march 2, 2014
guyanatimesGY.com
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Afghanistan pull off landmark upset A
fghanistan recorded a historic victory as they beat hosts Bangladesh by 32 runs at the Asia Cup in Fatullah. It was Afghanistan’s first win against a Testplaying nation since the national team was formed in 2001. Asghar Stanikzai (90 not out) and Samiullah Shenwari (81) added 164 for the sixth wicket as Afghanistan made 254-6 from their 50 overs. The Tigers lost their openers cheaply and slumped from 161-4 to 1658 before being bowled out for 222. Bangladesh’s last two wickets added a spirited 57 to earn them a bonus point, with Ziaur Rahman hitting three sixes in his 41 from 22 balls. But Rahman and Rubel Hossain both fell to the
Job done! The Afghanistan players walk back after beating hosts Bangladesh
off-spin of Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi (3-44) as they were bowled out with 13 balls of the one-day international to spare. “Fans and the whole country must be celebrating and we will do our best in the remaining matches,”
said Nabi. “It was a good partnership between Stanikzai and Shenwari that lifted us and despite missing some chances in the field we bowled well to achieve this landmark win.” Bangladesh captain
Mushfiqur Rahim conceded: “We were outplayed in all three departments.” Afghanistan joined the International Cricket Council as an affiliate member in 2001, after many of the original players had learned the game in refu-
Bounty one-day hockey to open 2014 season today
GCC Men’s midfielder, Trevon Smith, is challenged by Hikers captain Devin Munroe during last year’s competition
D
efending Men’s champions, Bounty GCC, will today be given a chance to defend their similarly named trophy as the Guyana Hockey Board opens its 2014 season with the annual Bounty one-day hockey competitionat the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. GCC, having lost a few of their senior players since last year’s edition, will need to rely on an emerging crop of talented juniors, including the McKenzie brothers, Keon and Kareem, to keep their record intact. The Hikers Cadets, boasting the largest presence on the current Men’s national indoor squad, are likely to pose a formidable challenge as the entertaining duo of Jaramj Assanah and Aroydy Branford always produce moments of great entertainment with their speed and dazzling skills. A revamped Old Fort under new leadership has been im-
on the field for Old Fort, the trophy will remain in their grasp and teammates Jason DeSantos and John Abrams will provide the lethal finishing at the goal. The Men’s tournament will also see Saints making an entrance, being led by the solid midfield play of Joel Hunte, along with veteran sides Hikers Generals and Ol’ Skool, all of whom have the quality to challenge for the gold. The Ladies competition will see returning champions, the GCC Tigers, lining up as favourites, as sisters, captain Sonia Jardine and Kerensa Fernandes, will lead a potent attack supported by the relentless national sweeper Ulrica Sutherland marshalling the defence. The Hikers Divas are the strongest likely
Flashback! GCC Tigers’ captain outwits the Spartans goalkeeper in the ladies final of 2013
proving with every showing and is certain to also make a strong challenge for the cup. As long as the incomparable Aderemi “Dove” Simon is
challengers to the Tigers as the forward line of national strikers Janella Munroe and Cora Towler will be fur-
ther boosted by the return of Amanda Garnett. Marisha Rodrigues and Latoya Fordyce will round out their solid defence. The newly re-organised Old Fort Ladies will be anchored by veterans Sonia Gordon and Carol Caine. The Old Fort side, although new to the game, have already displayed their immense talent in previous outings and hope to create a few upsets in this competition. Matches will begin at 09:00 hours and run until the evening with the finals set to begin at 17:00 hours.
gee camps over the border in Pakistan. Unable to play at home in war-torn Afghanistan but competing in ICC tournaments around the world, the team’s progress was charted in an award-winning documentary, “Out of the Ashes”, which was shown on BBC Four’s Storyville. They narrowly failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup but were granted oneday international status for four years. Since then, they have qualified for four major tournaments - the ICC World Twenty20 events in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and the 2015 World Cup. Although Afghanistan
gained ICC associate status in 2013, and have regularly tasted victory against the other top associate teams such as Kenya, Canada, Scotland and the Netherlands, they had never before beaten a full member in eight attempts (three ODIs and five T20 internationals), despite giving India a scare in 2012. And after the recent changes to the ICC’s governance gave hope to the likes of Ireland that top associate nations could play Test cricket in the future possibly at the expense of lower-ranked full members such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe - this victory will give Afghanistan hope of an even brighter future. (BBC Sport)
SCOREBOARD Afghanistan Innings Shehzad lbw b Rubel Hossain 2 Sadiq c and b Arafat Sunny 12 N Zadran b Arafat Sunny 21 Stanikzai not out 90 Mangal run out (Naeem Islam) 24 Nabi c Nasir Hossain b M Haque 7 Shenwari run out (A Haque) 81 Ashraf not out 0 Extras: (10-w, 1-b, 6-lb) 17 Total: (for 6 wickets; 50 overs) 254 Bowling: Rubel Hossain 100-61-1, Razzak 10-1-570, Arafat Sunny 10-0-44-2, Gazi 0.3-0-0-0, Nasir Hossain 2.3-0-8-0, M Haque 10-038-1, Rahman 7-0-39-0 Fall of wickets: 6 (Shehzad), 40 (Sadiq), 43 (N Zadran), 74 (Mangal), 90 (Nabi), 254 (Shenwari) Bangladesh Innings A Haque lbw b Hassan 1 Rahman b S Zadran 0 M Haque b Shenwari 50
Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Nabi 23 Nasir Hossain c Shenwari b Ashraf 41 Naeem Islam c Mangal b Hassan 35 Rahman b Nabi 41 Razzak run out (N Zadran) 0 Arafat Sunny c Shehzad b S Zadran 0 Rubel Hossain c Mangal b Nabi 17 Gazi not out 2 Extras: (6-w, 4-b, 2-lb) 12 Total: (for 10 wickets; 47.5 overs) 222 Bowling: S Zadran 8-0-392, Hassan 6.1-1-26-2, Sadiq 2-0-9-0, Ashraf 9-0-51-1, Nabi 9.4-0-44-3, Hotak 7-024-0, Shenwari 6-0-23-1 Fall of wickets: 1 (Rahman), 1 (A Haque), 69 (Mushfiqur Rahim), 88 (M Haque), 161 (Nasir Hossain), 165 (Naeem Islam), 165 (Razzak), 165 (Arafat Sunny), 205 (Rahman), 222 (Rubel Hossain)