tournament for teams in Berbice, for which the final is still to be played. The semifinal of that competition was held in July last year and, for the past six months, players of Canje Nights and Smithfield Rockers have been forced to sit on the bench awaiting a call to contest the final. Since then players were able to visit the court again in competitive basketball on January 19 when the Anamayah Memorial tournament commenced. While there has been some amount of the sport being played in the county, none of the competitions were being sanctioned by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Association (GABA). However, Myers says this is expected to change with the installation of a duly constituted executive.
EBFA AGM set for February 16
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he Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) has been set for February 16 at the Grove Community Centre, East Bank Demerara. The General Council of the EBFA, which held its first meeting on Sunday last, agreed to the date for the AGM, which will see elections being held for the positions of president, vicepresident, treasurer, assistant secretary/treasurer, organising secretary and public relations officer. There will also be the pre-
sentation of the general secretary’s report, presentation of financial statements and an audited balance sheet for the past year and motions and amendments. According to a release from the EBFA, nominations for office must reach the general secretary 14 days before the date of the AGM at which officers are to be elected. Notice of any motion or resolution to be moved at the AGM must be submitted to the general secretary on or before the 14th day preceding the date of the AGM.