Bangladesh girls fail to defend SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship title

Bangladesh girls failed to defend the SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship title as they were beaten by India girls 0-1 in the final match at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan Saturday. The lone goal was scored by Sunita Munda in the 66^th minute.

The final match of the 2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship was the reverse of the 2017 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship’s final match in which Bangladesh bet India 1-0. So, with this victory, India, took a sweet revenge over Bangladesh. 

Compared to India, Bangladesh played much better throughout the match but luck did not favor them. The losing side even got a lot of opportunities to come back to the game but could not make use of any of them. The girls in red and green went to the final with the favorite's tag and they showed their dominance for large part of the game. The former champions took 11 shots on target and got six corners against India. On the other hand, India had four shots on target and got two corners.

Bangladesh started off the tournament thrashing Pakistan 14-0. Then they went on to beat Nepal 3-0 and Bhutan 5-0 before moving to the final. Hopefully, they will do well in the future tournaments.

Source- https://www.dhakatribune.com/sport/football/2018/08/18/india-edge-bangladesh-in-saff-u-15-final

Bangladesh girls beat Nepal and set up a semi-final clash with Bhutan

Bangladesh girls progressed to the semi-final round of the 2018 SAFF Under-15 Women’s Championship as Group B champions after beating Nepal 3-0 in their last group stage game played at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu on Monday. Now, they will take on the hosts Bhutan on Thursday at the same venue. If they can beat Bhutan, they will move to the final, one step closer to win the trophy second time. 

For Bangladesh, Tohura Khatun, Maria Manda and Sajeda Khatun scored one goal apiece. The defending champions finished the first half 1-0. Tohura Khatun helped her side take 1-0 lead against Nepal scoring in the stoppage time of the first half. However, the lead is extended to 2-0 when Maria scored a goal from outside the box in the 51^st minute. Sajeda Khatun scored the last goal in the 67^th minute, which took the game out of Nepal’s hand.

Nepal became the second team from Group B to progress to the semi-final after beating Pakistan 6-0. They will face India in other semi-final game the same day.

Bangladesh earlier defeated Pakistan with a 14-0 margin.

Source- https://bdnews24.com/sport/2018/08/13/bangladesh-blow-nepal-away-3-0-to-top-group-in-saff-under-15-womens-championship

Will Mohammad Ashraful return to the Bangladesh cricket squad?

Mohammad Ashraful is the name of a forgotten star. He was once the most important player of the Bangladesh cricket team, but now he has been elapsed because of his long absence in the national side. He was found guilty of match-fixing and spot-fixing in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). For this reason, he was banned from participating international cricket for five years and from domestic cricket for three years. The 34-year-old player is now happy because his ban will come to an end on August 13. Then there will be no hindrance for him to be allowed to play for his country once again after long time. So, the one-time teen sensation is expecting to make his return to international cricket. 

In 2016, Mohammad Ashraful started playing domestic cricket. In the past two seasons, he played a total of 23 List-A games where he hit five hundreds with an average of 47.63. But his performance in the first-class cricket is not that much impressive as he averaged 21.85 in 13 games in the same period. He is also hopeful of doing better in the coming seasons.

Like many of his supporters, I also want to see him in the national jersey. I still remember those days when he was a regular member of the Bangladesh national cricket team. Seeing him thrashing opposite teams’ bowlers was a great fun. We want to see that old Ashraful in the cricket field. Let’s see if he can make his way to the national squad.

Source-

http://www.cricketcountry.com/news/mohammad-ashraful-hopeful-of-comeback-to-the-bangladesh-side-after-lapse-of-ban-on-august-13-734013

Bangladesh Women best Pakistan Women 14-0 in the 2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship

Bangladesh women have started the 2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship with a massive victory. The defending champion, Bangladesh, has defeated Pakistan women 14-0 at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan on Thursday (August 9, 2018). With this victory, the girls in red and green have already set one foot in the semi-final round. They will take on Nepal in their last group stage game scheduled to be played on Monday (August 13). If they can beat, they will progress to the next round as group champions.  

Bangladesh finished the first half with a 6-0 lead. In the second half, they scored eight more goals and eventually extended the lead to 14-0. From the beginning to the end, the match was one sided. Defenders also played a vital role in the game. They produced a strong performance and Pakistan failed to make even a single fruitful attack. Tigresses made as many as 37 attacks throughout the game and got 12 corners.

For Bangladesh, eight players scored goals. Midfielder Shamsunnahar alone scored four goals while Tohura Khatun, Sajeda Khatun and Anai Mogini scored two goals each. Monica Chakma, Maria Manda, Ankhi Khatun and defender Shamsunnahar equally shared four goals.

India in their first match beat Sri Lanka 12-0 at the same venue on Thursday.

The 2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship is the second edition of the tournament. In this tournament, six Asian countries have joined in two groups, three in each group. India has been drafted in Group A along with Bhutan and Sri Lanka. However, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are placed in Group B.

Source-

https://www.dhakatribune.com/sport/football/2018/08/09/saff-u-15-women-s-championship-bangladesh-hit-pakistan-for-14

Bangladesh wins the T20I series against West Indies 2-1

Bangladesh cricket team has sealed the three-match Twenty20 International cricket series 2-1 after beating West Indies in the final match by 19 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after the game having been interrupted by rain at the Central Broward Stadium in Florida.

To win the match, the hosts required 50 runs off 17 balls with three wickets remaining at hand before the match was stopped due to rain.  

Bangladesh T20 skipper, Shakib Al Hasan, won the toss and chose to bat first. Opening batsman Liton Das played his career-best T20 innings of 32-ball 61, including six boundaries and three sixes, which took the Tigers’ team total to 184 for 5 in 20 overs.

After coming to chase, the Caribbean team scored 135 for 7 in 17.1 overs before the play being interrupted by rain. Andre Russell top scored with 47 off 21 balls, in which he struck one four and six sixes. He showed his team the hope of surpassing Bangladesh’s formidable total. However, he was dismissed by the first ball of the 18^th over bowled by Mustafizur Rahman.

Mustafizur Rahman claimed three wickets conceding 31 runs, while Abu Hider, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan took one wicket each. Spinner Nazmul Islam injured his left hand and that is why, he could not bowl the last three balls of his only over. He was subsequently taken to hospital directly from the field and found four lacerations on his hand.

Liton Das was named “Man of the Match” for his performance.

Scorecard- http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18713/scorecard/1146725/west-indies-vs-bangladesh-3rd-t20i-wi-in-usa-2018

Source-

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/match-report/west-indies-bangladesh-third-t20-highlights-liton-das-brathwaite-russell-samuels-florida/2018-08-06