Tumbling wickets. A high but not out-of-reach asking rate. One specialist batsman at the crease, with only the lower order for company. An atypically dry and grippy pitch provided the conditions for such a situation - usually more common in 50-overs cricket than in T20 - to arise in the first Qualifier of IPL 2016. AB de Villiers was the specialist batsman, and when Iqbal Abdulla joined him in the…

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal eased through to the French Open second round with a crushing defeat of Australian Sam Groth. The 29-year-old Spanish fourth seed won 6-1 6-1 6-1 in one hour and 20 minutes. Nadal looked typically at home on the clay at Roland Garros, hitting an astonishing winner through his legs in the third set. Earlier, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber was beaten by world…

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has insisted that the controversial comments he made to a female television reporter earlier this year were “just a little fun” as he turned on critics including Andrew Flintoff and Ian Chappell. Gayle, 36, came under fire for asking Australian broadcaster Mel McLaughlin out on a date in a live television interview during a Big Bash Twenty20 game in January.…

VISAKHAPATNAM: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni single-handedly scripted Rising Pune Supergiants' face-saving four-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab with a last ball six to help them avoid a last-place finish in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. Chasing 173, Pune never looked in contention, but Dhoni played the lone ranger with an unbeaten 32-ball 64 to secure an improbable win for the debutants.…

Jamaica Tallawahs-bound star Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is relishing the prospect of being a part of the fourth edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament this summer. Shakib also felt that the side is primed to compete for the coveted cricket title when the tournament begins on June 29. Since making his international debut back in 2006, the 29-year-old…

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan says absence of educated players in the national team was one of the reasons for its recent poor performance. Talking to the media in Quetta, Khan said that presently only Misbah-ul-Haq was a proper graduate in the team. “There is no graduate player in the team right now except for Misbah and the absence of educated players in the team is a primary…

World No.1 women’s doubles pairing of Martina Hingisand Sania Mirza produced a sterling late show against Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the final on Sunday to clinch the Rome Masters title. Sania and her Swiss partner won beat the Russian duo 6-1, 6(5)-7, 10-3 for their first title in the Italian capital. The top seeds, who had defeated Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu on Saturday…

Dani Alves has overtaken Pele to become the most successful Brazilian footballer of all time. Alves won the sixth La Liga title of his career on Saturday as Luis Suarez’s hat-trick sealed a 3-0 victory over Granada. The Spanish title is the 30th of Alves’ career to date, and the 33-year-old moves one clear of three-time World Cup winner Pele, who won 29 trophies during his playing days.…

Mustafizur Rahman, a prodigy in Bangladesh cricket, unlocked another milestone by dismissing Kings XI Punjab’s opener Murali Vijay on Sunday (May 15) in ongoing IPL. This was his 50th wicket in T20 career and ‘The Fizz’ reached the milestone playing just 35 match with an outstanding average of 16.42. Besides, Mustafizur has a brilliant economy rate of just 6.13 which is considered…

Delhi Daredevils bowler Chris Morris has heaped praise on Bangladeshi bowling prodigy Mustafizur Rahman, adding that they put in a lot of hard work to tackle his bowling. DD pulled off a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 12 and moved to the third spot on the points table, reports the Sportskedda.   Morris said the team works a lot on how other players have successfully managed…

Bangladeshi golfer Siddikur Rahman narrowly missed out to clinch his first European Tour victory concluding 2nd in the €1 million Mauritius Open, finishing one shot behind the champion Korean golfer Jeunghun Wang.   Siddikur finished on five-under-par (283) while J Wang six-under-par (282) after the 4th and final round at Four Seasons Golf Club Mauritius on Sunday.   Estanislao Goya…

Barcelona sealed its 24th La Liga title as Luis Suarez took his tally for the season to 59 goals with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Granada to hold off Real Madrid’s late-season surge. Real registered its 12th consecutive La Liga win, 2-0 at Deportivo la Coruna, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s double, but finished a point behind its bitter rivals. Suarez’s treble also sees him become…

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on Saturday has set up a new record by clinching the fastest century ever in List A cricket of Bangladesh during Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. The record-breaking 50-ball century by Mashrafe helped Kalabagan Krira Chakra set 317-run target for Sheikh Jamal. Devastating Mashrafe also hit 11 six which is also a record…